# 125. The Match (1)
—
The silence and stillness that had accumulated like dust quickly scattered at the boy’s footsteps.
It was a barren concrete space, the kind one could find anywhere.
Cracked, broken, and crumbling.
**Creak— Creak—**
As he climbed the metal staircase with its railings torn away.
“…….”
He felt eyes on him.
Not just one pair, but many.
By focusing his senses, he detected the presence of rodents hidden throughout the area.
‘Seven of them on this floor.’
He continued walking without bothering to engage.
The surveillance had already begun the moment he entered the enemy’s spellcasting range.
**Creak—**
He was heading toward the enemy.
**Creak—**
And the enemy knew it too.
**Creeeak—**
Yet, despite that, there was still no reaction.
Even now, as he neared the top floor.
‘What kind of person will he be?’
How many mana circles will he have?
If he was indeed a madman like Curiosa, showing abnormal emotional responses—
How could he use that fact to gain an advantage in this situation?
‘I can end this quickly. If my assumption is correct.’
A small flicker of excitement and anticipation surfaced in a corner of the boy’s mind.
**Vwoom.**
The mana within the gemstone resonated.
“…….”
After ensuring he was out of the summoned creatures’ line of sight, Ray paused on the stairs.
He focused his mind, gathering all the yellow mana that had inadvertently flowed from the gemstone into his body onto his palm.
**Crackle.**
He used it up, dissipating it completely.
Then, he resumed walking.
**Creak— Creak—**
Last night, he had spent all his early hours exploring the gemstone instead of sleeping.
Not only because he had already collapsed into a deep sleep right after the war, making it difficult to sleep again—
But more so because he was unable to suppress his curiosity and fascination toward the gemstone that harbored the possibilities of a rainbow.
**Creeeak— Creak—**
Countless questions and thoughts flickered through his mind like starlight, appearing and vanishing in rapid succession.
‘If the Rainbow is truly a gemstone—’
How should he guide his journey from here on?
‘If just half of a Rainbow Fragment possesses such immense power—’
Then how much power would an intact fragment hold?
And besides the ones owned by Murcred and Blue, where could the other colored fragments be sleeping?
As his thoughts continued, Ray also experimented with and analyzed the gemstone’s mana firsthand.
**Crackle! Crackle!**
…There was no doubt—it would be a highly useful weapon.
That was why he needed to identify its weaknesses.
In battle, a single flaw could have a greater impact on victory or defeat than a hundred strengths.
He meticulously refined his control over the gemstone’s mana.
And after persistent study, he discovered just one drawback.
‘To control the elements, I have to concentrate my entire mind.’
At first glance, it seemed like a simple flaw.
But the chain reaction it caused was far from simple.
**Creak—**
‘If I’m manipulating mana, I can’t move from my position.’
**Creak—**
‘And since I can’t divide my focus, I also can’t cast any other spells simultaneously.’
No magic could be used.
Neither sustained spells—
Nor instant-cast spells.
Upon hearing this, Philip had commented:
_”So, basically, while you’re preparing magic with the gemstone’s mana, you’re completely exposed to outside attacks. You can’t even use simple defensive magic at the same time.”_
Then, he had added an analogy.
_”This thing is basically a cannon.”_
_”A cannon?”_
_”Yeah. A cannon. Incredibly powerful, but severely restricted in mobility, and entirely focused on offense.”_
Ray had read about cannons in books before.
He understood that, when used properly, they were weapons capable of tremendous destruction.
And the first thing that came to mind upon hearing the comparison—
_”Then I’ll have to go with you to meet the enemy officer!”_
—was Veronica.
Suppressing her displeasure at Ray’s insistence on facing the enemy officer alone, she had suddenly brightened, her eyes sparkling.
_”I need to be there so I can protect you!”_
She specialized in defensive magic—she knew that well herself.
“…….”
According to the stages of Veronica’s “White Sun” parameter, her abilities had reached the fourth stage: **”Dazzle.”**
A bright and solidified manifestation of her concern.
Momentarily entranced by the sight, Ray quickly shook himself out of it and responded.
_”No. Still no.”_
_”……!”_
_”I’m going alone. I want you and Philip to focus on something else. It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one concentrating on the Rainbow.”_
Each member of their party had their own goals.
Veronica aimed to identify the cause of the Black Rain and develop treatments for the diseases it brought.
Philip sought to reunite with the mother he had been separated from.
_”If only I benefit, then it’s an unfair contract.”_
It was a phrase Ray had recently learned from a dictionary.
Though Veronica and Philip looked as if they had a lot to say, they nodded in agreement, knowing Ray wouldn’t change his mind.
Then, they whispered to each other.
_”We should hide his dictionary later.”_
_”That huge thing? He’ll find it in no time. He always uses it—for studying and for beating up street kids.”_
In any case—
Ray never made careless decisions.
**Creak— Creak—**
He had thoroughly assessed and analyzed the situation.
‘Moving together would be inefficient in terms of time.’
Splitting up would allow them to complete tasks faster and move on to the next sector more quickly.
**Creak—**
‘And if the enemy is at least a 4th-circle mage, even Veronica’s defense may not hold.’
In that case, she would be more of a burden in battle.
…But more than anything else—
‘I have to go alone.’
He didn’t want to drag Veronica and Philip into this.
It was an instinctive decision rooted deep in his subconscious, though he himself had yet to realize it.
**Creeeak—**
“…….”
As he climbed the stairs, Ray suddenly felt another gaze on him.
This time, it wasn’t from the rodents.
He subtly lowered his gaze.
Glancing at the interior from the corner of his eye—
**Ripple.**
He caught sight of a strange distortion in the mana lingering in the air.
“…….”
**Creak—**
He continued walking as if he hadn’t noticed.
As expected, the distortion in the air drifted behind floating objects, following him.
And along its path, the mana in the surroundings became increasingly scattered.
Ray thought to himself.
‘Another voyeur.’
One on the top floor.
And now, one trailing right behind him.
“…….”
Perhaps the gods themselves were fond of spying, which was why they had granted humans the same nature.
‘A convincing theory.’
Nodding to himself, Ray pressed forward.
And just as he set foot on the stairs leading to the tenth and final floor—
**Tap.**
A sound echoed from above.
**Tap— Tap—**
—
Clear, resonant sounds, like finely crafted marble pieces colliding, continued at intervals of a few seconds.
“……”
A scene seemed to be on the verge of surfacing in his mind.
Listening to the increasingly distinct sounds, he reached the final floor.
A worn-down, crumbling concrete space, no different from the lower floors.
In the still-life-like landscape where everything was frozen in place, no particular object stood out.
The only reason the boy could immediately pinpoint the other person’s location was—
Thud—
The sound.
Like a droplet falling onto the water’s surface, the sound rippled outward, spreading through the space.
It came from the center of the room.
A man sat at a table with a chair in the middle of the spacious area.
Tap— Thud—
He reached out over the table, rearranging small pieces, each the size of a few fingers.
Even as Ray closed the distance, the man never lifted his gaze from the table.
And when Ray finally stopped in front of it, he still didn’t look up as he asked,
“Do you know how to play chess?”
“……”
The man was playing chess alone.
Ray focused his mind, registering the man’s face and quickly committing other relevant details to memory.
‘Mid-twenties, approximately.’
A smooth, refined appearance overall.
A simple shirt and pants.
…Four circles visible on his chest.
Though the distribution of mana varied by circle, the largest presence here was a deep navy mana.
The associated emotion: superiority.
Beyond that, there were traces of mockery, derision, and contempt.
Emotions that typically surfaced when one perceived themselves as above another.
Ray knew them all too well.
He had seen them relentlessly in the slums.
“……”
His gaze flickered.
In the center of the man’s core sat an unnaturally dense mass of navy mana.
Ray knew exactly what formed when all those cold, sharp emotions coalesced into one.
It was—
‘…Arrogance.’
The emotion people called arrogance.
For now, the navy mana remained still.
Confirming this, Ray parted his lips to answer the man’s question.
“I know how to play.”
“Good. Sit.”
Ray glanced to the side.
An empty space.
The only chair at the table was the one the man was sitting in.
As he shifted his gaze, he spotted several overturned chairs scattered across the room.
‘Is he expecting me to sit on the floor?’
There was no actual shortage of chairs.
His intention was obvious. Blatant.
“What are you waiting for? Sit.”
The voice carried an unmistakable pressure.
Ray didn’t respond.
Instead, he reached for one of the chairs lying nearby.
Almost simultaneously, the man extended his hand toward the same chair.
Whoosh—! Crackle! Creak!
The chair, which had risen into the air, suddenly halted mid-flight, trembling violently.
A fierce battle for control over the mana encasing it unfolded.
And then—
Flash!
The chair moved again.
It landed right beside Ray.
Ray stirred up a small gust of wind, dusting off the seat.
Thud.
Without any sense of triumph, he sat down.
“……”
Ray looked up.
The man, who had refused to lift his head this entire time,
“Interesting.”
Was now sitting upright, staring straight at him.
A cryptic smile rested on his face like a mask.
But Ray could see the faint twitch at the corner of his lips.
And he could also sense the slight tremor in the arrogant mass of mana within his core.
The man flicked his hand through the air.
Clatter— Tap! Tap! Tap!
The pieces floating in the air swiftly returned to their proper positions.
“You take white. The weaker player moves first, after all.”
Ray didn’t bother reacting.
He didn’t care which side he played.
He was simply recalling his memories of chess as he watched the pieces settle back into place.
「Huh? This is what we’re playing?」
「What kind of game is this?」
Ray first encountered chess while making a delivery to a general store.
「This isn’t just a game. You could call it a fierce, heated war—one where our very lives are condensed onto the board.」
In truth, the checkered board and the various shaped pieces never really piqued the boy’s interest.
The board, the pieces—everything was black and white.
Just like the colorless landscape of his sector.
However.
「Are you betting on this?」
The money beside the board caught his attention.
「Of course. Playing for fun is fine, but the thrill of having something on the line is incomparable.」
「Not a lot of money, just enough to pass the time. Want to learn?」
The merchants who found Ray competent and efficient in his deliveries didn’t mind teaching him.
Ray nodded.
「Simply put, you move your pieces to capture the opponent’s king. Now, let me explain how each piece moves….」
An hour of explanations and practice games followed.
It didn’t take long for the boy to realize—
He might not know if he’d come to love chess, but he was certain he’d be good at it.
In chess, emotions had no place in decision-making.
Only logic, efficiency, and calculated choices guided the game—the very principles Ray had relied on to survive.
Most importantly—
「Whoa, wait. You saw through my move that easily?」
Ray could read emotions.
Each time a piece moved, he could sense the emotions blooming in his opponent’s core—the type of emotion, the intensity of its tremor.
That meant he could avoid making mistakes and predict his opponent’s moves.
「Impressive for a beginner.」
「Seriously. I almost lost. This kid’s got talent.」
Of course, he didn’t win on his first day.
But that night, before falling asleep in his tent under the bridge, he replayed the matches in his mind.
The next day, he returned to the store.
He played ten games in a row.
And won all ten.
The more he played, the sharper his skill became.
It didn’t take long for word about the boy to spread throughout the market district.
「So this is the kid? The one who plays so well?」
「Alright, let’s see how you fare against me.」
People with an immense sense of pride in their chess skills—so-called ‘chess pride’—flocked to the store.
But all they did was fatten Ray’s pockets before leaving red-faced, making way for the next challenger.
…If things had continued, Ray might have become the wealthiest orphan in Sector 50.
If only the merchants, growing increasingly frustrated with his ever-tightening gameplay, hadn’t eventually banned him with passionate praise.
「……」
At the time, Ray hadn’t understood why he was kicked out.
He had only responded to their compliments with a polite “Thank you.”
So why were they angry?
Maybe it was because their compliments had been laced with expletives for emphasis?
「…People are difficult.」
“……”
That had been quite some time ago.
Now, the present-day Ray understood.
「Aaaagh! I quit! No matter how many times I play, I can’t win!」
「Calm down, Philip. Losing your temper won’t help you make better decisions.」
「Arghhhhh!」
If you keep winning, people get frustrated.
And if you want to maintain smooth relationships, you have to learn when to lose on purpose.
It wasn’t just chess.
That applied to every game.
Ray looked down at the newly arranged chessboard.
‘…I don’t know why he suggested chess.’
Maybe he had some ulterior motive.
Maybe it was just whimsy or amusement.
There were many possibilities, but no clear answer.
One thing, however, was certain.
It wasn’t difficult to go along with his game. And it wasn’t necessarily a bad choice, either.
‘It’ll give me time to assess him.’
Moreover, he had no intention of losing on purpose.
And the one controlling the game—had to be him.
Ray, idly rubbing the white king, spoke in a cool voice.
“Do you like making bets?”
