Chapter 159

A single counterattack.

It was ‘just’ one.

But at the same time, it was also ‘no less than one’.

For a ‘Pawn’, the weakest piece in Deep Dive Chess, to block the attack of a ‘Queen’, the strongest piece, meant that it had overcome a stat difference of ninefold.

‘No…… to be precise, it’s even more than that……!’

Considering that the attacker’s stats were set to be about 50% stronger than the defender’s, Aaron had just succeeded in repelling an opponent nearly fifteen times stronger than himself.

‘Is such a thing even possible……?’

Strictly speaking, it was. But it only ever happened when the gap in skill between the two players was overwhelming.

Which meant this situation was absurd.

Even if Aaron Stingray was born with outstanding combat ability and physical strength, this was still a virtual world. It was a space where he couldn’t rely on combat modules or cyberware.

‘Their base physical abilities should have been set equal. Which means……!’

Aaron Stingray’s thought process.

In other words, was it saying that with nothing but his innate combat sense, without any assistance from machinery, he had overcome an opponent fifteen times stronger?

No, that was nonsense.

No matter what, that should have been impossible……!

‘……No, it is possible.’

If it was Aaron Stingray, it was possible.

The strongest being in this world.

The Emperor of Might.

The kind of man who could declare—seriously—that he could burn this entire city to the ground all by himself, and mean it, even if others would dismiss it as mere bravado.

“……!”

Srrrk.

When Aaron succeeded in his ‘counterattack’, Zyle’s white Queen was shifted elsewhere. Its new location was right beside the Pawn, a perfect target for Aaron’s Knight.

“Tch……!”

“My turn.”

But Aaron didn’t immediately capture the Queen.

What he touched instead was the Pawn.

He ended his turn by moving the Pawn one step forward.

“……What are you doing right now?”

“I thought I’d go easy on you.”

“……!”

Grit.

Zyle unknowingly ground his teeth. The very first thing he had learned as a politician was how to control his emotions and manage his expressions. But he couldn’t suppress the fury that welled up at Aaron’s provocation.

“……Very well. So that’s how it’s going to be.”

Zyle immediately sent his surviving Queen deep into enemy territory. If left unchecked, it would massacre the key pieces in the rear.

“What will you do now?”

“Who knows.”

Aaron once again shoved his Pawn forward recklessly. It was no different from handing Zyle yet another chance to attack.

“……You’ll regret this.”

He clenched his teeth.

Just how lightly did this man think of him to play like this?

Fine then, I’ll answer you in kind.

I’ve grown accustomed to savoring your memories by now. There will be no hesitation. Since it has come to this, I’ll grind you into dust and then take all of those memories for myself.

Resolving himself, Zyle moved his Queen to attack Aaron’s Rook. Once more, their consciousnesses shifted to the battlefield, and each became their piece—the Queen and the Rook—drawing their weapons.

The Queen swung her greatsword down, aiming to cut the Rook’s neck.

But in the very next moment.

“……!?”

When he came back to his senses, Zyle realized he had dropped the greatsword. At the very same instant of recognition, the two of them returned to their player seats, and Zyle belatedly realized Aaron had succeeded in another ‘counterattack’.

‘What on earth just happened……!?’

The white Queen that had failed its attack had once again been displaced to a ridiculous location. And once again, it was in perfect range to be taken. But even now, Aaron ignored the Queen, advancing only his Pawn in silence.

‘Damn it……!’

Zyle realized the momentum of the match was slipping from his grasp.

Perhaps it was already far too late a realization. He had no idea how or why this was happening, but the one thing he was certain of was that he was being driven further and further into a corner.

And above all……

‘That Pawn must be stopped.’

The Pawn that Aaron had been steadily advancing from the very beginning.

If a Pawn reached the end of enemy territory, it could be promoted into any piece. Theoretically, if all eight Pawns were promoted into Queens, one player could command nine Queens at once.

‘I won’t let that happen……!’

In truth, the moment his Queen became vulnerable to Aaron’s Pawn, the match had already been decided. But he couldn’t tolerate being toyed with like this.

Zyle shifted strategy, using his Knight to strike at the advancing black Pawn. The moment he did, Zyle became the Knight on the battlefield, while Aaron became the Pawn, and they faced each other with weapons drawn.

But the result was the same.

‘What is this……!’

Without giving Zyle a chance to respond, Aaron succeeded in another ‘counterattack’ and advanced his Pawn yet again.

In desperation, Zyle sent in his ‘Bishop’ and ‘Rook’ to block it, but both were defeated by Aaron’s counterattacks in turn and were shifted to absurd positions.

‘Insane!’

This wasn’t the Deep Dive Chess Zyle knew. Even if a professional faced an amateur, there was no scenario where one couldn’t capture a single Pawn and was forced to flail about like this.

It didn’t make sense.

This truly didn’t make sense.

Yet while Zyle reeled in disbelief, Aaron’s Pawn continued to advance, brushing aside every obstacle. It didn’t look like a mere ‘Pawn’ anymore, but like a ‘War Chariot’ crushing everything in its path.

One square. Then another.

No matter how many tricks Zyle tried, he only exposed his weaknesses further and lost more of his own pieces.

Deep Dive Chess was supposed to be a game won by subduing the opponent’s King, yet Aaron’s awakening had twisted the very rules of the game into something grotesque.

And then, the final square.

It was Aaron’s turn.

If he moved the Pawn forward just once more, Aaron would command two Queens and utterly humiliate Zyle.

“……”

At last, Zyle surrendered completely, staring blankly at Aaron’s hand as it reached for the piece. His final shred of pride as a Deep Dive Chess player was about to collapse.

Then Aaron spoke.

“……By now, you must understand.”

And then he looked Zyle straight in the eye.

“I don’t want to go back.”

“……What are you talking about?”

A Pawn can’t move backward.

That was what Zyle had been about to answer, but then he snapped back to his senses. He realized that the man’s words weren’t referring to chess at all.

“I trust that this much has been conveyed.”

“……”

In the ears of Zyle, who had spent long years in politics, Aaron’s vague words were immediately interpreted in detail. There was no way not to understand what he meant.

That grim and unpleasant memory.

It was likely a memory from before he became ‘Aaron Stingray’. Though Zyle had only glimpsed fragments of those memories, he could say it with certainty.

He had been unhappy.

He hadn’t wanted to look at reality and had thrown himself into the virtual world as if fleeing. His will to live had barely clung on, not to cold, metallic reality, but to fiction made of words.

And then, by chance.

The world he had clung to became reality.

—I don’t want to go back.

That must have been the truth.

He loved this world more than anyone else. Perhaps even more than the one who had created it.

So all the talk about ‘Aaron Stingray’ being a villain who would destroy this city, or that he would plunge everyone into crisis for his own greed—was nothing but nonsense.

He was the man who had erased even his own personality to protect what he cherished. To have spouted such words in front of such a man—Zyle felt ashamed of himself.

That was why he would, without a doubt, try to protect this place with his own strength.

“……”

Zyle realized just how skewed his perspective had been toward Aaron Stingray until now.

The knowledge he had possessed as a ‘Transmigrator’ and his experience as a justice-driven politician, Zyle Stormwalker, had merged, planting deeply rooted prejudices.

‘So this is the true heart of that man I wanted to know through chess…….’

Hoo.

A sigh mixed with regret.

Zyle looked at Aaron and asked,

“……What should I do?”

“I don’t know either.”

Aaron suddenly flicked his black King with his finger, toppling it over. A sign of surrender.

Soon after, the game ended, and their consciousnesses returned to reality. He muttered, “Boring. Not my taste,” then disconnected the cable and rose from his seat.

“The world I knew has changed too much. I still haven’t decided how to proceed with the next scenario.”

“You mean Act 3 of Part 2.”

“Yes.”

Aaron slipped on his coat.

Then, suddenly narrowing his eyes, he turned his head to the side. Zyle also turned his gaze in the same direction.

And there, Serena appeared, smiling awkwardly.

“D-did you finish? Ahaha……”

“I thought you had gone back first.”

“I wanted to return with you, Aaron.”

Aaron sighed, as if helpless against Serena’s bashful smile, then turned back to Zyle.

“Live as usual for now. I’ll contact you again once your role is decided.”

“……Understood.”

At Zyle’s answer, Aaron only gave a slight nod before striding out of the conference hall. Serena hurried after him with quick steps, leaving Zyle alone in the room.

Zyle began packing away the Deep Dive Chess set piece by piece. At the same time, he recalled Aaron’s terrifying play from earlier.

‘Truly outrageous…….’

After thoroughly toying with him, to then surrender at the end—this was nothing less than an insult to Deep Dive Chess itself. He felt like punching the man in the face, but.

“……I’ll let it slide this time.”

Not that he could have landed the punch anyway.

Grumbling to himself,

Zyle left the conference hall.

I decided to drive myself back to the Academy. Recently, I had gotten a taste for piloting aerial vehicles after grabbing the controls for the first time.

Well, back then I had rammed the Omega Investment building, but this time I planned to drive properly.

“I don’t understand why you care so much about Zyle Stormwalker. If it’s politics, you’d have more than enough with just me.”

Serena, sitting in the passenger seat beside me, asked with a pouty voice. It was a blatant plea for me to pay more attention to her.

“The more cards you have, the better.”

“Hmph……”

Serena gave a sulky snort.

Then silence.

She seemed a little upset, but I didn’t feel guilty. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“……So, what are you planning next?”

“For now, I’ll watch and wait.”

Act 3 of Part 2 was Miyu’s episode.

I still hadn’t figured out exactly how to help her grow. The basic framework was there, but several elements were missing. Since I couldn’t just follow the original, I would have to remake it completely, using the cards I had.

While I was turning that over in my head, Serena suddenly said,

“Oh, right! My university is holding a festival soon!”

“……University?”

“……Why the question mark there?”

“……”

“Don’t tell me you forgot?”

“……”

“You’re so mean……”

Serena whimpered.

Come to think of it, Serena was about eight years younger than me, just starting out in society. In fact, she was around the same age as the kids at the Academy. Attending university wasn’t strange at all.

“Anyway!”

Serena quickly changed her gloomy expression.

She really was a lively girl in many ways.

“There’s going to be a festival, so you have to come! My department is preparing a booth too, so you should stop by.”

“If I get the chance.”

“You have to come!”

Serena pressed again.

But my thoughts were already hooked elsewhere.

‘A festival…….’

Now that I thought of it, Iri had come to me earlier with a proposal. The first big project she had taken on as Student Council President was none other than the school festival.

She had been torn between holding a sports competition or a festival, but it seemed she had chosen the latter in the end.

A thought flashed through my mind.

‘Yes, a festival.’

With that, I could naturally design Act 3 of Part 2 for Miyu.

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