100 – Core VS Core & Nymph VS Nymph #3
Illinois revealed a square object.
8 squares on each side.
Each square divided into black and white.
It was a board game played using pieces like pawns, bishops, knights, queens, and rooks.
It was chess.
Holding it high, Illinois said, “There’s nothing better than this for a match…!”
Is this the first competition they want to play chess in?
Soon, Yu Ara let out a long nasal sound.
“It seems like they really want to take the first match against the Japan team. There’s a mind reader known as ‘Mind Leader’ in the Japanese team. They can read people’s thoughts and hearts.”
Telepathy.
It no longer seemed like a mere fantasy or a comic book story since the fifth industrial revolution.
The woman reading minds, Shizuka.
She had long black hair and wore a puffy red skirt with a white garment resembling traditional Japanese clothing.
If a Shinto priestess from Japan, as seen in the media, suddenly appeared before me, would she look just like this?
The exotic feeling was somewhat impressive.
Reiko said, “Shizuka here is an Awakened with sensing abilities who can detect people’s thoughts, a medium and a priestess! It’s practically impossible for the Korean team to win against her in chess…!”
Covering her mouth with her palm, Core Reiko laughed, “Ho ho ho!”
To play chess against someone who reads minds.
It surely seemed like a tough fight.
“That Illinois must have played chess with Yankees from time to time…! The loser had a harsh rule where they would lose all the sugar and chocolate they had…!”
Tap.
The mind-reading priestess, C-class Awakened Shizuka, had now taken a seat at the table.
In terms of battle and rift, she might not have been able to perform remarkably as a C-class Awakened –
But regarding chess, she could become a powerful joker even stronger than S-class Awakened who breathe fire and freeze ice.
Seo Ye-rim interjected, “Reading people’s thoughts? What a perverse ability! I’ve got many secrets and knowledge to hide in my head. I will pass.”
Indeed.
People feared having their thoughts read.
It was equivalent to being monitored for “internet search history” unexpectedly.
In fact, Oinoy often used the computer and sometimes asked, “Why is the owner of the house curious about why they searched their name so much on the internet?”
Every time, my face blushed, and I wanted to hide like someone who did something wrong.
For the record, Oinoy often searched for their name on the internet too.
Anyway.
Everyone has secrets they want to hide.
Since they might be exposed, telepaths were individuals that people wished to avoid.
“…….”
Is that why?
Shizuka’s face looked calm yet somewhat cold.
“Alright! I’ll do it! I’m confident in chess! I played a game with my dad every night before sleeping since I was little! I haven’t been able to play recently because I’m busy!”
That was when.
Someone stepped forward.
It was Cha Yura with blue hair!
As expected of one of Korea’s S-class Awakened, or now only two remaining, she was confident and assertive, being the daughter of the president and a government mascot idol.
“I have my special ornament, the ‘Frozen Ring’! Hiding thoughts is like eating cold porridge! By the way, this was made for me by the Nymphs when I became an honorary Nymph!”
Swish.
On Cha Yura’s right hand, a ring was worn.
It looked like a golden strap used for tying bread, spinning around her finger with a frozen appearance.
Coris remarked, “This Coris made it out of a golden strap that tied bread bags! The synergy between Yura and Coris was so good that it was possible…!”
Nymphs had abilities to create various items.
In the case of Oinoy, they could create charms that wouldn’t trigger sneezing.
Coris was said to be able to make accessories like rings or necklaces.
For reference, Illinois could create a potion that elevated one’s mood.
Anyway!
Tap.
Cha Yura sat down.
“How about this? You can’t read my heart, right? The magic emanating from this ring disrupts the sensing power. Ha ha ha!”
Cha Yura appeared quite confident.
Even Shizuka, referred to as the “Mind Leader,” seemed a bit tense, furrowing her brow.
The atmosphere was tense in many ways.
Thus, the match began.
♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
♙♙♙♙♙♙♙♙
♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖
The black side was Shizuka from Japan.
The white side was Cha Yura.
With a grin, Shizuka said, “The white side goes first, so you can start. We’ll play a best of three. If you win two games first or the opponent forfeits, that team loses. However, the use of force is strictly prohibited. Understood?”
“Got it.”
Tap.
Cha Yura moved her piece.
♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜♙⬜⬜⬜⬜
♙ ♙ ♙ ⬜ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
♖ ♘ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
Pushing a pawn forward one square.
The crowd gasped at the move.
“Whoa.”
“Indeed.”
“So that’s how it is.”
What exactly had been played that elicited such admiration?
To be honest, I only knew the basic rules of chess and wasn’t good at it.
Perhaps some advanced strategy occurred in that first move without me realizing it!
“…….”
Shizuka.
She frowned as she looked at the one-minute hourglass.
Seemingly a bit tense, she repeatedly wiped the sweat from her palm on her red skirt.
Then she moved her hand as if she had made a decision.
♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ⬜ ♟ ♟ ♟
⬜⬜⬜⬜♟⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜♙⬜⬜⬜⬜
♙ ♙ ♙ ⬜ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
♖ ♘ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
The crowd once again exclaimed, “Of course!” or “Whoa!” in admiration.
This time, I was able to feel the amazement too.
“Oh. Indeed!”
Then—
Lee Jin-A, who was holding Cha Yura’s bag next to me, frowned and quietly whispered to me.
“What’s happening?”
I responded softly with a whisper to her.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I just tried to act like I understood something.”
It felt a bit awkward to be silent.
So, I tried to pretend to know something as well.
However—
From my perspective, having no knowledge of chess, it seemed that Cha Yura and Shizuka had made their initial moves symmetrically.
Was there some meaning in that—
At that moment when I thought that,
Cha Yura seemed to say, “Hehe. I’ve won,” as she moved her hand and picked up a piece.
She gracefully placed the piece on the chessboard, like a swan landing on the lake!
Tap!
It was an exceedingly beautiful motion.
The chessboard, made from high-quality wood, produced a magnificent sound.
And with that astonishing move, people gasped in awe.
“That move…”
“What did I just witness?”
This time, I was genuinely surprised.
I had no choice but to admire it.
♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♙ ♝ ♞ ♜
♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ⬜ ♟ ♟ ♟
⬜⬜⬜⬜♟⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
♙ ♙ ♙ ⬜ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
♖ ♘ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
The pawn that Cha Yura moved forward first.
It immediately captured the opponent’s king!!!
This occurred merely in three turns!
What kind of royal and overwhelming chess is this?
Is chess like this?
Was there some rule in chess played by the children of presidents and conglomerates that I didn’t know?
In a capitalist society, even a simple game has different rules based on capital!
Soon, Illinois trembled.
“What kind of pawn moves on its own and devours the king…? I, Illinois, have never heard of such chess even after a long time…!”
It wasn’t only Illinois trembling.
Seo Ye-rim was also greatly shocked by this spectacle.
“Hey! Where’s the player who plays chess like that in the world? You said you played chess with your dad every day! Are you joking? Do it properly!”
It seemed that this wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t the upper-class rules at all.
“Isn’t this how it goes? This is how we always played when I played chess with my dad every day.”
Oh really.
I had many things I wanted to say but decided to keep them to myself.
I could also infer that the president we occasionally saw on TV was caring towards his daughter.
Cha Yura seemed to have realized something strange too.
“Isn’t it against the rules to sacrifice five pawns to create the Obelisk’s pawn army? My dad said that’s how presidents play chess.”
“Of course, it’s not allowed!”
Seo Ye-rim exploded in anger.
The surrounding air felt intensely heated in an instant.
In reality, the slush that Coris had been consuming melted away in an instant, leaving Coris dejected.
“Hyek…! My favorite slush full of ice bits…! The ice melted, and it turned into just sweet warm water…!”
Slurp—.
Coris drank the melted slush water through a straw.
“But this still tastes good…!”
Coris seemed cheerful no matter what.
Life seemed enjoyable for her.
Soon, Illinois trembled again.
She had a very shocked expression.
“Are you saying that creating the Obelisk’s pawn army is an illegal act…? Back when I played chess with George of Washington, creating a pawn army was my specialty!”
I—.
Couldn’t figure out what was happening.
Anyway.
With that feeling, Korea lost one match in the best-of-three chess match.
The bigger problem was that Cha Yura, who didn’t even know how to play chess, had a high chance of losing in the remaining two matches!
# # #
“Muhuhu, the price of turning that Illinois into an enemy…! This is how it’s going down…! The Nymphs’ grudge is longer than the summer day and colder than the winter night…!”
Illinois laughed wickedly.
Surely, it must be enjoyable to be ahead in the game.
A brief strategy time.
Seo Ye-rim was flustered.
It was because Cha Yura couldn’t play chess as well as she thought.
‘If we stay like this, we’ll lose! If we continue like this, we’re going to lose! It’s just the first round, so I don’t mind losing—but once a player participates in a match, they can’t participate in any other events after….’
Cha Yura.
It was a significant blow to have wasted an S-class Awakened in such a nonsensical match.
‘If we continue like this, we will lose! We’ll lose Haildo to Japan! That malicious Seo Yeon-ja has always copied what I did and had to have the same things I owned to feel relieved!’
Seo Ye-rim realized that Reiko had a liking for Haildo.
It was only natural.
Since Seo Ye-rim and Reiko resembled each other in many ways, from their eating habits to their habits, so much so that they were often asked, “Are you twins?”
If Korea lost in this gathering, not only would they have to relocate headquarters, but they would also truly lose Haildo.
Just at that moment, Lee Jin-A sneered, “What’s this? It’s no big deal.”
Seo Ye-rim snapped back, “What do you mean it’s no big deal!”
“I mean, this chess match. If we just follow the rules well, we can win, right? I think if Cha Yura doesn’t give up and goes all the way, we can win. Easily.”
Lee Jin-A seriously believed that Korea could win.
In the first place, this wasn’t a chess match.
It was a game of strategy and battle between Awakened.
As it seemed, it appeared that only Lee Jin-A realized that here.
‘Well, it’s not too strange. Those of the combat-type Awakened don’t often confront those of the sensing-type, especially the telepathic ones. It’s familiar to me, but…’
Lee Jin-A thought the opportunity had come.
A place brimming with wealthy people and VIPs.
It was sufficient for a big score.
“If Cha Yura just listens to me, I can definitely help win this match. But there’s a condition.”
