Chapter 158

What on earth had I just witnessed?

I had played Deep Dive Chess countless times, but this was the first time I had experienced something like this, and I was bewildered.

‘Just what kind of life has he lived……?’

It had only been a ‘Pawn’.

Just a one-point memory.

In other words, for Aaron, it was such a trivial memory that even if others discovered it, it wouldn’t have mattered much. And yet, what it contained was several times more intense than even capturing the ‘Queen’ of someone who had lived an ordinary life.

……In a very bad sense.

I already felt like my insides were twisting.

When I captured Aaron’s ‘Pawn’ and shared his memory, what flooded in was a torrent of nauseating negativity.

Rage, helplessness, depression, resentment, pain, jealousy, loneliness—all of it mixed together like a cocktail stirred by the clumsy hands of a terrible bartender, forming the worst possible combination and shaking my senses to the core.

What I glimpsed for a moment was someone’s figure.

In a dark room, someone raised their voice at him, pouring out irrational anger, and he accepted it naturally, as if it were the same as always.

His already dulled senses even accepted the newly carved wounds on his body without resistance. He knew that trying to escape from such moments would only lead to something far worse.

‘Damn it…….’

Fortunately, Aaron’s memory had cut off around that point.

Perhaps it was because the memory was too old, but more than that, the purpose of the “Memory Sharing” feature in Deep Dive Chess was originally meant for “bonding.”

Sharing memories was simply a way to strengthen ties between players. It wasn’t meant for forcibly prying into someone’s shameful or secret past.

And yet, precisely because of this, Zyle Stormwalker was all the more shaken.

‘This is almost no different from a Junk Chip.’

A Junk Chip—something deliberately edited to make a memory more provocative, meant to amplify the user’s experience.

Though it was nothing more than an object holding an “exciting” memory, the user’s brain perceived it as “reality.”

That was why Junk Chips were categorized as cyber “drugs.”

Killing someone, being killed, falling into addiction—the more one repeated such memories, the more one’s dopamine system and hormone receptors were utterly destroyed.

Of course, I had never used a Junk Chip myself. But judging from what I felt, Aaron’s memory could easily have been turned into one.

That was the part I couldn’t understand.

Ever since becoming Aaron Stingray, he must have enjoyed a luxurious life, and before that, he had been nothing more than an ordinary web novel reader. So why did he have a memory like that?

“You…… what kind of life have you lived?”

“Who knows.”

Aaron brushed off the question with indifference, as if it were hardly worth answering, and urged me to continue.

“Come on. Make your next move.”

“……Understood.”

While I was still reeling with confusion, Aaron moved his Knight forward. It was a move that threatened the Bishop that had captured his Pawn while also defending his other pieces.

But it was an obvious move.

Something between a beginner and an intermediate level.

He could think a few moves ahead, but there was no real strategy to it. It was clear that while his mind was sharp, he lacked actual chess experience.

“Not bad…… but still lacking.”

“We’ll see about that.”

We exchanged a few more moves.

Though one of Aaron’s Pawns had been captured, his other pieces were still on the board, and their range of movement wasn’t small. It was only a matter of time before one side took the initiative, and then the real battle would begin.

And it was I who struck the first blow.

“You failed to notice this.”

With those words, I boldly drove my Knight forward. In an instant, I pierced through Aaron’s defenses, sacrificing a Pawn as bait.

Bzzt—!

Once again, our consciousnesses shifted into the pieces. Aaron now held the same black sword as before, while I stood mounted on a white horse, spear in hand.

“Hup!”

I thrust my spear straight at Aaron’s heart.

Aaron raised his sword, aiming for a “counterattack.” With nimble footwork, he swung and quickly closed in deep into my guard.

But then—

Suddenly.

Aaron’s steps froze in place.

As though shackled, his movements locked stiff. And my spear pierced his heart clean through, killing him instantly.

Shhht.

We returned once more to our seats at the board. Aaron rolled his neck left and right as though it felt a bit stiff.

“I see. So this is how it works.”

“Now you’re starting to feel it?”

“It felt like having massive shackles bound to my limbs…… quite irritating, really.”

“It’s natural to feel unfamiliar at first. Especially since the ‘Pawn’ is the weakest piece in chess. Its stats drop drastically.”

Generally, three Pawns were said to be equal in value to one Knight. Meaning, in Deep Dive Chess, there was a threefold stat gap between a ‘Pawn’ and a ‘Knight.’

“That’s why, with a Pawn, counterattacks aren’t usually attempted. Spending energy to save such a weak piece isn’t efficient.”

“Ha, interesting.”

A smile formed on Aaron’s lips.

Even though he was gradually falling behind, losing two Pawns, he seemed to be enjoying the game itself. And his reaction made me feel a little lighter too.

The problem was……

“……”

……I hesitated.

Could I really bear to see it again?

That first Pawn’s memory had been so shocking that I feared reliving something just as vile.

“What are you waiting for? Look already.”

“……I know.”

Aaron urged me on, and stubbornness welled up inside me.

Yes, hadn’t I suggested this game precisely to dig into the man’s thoughts and truths? I couldn’t back down now, not over something like this.

So I frowned hard, as if downing a bitter drink, and opened Aaron’s second memory……

“Uweeehhh!”

And immediately, I vomited violently.

Of course, in this virtual space, I couldn’t actually throw up. But the sensation was so revolting that I almost wished I could, just to feel relief.

I was utterly dumbfounded.

Why in the world did he have a memory like this?

“Wh—what the hell is this!? To see your own mother like that, right in front of your eyes…… uuurgh!”

“……”

Aaron gave no reply. He simply made his next move in silence. His ‘Pawn’ had fallen, taken by my ‘Knight,’ but he used his ‘Rook’ to immediately capture it back.

“W–wait……!”

Before Zyle could stop it, their consciousnesses were pulled into the ‘Knight’ and the ‘Rook.’

But since Zyle’s mental state had not yet recovered, Aaron easily crushed him with the Rook. Zyle didn’t even attempt a “counterattack” against the blow.

Shhhht.

Back in his player’s seat, Aaron briefly peeked into the memory stored within Zyle’s Knight and brushed it aside as though it were nothing.

Then he urged him again.

“Come on, make your next move.”

“……!”

Damn it.

Zyle cursed inwardly.

The move he had to make was obvious. The ‘Knight’ he had just lost had been protected by a ‘Pawn.’ If he advanced his piece now, he could easily capture one of Aaron’s key pieces.

But he hesitated.

‘W–what should I do?’

The memory he had seen was from nothing more than a ‘Pawn.’

So then, what kind of memory would be held inside a ‘Rook,’ worth the value of five Pawns? Could he really endure it and remain sane?

“……”

After much hesitation, Zyle ended up avoiding the attack on Aaron’s Rook and chose another move instead. Seeing this, Aaron asked mockingly:

“Did you misread the board?”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

Zyle retorted.

“Attacking a Rook with just a Pawn—the weakest piece—only increases the chance of being countered. It was a strategic choice.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

In fact, in Deep Dive Chess, when players of similar skill fought, attacking higher-ranked pieces with lower-ranked ones required great caution.

Of course, against someone like Aaron, who was playing Deep Dive Chess for the very first time, such reasoning didn’t really hold up.

“……Fine. If that’s what you want to believe.”

Aaron brushed off Zyle’s excuse lightly and made his own move.

It was an extremely aggressive one.

He moved boldly, counting on the fact that Zyle would not dare attack him so easily. It was an open provocation, but Zyle had little choice and was forced into a defensive response.

Thus, their back-and-forth continued.

The game remained evenly matched.

Aaron’s chess skill was that of a beginner, but his moves were fearless. His soldiers rampaged like berserkers unafraid of death, attacking every enemy in sight.

Meanwhile, Zyle only played defensively, too afraid of glimpsing more of those vile memories. He fended off Aaron’s assaults with “counterattacks” and tried to preserve Aaron’s pieces as much as possible, waiting for an opening in the field.

Surrendering would have solved everything easily, but his pride and nature wouldn’t allow it. If he had been the type to easily accept defeat, he never would have risen to become such a powerful politician.

‘Checkmate. That’s the goal.’

Target the King directly, end the game there.

Doing so meant he would have to endure all of Aaron’s dreadful memories at once, but that was preferable to being shaken by them piece by piece and losing the game entirely.

Still, to reach checkmate, Zyle would have no choice but to hunt down a few of Aaron’s pieces to clear the way.

Each time he did, the horrifying memories overwhelmed him, and his faltering mental state caused him to make mistakes, leaving the outcome uncertain.

Aaron, on the other hand, remained composed. Whenever he happened to capture Zyle’s piece and glimpse his memory, he simply nodded with feigned interest.

“Hm.” “I see.” “So that’s how it was.”

Each time Aaron uttered such words, Zyle nearly felt the urge to shut him up by force, but he barely managed to keep his composure.

And so the match dragged on.

As the game neared its climax, both of them realized one thing.

“I just realized…… we must come from different worlds.”

“Seems that way.”

They were from the same planet, Earth, speaking the same language, writing the same characters, even from the same country—but their cultures and histories were subtly different.

“I suspected as much, but it’s still quite a revelation.”

“Agreed.”

Even Zyle, who had belonged to the Transmigrator Alliance, was only realizing it now. That was because the system prevented transmigrators from sharing even their “real names” with each other.

Meanwhile, Aaron advanced a Pawn forward, throwing out a final gambit. Zyle frowned at the sight.

“……What’s this supposed to be?”

“Try capturing it, if you can.”

It was placed in a truly delicate position.

For Zyle to declare “checkmate” on his next turn, he had no choice but to eliminate that Pawn. Aaron seemed utterly confident that Zyle would not dare touch it.

Zyle carefully checked to see if there was some hidden trap he had missed. Finding none, he replied:

“You underestimate me. Do you just want to torment me with ‘that memory’ until the very end?”

“Who knows.”

Aaron gave a cryptic answer.

Zyle didn’t back down and nodded.

“……Fine then. This will be the last move.”

Without hesitation, Zyle moved his ‘Queen’ to strike down the ‘Pawn.’ As a result, both their consciousnesses shifted into their respective pieces.

Zyle now held a massive white greatsword.

Aaron gripped his black blade.

A Queen, worth nine points.

A Pawn, worth one.

The difference in power was overwhelming.

Aaron hadn’t succeeded in a single counterattack so far—surely, this time would be no different.

“This ends now.”

Zyle swung the greatsword with confidence, striking at the Pawn. But the next moment, something unthinkable happened.

Tiiiing—!

With a sharp metallic clang, Zyle’s greatsword flew from his grasp. Aaron’s shabby black sword was still firmly in his hand.

Aaron had countered successfully.

A ‘Pawn’ had repelled the attack of a ‘Queen.’

“……!?”

How was that even possible?

Before Zyle could even voice the question—

Aaron spoke.

“I’m getting used to this now.”

Now, it was his turn.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep