Chess

A day after the game, I was lying on the grass in the elf village. After I won, Premeus fell into a deep depression. Everyone started getting to know me more. One of the worst parts was that the dark soldiers took advantage of Premeus's low morale and seized the kingdom in a short time. Premeus was nowhere to be seen anymore. The kingdom now belonged to the dark soldiers.

As I continued lying on the grass a little longer, I saw Akari coming from down the road. The moment I saw her, I was slightly surprised. I stood up.

"Akari? What are you doing here?"

"I figured you'd be here, Rei. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"How did you figure it out?"

"Logical steps, that's all. Anyway, I heard you won the game. Good job. I assume you got the notifications too. How many points did you get from this game?"

"I got five hundred points. Apparently we get around a hundred points from average games. Thinking about it that way, I earned a pretty good score. Have you played any games lately?"

"No, I haven't played yet. I've been dealing with the dark soldiers. You helped me with that. When the dark soldiers turned toward Premeus's kingdom, the pressure on our village decreased."

"I see. I figured these things would happen after they lost. It's good that it turned out as I expected."

The system probably doesn't know that the administrators no longer have any ties to us. Would it be right to tell her?

"Akari, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Can I really trust you?"

Akari was surprised when she heard my question.

"Where did that question come from all of a sudden, Rei?"

She continued answering.

"I don't know... That's the most honest answer I can give."

"I understand. Let's change the subject. Where's Haru?"

"I saw Haru walking in the forest the other day. His face looked pale."

"Do you know where he is? I'd like to meet with him."

"He was heading toward our village. He's probably there."

Celebria came up beside us from behind and shot a sharp glance at Akari.

"Rei, who is this woman?"

"A friend of mine."

"How many female friends do you have?"

"A fair few, yeah."

Celebria kept throwing questioning looks at Akari. Akari was avoiding eye contact to prevent an argument. Celebria clearly had confidence. She had the courage to talk about the woman in front of her, right to her face. Maybe she could do it because they were inside her own village. I looked at Akari and scratched my hair.

"Let's go to the other village, Akari."

"Okay."

We headed toward the village together at a brisk walking pace. After the war, the birds had started making sounds again. The surroundings were green, there were beautiful flowers. The area felt more peaceful. We reached the village within thirty minutes.

"Do you want to find Haru?"

"Yes, I want to talk to him."

"Alright, I'll go see Wakamura while I'm here. Hope you find him."

"Thanks."

Aside from me, aside from the game administrators, probably no one knows the system is running on its own. Interesting. In this large environment, we're far from them. I'm not sure if they can repair the computer. Even if they can, it would take a while for them to regain control. In that time, I can put even more distance between us.

Within an hour, I spotted Haru in front of the market. The moment he saw me, he started running quickly. He didn't want to look at my face. The people around who saw us running watched us in alarm. Due to my speed, I caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder.

"Haru, I just want to talk. Please stop!"

After a short while more of chasing, Haru was worn out. He placed his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. I was breathing at a similar rate.

"What are you going to say? Are you going to make fun of me?"

"Why would I make fun of you? It's nothing like that. I'm not that kind of person. You can guess that. On the contrary, you played quite well. Since I knew you wouldn't be able to get through to Premeus, I played on your weak point. When I was playing the game, I thought I was playing against you, not him. Haru, will you listen to me, just a little?"

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After hearing what I said, Haru felt strange.

"Alright, what are you going to say?"

"I'm curious about what motivates you this much. You have a connection with Akari. I can guess you came from the same place as us."

Haru chuckled quietly to himself.

"So you figured it out..."

"Yes, even though I'm not from the same generation as you, I was also there in the past."

"What's your goal then? Why are you so aggressive?"

"I'm not aggressive, alright? All I want is to destroy the system and avenge my brother!"

When the memories came to his mind, Haru started getting angry. He was clenching his teeth.

"I see. Look, our goals are the same. I also want to avenge my mother. That's why I'm aiming to destroy the system too. And I'll tell you something."

"What is it?"

I told him about the plan I had executed and its effects.

"I understand. So that's what you did..."

He hadn't felt a high level of shock like the others. Haru's posture started becoming more upright.

"So you're saying the administrators no longer have control over us. The system entered an emergency mode and is running on its own."

"Yes, that's right. So they set up an emergency system just in case. What I want is this: our goals are the same. In fact, I've progressed in a way that advances your goal. Why don't we become friends?"

"Getting away from the system doesn't bring revenge."

"You're right, but isn't the first step of revenge to escape their control? They won't be able to govern us for a while now. In that time, we'll have many opportunities."

I noticed that Haru was no longer calling me "senpai." I thought that meant he was being more honest.

"How will I know you're not lying?"

"I think the act itself proves it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have won."

"Don't beat around the bush. You don't have to be doing what you say while carrying out the act."

"Then I don't know. But I'm telling you the truth. In the future, I'll carry out actions under this name. That can be presented as proof. I'm telling this to you first. I haven't even told the others yet."

"I understand. I'll think about it. So you want to team up, right?"

"Yes. What's the point of all of us fighting each other? We have the same goal. Let's continue together. Rivals from the seventh floor and other regions will appear before us. We'll have to deal with them. They could already be in the other capsule right now."

"Fine. Since you're not trying to mock me and our goals are the same, I'll consider teaming up. But I'm still on guard. There's still a chance what you're saying is a lie."

"Alright. You can come to me anytime and tell me your decision. Thanks."

I slowly walked away from him. I headed toward the central part of the village.

A notification came to my phone. I immediately pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the screen.

The main game has been cancelled!

It had cancelled the game that was supposed to happen in thirty days. The system is adapting to the situation on its own, I guess. It must be thinking we'll play anyway to earn points.

If no games are played for a long time, players will be sent into forced games!

Still, they added a limit. I wonder what they mean by a long time. Anyway, we'll join a new game soon enough. No need to look any further.

I placed my phone back in my pocket. I walked toward the central building of the village.

When I reached the central building, I saw Akari and Wakamura. I approached them calmly.

"Rei, I heard you won the last game."

Wakamura was speaking as if congratulating me on my win.

"Yes, I won. Thanks."

Akari joined the conversation.

"Did you talk to Haru, Rei?"

"I did. It went well, I think."

"What did you talk about?"

"I tried to convince him to become friends. I don't want pointless fights."

"I see. That might be the right way to think. Haru is a difficult person to deal with."

Akari pulled out her phone and showed the notification. The notification said she would be joining a game within a few days.

"If it's a team game, you'll help, right? It's not to the death, after all."

"Yes, I can. No problem."

When he heard I would help, Wakamura's face took on a better expression.

"Anyway, I'll be going. See you later."

I used my teleportation to return to the elf village. After eating, I told Lie about the situation we were in.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Can they really not control us anymore?"

"At least for a while, the system will run on its own."

"You're telling the truth, right?"

"Why would I lie to you about this?"

"Right, that makes sense..."

Celebria interrupted the conversation. She was standing close to me.

"What are you two talking about?"

"We were talking about the game, Celebria."

"I see. Rei, come on, let's play some chess out back!"

"Chess? Sure."

We sat across from each other at a suitable wooden table out back. Celebria had brought the chess box.

"Are you good at chess, Celebria?"

"I mean, I'm not sure. I'm decent. What about you, Rei?"

"I'm decent too. They used to make me play in the past."

"Make you?"

"Yes."

"That's interesting. Anyway, you're here now. That's better, isn't it?"

I nodded in agreement. We set up the pieces. Celebria was starting with white, she began with e5. I responded with the Sicilian opening. The opening phase ended shortly after. I took paper and a pen from my inventory and wrote for a while, looking at the board.

"What are you writing, Rei? Focus on the game."

"Surprise. You'll see after the game. I've figured out your playstyle."

"We'll see about that..."

I sat on the paper. We continued playing. The game lasted more than fifty moves. In the end, Celebria won the game.

"Hahaaa, I won, Rei!"

"You were good."

"What happened to you figuring out my playstyle? And what about the surprise, Rei?"

Celebria was pleased with her win. She was grinning smugly.

"Yes, the surprise is here."

I stood up from where I was sitting. The moves Celebria and I played after the opening were written in the opening section. The game had progressed exactly as written. The moment Celebria noticed, she was shocked. She picked up the paper and kept looking at it. Every single move after the opening was written out completely in the opening section.

"Rei, how did you do this? How could you have known all the moves that followed back then?"

"I reached this conclusion by taking into account your thought structure, the way you hold pieces, your behavior, how long you thought, and other things."

"But still, isn't this much impossible? You predicted both my moves and your own moves all the way to the end of the game. What if I had played something random?"

"But you didn't. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I still lost."

I smiled gently at Celebria. With my hands in my pockets, I walked toward the elf king's building.

"Good game, Celebria."

Celebria was no longer happy that she had won the game. Rei had deliberately lost, but after seeing the paper, she realized she had actually lost. She silently watched me walk toward the building. She fell deep into thought.

Rei, how can you calculate all of this in such a short time? This must be impossible...

Celebria closed her eyes and shook her head, trying not to think. On one hand, she was upset. On the other, she felt good when she thought that someone like this was by her side. To stop thinking further, she hurried toward her own building.