“Oh fuck, fuck… Fuck!” Luke screamed.

“What the hell happened?” His sister Mandy asked, creeping into the living room. She had just woken up and wasn’t in a good mood.

Luke threw the controller onto the sofa and pointed at the TV screen. An emblematic bloody splash screen signaled his demise. Next to him, a black rectangular box depicted a fantastic artwork of an otherworldly realm with a solitary battered knight looking at the distance.

“This fucking boss killed me for the umpteenth time, that’s what happened!” Luke’s eyes flashed in anger. “Only a sliver of health left, God damn it!”

She shrugged at his first-world problem. “What’s the name of that game again?”

“You don’t remember what you bought me? Hypnotic Souls, sis. It’s fun as hell yet tough as nails.”

“Ah, of course! But if it’s fun then why are you getting so worked up?”

“Because I hate losing that’s why.”

“Hypnotic Souls is a really good name. I love it.”

“Of course, you do but please don’t try anything this time, okay?”

She played the offended card. “When have I ever tried anything, Luke?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Yesterday, the day before, two times last week…”

“Three, actually,” she corrected him. “Mind if I play?”

“I’m not sure you’re up for the challenge.”

“I’m a quick study,” she grabbed the controller.

Luke rolled his eyes. Immediately, she began pressing the buttons in a random order, with no sense of rhythm or style. “What are you doing? You’re never going to win like that, you know?”

“You play your way, I play mine. Besides, I think I’m doing just fine.”

Strangely enough, indeed she was the brave knight on the screen rolling out of the way of the ferocious beast’s attacks. Ditching the polished eagle shield for a two-handed offensive strategy, Mandy hacked, slashed, jabbed, and leaped as numbers flew out of the hairy boss and its life bar turned into a fading memory. “Is it me or did I just win?”
Luke’s jaw dropped so deep it almost fell to the downstairs neighbor’s apartment. “How did you…? Either that’s the best case of beginner’s luck I’ve seen, or you’ve played this before and you’re yanking my chain… again!”

“Feeling humiliated, Luke?” Mandy laughed.

“Seriously… how the fuck did you do that?”

“The game is called Hypnotic Souls and since I’m a hypnotic soul myself…” she winked.

“That’s probably the dumbest explanation I’ve ever heard…”

“Not as dumb as seeing a grown man playing a Barbie game…” she winked again.

Luke’s eyes darted towards the TV which was now oozing pink from every pixel. The knight turned into a princess, the vanquished beast into a fluffy dog playing dead. He shouldn’t have trusted her early birthday present.