"General!"

Inside a grand hall filled with ancient charm, Lin Yi looked at the man in front of him, whose face was as jade-like and dressed in an elegant white robe, and said:

"Sorry, you lost again."

At this moment, in front of Lin Yi and the mysterious man was a game that all people from Hua Country were familiar with in reality:

[Chinese Chess].

When Lin Yi used a [Pawn] to block all the escape routes for the opponent’s [General], the game was already over.

Lin Yi could no longer remember how many times he had won against the opponent.

It could be dozens of times, or perhaps over a hundred times.

As a beginner in chess, Lin Yi never thought that one day he would be ’killing it’ on the board, with no defeats.

Up to now, Lin Yi felt like he was in a dream, unbelievable. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Playing chess with a stranger in the game?

This kind of thing, Lin Yi didn’t even dare to imagine it before.

But this matter happened so real right in front of him, so Lin Yi had no choice but to believe it.

At first, when Lin Yi was invited into this hall by the man, he thought he would uncover some shocking secret or a Divine Artifact.

However, what Lin Yi never dreamed of was that what awaited him was playing chess, something Lin Yi found extremely boring and a waste of life.

At this moment, Lin Yi had even given up trying to understand why chess would appear here.

Or why the opponent was so strangely pulling him to play chess over and over again.

It felt like the matter had no end...

Lin Yi looked at the opponent, speechless, as the man frowned, staring at the deadlock, still seeming to want to find a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately, the loss was certain, no matter how he tried, he could not turn the situation around.

Eventually, he sighed with unwillingness:

"You won again."

But after hearing this for the Nth time, Lin Yi’s heart no longer stirred, and he looked heavily at the opponent:

"Don’t you have anything to say to me?"

"Or any reward for me?"

Then.

The opponent acted as if he hadn’t heard Lin Yi and started repositioning the pieces on the board. After every piece returned to its original place, he gestured to Lin Yi:

"Let’s go again."

Faced with the man’s request, Lin Yi was utterly helpless.

It’s not like he hadn’t refused this exhausting demand from the opponent.

But whether Lin Yi tried testing or silently rejected, the opponent always maintained a ready-to-start expression.

Only when Lin Yi made the opening move would the opponent then proceed.

This made Lin Yi suspect the opponent might be a robot (dummy).

However, whether based on appearance or behavior and speech, he seemed no different from a normal person.

Watching the opponent waiting for him to start, Lin Yi could only reluctantly make the first move:

[Elephant] walked a field, coming to the position above the [Marshal]:

"It’s your move."

...

...

Meanwhile, outside the hall, Ai Wen sat anxiously on the steps, looking a bit restless and said:

"Two days have passed, why is there still no movement?"

Although Ai Wen couldn’t use her abilities or activate the system here, she could see the passage of time.

Since Lin Yi entered the hall, Ai Wen calculated the time, realizing nearly 48 hours had passed.

Ai Wen wasn’t like Lin Yi, who could use a game pod and stay online for a week without logging off.

Normally, a player using a game helmet can stay online for only about 12 hours before logging off for a break and restoring their status.

Even though Ai Wen injected herself with a nutritional serum before logging in, it only maintained her bodily functions for two days.

That means.

If Lin Yi doesn’t come out, or if she doesn’t leave this unfamiliar space in the next few hours.

She would be forcibly kicked out of the game by the system.

At that time, Ai Wen wasn’t sure if being kicked out in this situation would mean a forced logout and result in clearing her game character data.

At this moment, not only Ai Wen but even Zhang Xinying’s face couldn’t conceal the worried look.

Guderian suddenly said:

"Why don’t I go in and take a look?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xinying was immediately tempted.

But the proposal was immediately rejected by the decisive Jade Qilin:

"No way!"

Jade Qilin jumped onto Zhang Xinying’s shoulder, saying:

"Listen to me, this is a rare opportunity for the master, do not interrupt him."

Faced with Zhang Xinying’s astonished look, Jade Qilin patted his chest and said:

"I can assure you on the honor of my Jade Qilin clan, the master won’t be in any trouble inside."

Though Zhang Xinying worried about Lin Yi’s safety, with Jade Qilin’s repeated assurances, she could only shelve the idea of rushing in and nodded:

"Then let’s wait a bit longer."

After speaking, Zhang Xinying looked up at Ai Wen and comforted:

"It will be fine."

She understood just why Ai Wen was so anxious when she realized Ai Wen was using a game helmet.

By now, Ai Wen couldn’t say anything more.

She likely never imagined how agreeing to help Feng Hua this time would lead to such upheaval.

If she had known this from the start...

Ai Wen wasn’t sure if she’d have agreed to help.

...

...

Time slowly passed amidst everyone’s anxious waiting.

Inside the main hall, this time as Lin Yi played chess, he repeatedly exposed fatal flaws to the opponent.

Wondering if the opponent could win this game, would the result be different.

Yet during the repeated confrontations on the chessboard, whenever Lin Yi felt that he was about to lose, the opponent unfathomably allowed Lin Yi to ’come back to life.’

And this wasn’t the first or second time it happened.

Lin Yi couldn’t say whether the opponent did it on purpose or not.

Seeing how the opponent seemed to ponder deeply before every move.

But the results always made Lin Yi ’widen his eyes,’ ’gape.’

As Lin Yi ’won’ yet another game, this time the opponent no longer rearranged the pieces.

Though a tiny detail, it weirdly made Lin Yi breathe a sigh of relief:

’Finally, it’s ending.’

If this kept dragging on, Lin Yi couldn’t say he wouldn’t be driven mad by it.

Aside from that.

Lin Yi had already developed some uneasy aversion to chess.

Just then, the opponent suddenly looked at Lin Yi and meaningfully said:

"We’ve played for so long, how is the feeling of controlling the pieces?"

The unexpected question made Lin Yi unable to react for a moment:

"What do you mean?"