November 3, 2022
Day 14
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Kelly smiled as she looked at her chess pieces, and then at her enemy's. All the dangerous elites that the mysterious rogue had left behind on the island had been picked for the game, just as she'd hoped.
This skill may be easy to refuse for someone who is roughly the same level as me or stronger, but it still has its uses. By targeting a low-level fighter, I can force much stronger fighters to voluntarily enter my realm and lose most of their advantages.
She spoke.
"Welcome everyone to my realm. My presence Competition is a stickler for the spirit of the game, and as you know, presences can't go against their natures. So, I too am dutybound to explain the rules to you."
After a pause, she continued.
"Firstly, only the Kings, that is Maya and me, may decide the moves. By accepting the invitation to enter the game, you have all given us that authority. But do not worry, because while you can feel pain and die here, you would be unharmed in the real world."
"Secondly, the moves are all standard chess moves, including promotions on reaching the other side of the board."
"Finally, when a piece moves to capture another piece, there will be combat to determine the victor. If the defender wins the combat, the attacker would be the piece that is lost. However, this will not at all be as easy as it sounds, because the attacker gets a +100% modifier to all stats, while the defender gets +125% to one stat that they may choose. The former bonus is obviously much stronger, and in practice, almost impossible to overcome."
Kelly finished by simply speaking.
"All in all, this is just chess with extra steps. Pointless rules added by the system that make no real difference."
Then, she looked expectantly at Maya.
"What are you waiting for? I hope you know that white moves first. Or do I have to explain the rules of chess to you as well?"
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Maya ignored that jibe and tried to read between the lines.
She's definitely trying to downplay the combat element. She's confident in her superiority when it comes to the game itself, and is dissuading me from trying to find alternate ways to win. Well, I'll certainly play the game by the rules and try to get the team into as many favorable engagements as possible. The 100% boost to all stats can certainly be overwhelming, but I'll keep an eye out for opportunities.
While Maya was far from a grandmaster, she was a FIDE-rated player, and while there was a world of difference between a rated player and a grandmaster, she wouldn't give up before even getting started.
Maya started with the King's Pawn, the most popular opening in chess.
[https://i.imgur.com/eiVYYl5.png]
Kelly responded with a Sicilian Defense, moving her c-pawn forward.
[https://i.imgur.com/aunRZvO.png]
Maya knew some strategies to use against the Sicilian defense, but she had played against stronger foes in tournaments and those matches had been completely one-sided. What's more, none of her opponents had been close to the grandmaster level.
She got back to her earlier line of thought, about keeping an eye out for opportunities.
I don't have a chance unless I look past the standard chess rules and make use of my advantages. And I can't wait long to do that. It won't take her long to establish dominance on the board if I let her.
Maya thought back to Ivan and Rahul, and how they had taken on someone more than twice as strong as them.
I have to be aggressive from the start. Once the momentum is in her favor, it'll be impossible to turn things around.
And so, Maya decided to forgo any of the standard strategies and instead moved Rahul to F3, preparing to sacrifice a pawn in the next move. Kelly responded with a standard follow-up, pushing her pawn to D6.
[https://i.imgur.com/aLU6tSi.png]
Maya muttered an apology as she moved one of Shahid's elites to D4.
A sacrifice to buy Rahul a favorable first engagement and allow him to build momentum.
[https://i.imgur.com/dQAZx4j.png]
What is this girl doing? She seemed competent at first but is behaving like an idiot now. I'd capture a Center pawn in exchange for a wing pawn any day of the week.
Kelly thought as she moved to capture the pawn, and the first battle began.
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Maya watched in awe as the world around her changed and she found herself seated with her group in a colosseum-like arena. For some reason, perhaps to prevent anyone from advising Maya on strategy, no one was able to speak to each other.
Was this restriction there during the game as well?
Maya wondered. She had been so focused on the moves that she hadn't noticed.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the two fighters appeared in the center of the arena. Shahid's elite #49 was equipped with a bow and arrow, while the fighter on the other side had a long spear and a massive shield. They seemed to be held in place by some aura, until they were suddenly released.
The moment she was free, the archer made a run for it, sprinting away from the spearman and creating some distance. The spearman ran to follow her but was encumbered by the heavy shield and also generally slower.
She must have chosen to get an agility boost and is trying not to be caught in close-range combat against a melee fighter with boosted stats.
As the burqa-clad woman made it to a safe distance and equipped her bow, Maya began to hope.
Had I prematurely dismissed this fight as a lost cause?
But when the spearmen simply crouched behind his massive shield and started advancing in slow steps, Maya sighed.
As expected, the arrows from the archer crashed harmlessly against the shield, and the spearman kept closing in. The woman made a run for it again, and the process repeated many times, until finally, the constant running and shooting exhausted her vastly reduced pool of stamina and the elite was swiftly and mercilessly killed.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She'll be fine.
Maya reassured herself and got back into the game.
[https://i.imgur.com/goec370.png]
A black pawn was now on d4, ripe for the taking, and she moved Rahul to that position.
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Rahul found himself in the center of a large arena. After being nerfed to a total of 50, and then boosted again by 100%, all his physical stats except for endurance ended up coming quite close to their actual values in the outside world.
I may be imagining things here, but it feels like Maya is playing too aggressively.
After giving it further thought, Rahul arrived at a conclusion.
She's smart, and wouldn't be doing this without a reason. And there is only one explanation I can think of. She must have engineered this situation knowing that I need time to build momentum, giving me an easy start when I'm at my weakest.
With that in mind, Rahul started the battle by doing just what the archer earlier had done. Running away from that spearman.
Encouraged by his recent victory and the sight of a fleeing opponent, the spearman ignored his disadvantageous position and gave chase.
Unfortunately, he had boosted his strength, and couldn't quite catch up to the boosted opponent.
After taking the time to get used to his largely changed stats, Rahul turned around to face the enemy.
Taking a page out of Shahid's book, Rahul decided it'd be best not to use the knives he had been provided by the arena and instead fight the enemy bare-fisted, taking it easy and prolonging the fight.
To give Maya a signal that he understood her thinking, he made a show of it, looking toward her, raising his knives, and dropping them.
Rahul thought she saw Maya facepalming in the distance.
Have I misunderstood her?
Then, dismissing that chain of thoughts, Rahul got to work.
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It was only fifteen minutes later, with his intent points at 3, that Rahul finally decided he should finish this up.
Given the relative strength of himself and his enemy, he doubted it'd be possible to accumulate any more intent.
You can game the system, but only so much.
Maya looked at that fool.
I get that you were trying to communicate your understanding of the situation, but could you at least have been a little subtle about it?
This was a problem.
Kelly had seen Rahul fight Shahid and must have observed his need to build up intent before he could use his movement skills. If she hadn't seen through my plan earlier, she certainly would have now. She would no longer be assuming that I made a mistake by sacrificing the pawn, and would adjust her tactics right away. I can't hold this ace for later. I must gain an edge while I still can.
With that thought, Maya waited for Kelly to move.
And when Kelly nonchalantly moved her knight to guard to threaten the exposed pawn as if nothing had happened, Maya knew the ruse was up.
[https://i.imgur.com/NFKbmpM.png]
The two exchanged glances, and Maya decided it was time to force Kelly's hand.
She came up with a plan, thinking three moves ahead, evaluating the risks and rewards, and then made up her mind.
She moved Rahul to E6, right into the maw of death, hoping that his accumulated Momentum would allow him to win and eke out an advantage for the team over the next two turns.
Before he perished.
[https://i.imgur.com/g5fevLf.png]
Kelly looked at the board and saw the Queen and Bishop within the knight's reach.
Within Rahul's reach.
She corrected herself, deliberately thinking about the individual and not just the chess piece.
She could delay Rahul by moving her Queen to check the white king, but that only would buy her time. No matter how much she delayed it, she had a decision to make.
The simple choice was between attacking Rahul or trying to run and do damage control.
Attacking Rahul with the bishop or the pawn was her first choice. He may be strong, but with a 100% advantage in favor of the attacker, he would certainly lose.
Or would he? He is fast, and with 125% added to agility, he would be even faster.
Kelly started to question herself, and after a lot of thinking, started to give some serious consideration to her second option.
I could move my queen out of the way and let Rahul try to capture my bishop in the next turn. But then, it would be him with a 100% boost fighting against my bishop, and I'd lose a piece without forcing Rahul to exhaust his momentum.
Kelly shook her head.
It'd just end with one fewer piece on my side, and no benefits whatsoever. Rahul would be a menace throughout the game, freely moving about the board without caring whether a position is threatened by my pieces or not.
But the alternate involved risking her queen.
Kelly felt like there was no good answer, but then she thought back to the fight between Rahul and Shahid.
Hadn't Rahul started with an all-out attack in which he stabbed a knife in Shahid's neck? The man had been largely unfazed. I saw his character stats, he was not a rogue but a Sniper, and his Strength and Vitality were not that high for his level. At level 23, Rahul must have at least half as many points in Strength.
As she considered that, she realized something.
My spearman too would have been boosted to twice Rahul's strength, more or less. He should be fine...
With that thought, Kelly decided to attack Rahul, using her pawn instead of the bishop. The former was more valuable as a piece, and also, being an archer, was not a good match against Rahul.
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While Kelly was going through those thoughts, Rahul had his own decisions to make.
After putting the 125% bonus into agility, I need to go all in with an attack. I see two options.
I can rely solely on that agility boost to move and pour all the 3 intent points into a Kinetic Cleave. Executed at point-blank range, right at the enemy's neck, it'll surely behead him. But a 125% bonus is not that much more than what my opponent gets, and my kinetic cleave is rather slow when it starts, only getting faster the further it goes.
He might be able to dodge in time.
The second option is to do what I did with Shahid and pour my intent into both moving and striking with a blade. I saw Shahid's stats though, he had more than 3 times as much strength as me, mainly because all my points are invested in endurance. Due to the stat balancing that has happened in this realm, the enemy I face will have only twice as much strength. The knife would hurt them a lot more than it hurt Shahid.
But would it be enough?
As he kept pondering which of the two options was superior, Rahul found himself back in the arena, frozen.
While reading the 6 choices in front of him, Rahul suddenly realized he also had a third option.
With a satisfied smile, he chose to enhance his strength by 125%.
As soon as he was released from the aura, Rahul moved.
The next instant, his knife had penetrated deep into the enemy's throat and severed his spine, instantly killing him.
"I'm sorry."
Rahul whispered to the enemy, feeling a bit less guilty about it than last time since he gave this one a quick and painless death.
Despite it not being quite real, Rahul still felt a deep unease in his heart for having killed two humans.
He shrugged it off.
I can't afford to be soft, I still have a job to do. There's no saying what will happen to us if we lose. I have to kill the queen.
Soon, Rahul found himself teleported back to the board. The pawn who had attacked him was now gone.
[https://i.imgur.com/IzR77Gm.png]
Maya felt a weird sense of wrongness, seeing the board change in a way that was not at all possible in a real chess game. But that unease was far eclipsed by her delight at Rahul's success.
She made her next move, hoping that the Queen would be foolish enough to allow Rahul to build up his momentum again.
But that was not to be.
The queen, a mage, had followed the game so far and was no idiot. The instant the battle started, she uttered the words "resign", and conceded the battle.
Her body silently disappeared from the arena.
Having vanquished the queen, a momentum-less Rahul now stood right next to a furious Kelly on the board.
[https://i.imgur.com/6y7hIyh.png]
The King moved to capture the knight.
This time, Rahul chose agility, but the 25% speed advantage was far from enough to outmaneuver Kelly, who was now hurling fireballs with a speed and finesse that she hadn't demonstrated on the castle walls.
Rahul's cuts and stabs only managed to create shallow wounds on the mage's enhanced body, while her fireballs burned his flesh.
Knowing that this wasn't his true body helped Rahul keep fighting through the pain. As he kept moving despite his HP falling lower and lower, Rahul realized that his failures when the fights got rough weren't all due to pain, but also emerged from a sense of self-preservation.
As the fight went on, he also had a feeling that the pain he experienced was somewhat muted in this realm.
In the end, the ability to fight without worrying about death or permanent injury did not change the outcome. Rahul's HP soon hit zero and he disappeared from the arena.
Maya silently thanked him for all that he did. Because of him, she was able to trade a knight and a pawn for two pawns and the queen.
[https://i.imgur.com/evpigli.png]
Maya looked at the board. If this were a regular game of chess among equals, white would win 9 out of 10 times from here.
But it wasn't a regular game of chess, and she and Kelly were in completely different leagues. While Maya had gone a long way toward seizing the advantage on the board, she had lost her strongest fighter in the process.
Rahul was now out of the game, and it was White's turn again.