When the names of the student council president and the disciplinary head from Eun-kwang High were mentioned, two reactions immediately followed: a cheer of excitement, "Oooh!", and a questioning remark, "Already?"

Currently, there are 10 students who have made it to the finals, and both Cheon Dong-ha and I hold seed rights due to our past victory in the school’s chess tournament.

Those with seed rights are placed in such a way that they don’t face each other in the early rounds, and their first win is considered already secured.

In other words, those with seed rights won’t be playing in the first round.

However, there was an exception.

"Did the person who was supposed to face Yeom Jun-yeol for their match withdraw?"

As expected, Kim Shin-rok soon announced that the student who was supposed to face Yeom Jun-yeol had indeed withdrawn.

The student who withdrew was someone both Yeom Jun-yeol and I knew.

It was a name that Eun-ho also knew well, and he immediately responded.

"He was a fellow student who took the entrance exam with me. He couldn’t perform well during the Korea-China-Japan exchange last summer either. His match-up luck wasn’t too good."

Eun-ho’s classmate, whom we had heard the impressive stories about during our live exam session, had declared his withdrawal.

As Eun-ho said, his match-up luck was bad.

After finally making it past the qualifiers, his first opponent in the main round was Yeom Jun-yeol.

Even if he won, his next opponent would be Cheon Dong-ha. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Both were older seniors by two years and were among the strongest students currently at Eun-kwang High.

Since he had participated in the Korea-China-Japan exchange, he had witnessed the performances of both Yeom Jun-yeol, who was the team representative, and Cheon Dong-ha, who had supported as a staff member.

Although it wasn’t the same type of fight, in chess—a battle of wits—he probably didn’t feel confident about defeating either of them.

Moreover, with so many fans of Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha among the students at Eun-kwang High, it was rare to find a first-year student who would have the courage to truly challenge them.

That being said, Eun-ho and other brave 0th class students, all first-year students, would probably fight with everything they had without hesitation.

I recalled the chess match I had seen during the qualifiers with the first-year student.

‘That student could never beat Cheon Dong-ha or Yeom Jun-yeol. Even if the match-up luck had been better, passing the first round would have been the limit. He’s a student who knows how to objectively assess his own abilities, so he must have guessed this.’

It was likely a relief for him not to have to face seniors with so much fan support when he knew he had little chance of winning.

After all, since he had been on the Korea-China-Japan exchange team, he would have more chances to face either Yeom Jun-yeol or Cheon Dong-ha later.

However, there’s a big difference between the games played in practice and the ones played in a competition.

Even though I had rented the gym and invited people to practice matches to get used to the competition atmosphere during my active days, it still felt different from the actual competition.

The student missed a good opportunity.

Although I couldn’t force them to participate, it still felt a bit regretful.

"In accordance with the tournament rules, Cheon Dong-ha, who holds the seed right, and Yeom Jun-yeol, who advanced by default, will both be considered as having won one match each. Therefore, the winner of this match will automatically advance to the final round, skipping the second round."

As Kim Shin-rok briefly explained the tournament rules and the current situation, the excitement in the crowd intensified.

To be selected as the representative, a student must either win two matches to advance to the final round or secure points in the losers' bracket.

Due to the withdrawal, both Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol would proceed to the second round earlier than expected.

With the surge in popularity from the Jeju incident, Yeom Jun-yeol and his right-hand man, Cheon Dong-ha, would now compete for a spot in the final round.

"Ugh! To lose in the first round and have all the attention taken away already...!"

Ong Gil-dong, who had fought a great match with the White Tiger, grumbled in frustration as the grand clash started suddenly, and the audience completely forgot about him.

Being the attention-seeking person who had fought for the attendance of the school refusers, it was probably a bitter pill to swallow that the White Tiger, who had managed to endure without showing up for a long time, had now been forgotten.

I looked at the somewhat gloomy expression of a classmate who didn’t fit the image.

Although he had lost in the first round, there was still the losers' bracket, and even if not now, he would have another chance in the future.

‘He’ll lift his head soon enough and see them.’

Amid the crowd eagerly awaiting the next match, there was one spot that stood out.

The stands were glowing like the aurora.

The kids from my class were cheering with star-shaped light sticks, the aurora-like glow illuminating them.

Just like the moment when I had lifted my head and saw those who supported me during the hardest time in the last tournament, I would soon see the same.

"They’re cheering for both you and me."

I knew that.

When I was in the middle of a match with the White Tiger, the light from the aurora had shifted to white in an almost hypnotic manner as they cheered for him.

Even though he wasn’t around for long and had caused many people’s outfits to tear, the White Tiger was also being cheered, showing how many generous kids were in our class.

Also, those star-shaped light sticks were affectionately called "Star Bong," typically used when cheering for an unknown rising star.

Although I had no idea why they suddenly started using light sticks when the only public performance I’d ever done was playing the triangle with the class, Seum Sa-wol explained it like this:

"Star Bong is mainly used for performances!"

"What performance?"

"Yes, the Uisin performance. When the video of Uisin’s achievements is screened, we all gather in a place like a movie theater. That’s when we use them."

As Sa-wol Seum revealed the behind-the-scenes footage and showed a picture of a packed movie theater with people holding Star Bongs, I was stunned.

Although I had fought against the dark forces without leaving any records, there were times when public matches like those in school events or exchange competitions were filmed and released.

Because of that, videos of our matches, including practice ones, were available for reference.

"Among them, the most popular video was this one. It was the scene where Uisin greeted the juniors!"

It seemed they didn’t just watch the fighting videos.

Sa-wol Seum showed a behind-the-scenes video from the news department, where I was seen thanking the juniors who had come to support me, wearing the team uniform.

The juniors were so kind, and they naturally smiled warmly, earning positive reviews for the footage.

Looking at the Star Bongs my classmates were holding, I recalled that moment and felt a complex mixture of emotions.

"The light sticks symbolizing you are being used to cheer for others as well, and there were many discussions about whether it would be okay, but in the end..."

"Uisin didn’t ask us."

Before I even called, the White Tiger interrupted, and Eun-ho naturally cut him off.

I silently thanked Eun-ho and ignored the White Tiger’s words.

In the meantime, Ong Gil-dong, who had been dejected, finally lifted his head and spotted the class and shouted, "Guys!" Then, with the most fervent shaking of his light stick, his attention-seeking partner, Goo Seul-bi, was also touched.

Even though it wasn’t during the match, the White Tiger had cheered for me back then, so I should be grateful just like that.

"Of course, I’m grateful."

"Even though you said 'thank you,' you didn’t ask for an answer."

"I didn’t say not to answer either."

The White Tiger was being childish, but in the meantime, preparations for the next match continued smoothly.

The coin toss to decide who would play first and second was about to begin.

The results of the coin toss were as follows:

First player: Cheon Dong-ha.

Second player: Yeom Jun-yeol.

"Please begin the match."

As Kim Shin-rok declared the start of the match, Yeom Jun-yeol, the second player, pressed the chess clock button.

The moment the clock started, Cheon Dong-ha moved his piece without hesitation.

For his first move, Cheon Dong-ha moved a white pawn to b3.

This was the opening called the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, opening the diagonal path for the bishop currently on c1.

‘It seems Cheon Dong-ha is planning to use a fianchetto structure.’

The move of placing the bishop on the second rank is called a fianchetto structure. A bishop that moves diagonally has great mobility, and placing a pawn forward to occupy the vacant b2 allows for a solid defensive setup.

The situation on the board was limited to the chessboard, but it suited Cheon Dong-ha’s strategy of thinking broadly.

As expected, Cheon Dong-ha moved his bishop to b2, and Yeom Jun-yeol briefly paused in thought before advancing the black pawn.

It was a measure to block the diagonal control.

Both players seemed to be building defensive and stable positions, but soon Yeom Jun-yeol made an aggressive move.

‘He’s probably planning to exchange bishops if things go south.’

The key to Cheon Dong-ha’s strategy was the bishop.

If Yeom Jun-yeol captured the bishop, Cheon Dong-ha would have no choice but to change his strategy.

Yeom Jun-yeol actively moved his queen to put pressure on the bishop, intending to scorch the board and start over.

It seemed like he was ready to sacrifice his own bishop if necessary to take down his opponent’s bishop.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s bold moves with multiple pieces were as relentless as Ong Gil-dong’s in his earlier match, and even the fans who weren’t familiar with the rules of chess cheered.

However, the bold move also seemed precarious.

"Not a bad move. Very much like Hong-ryong."

Eun-ho commented while projecting their moves with a hologram.

Next to the hologram, the time limit according to blitz chess rules was displayed.

The time limit was 5 minutes, and once the time ran out, only 2 seconds of additional time would be given.

Cheon Dong-ha, while protecting his bishop from Yeom Jun-yeol’s relentless moves, had to calculate carefully, exhausting almost all of his time.

But before the timer hit zero, Cheon Dong-ha moved.

"But you can’t defeat Dong-ha hyung with just that."

Eun-ho said after reading Cheon Dong-ha’s setup.

With bold moves comes a cost.

Objectively speaking, Cheon Dong-ha had the upper hand in chess skills.

However, since blitz chess didn’t allow for much thinking time, if Cheon Dong-ha remained defensive and kept up his pace until his time ran out, Yeom Jun-yeol might have had a chance to win.

But now that Cheon Dong-ha had completed his moves, the momentum had swung in his favor.

Soon, the black pieces began to fall one by one, but Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t capture any of the white pieces protected by the bishop.

"Check."

Although the match took longer than the previous one, the voice of Cheon Dong-ha announcing check indicated the end.

Yeom Jun-yeol admitted defeat and toppled his king.

Since it wasn’t a sudden loss, but a gradual collapse as he lost his pieces, the fans had already prepared themselves for the inevitable, but there was a scream when the king fell.

Still, Yeom Jun-yeol didn’t seem to be agonizing too much over the defeat.

"I know there’s still a gap between Dong-ha and me, but I really wanted to give it my all."

"There’s still the losers' bracket."

"Right."

They spoke in lowered voices, but the sound of the chess pieces moving was clearly captured by the sound equipment set up for the match, so the entire audience heard it.

Yeom Jun-yeol glanced /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ at me, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, but there was a sense of determination in his gaze.

‘There are still midterms, finals, and everything else. Yeom Jun-yeol still has a chance to defeat Cheon Dong-ha.’

I’m sure everyone in the audience, including Yeom Jun-yeol, Cheon Dong-ha, and I, was thinking the same.

As I cheered silently for their rivalry, Eun-ho stood up.

It was time for his match.

Since Eun-ho didn’t show any signs of nervousness, it wasn’t noticeable, but the match was about to start.

"Then, I’ll be back, Uishin-hyung."

"Good luck."

Before I could respond, the White Tiger, who wasn’t even called, interjected, but Eun-ho just nodded toward me and headed to the match.

At this point, except for me—who already had a seed right and was automatically advancing—only Eun-ho and the student council president, Park Seung-hyun, and Yeon Ga-ram remained for the first round.

I watched Eun-ho’s match while checking the next bracket.

Then I realized something important.

‘If things go as they are, my next opponent is...’

I looked up at the recently decided match, and Eun-ho was staring directly at me.

My next opponent in the second round would be Eun-ho.