"Isn't being good at games a talent?" Having experienced the Celestial Empire's inclusive, all-embracing culture, Sogo Doma was able to retort when faced with Yukino and the others' incomprehension.
"What kind of talent is playing games?" Yukino Yukinoshita rebutted. "You can't create anything with it..."
"Then what do performers create?" Before the second young lady could finish, Sogo Doma questioned her again.
"How are those two comparable? Actors use their skills to bring wonderful stories to life for us," Yukino Yukinoshita countered once more.
"Professional players also use astonishing plays to show us that games could be played like that." Sogo Doma followed her line of reasoning. "Just like professional shogi players—those who hold titles like Dragon King—what have they created?"
Yukino Yukinoshita: "..."
"Shogi is a contest of intellect against intellect..."
"But games are also contests of intellect against intellect..." Sogo Doma shrugged. "If someone like you played a competitive game, Yukinoshita, I wouldn't even need to touch the controls. I could run circles around you with intellect alone."
"Don't look down on me..."
"Want to try?"
"..." Seeing the certain victory written all over his face, Yukino Yukinoshita chickened out a little. The second young lady fell silent.
Yet Sogo Doma said, "Besides, shogi was originally a kind of game as well. It was only separated from games after being labeled as tradition..."
Yukino Yukinoshita had no response: "..."
Whether it was shogi, go, chess, or anything else, they were fundamentally pastimes created by people in the past—games, in other words. Since those games could become professions, why couldn't esports?
The second young lady began to think.
"Of course, in the Celestial Empire, plenty of people also regarded esports as a monstrous scourge. But there were also far-sighted people who saw esports as an emerging industry. Many esports