The New King Ascends
People stood up.
Instant reactions from the audience.
Applause cascaded down like an avalanche.
Excitement, cheers, and raw heat filled the air.
The thrill I had never felt in Baduk or archery surged up my spine with a jolt.
'……I did it.'
I drew in a sharp breath.
A dizzying mix of relief and disbelief escaped me.
In truth, there had been no time to prepare the stage, and no better choice had been offered.
I had only sung what I could in the moment.
Yet the judges' reaction had not been poor, and only then could I finally exhale.
At that moment.
At the far edge of the stage.
Shin Jae-ho, the legendary figure, was clapping while looking down at me with slow, quiet intensity.
'……Not the worst reaction, it seems.'
It had been a difficult challenge even from my perspective.
Sung without proper preparation, his song in front of him.
And now, the evaluation had begun.
"May I ask one thing of Mr. Checkmate?"
A blank expression.
Polite, refined tone.
He had sent applause, but seeing Shin Jae-ho lift the microphone made tension impossible to ignore.
"This song… Did you prepare it today? Is that true?"
'Ah.'
My breath caught.
I fell silent for a moment.
Perhaps it had not seemed sufficient in his eyes.
With a modulated voice, I answered carefully.
"Yes. It is true."
The studio buzzed with surprise.
Shocked faces.
Disbelieving eyes.
I would have reacted the same way.
"……Even so, you sang this song in front of me?"
Another question.
Shin Jae-ho's gaze remained locked on me.
Even masked, it felt as though he saw through everything.
It was hard to read the depths of his eyes.
Yet.
"Yes."
Not a single breath or glance wavered.
The short answer carried sincerity.
The song I had sung the most.
The one I loved the most.
The one I could lose myself in the most.
If I had to go back, I would make the same choice.
Without interpretation, without worry, without thought, the notes rose.
'There will be no more songs like this in my life.'
Only once.
A beloved hit song and life song I could sing without preparation.
The legendary Shin Jae-ho looked at me quietly.
And spoke slowly.
"Even so, I heard your story."
His resonant words.
For a moment, my breath seemed to stop.
"Because it was not a song for the competition, it was even better."
Shin Jae-ho smiled quietly.
"I wonder what the face behind that mask is. I would like to have a drink with you one day."
With those words, Shin Jae-ho set the microphone down.
He said little.
He argued nothing about the song.
Yet that was undoubtedly the highest praise.
My mind grew hazy, no thoughts arose.
The other celebrity judges' praises continued, but they barely reached my ears.
After all evaluations, I descended to the backstage area.
My mood was strange.
Like a calm afterglow following the pouring out of everything.
But there was no time to linger in the aftertaste.
The next round, the second stage.
The final performer 'Oligosaccharide' who would challenge the King with me began to sing.
The selection was Bobo's "Late Regret".
A song filled with deep regret and longing that arrives only after love has ended.
'She's a real singer.'
An idol-turned-flower girl, a musical actor-turned-record boy had a different caliber from me.
Stable yet with exceptional skill.
Good resonance in the high notes.
The celebrity judges' evaluations were all praise.
If it were this kind of evaluation, it should be normal to feel anxious.
'But why… does it not feel like I will lose?'
At that moment, panelist Yoon Jin-seok raised the microphone and delivered a sharp remark.
"Your singing is really good. But… didn't it lack one thing?"
The judges' votes followed.
The scoreboard immediately displayed the result.
61 to 38.
Host Kim Woo-jin gripped the microphone and shouted with all his might.
"With this, the King challenger is Checkmate!"
Then, the identity of 'Oligosaccharide' was revealed.
Singer Oh Yeon-su.
An old singer in her late 30s. Retired for a long time, her face was unfamiliar.
I silently looked up at the stage.
The Antique Boss sitting on the throne slowly stood up and came down.
Soon, the stage was about to begin.
The studio darkened again.
I stood on the backstage side and quietly caught my breath.
'……He said he was a singer-songwriter, Gyeonwoo.'
Already, the identity of the King Antique Boss had been known for a while.
A voice with unique non-mainstream sensibility.
Husky mid-low register and textured high notes.
A singer with undeniable individuality.
Today, he brought out an experimental song.
Harm's "Departure".
Lyrics that dig into the heart with restrained sadness.
He expressed it with his own unique tone that no one could imitate.
'Wow, well done.'
A sigh of admiration escaped me.
Unwavering completion.
Resonance that dominates the stage even without high notes.
Even the breath he nonchalantly exhaled carried emotion.
'King, maybe I underestimated him too much…'
As anxiety grew, the stage ended.
A silence so profound that even the sound of breathing was inaudible.
When the afterglow faded, the judges sent applause without hesitation.
"Antique Boss! Antique Boss!"
The celebrity judges' evaluations were, of course, all praise.
To even veteran like them, it was a stage beyond fresh shock.
It was the same for legendary Shin Jae-ho.
"……I feel like I heard a scream without even a handful of tears. It has been a long time since I have heard a stage I want to listen to again."
After Antique Boss's evaluation, I took the stage.
Surrounded by host Kim Woo-jin in the center, I and Antique Boss stood side by side.
There was a strange tension in Kim Woo-jin's voice.
"Well then! Will a new king be born, or will Antique Boss succeed in defending!"
The entire audience held their breath.
"The protagonist who will take the seat of the 246th King!"
A momentary pause in breathing.
Tension building.
I unconsciously swallowed my breath.
In the heightened sound, the number appeared on the scoreboard.
51 to 48.
Just three votes.
Kim Woo-jin shouted with full voice.
"Checkmate!"
Instantly, the entire studio erupted.
Cheers.
Surprise.
Some stood up from their seats and stood.
'Really… me?'
I stood silently.
My head turned white as if dizzy.
The roulette spun for becoming the king, and the talent was picked like a miracle.
Nevertheless.
The fact that I had truly ascended to the king still did not feel real.
"Mr. Checkmate, congratulations! You have become the king! How do you feel right now?"
I slowly took a deep breath.
I carefully chose words for what to say.
And answered with a strangely modulated voice.
"Thank you. I will return with a more prepared stage and better songs."
I briefly caught my breath.
I had not properly shown my music yet.
I thought that providing a stage worthy of me was etiquette to those who picked me.
And.
"I will also try to make the next stage 'Checkmate'. Thank you."
This was the story I would write next.
* * *
The broadcast was scheduled for the first week of the new year, three weeks later.
It was due to the year-end awards, special programming, and the resulting hiatus.
Whoosh.
I was now in the Inhive office.
Standing by the window, I took a sip of coffee.
Under the steaming mug, a large tree sparkled.
Christmas Eve.
People wore thick coats, couples walked arm in arm on the streets.
Chilly wind, dazzling lights, and faintly heard carols.
But I did not particularly feel lonely.
No, to be precise, there was no time to feel it.
'A hectic year.'
Baduk.
Archery.
And singing.
Looking back, it was a year that changed my life entirely.
And it was still changing.
Beep beep beep.
Jeong Soo-yeon, the head of department, entered after unlocking the door lock with the password.
She had a winter coat and a scarf wrapped around her neck.
"You could have called, why did you come?"
I set down the coffee cup and said.
"I thought it would be better to see your face and talk. To create a Christmas atmosphere among lonely people."
She slightly lifted the corner of her mouth, took out the wine she had hidden behind her.
"To drink celebratory drinks together."
"……Celebratory drinks? Soo-yeon, no way?"
Jeong Soo-yeon smiled with her eyes.
Then, she took an iPad from her handbag and showed me a small screen.
Netflix Original Project Checkmate (tentative title)
"It was organized in today's morning meeting and production was confirmed."
I swallowed my breath for a moment.
"……Really, you worked hard."
"Compared to me, thanks to In-ha doing well. Because the rights sold in the US are doing well. The king… it seems to be selling better than expected?"
We looked at each each other and smiled.
"The format is a hybrid genre of documentary and variety. A bit unfamiliar, but since it is a production company that worked with Netflix, communication should not be a problem."
"When does filming start?"
"Early next year. There are many major chess tournaments starting from spring. They said to build international ratings before that."
If there is a barrier to joining a Baduk club, there is international rating in chess.
You have to participate in offline tournaments to build international ratings to compete in higher tournaments.
'……The good thing is that there are really many chess tournaments.'
Chess is the most popular board game in the world.
Unlike Baduk limited to East Asia, chess is overwhelmingly superior in player population, media exposure, prize money, and popularity.
It is included in Western elementary education curricula.
The number of people worldwide who can play chess is said to exceed 700 million.
"And it is not confirmed yet, but they want to have one more promising chess player appear."
"A promising chess player?"
"Yes. Not so much a rival, but a feeling of contrast with In-ha? In the beginning, they will explain chess culture and tournaments too. Comparison and structure are needed."
"Who is that?"
"Not decided yet. The Netflix side said they will contact separately about that part."
Jeong Soo-yeon added that I should not worry.
"Well, whoever it is, In-ha does not need to worry. The narrative itself will be different."
The pinnacle of East Asian board games, Baduk, contrasting with chess.
The man who reached the apex, Ipshin.
A chess challenge match for such a man.
Even starting from local tournaments like heading straight into the unknown.
Everyone would have no choice but to be curious.
Unlike chess that was conquered by AI early on.
Baduk endured for a longer time, and there are even professional players who first defeated AI.
To those who had compared 'which is superior, Baduk or chess' implicitly.
This story could be one answer to that question.
"……I will take care of Netflix, In-ha. Please focus on the next tournament. It is almost time to confirm the main sponsor."
I quietly nodded.
New Year.
The legendary Oh Soo 9-dan and an event match are scheduled.
Single-color Baduk.
A variant rule using only one color of stones.
The way it becomes more important in memory, strategic thinking, and senses.
Despite being an event match, the interest and attention of many Baduk fans from China, Japan, and Korea are already focused.
For me, this was a match that made me tense more than usual.
"Do not worry. As always, I will play the way I lost."
I set down the cup and smiled briefly.
"……With a song I will not lose."