Killing Hype With Hype

Yuel summarized his conclusions to Vincent, that Luke's depression was likely caused by him being drunk on his success from Game 2, and that Nia was about to go down the same road.

"Dios mio!" Vincent exclaimed. "And, to think it was none other than me who loudly celebrated their great achievements! I'm the one responsible for all of this!" 

"I wouldn't go that far," Yuel said. "You didn't have any ill intentions, right?" 

"Of course not! The plan was to inject the team with motivation! The strong performance of a nakama should be celebrated, or so I believed...!"

"True, these sorts of things do lift the team's spirits," Yuel said. "You shouldn't beat yourself over it."

"As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

"Regardless, as far as you were concerned, you were just trying to help the team, and I'm sure there were many benefits to what you did," Yuel reassured. "The team's morale definitely increased thanks to your overhyped speeches."

"That's what I believe, too," Vincent said. "However! Who could've known that my contribution will come at such a dire cost!?" 

"It's unavoidable, really. The higher morale is, the more crushing defeat will feel. It's an unfortunate psychological thing."

"Indeed, indeed." Vincent nodded but his shoulders nonetheless slumped. "Still, to think that I didn't realize my sins until it was too late...!" 

"That makes two of us," Yuel said. "I let you hype things up without properly considering the consequences."

"But, didn't you warn us about not getting carried away? Multiples times, in fact." 

"Yes, I tried, but I think I didn't drive the point home well enough," Yuel said. "When I saw everybody celebrating so enthusiastically, even I was led to believe that it was good for the team. After all, we're facing the Leopards here, yet the team was celebrating. It felt like morale was at an all-time high, so I didn't want to get in the way."

"I see, I see." Vincent nodded. "But, to think that high morale was such a double-edged sword this entire time...!"

"So, back to my request," Yuel said. "I'd like to make sure they don't go into the next game on the 'high horse', so to speak. It's good to be motivated, but they shouldn't be blinded by that momentary hype."

"Indeed. It turned out this hype is both a great weapon and a recipe for disaster."

"Right," Yuel agreed. "Normally, I'd try to talk sense into everybody myself. But, recently I've come to realize that I'm not very good at this..."

"It's not just you. This is, in fact, a Herculean task," Vincent said. "When people are in the middle of celebrating, they don't want to hear any bad news. Thus, they dismiss your words of wisdom by instinct."

"Right. So, I'd like YOU to talk sense into them."

"Moi?" Vincent blinked. "Are you asking me to kill the hype I gave birth to? With my own two hands!?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's understandable, I suppose." Vincent lowered his head. "I am the one who created this mess, therefore I should be the one to clean it up."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming you per se," Yuel said. "It's just that your words carry a lot of weight. I don't really understand why, but you're good at emotionally swaying the others with your words." [Even though most of what you say is pure nonsense. But, that's beside the point.]

"I see," Vincent said. "So, you want to use that ability to thwart the team's hype."

"That's the gist of it, yes." Yuel nodded. "I need you to say something that'll help balance their exaggerated morale so they won't get carried away. Something that'll bring them down to earth and make them understand that they are not unbeatable. "

"Hmmmmmmmm." Vincent crossed his arms. "I'm afraid my skills aren't suitable for pulling off such a tactic."

"What do you mean?" 

"I'm one who celebrates the achievements of players, not their failures. Therefore, I cannot deliver demotivating speeches, not in a convincing manner."

"Really? How so?" 

"Recall, I'm the one and only Arbiter of Talents!" Vincent stretched his arms dramatically. "My biggest talent is to find what makes players amazing, not what makes them stumble. Finding weaknesses and flaws is the Chessmaster's job." 

"I see." Yuel ended up agreeing with what seemed like a dubious claim at first, but it was probably the truth. Vincent was all about hyping up players' skills, he had very little interest in exposing weaknesses and presenting anybody in a negative light.

Even back when Yuel and Vincent were preparing notes about the Leopards, Vincent only ever showered their members with praise. It was Yuel who had to search for their weaknesses.

Sometimes, Vincent's observations about a player's strengths helped Yuel discover a weakness, but that was never Vincent's original intention. All that guy ever cared about was coming up with bombastic skill names for players' talents, nothing more and nothing less. As such, it was understandable why Vincent claimed he didn't have the power to destroy the hype he created.

Of course, he could force himself to tackle it regardless, but then his words won't be coming from the heart. They won't sound as genuinely overhyped as in his usual speeches.

[So, he can only "hype up" players. Hmm.] An idea crossed Yuel's mind.

Perhaps, it was really impossible for Vincent to tackle the hype directly. Then, how about fighting fire with fire? In order to counter the existing hype, Vincent could generate an even larger hype about something else.

"How about you hype up our opponents?" Yuel asked. "Remind everybody how strong the Leopards are, how good they are at adapting, etc."

"Oh! I see what you're scheming!" Vincent grinned. "As I'm unable to pour cold water on their hype, I shall simply fight fire with fire! Indeed, so simple, yet so brilliant!"

"Yes, exactly. And, as it happens, I have a piece of information that can really help with this idea." Yuel gave Vincent a teaser of the next topic he was planning to discuss with the team: the Leopards' secret Korean player.

"...." Vincent found himself uncharacteristically speechless in front of the reveal. "... may I ask whether this information is credible?"

"I believe it's true," Yuel said. "At least, the chances are high enough that this warrants a proper discussion with the team. They have to be mentally prepared for this."

"Indeed, they must know what fearsome antagonist awaits them down the road."

"Right," Yuel said. "But, it feels awkward to drop this topic on them while they're celebrating. I'm afraid this euphoric atmosphere will make them dismiss anything I say."

"That is indeed a valid concern." Vincent nodded. "Very well, then I shall be the one to open this act! I shall set up the stage for your grand reveal!"

And so, Vincent set out. He approached the celebrating mob with full intent to strike down their joyous moment. This was no doubt an act befitting a villain. Chessmaster had taken this role upon himself countless times, withstanding the complaints as he forced his allies to wake them up from their daydreaming.

And now, it was Vincent's turn to play this vicious role!