Chapter 61: how to become an otaku..
But knowing how insecure women could be about their age, he quickly pretended like he had seen nothing.
"Is this notification sent by the artifact?" Blade asked, just to confirm.
"Yes," Night nodded,and told them what had happened, except for the tiny detail of him being able to see their ages.
Ahem... purely for his own safety.
(^_^;)
Everyone, who had been completely on edge, calmed down a little after that.
Soon, all of them sat around the sofas. The sleek chessboard was placed right in the middle of the table as they looked at it curiously... struggling to decide whether to play it or not.
Just then, Lucy jumped near the chessboard, announcing, "I’ll go first."
She was already deeply guilt-ridden from this entire near-death event; this was her way to prove her choice was actually better than the others; especially Death’s.
Death had looked like she wanted to eat Lucy whole; bones and all, from the way she had glared at her while holding Night in her arms like a fluffy pillow.
As soon as Lucy got near the chessboard, she received a notification.
[Do you wish to play a game of chess?]
[Y/N]
It looked similar to the System’s status screens, almost as if the System was used as a inspiration when designing this artifact.
As soon as she chose ’Yes’, she received a wave of knowledge, similar to learning a System skill, which shared the rules of the game with her.
She was shocked by what she read. Suddenly, she beamed a bright smile like she had just won the lottery.
Excitedly, she looked at Night and said, "Come, let’s play!"
The others looked interested and just as Night was about to reach for the chessboard, Death stopped him.
"Master, let me check if it’s safe first."
Lucy glared at her.
Night looked at this and simply shrugged his shoulders, knowing full well what she really wanted was probably just to beat Lucy in the game.
He got up from her lap, allowing her to focus on the game.
As soon as Death joined the game, traditional chess pieces magically appeared on the board; one side black, the other red.
Night then thought of an idea.
Looking at his balance:
[Cash: 4,311,209,507 SC (4.3 Billion)]
He ordered the Apple Juice from the System Shop, buying 50 glasses in bulk when he saw there was a discount for doing so.
As a long row of cups materialized on the table, their game officially started.
Everyone grabbed a cup as they watched with intense focus. This was a Divine Artifact, after all. The game would not be simple.
As expected, the pieces moved incredibly slowly as Death and Lucy fed their energy into them.
Night quickly noticed that, unlike traditional chess, both players could move simultaneously in this game and they could even attempt to move more than one piece at a time.
Looking closely, he felt that the way energy circulated within each specific piece was entirely different; not just slightly, but drastically different.
The energetic "feel" a Knight gave off versus a Rook was fundamentally distinct.
He saw Death trying to move two pieces at once after seeing Lucy attempt it, only to fail miserably and resume focusing on moving just one piece.
Sara analyzed the display thoughtfully. "This game not only focuses on pure strategy, but also on mana control, multitasking, and absolute focus. I am sure it’s not that simple."
Blade nodded in agreement. "I can sense that many of these pieces not only involve advanced Energy control but also incorporate the laws of karma, destiny, and many more complex concepts."
"It feels like this game isn’t just a simple 1-vs-1. It could probably allow more players as well."
"Like a free-for-all?" Night asked.
"Yes," Blade said. "It’s like this game exists for players to grasp not just personal combat strategy, but group strategy as well, mimicking the real world in a condensed, game-like form. Trying to encompass all aspects of warfare."
"The real world is not unidirectional, after all. It’s multi-layered, with layers upon layers of complexity."
Looking at the intensely focused expressions on Death’s and Lucy’s faces as they physically struggled to move a single piece, Night thought, It looks really difficult.
Lucy was currently winning in terms of movement speed, but Death was not lagging far behind.
About halfway toward the center of the board, Lucy stopped moving her pawn or rather, the movement had become so painstakingly slow that it merely looked like she had stopped.
The others watching looked a bit bored, but at least they had the Apple Juice to amuse themselves with.
Sara complimented the drink, "I have never tried this one, but its sweet taste with just a perfect tinge of sourness is incredibly addictive."
The others nodded in agreement.
The tiny Sage, despite her paperweight size, was already on her third glass.
Burppp!
@( ︶▽︶ )@
She wiped her mouth with pure satisfaction.
Eek eek-eek-ekk!
(I never imagined such wonderful things existed!)
Night smiled. "Apple juice was the one thing I actually looked forward to. In the facility, they used to give it to us once a week."
Hearing this, Sara’s mood soured slightly. If only she could find the people responsible for that facility, she promised to show them what a real Nightmare was.
Not knowing what else to do while watching the slow game, Sara waved her hand over the board. Exactly as Blade had guessed, she received a notification.
[Do you wish to join the ongoing game?]
[Y/N]
Upon accepting, the chessboard immediately underwent a transformation. The board expanded outward and added an entire third set of chess pieces on a new side.
Immediately, Sara focused on moving a pawn. It moved a lot faster than Lucy’s, a clear testament to her superior mana control and skills.
Seeing this, the others quickly did the same.
This time, the chessboard expanded to the full size of the table, its shape morphing into a circle to accommodate all the new players.
The game now looked much more like a grand war-board strategy game than a simple chessboard.
The visual design of their pawns magically changed to match the respective players.
Lucy’s pieces now looked wolf-like, black with tiny white horns. Death’s pieces took on the visage of an undead skeleton army.
The others’ pieces also adopted their unique features.
Sara’s looked like classic witches holding wands; Sage’s looked like tiny, agile monkeys; Eve and Lilith’s looked like sleek combat robots and Blade’s pieces resembled her alien appearance, featuring a white horn and a tail.
Night’s pieces were the most unique.
They looked completely human in shape, but they were covered in a thick swirling black fog, making it impossible to determine whether they were truly human or something else entirely.
As Night focused on moving his first pawn, he initially tried to command it purely mentally. Seeing it not budge an inch, he started channeling his EV energy into it.
As his pure energy came into contact with the piece, it underwent a drastic internal change. The previously aimless energy now moved in a highly refined manner inside the pawn.
It circulated inside the pawn exactly as it would move inside a real, living body. He quickly realized the flow of energy required to move the pawn perfectly matched the natural flow of his own body!
This game had flawlessly managed to replicate his Energy Nadis and somehow enhance them. The energy flowed much smoother and far more efficiently within the game piece.
As he tried to move the energy through the pawn’s internal Nadis, the pawn finally lifted its leg and took a step; oh, so slowly.
(Note - Nadis - Its a Sanskrit word. Nadis are subtle energy channels that carry energy (life force) throughout the body.)
As he circulated the energy faster and faster in perfect rhythm, the physical movements became faster.
Finally, the pawn managed to take a full, solid step. Looking up and seeing the distance he still needed to cover just to reach the center for a simple pawn-vs-pawn clash, he was stunned.
Not wanting to give up so easily, he took a quick sip of Apple Juice and refocused on the game.
After ten minutes of intense focus, when he had almost reached the center, he looked up and saw that Death, Lucy, Sara and Blade’s pawns were already engaged in combat!
As Death’s pawn ducked slowly, Lucy’s pawn swung its claws diagonally. The claw strike was significantly faster, managing to connect perfectly and pushing Death’s pawn backward.
Refusing to give up, Death’s pawn swung its sword, hoping to catch Lucy’s pawn in an awkward posture.
However, Lucy’s pawn dodged the slow strike at an impossible angle. It first ducked, then slanted slightly sideways, with its other claw already moving in a fluid counterattack.
Smack.
The claw hit the head of Death’s pawn, causing it to stumble and fall down.
In a desperate attempt, Death’s pawn used its sword to slash at Lucy’s pawn while laying on the ground, only to receive a swift, brutal kick to the abdomen.
After receiving a couple more heavy strikes, Death’s pawn dissolved into particles, which were then absorbed directly into Lucy’s pawn, making it visibly bigger and look much more menacing.
Slamming her fist on the table, unable to hide her frustration, Death grabbed a cup, drank its contents in a single, angry gulp, and resumed the game with a new pawn.
On the other side of the board, he saw Sara’s and Blade’s pawns clash. Unlike the somewhat one-sided, sluggish fight between Death and Lucy, their fight was incredibly smooth and fast-paced.
But Blade was clearly having the upper hand. Her pawn, wielding a sharp blade, had a distinct close-combat advantage over Sara’s pawn, which only held a wand in its hand.
Every single time Sara’s pawn tried to launch a spell, Blade’s pawn would aggressively attack with the blade, forcing Sara’s piece to back away defensively with each clash.
Without much surprise, in mere moments, Sara’s pawn fell to Blade’s.
It failed to dodge a lethal attack near the heart region, dissolving in one clean strike, the particles were then absorbed into Blade’s pawn making it stronger.
Hearing Blade chuckle softly as she moved her winning piece, Sara quickly picked up a cup as well.
Drinking it down in a hurry, she immediately went back to moving another piece into the fray.
Only for Blade to tease, "Don’t you have actual work to do?"
Sara spoke without even lifting her head from the board. "I am working right now..."
And then she shamelessly added in a soft, barely audible voice, "...I am helping my dear student with his practical combat training...."
Looking at her annoyed yet highly excited face, Night couldn’t help but think:
She definitely has the potential to become an Otaku.
Night:
( ˘ω˘ ) ﾌﾑﾌﾑ
Night nodded to himself and went back to his pawn.
