I was sitting down on the floor after being told by Cale who then sat across from me

  He then snapped his fingers before a board, chess pieces and a chess timer suddenly appeared in front of us at the table

  As I watched the chess pieces being arranged by themselves in front of me, I then lifted my head and saw Cale smile softly at me

  "You'll take the white pieces, I'll take the black "

  ". . . So, are we going to play a normal chess? " I asked calmly

  "Hmm, nope. We're going to play 'extra rule' chess " He said cheerfully

  " 'Extra rule' chess? " Adam asked, dumbfounded as he didn't know what it was

  "I'll explain later. But for now, Dani, did you know how to play chess? "

  ". . . Just a bit "

  "Oh? Then how about you, Adam? "

  "Erm. . . Erm. . . "

  "Sir, if I only know a little, don't expect much from him " I said calmly

  "O-Oi! I know how to play chess ok?! " He said, flustered from what I said

  "Then how does the rook move? "

  "It moves diagonally! . . . Am I right? " He said with such confidence

  ". . . Huff. . . "

  "Adam, when I taught you to think fast, I didn't mean for you to speak the first answer that comes to your mind " Cale said, feeling embarrassed for him

  "O-Oh, Wait, wait, wait! It moves straight in line! Yeah yeah! " Adam said, feeling embarrassed by earlier

  ". . . You see that Sir? He's already disqualified if he ever plays a real chess game "

  "---! Dani! " He said before ruffling my hair, embarrassed and a bit angry at me

  "Oi! Get off my hair! "

  "Apologize first! "

  "I'd rather eat my own sock! "

  "You-! " He cut off his own words before he's now using both of his hands to ruffle my hair

  "Hahaha. Well, while you're both at it, let me make us some tea " Cale said before getting up and walking to the kitchen

  As we watched him stroll into the kitchen, Adam then lightly smacked my shoulder

  "Oi, Dani. Why did you lie to him? "

  "Ha? I'm not. Why did you say so? "

  "Didn't you play a chess game with Suraya months ago? And you're doing great against her "

  "So what? I got checkmated with a pawn in the end. And she's going easy on me, Adam "

  ". . . Well, it makes sense for a wife to go easy against her husband. . . " He said teasingly

  "You-! Didn't she win against you without even her queen's piece at the start of the game? Hmm? "

  "Tck-. . . She's just lucky. . . "

  After a few minutes, Cale walked slowly towards us before handing a cup of tea to Adam and me

  Adam then without hesitation took a sip of the tea, before he felt recharged from drinking the tea alone

  "Hmm, this tastes. . . A bit creamy, but it's slightly sweet and smooth"

  I then leaned my nose closer to the tea and sniffed it calmly

  ". . . This is matcha isn't it? " I said calmly

  "Yep! High quality, not cheap. Cheap ones taste like grass itself "

  "I see. . . It does help to make you focus and think faster. Perfect for when you're about to play chess " I said calmly before taking a sip

  "Hahaha. That's why I made this tea for us earlier. Wow, so you did know about this tea huh? " He said, drinking the whole cup in one sip

  ". . . I once read about the functions of this tea. And my friend had made me drink this before "

  He then put the cup calmly before letting out a satisfied sigh and looking at me calmly

  "Alright, before we start, let me explain to you a few rules about this chess game "

  He then calmly raised a finger and stared at my eyes

  "First off, every 30 seconds, both of us will make up an extra rule for this game. Starting with the white side "

  "Hmm, ok " I nodded my head calmly

  "Second, the concept of the new rule can't be repeated twice " He said as he raised another finger

  "Huh? What's that supposed to mean? " Adam asked him

  "For example, if you make a rule 'black pieces can't move', you can't repeat the concept of 'move' again "

  "Ooohh, ok. Hey Dani, this sounds like something you can exploit with " Adam teased me while nudging me

  "Huff. . . I didn't even start playing with him yet. . . "

  Cale then raised a third finger while still looking at me calmly

  "Third, you aren't allowed to think longer than 5 seconds when it's your turn to make a new rule "

  "Why? " I asked calmly

  "Meh, it's just something that happened in the past. I played this game with my friend, and he deliberately took all my time to make a new rule. So, I created this rule "

  "Pfft, that sounds like what Dani would do " Adam teased me before I elbowed his ribs

  "Fourth, if by any chance we reached a stalemate, the winner will be decided by a coin flip " He said, raising another finger

  ". . . Ok "

  "Oh? Could you not accept any draw, Sir Cale? " Adam teased him

  "I just couldn't. I should either win, lose, or experience a partial win and loss. There's no in between! " He said as he tapped the table with his finger

  He then faked his cough to regain his composure before raising another finger

  "Ehem---Anyway, for the last rule, you can't make a rule that will make your opponent lose immediately "

  ". . . Huff, I was about to make a rule where your timer reaches zero if it's your turn to make a move " I said calmly

  "Absolutely not! " He said while pointing his finger at me, shouting in mock anger

  "Heh, so you did already think about how to cheat on this game " Adam teased me

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  ". . . I'm not cheating if I didn't break the rules "

  Cale then sighed before snapping his fingers as a floating timer for 30 seconds started to appear and the chess timer was set to 5 minutes, before he slowly smirked at me

  "Ready whenever you are. Make your first rule and the game starts "

  . . . My first rule huh. . .

  "Chess will be played normally " I said calmly before moving my pawn to b3

  "Hmm, normal chess eh? " He teases me before moving his pawn to e5

  I then move my bishop to b2, and he responds with a knight to c6

  The game continues with me moving my pawn to e3 and he responds with a knight to f6, my bishop to b5, and his bishop to d6, capturing his knight at c6 using my bishop and he captures my bishop using a pawn at d-tile

  I then check both the floating timer, which is only 5 seconds left

  "Hmm, seems like it's my turn next " He said as he tapped his chin, before snapping his fingers

  "I got it. The next move will be decided with dice, " Sir Cale said before 3 dices magically appeared in front of us

  I then took those dice and examined them, each dice face has pictures of the chess pieces

  I see. . . So whatever these dice landed on, that's the only piece I can move huh?

  I then calmly rolled the dice on the table, and all 3 of them landed on pawns' faces

  "Huff. . . Tough luck I guess " I said calmly before moving my pawn to d3

  "Hahaha, but isn't this fun? Let the luck set your next move? " He said before grabbed the dice and rolled it, two of them landed on bishops' faces while the other one landed on a knight's face

  "Hmm. . . Knight or bishop. . . " He said to himself before moving his bishop to g4

  "Hehe, better hope your dice give you pawn or knight " He said, grinning at me

  I then took the dice and rolled it as it landed on the pawn, the bishop, and the knight

  "Damn it. . . You're lucky " He said before I moved my knight to e2

  The game continues as he rolls the dice and moves the bishop to e6, and I calmly took the dice and rolled it, as it landed on the rook, the queen, and the pawn faces

  "Oh, seems like tough luck-"

  "Castle " I said calmly before doing a short castle

  ". . . "

  "What? I did move the rook "

  ". . . Damn it, it is true "

  The game then continued as he rolled the dice and moved his pawn to h5 and I calmly rolled the dice and moved my queen to d2

  I then calmly turned my head and checked the floating timer again

  5 seconds left. . . If he wants to play with luck then. . .

  "Pieces will move by themselves randomly " I said as the timer reached zero and reset itself back to 30 seconds

  "Hmm. . . Interesting. Then, the rook and the king. Make your move " He said before the king and his rook made a short castle

  ". . . Pawn move " I said calmly before the pawn move to f4

  The game then kept moving forward, his pawn took my pawn at f4, then my knight took his pawn at f4, his queen moved to e7, my bishop took his knight at f6, and his queen took my bishop at f6

  I then exhaled my breath before I turned my head and looked at Adam, who was now watching us play while lying on the couch, looking bored

  ". . . You're bored? " I asked him calmly

  "Very, very bored "

  "Oh? You both are bored? " Sir Cale asked us teasingly

  ". . . Well, I'm too focused on this game to even feel bored " I said calmly

  "I'm very bored~" Adam whimpered like a child

  "Heh, then Adam, please take care of this mansion for a while " He said calmly

  "Eh? "

  "The next rule, we will play chess under the ocean! " He shouted as I saw the board, the pieces, the timer including both of us floating slightly

  My eyes widened for a moment before I inhaled my breath instantly, before both Cale and I got teleported

  ". . . He-. . . That kind of rule allowed? " Adam said, shocked by the rule he just made

  Under the ocean, schools of fish were swimming approaching coral reefs, and some of the creatures were lurking behind the coral, waiting for their moment to strike

  Before the schools of fish could get closer to the coral reefs, both of us suddenly appeared out of nowhere, making the fishes swimming away from us

  "Hmm, nice view here don't you think? " He teased me right after he cast a spell to make him breathe underwater

  He then snapped his fingers to ensure the board and the pieces won't sink deeper, but he didn't cast a spell to allow me to breathe freely here

  Damn it. . . I need to hold my breath for a whole 30 seconds and calculate my next move

  As I try to gain my focus and analyze the board, I then move my knight to c3

  "Hmm, good, good. Just don't accidentally release your breath eh? " He said before moving his queen to e7

  I then try to think the best next move as I am forcing my brain to think faster

  I then turned my head and checked the chess timer, as he had much more time than me

  . . . So I can't just hold my breath until it's my time for a new rule, huh?

  If I did, I would lose more time. . . Guess I have to force my brain to focus

  I then moved my knight to e4, and he responded by moving his pawn to h4

  I responded by taking his bishop at d6 using my knight, as he responded by using his pawn at c-tiles to capture my knight

  As the floating timer was almost reaching zero, I captured his bishop at e6 using my knight

  "Heh, you force yourself to go hyper focus eh? " He smirked at me before both of us teleported back to the mansion

  "Yawn---I'm sleepy as hell. . . " Adam said as his eyes slowly closed

  As he was about to fall asleep, both of us suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, making him bolt awake as he watched me wet all over and I take my breaths frantically

  "AAA-! D-Dani, you-"

  "All the black pieces are emotional! " I quickly shouted before the 5-second rule hit

  "Hmm, fast thinking. I like it " He said before he took my knight at e6 using his f-tile pawn

  Adam then reached out to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders before patting my chest

  "You ok Dani? " He asked, worried about me

  "Huff. . . Huff. . . Huff. . . Yeah, yeah I'm fine " I said as my breathing slowly returned to normal

  "S-Sir Cale, isn't that going too far? " Adam asked him

  "Don't worry, if he's about to drown, I'll quickly teleport him back here. I just want to test how your friend's brain thinks under pressure "

  I then calmly patted Adam's shoulder, before looking at him calmly

  "Don't worry, you think I can't hold my breath that long? "

  "I'm just worried. I mean look at you, wet all over "

  Cale then raised his hand before snapping his fingers, making me dry like before

  "Sorry, Dani, Adam. Hope you didn't see me as an annoying or bad person " He said to me, his expression softened as he felt guilt for doing it

  I then looked at his face calmly before moving my pawn to e4

  "Don't worry, Sir. I'm not that weak "

  "Hmm, I also trust you Sir Cale. I mean, you're not like a mad genius or something " Adam said, smiling softly at him

  Our words made his lips slowly curve up into a soft smile, as he felt relieved

  "Is that so? Then let's continue " He said, as his fingers gently gripped his pawn on e-tile

  "Did you really want to move? " I said calmly

  "Huh? "

  "If you moved, you're about to be killed anytime soon "

  "Heh, what did you say Dani-"

  He then stopped in the middle of his words, as he now realized something

  "All the black pieces are emotional! "

  Is he trying to manipulate my pieces?!

  He then tried to move his pawn forward, but it refused to budge forward

  "Don't you see it? Even when he knows that, he still tries to move you forward "

  After I said that, all of the black pieces started to shiver out of fear as they don't want to be 'killed'

  "Do not fear! " He suddenly shouted at his pieces

  "He's only trying to lower your morale because he knows we're winning! "

  "Listen to that, he tries to manipulate you. He didn't care about your feelings, just his victory " I pushed my manipulation calmly

  He then inhaled his breath calmly, before shouting firmly

  "Are you about to stay in fear?! "

  His pieces then stopped shivering, as he continued his speech

  "Yes! If you move forward, you'll have a chance to die! Then, are you going to let the sacrifice of our friends go to waste?! "

  "---! "

  "Think about our bishops that are already killed earlier! Think about our knights got killed by those white pieces earlier! They sacrificed themselves so all of us could move forward! So that we could defeat the white side! "

  "Your king is trying to-" I was about to continue my manipulation, but he cut it off

  "I'm not your king. Your king is right there, fighting beside you. But, I do want us to win, for the future of our generation "

  "F-Future what? " I said, surprised by what he said

  Don't tell me. . . He treats them as real people

  "I saw so many of my friends die in the past, to the point I once begged them to just go far away, live peacefully until you die "

  ". . . "

  "But, all of them refused. Out of all my advice, that's the only advice they never take from me. And I see so many ways in which they refuse that advice, but it's all for the same reasons "

  ". . . "

  "They don't want the sacrifice of their comrades be in vain. And they want their loved ones to have a peaceful life "

  ". . . Sir Cale. . . " Adam said, his voice cracking as he was about to cry

  ". . . And that's why, don't you dare stand back now! All of you! Win for your loved ones! "

  The black pieces then let out a drop of water as if they were crying, before I could feel the feeling of fear gone from them

  ". . . Impossible. . . " I said to myself

  He then looked at his black pieces, smiling softly at them

  "Thank you, everyone. I hope you come back home alive " He said before moving his pawn to e5

  ". . . You make me almost forget that we're playing chess right now " I said calmly before moving my queen to e3

  "Hahaha " He laughed softly before moving his pawn to b5

  I then heard Adam crying beside me, as he was touched by his words

  "Oi, Adam. Are you crying? " I asked calmly

  "D-Damn it. . . Why is Sir Cale's past so tragic? " He said as he closed his eyes with his hands

  "It's fine, Adam. I never see it as something tragic. It's sad, but I keep living to make sure they aren't fully forgotten. At least, there's still me who will remember them " Sir Cale said softly

  "That just makes it so much worse! " He said, feeling more heartbroken

  Just then, the front door was knocked on by someone before Adam got up and walked towards it before opening it

  "Oh, Hey Adam " Reggie said to him softly

  "O-Oh, hey. It's nice to see you "

  "Haha, thank you. By the way, I'll bring snacks for you and them " He said as he slightly raised paper bags in his hand

  "---! Thank you! " He said excitedly before he grabbed the paper bags and bring it back to us

  Reggie just laughed softly at him before walking slowly behind him and sitting down on the couch

  "Huff. . . Sorry Sir, my friend has an appetite like a panda " I said calmly before moving my pawn to b4

  "Hahaha, don't worry. I don't mind at all " He said before moving his pawn to c5

  "O-Oi Dani! You're saying I'm fat?! I'm not fat! "

  "That's because you always run with your magic. Imagine if you have different magic "

  "Oi! "

  As the floating timer almost reached zero, I saw Sir Cale turn his head to both timers

  There are only 3 minutes and 36 seconds on my side while he still has 3 minutes and 45 seconds. And there's only 5 seconds left on the floating timer

  "Hey Dani "

  "Hmm? "

  "I have already done a few analyses on our game. And all of it ended with we'll reach a stalemate "

  ". . . "

  "And you know that I don't want to gamble my win on luck. So. . . "

  As the floating timer reached zero, he then grinned before dramatically shouting

  "White's time will be reduced by an extra 30 seconds for every move! "

  "---! "

  "HAHAHAHA! NOW, MAKE YOUR MOVE DANI! " He said, playing the role of a crazy villain

  "Damn it. . . Isn't this break one of the rules? "

  "Nope. I already calculated it, you'll still have around 20 seconds left if you move fast. Hahahaha! "

  I then moved my rook and captured his rook at f8, checking his king but he quickly captured my rook with his other rook in just a second

  Damn it, now he moves fast, huh? He forced me to make a new move as soon as possible

  I can't stop until the floating timer reaches zero, since that will give him a much more advantageous time advantage. If I try to delay, I'll lose much more time on my next move

  "You can't make a rule that will make your opponent lose immediately "

  "You'll still have around 20 seconds left "

  ". . . I see " I then quickly moved my pawn from b-tile and captured his pawn on c5

  "Hahahaha! You're just delaying your defeat Dani " He said while grinning before moving his pawn forward to b4

  I then moved my pawn to a3 and he captured it using his pawn at b-tile and I captured it back using my rook

  He then captured my pawn at d-tile using his pawn at c5 and I pushed my pawn forward to h3

  He then moved his rook to f7 and I quickly moved my rook to b3. He then quickly moved his queen to f6

  As the floating timer was almost reaching zero, I noticed there were only 22 seconds left on my timer

  . . . Perfect

  "Heh, I win " I heard Sir Cale say smugly before crossing his arms

  "Swapped positions of me and Sir Cale " I calmly said

  Cale and I then got our positions swapped as now he's on the white side while I'm on the black side, which surprised him as he didn't expect this

  "Oi oi oi! You can't-! "

  "Yes, I can. The rule says I can't make a rule that'll make you automatically lose isn't it? "

  "That's-! That's-! "

  "You still have less than 20 seconds left before you lose because you run out of time. Even if you try to checkmate me, you don't have enough time "

  ". . . Fuck you, Dani " He said as the timer reached zero

  "Whoa! Nice one Dani! " Adam said before he shook me excitedly

  "Yeah yeah, I know. Please stop shaking me " I calmly said

  Reggie then approached Cale and started to pat his back gently

  "Now, now, next time, don't act so arrogant " He said, smiling gently at him

  "I always win with that rule ok?! And usually people will go into panic because of it! I don't expect that kid to still have the ability to think! "

  "Haha. Don't worry, you're not omniscient. Take this as an extra experience "

  "Huff. . . Still, it's embarrassing for me to lose against a 17-year-old kid, man. . . "

  "Haha "

  Cale then eventually smiled softly before he raised his hand to me, wanting to shake my hand

  "Anyway, good game Dani " Cale said to me, mock-sulking for his loss

  ". . . Thanks. I'm just lucky " I said calmly before shaking his hand

  "Tck, Dani. Sir Cale is congratulating you. Not the time for you to be a tsundere " Adam said before ruffling my hair

  "I'm not. I'm just lucky that the idea came to my mind. I would have lost otherwise if it hadn't popped out "

  "Don't sell yourself short, Dani. You're smart, not just lucky " Cale said that softly to me

  ". . . Did you really mean that or is it because you don't believe in luck? "

  "You-! My point still stands! " He pouted at me

  "Hahahaha. Alright now, Cale, you still have food ingredients in the kitchen right? "

  "I did. You want to cook dinner for us? "

  "Yep. After all, I need you guys with a full stomach, especially Dani and Adam "

  ". . . Ah, the infiltration starts tonight, right? " I asked calmly

  "Hmm. Dani, Adam, prepare yourself. We might fight some heavy hitters at the facility later "

  "Yes, Sir! " Adam saluted him

  ". . . Huff. . . I hope we didn't "

  "Haha " Reggie laughed softly hearing my words