Book 7: Chapter 2: Listen, My Colleague, The Game Has Begun Before You Even Sit Down at The Table. (1/2)
Corey Lipson was a third-year student at Serendia Academy.
As the third son of a baronial family without any special skills, he chose the chess class as his elective course. He had been playing chess with his older brothers since he was a child, so he thought he could play at least as well as anyone else.
However, the level of chess class at Serendia Academy was far higher than Corey had expected.
In that class, students were divided into three groups according to their skills: upper, middle, and lower. Basically, students in the same group play against each other, and their rank would change depending on the winning percentage.
Those who had won prizes in the past or had already taken chess classes in the previous year would be started in the upper or middle group, but Corey was grouped in the lower group. Moreover, he was at the bottom of the lower group.
Such third-year students at the bottom of the class were naturally forced into the role of taking care of the first and second-year students.
”Okay, the first- and second-year students can start pairing up randomly with each other.”
After Corey gave a few cursory instructions, the juniors paired up with those closest to them and began to play the game.
However, there was one girl who was standing there dazedly with no one to pair up with. She was a petite girl with light brown hair. Her figure was so small that one might think she was a student from middle school, but judging from her sleeve ornaments, she was a second-year student in high school.
”You're not getting a partner, huh. I guess you could pair up with me.”
”O-O-Okay… p-please take care of me…”
The girl bowed her head and took a seat across from Corey. It was rare to see a female student in a chess class, after all.
Not many girls took chess classes since they tended to be weaker than boys. In the first place, chess was primarily played by men.
Lucky, so Corey secretly giggled.
Students will keep track of their wins and losses in this class, and if their winning percentage was high enough, they could move to the higher group.
Let's get a quick win against this girl, raise my winning percentage, calculated Corey as he laid out his chess pieces.
”How long have you been playing chess? Have you participated in any tournaments?”
”I've only got started recently… I read the manual and learned the rules, yesterday.”
Ahhhh, there they are. Some people think they can play chess just by reading a manual.
He was referring to himself, of course.
”Since this game will be recorded, I won't give you a handicap, is that okay?”
”I-I'm fine with it.”
The girl nodded and stared at the board.
I think this will be a piece of cake, laughed Corey without showing it.
”…It's checkmate.”
The girl declared as she moved her black knight.
Corey stared down at the board, breaking out into a cold sweat.
…wait, wait wait, wait.
Turning away from the board for a moment, he rubbed his eyes.
Then, he looked at the board again…
…wait, wait, wait, what is this, what is this…
Pondered Corey, before long, he covered his face with his hands and hung his head.
To give an honest impression of this game, there was only one thing to say: ‘Before I knew it, I had lost.'
With frightening speed and precision, the girl overwhelmed Corey. He knew how mercilessly strong she was. It was the same as when he played chess with a person from the higher group… if not better.
”… I lost.”
When Corey surrendered, the girl let out a relieved breath and patted her chest.
Then, all of a sudden, Corey's shoulders became very heavy. It wasn't that he was slumped over in his defeat. There was an arm on his shoulder and someone was leaning on him.
When Corey twisted his head around, he saw Elliot Howard, his classmate, leaning over his shoulder, peering at the board.
If this was just a classmate, he would have just brushed it off and said, ‘What are you doing?' But Elliot Howard was a privileged classmate and a member of the student council. He's too different from him, who was the third son of a mediocre baronial family.
Elliot looked at the board for a moment, leaned over, then tapped Corey on the shoulder.
”Do you mind switch a place with me?”
”S-Sure.”
As Corey quickly offered up his seat, Elliot took his place, sitting firmly in his chair.
The girl sitting across from him jerked her shoulders. Elliot gave such a girl his usual frivolous smile and said.
”Hey, Miss Norton. How about you play with me this time?”
”B-But, we're from different groups…”
”No problem. Even if we're from different groups we can still play a match.”
Indeed, Elliot was right, no rule said the upper group and the lower group could not compete against each other. However, in this case, even if the upper group wins, it would not be counted. On the other hand, if the lower group wins, it will significantly affect their winning records.
So, people in the upper group have nothing to gain by playing games with lower groups. To put it bluntly, it was just a waste of time. And no one had ever done it.
And yet, Elliot volunteered to compete with a junior member of the lower group.
Elliot was among the three best players in the upper group. It was said that his selection for the national chess tournament was virtually guaranteed.
I mean, the chess tournament is just around the corner. How can he be thinking of playing against a junior member of a lower group at such a time?