The Queen's First Move

Not everyone was lucky.

There were five Pawns.

And then—

“Master, they say I’m a Rook!”

Lee Jiyoung shouted brightly from where she stood atop the castle wall.

The piece that could move in straight lines.

“Hmph. How lucky.”

“The old man’s one thing, but even Noona got a good draw?”

Ping Lei and Enrique grumbled in unison.

Jiyoung watched their reactions and let out a short, amused laugh.

“You two don’t know the rules of chess very well, do you?”

“It’s similar to Janggi, isn’t it? I know the game.”

“Similar, but different. The Pawn is the weakest piece, but if it reaches the far end of the board, it can transform into any piece you want.”

Promotion.

One of the key differences between chess and Janggi.

A spark of interest flashed in Ping Lei and Enrique’s eyes.

“Noona, that means if you reach the end, you can turn into a Queen, right?”

“To think I can claim it through my own skill instead of mere luck. This is the best position imaginable!”

…Excuse me.

Those two seemed to have a rather severe misunderstanding about chess.

Jiyoung covered her mouth. The way her facial muscles twitched made it obvious she was laughing. At least she had managed to shut down their complaints.

“I’ll leave defense to you.”

“You can count on me, Master!”

The Rook possessed one of chess’s few special movement rules.

Castling.

A rule that swapped the positions of the King and Rook. The prerequisites were strict, but it was a powerful technique for protecting the King. Given that Jiyoung’s abilities were specialized for defense, she had landed a perfect role.

“Brother Youngsu, focus on surviving.”

“I’m ashamed to need such instructions.”

When a player’s position overlapped with a Chess Demon on the field, they were transported to a separate space to fight. It was a battlefield where Youngsu’s command abilities became useless. Still, he had spent good money upgrading his puppet soldiers; he should at least pull his own weight. What worried Jinho more was the possibility of an early elimination and missing out on mission rewards.

“The one in the Queen position… isn’t that Yu Jinho?”

“The hero of the Spice Islands!”

“They say the rewards are way better if you run a mission with Yu Jinho.”

“A Constellation actually intervened in the mission? So the rumor was true.”

The players assigned to other pieces whispered among themselves.

Team matching spanned the entire world. Finding fifteen Platinum-rank players simultaneously within Korea was nearly impossible. With players gathered from every corner of the globe, the reaction was inevitable. Analyst Thomas had given him advance warning, but Jinho hadn’t expected quite this level of buzz.

“Do whatever you want.”

He had no expectation they would follow his orders. As long as they didn’t get in his way, that was enough.

Jinho crossed his arms and calmly observed the situation.

The battlefield had been implemented in a manner strikingly similar to the rules of chess. A closer look, however, revealed several differences from the original model. The biggest distinction was that multiple pieces could judge the situation and move independently. Unlike standard chess, where only one piece moved per turn—

“Let’s go!”

Taking Ping Lei’s shout as the signal, the Pawns on the front line surged forward on their own. The Knights followed behind them. Thanks to their special ability to leap over other pieces, they could choose whichever battlefield they desired. The Queen, meanwhile, could move diagonally or straight but could not jump over pieces, so she had no choice but to wait with her arms crossed.

The Chess Demons on the opposing side began to move as well.

Thanks to the Constellations’ intervention, every Hell Pawn Demon had been transformed into a higher piece. The Hell Pawns at both ends had become Rooks and were now launching direct attacks on players within their straight-line range.

Hmm. Doesn’t that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠render the attack meaningless?

“Why?”

There is only a difference in stance between attacker and defender. In the end, the outcome is decided on the field, is it not?

“The attacking side has an advantage.”

According to standard chess rules, any piece that invades the opponent’s territory wins. But because this wasn’t turn-based like the original game and individual player discretion was factored in, the flow was slightly different.

“All stats of the attacker increase by 100 percent.”

Quite the drastic modification.

“If they don’t settle the fight within five minutes, the attacking side loses.”

A customized chess rule, one could say.

Then the side with superior mobility would hold the advantage.

“There’s also a difference in the demons’ base combat strength.”

Genocide King > Prison Queen > Death Rook > Dark Bishop > Shadow Knight > Hell Pawn.

The one piece of good news was that the King and Queen had not been duplicated. Even so, the Chess Demons’ combat power had risen dramatically.

Did you not say the attacking side’s combat power increases by 100 percent?

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Then is this not an extremely disadvantageous situation?

“When have I ever been in an advantageous one?”

Jinho kept his arms crossed as he scanned the battlefield.

The two strengthened Death Rook Demons easily crushed the players.

“Master, shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Stay put. It’s already inside my range.”

By moving diagonally forward, he could attack the Death Rook Demon. That was exactly what the Chess Demons were counting on. The attacking side received a massive 100 percent combat buff. The defending side was at a clear disadvantage. If he targeted this Death Rook Demon now, the second one waiting at the starting point would immediately advance.

You understand their intent, yet you still choose to move?

“Even if they get stronger, how strong can they possibly get?”

It wasn’t an invincibility effect. At best, their power merely doubled. With his current specs, he could handle Master-rank opponents. Why fear a mere Platinum-rank demon?

He moved diagonally and stepped into the Death Rook Demon’s domain.

The moment their spaces overlapped, his body floated into the air. The black square beneath his feet expanded hundreds of times over, transforming into a ring-shaped arena reminiscent of a martial arts cage.

On the opposite side stood a demon with a long, tower-like body and eight writhing octopus tentacles for legs. It smiled slyly.

“Kuhuhu, human. You’ve fallen into our trap.”

“If I know it’s a trap, it stops being one.”

“Do you truly believe you can defeat my comrade, now twice as strong?”

These demon bastards were all so damn loud. Baal was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same way.

At least his senses were sharp.

His physical abilities had doubled. Jinho closed the distance in a single Shrink step and clenched his fist tightly. He activated Brute Force, then wrapped his hand in Demonic Burst and threw a punch. The Death Rook Demon couldn’t even react before it exploded with a loud bang.

How dull.

“The next one’s the real test.”

The field returned to normal. The second Death Rook Demon immediately advanced as if it had been waiting.

The overlapping field expanded once again, just like the first battle.

This time he was on the defending side.

“Kuhuhu. Try to run for five minutes—if you can.”

The second Death Rook Demon spread its legs wide. The hooks on all eight limbs glinted as they caught the light.

Front, back, left, right. The legs covering every direction slowly closed in.

“You cannot escape.”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

This time he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn’t use Shrink. It was the perfect opportunity to test the combat capabilities of a 100-percent strengthened Death Rook Demon. He slipped between the legs that maintained regular intervals. A chilling sensation brushed across his entire body as bundles of tentacles flew at him from every direction.

He threw a punch into empty space. Every muscle in his body tensed, generating a massive surge of energy. The vibration that erupted from his clenched fist spread outward in a yellow wave that reached thirty meters.

It was like dropping a stone into a still lake. The energy generated from his entire musculature pushed the Death Rook Demon’s legs away.

“This level is not enough to defeat me.”

The hooks shook wildly, but the legs themselves took little damage.

“Not quite there yet.”

What exactly are you testing?

“I’m trying to mix Demonic Burst into my martial techniques.”

Aura and aura blades could be combined with martial arts. He had tried to use Demonic Burst in a similar way, but it wasn’t easy. Brute Force had a simple activation principle, so combining it with Demonic Burst had been straightforward. However, the Giga Impact extracted from the Ogre’s essence had a high difficulty, so it didn’t work on the first try.

“Still, it’s worth practicing. I got the feel for it just now.”

“What are you babbling about, challenger!”

With a sharp cry from the Death Rook Demon, all eight legs came flying toward him.

The shockwave released in proportion to his strength. As Demonic Burst mixed in, a dark crimson hue covered the yellow wave. The instant the Death Rook Demon’s legs touched the wave, they were torn into hundreds of pieces.

A bloody mist dyed the air.

“I told you. I already got the feel for it.”

“What… is this?”

“Thanks to you, I now know your level and I’ve warmed up nicely.”

The Death Rook Demon rolled its eyes left and right, unable to comprehend the situation. There was no need to explain it to the creature. Jinho drove his fist into the demon’s torso, which stood there stupidly with all its legs destroyed. The demon turned into a well-pounded lump of meat. Without hesitation, he devoured its essence.

Hmm. At this rate, reaching 100 percent completion seems unlikely.

“That’s what repeat attempts are for.”

The 53rd-floor mission was essentially a treasure vault of essences. Since each piece spat out an essence, he could obtain all six types. Although the repetition was tedious, there was no reason to refuse when both stats and essences were on the table.

The moment he returned to the original field, the Death Rook Demon he had just defeated moved to the edge of the chessboard—the spot where it had started. The Shadow Knight Demon beside it glared at him. It was a Knight, which had to move two squares forward and then one to the side. Its eyes showed clear regret that the movement rules prevented it from attacking.

It doesn’t seem particularly meaningful.

“It isn’t.”

Then this action is related to the Blueprint of Galatea?

“To obtain the blueprint, certain prerequisites must be met.”

The four corners of the chess field—the starting positions of every Rook. Visiting all of them was the condition for the appearance of the Blueprint of Galatea. He could pressure the enemy while fulfilling the condition at the same time. Two birds with one stone.

It seems there are those watching you.

“I know.”

After the first Great Erosion, people outside could watch Tower missions in real time. Madam was surely observing his every move. Any unnatural behavior would definitely be noted.

But here’s the thing.

Stealing his secrets wouldn’t be so easy.