At least for now, the assumption that ‘if I hadn’t played chess’ was unnecessary.

Just holding it in my heart made my heart freeze, but it was a thought that I could never erase.

However, at this moment, other things filled my heart.

One was the determination to play well for those who cheered me on.

The other was the determination to fight against an opponent who made great moves.

When I held the two inside, the cold thoughts couldn’t take the warmth away from my hands.

‘The people cheering me on here want me to play chess.’

The moment I recognized the cheering I had seen and heard the moment Jegal Jaegyeol’s soundproof barrier was broken, I could no longer ignore it.

Even if I just looked at the chess board, I could quickly recall the voice calling my name from outside the barrier or the sight of them waving their cheering sticks that were shining like stars.

Furthermore, Eunho was making a move worthy of a knight who had thoroughly analyzed the stalemateris right before my eyes.

Thanks to Eunho’s moves, my hands were getting hotter and hotter.

‘You probably didn’t have time to think, so you’re going to counter this right away?’

Also, Eunho didn’t respond to every move without any problems.

If I made a move that was the same or similar to the one I used as a knight, he would counter it right away without using up the time limit, as if he was claiming, ‘I’ve already studied that move.’

I couldn’t catch Eunho with a weak move or a move I’d already tried.

‘I can’t believe I’ll feel this sensation again.’

I started playing chess again, trying to overcome my weakness in this world.

If someone with a psychic ability looked into my head, they could exploit my weakness by simply showing me a hallucination that resembled a chessboard, an image of me playing, or props related to chess.

It was like they had a way to easily target me without having to use a powerful and large-scale ability, such as reading my family in my memories and implementing a fake so elaborate that I could be fooled.

In fact, when I participated in the chess competition of Eun Gwang-go, my condition was so bad that it would have been difficult to respond if someone had targeted me in the first game.

To prevent this, I played several games, and somehow I was able to play chess again.

However, it was impossible to fully feel the sensation I had felt as a knight just by playing chess to that extent.

‘I can play this kind of chess again.’

I played against strong knights like White Tiger and Cheon Dong-ha, but I couldn’t play this kind of chess with my cold hands, dizzy mind mixed with pain, and difficulty breathing.

And in this world, the possibility of meeting a knight who knew about and studied stalemateris was slim.

That’s why I decided that even if I overcame my ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) weakness and regained the strength to play chess, I would never be able to experience the sensation I had felt before.

However, the repeated games I struggled in this world, the voices cheering me on, and the fights with knights who followed the trajectory of stalemateris were changing me.

‘The situation is not good. I took more pieces, but I lost many pieces. And yet.’

I said I felt the same old feeling, but to be honest, the flow of the game was not so good.

The thought of what if had tied my hands and head, so the moves I made in the meantime were a mess.

I didn’t make a big mistake, nor did I make a move that was so radical that it would affect the flow of the game, but my opponent didn’t miss it and dug into it.

If I had been immersed in the thought of what if, ‘If I hadn’t played chess,’ I might have thought, ‘If I had quit chess right now.’

Somewhere in my heart, I still thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better?’, but this game was so good that I could ignore all of that... ... .

‘It’s fun. It’s enjoyable.’

I hadn’t played stalemate, but I made a pretty sharp move.

If I didn’t have to hide my expression as a chess player, I would have smiled in satisfaction.

When I pressed the chess clock and looked at Eunho,

‘Huh?’

Eunho was smiling.

His face was a mixture of embarrassment, surprise, and joy, as if he couldn’t think of the next move.

Eunho didn’t hide what move he was having trouble with, even though it would be disadvantageous if the opponent found out.

Eunho was so good at hiding his expression that even other tigers would have a hard time losing their minds, but his smile didn’t disappear.

It was the same smile that Cheon Seong-heon showed when he got hit by me while practicing for the debate class.

I thought that my junior whom I had known for a long time was gone, but Cheon Seong-heon was here, polishing his moves in anticipation of the match against Stalemateris.

‘Seong-heon... ... .’

I called his name in my head, looking at my opponent who was still thinking about the next move.

It wasn’t the junior I remembered from the past, but the opponent in front of me.

If it weren’t for the game, I would have definitely said it out loud.

The moves Eun-ho had made so far were not moves that could be made simply because he had Cheon Seong-heon’s memories.

Chess players usually remember almost all the records of the games they played, so they are usually born with excellent memory skills, but it’s not like they can make good moves just because they memorize the records well.

It was a move that I could make after studying my moves for a long time.

Cheon Seong-heon and Eun-ho had definitely been preparing for the game with me.

When I realized that too late, Eun-ho sacrificed a piece to avoid the risk of checkmate.

I also gathered my mind to make the next move and moved my thoughts back to the chess board.

‘I want to make a stalemateless move for Seong-heon’s sake.’

Other people might think it was just a move made by a student with decent chess skills, but I was confident that Eun-ho would understand.

In fact, there was a white tiger that kept looking into my head besides Eunho, but I decided not to think about it.

No matter what I thought, the white tiger would be fidgeting and thinking about breaking the barrier and causing trouble.

No, a white tiger would move its body right away without proper planning or thinking.

I quickly erased my distracting thoughts and focused on countering Eunho’s moves again.

‘If I had more time, I could have made more delicate moves.’

If it had been like the old games, I would have tried to finish quickly before my hands got cold, but now it was blitz chess, so it was regrettable.

Just investing a few seconds in my thoughts shortened the given time limit in an instant.

Even so, the quality of the game did not drop.

As the endgame approached and the number of pieces decreased, Eunho’s intentions became apparent.

‘Yeah. I even prepared a poisoned phone, so I’ll try to stalemate.’

If this match ends in stalemate, the audience won’t think much of it.

They might just think that their skills were similar or that one side made a mistake.

However, a stalemateless match is a more terrible situation than losing.

If I had lost a match in an official match during my prime, the fact that the match ended in stalemate would have been a bigger topic of conversation than the fact that I had lost.

My heart raced when I saw Eunho, who hated stalemates so much, trying to drag the match on like this.

‘Seongheon sometimes talked about chess. He knew I was a chess player back then, but he didn’t show that he had studied and delved into the records to the point of playing a match like this.’

He seemed to want me to return as a chess player or start playing chess as a hobby, but Cheon Seongheon acted as if he didn’t know much about it.

So I pretended to not know my nickname.

Contrary to his expression now, at that time, Cheon Seong-heon really seemed to not know much about me.

―Hyung, you had a nickname when you were a chess player.

―‘Stalemate.’ Right?

Then I made a move while recalling the conversation that followed.

Cheon Seong-heon said that I was a stalemate when I said no.

And then, even though I was avoiding chess at the time, I recalled the terrible rule of stalemate and spoke.

I was always wary of stalemate when the end game was approaching.

‘And you destroy the opponent who tried to stalemate.’

This was no exception even against my beloved junior.

I had no intention of letting him off if he tried to stalemate me.

The speed at which I moved my chess pieces and pressed the chess clock to pass the turn became even faster.

On the other hand, Eunho's hands, which were trying to block all movements of his pieces and his own without giving up the king, slowed down.

Among the many opponents who had tried stalemate, Eunho was a knight with pretty good skills, but that was all.

"Check."

The black queen, who swallowed the poisoned pawn and was in the most dangerous situation, survived until the end and cut off the white king's breath.

Eunho's eyes were filled with a mixture of regret and joy at the moment the black queen subdued the white king.

However, that gaze quickly disappeared and Eunho returned to being a polite junior and knocked down the white king with a smile.

Waaaaaaaah!

As soon as the white king fell, cheers erupted as if Jegal Jaegyeol had lifted the soundproof barrier.

Yongjegeon also did the same thing at the end of every game, and Jegal Jaegyeol never forgot to do it, which was a really good teacher.

Eunho, who had asked for a handshake, spoke before me.

“Thank you, Euishin hyung.”

Eunho happily said to the knight who had been mercilessly pushing his junior to the end, wondering what he was so thankful for.

But at this moment, I was the one who had to express my gratitude.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

I called out the names of Cheon Eunha, Eunho, and Cheon Seongheon so quietly that they couldn’t be heard over the cheers.

Then Eunho opened his eyes wide and reached out his other hand to grab my hand.

Up until now, we had been shaking hands with one hand, but my hand was wrapped around Eunho’s two.

“Yes, Euishin hyung!”

I was surprised by Eunho’s expression and tone, but the other tigers seemed even more surprised.

At this moment, Eunho seemed like he was not the first leader of the clan, nor Cheon Eunha of TC, but just one of my juniors.

Eunho lost the second game, but he was happier than I, who won.

Eunho greeted the audience who cheered with me, and he had a junior-like expression the whole time.

* * *

“Yeon Ga-ram, Class 0, Grade 3, and Class 0, Grade 2"

“Baekhogun!”

The next game followed.

Jegal Jae-geol was now used to calling the name of the White Tiger, so the game progressed naturally.

Geum Chan-wang-chan enthusiastically cheered, provoking our class by saying, “We won’t do cowardly cheers like you guys who break Teacher Jegal’s barrier!”, but the winner was quickly decided.

The White Tiger was the winner.

“Now all that’s left is the third game and the loser’s bracket, but the difference in ability is clear. The members who will go are practically confirmed.”

After that, the chess representative was decided through the loser’s bracket held at the same time as the third game.

Based on the standards of the Chess Olympiad or the World Team Chess Championships, the team for the team event is composed of four main players.

Depending on the competition, the number of candidates is divided into one or two, but this time, only one candidate was chosen.

The final four were decided as I expected.

Cheon Dong-ha, me, the White Tiger, and Eunho.

‘The only real high school student is Cheon Dongha.’

Cheon Dongha must have thought the same, because he made a complicated expression for a moment after seeing the results.

Still, he looked happy to be on the same team as his younger brother.

Now that the chess representative has been decided, there were still representative selections left.

‘PlayerZ’s representative, and the very important representative selection process that has nothing to do with the exchange competition, remains.’

Considering the Chuseok holiday and midterm exam schedule, the exchange competition preparation period and the student representative general election period overlapped.

Eun Kwang High School will soon select a new student representative.