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n“Welcome back, sir.”

n“Hello, everyone.”

nThe Head of the Mouse clan greeted the clan members with polite speech.

nAs soon as they heard his polite speech, the head’s subordinates became nervous.

nThe self-proclaimed “wit,” as in “he is such a wit,” the head of the mouse clan always used informal and impolite speech, but when he was excited, he used polite speech. (For more information, google “Korean speech levels”)

n“……Did something happen?”

nThe subordinates began to worry that the head of the clan might do something troublesome.

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nWhen one of his subordinates asked on the behalf of all the others, the wit replied cheerfully.

n“I took a look at the humans Jae-in told me to investigate.”

n“You mean the favor the blue violinist asked you? Did you investigate them yourself?”

n“Yes.”

nThe subordinates thought, ‘He’s wasting his time on useless things again!’ but still was impressed.

nthe competent head of the Mouse clan enjoyed his time amongst humans but never neglected the operation of the clan.

nIn addition, he did all the research by himself, so his time management ability was amazing.

n“One of the humans had an interesting background.”

n“There were two people who were asked to be investigated by you. First-year boy and girl from class 0, Eun-kwang High School…… Are you talking about one of them?”

n“Yes, that’s right. The girl was amusing too, but the boy was much more suspicious.”

n“You are talking about the Anonymous Supernova, Ui-shin Cho, who survived from the pet of the Bear clan.”

nThe head of the Mouse clan nodded.

n“Yes.”

n“He is an excellent player for his age…… But there are more brilliant students in Eun-kwang High. What makes you care about him?”

n“His records before he became a player.”

nThe Head of the Mouse clan displayed a hologram.

nThe hologram showed a list of winners of the last three years of domestic chess competitions.

nAt the top of all lists, the name “Ui-shin Cho” was there.

n“That student was a chess player.”

n“Sure. However, he stopped participating in competitions after some point last year. That’s what bothers me.”

n“Isn’t it because he turns 17 soon and becomes a fully registered player?”

nFully registered, professional players were not able to enter chess rankings based on Elo ratings managed by the International Chess Federation(FIDE), nor could they receive master titles.

nIt was not strange that he played chess as a hobby and quit just before he became a full player.

n“That’s right. However, there’s more to the story.”

nThe head of the Mouse clan recalled the reactions of those whom he met and talked in person.

n“First, all of the opponents that are on Ui-shin Cho’s record do not remember Ui-shin Cho.”

nUi-shin Cho’s chess opponents varied in age, gender, and occupation, but they all didn’t recall him.

n“The intellectual abilities of chess players are, in general, excellent. But none could remember Ui-shin Cho properly. It’s strange that a chess player with such a history of awards has little to no significance in their memory.”

nVideo, photo, written text.

nUi-shin Cho’s record was perfect.

nHowever, the chess players and chess Association officials could not recall exactly who Ui-shin Cho was.

nAll of them responded like, ‘Oh, perhaps there was someone like that.’

nIt was as if a massive information manipulation had happened.

n“Second, Ui-shin Cho, who lost all his family in an accident last year and stopped playing chess altogether for over half a year, is suddenly participating in the Eun-kwang High chess tournament.”

nIs quitting chess due to the shock of losing family, then coming back after half a year really that concerning?

nThe subordinates who were listening to him shrugged their shoulders.

n“Third, the attitude of the human player I gave my blessing to was strange.”

n“Strange?”

n“He gave me information of the girl very willingly, but for Ui-shin Cho’s information, it feels like he erased some parts before giving it to me.”

n“What are you implying?”

nThe head of the Mouse clan laughed and added a word.

n“I love it when things like this happen.”

nHis subordinates didn’t understand what he liked at all, but they nodded anyway.

n* * *

nIt was early in the morning.

nWhen I finished training and checked my device, there was no noticeable message.

n‘Gyubin Hong seemed to have something to say.’

nGyubin’s texts were saying things like, ‘Are you doing well?’, ‘Nothing’s happening, right?’, and ‘Night shift is so hard :(‘, just whining and regards.

n‘He’ll be busy, so I’ll ask him questions later.’

nIt was a bit concerning, but I decided to leave it for the time being.

nAs I prepared for school, I checked the general bulletin board of the Eun-kwang High web community, and I saw a post posted by the class president of 3rd-grade class 0.

n3rd-grade class 0 Final Surrender Review

nTheir last post was about ‘Mid-surrender review’, and they really did put up a final one.

nSubtitle: Our homeroom teacher is too strong

nI had only read the title but had the urge to stop reading it.

n‘I really want to stop reading but it’s intriguing.’

nI gave in to my curiosity and scrolled down.

nThe content was unexpectedly mediocre.

nIt began with describing 3rd-grade class 0’s survival game training, and the rest of the dozens of sentences were all about how strong their teacher was.

nIt was a pretty normal review for class 0, considering all their crazy achievements.

n‘But why are there so many comments?’

nThat question was resolved on the last page.

nThe biggest losing factor was the betrayal of the ‘Energy of the Universe’. We trusted it, how could it do this to us? Us grade 3 class 0 members have declared to overthrow the ‘Energy of the Universe.’

nWe will find them.

nWe will find them

nAnd get revenge.

nOur review ends here.

nEnergy of the Universe? Betrayal? Revenge?

nWhat the hell is this?

nI don’t understand, but they’re going to fight the energy of the universe.

nThe last paragraph of 3rd-grade class 0’s review sent the mentality of the person reading it to Andromeda.

nNo wonder it had so many comments.

nWTF did I just read

nSummary: introduction, development, turn, and Universe Energy

nI thought the universe thing was just a scam to hide their secret training session? That was REAL? lol

nTheir class pres was the sanest of them but now he’s the craziest…

n↑Birds of a feather flock together……

nThis is all on Energy of the Universe.

nNO, you need to listen to what the energy of the universe thinks too.

n↑We don’t really need to know that do we?

nAnyhow, 3rd-grade class 0 surrendered to their teacher Yeon-hwa Lim, but it seems that their fight will continue.

nLooking at 2nd and 3rd-year class 0 seniors, I realized once again how nice and calm my classmates were.

nI should be careful not to let first-grade class 0 be ‘class 0-fied.’

nOf course, it was too late for Jiho Hwang in many ways, so he’s an exception.

n* * *

nThe end of an uproarious day, due to 3rd-grade class 0’s declaration of war against the universe.

nAfter school.

nThe newspaper club room at the general club building.

nBefore I tried to enter the first-grade room of the newspaper club with Hwang Ji-ho, the leader of the newspaper club called me.

n“Jae-in Kwon agreed for an interview, but she designated a reporter to cover it.”

nJae-in Kwon does not make appearances on television, nor does she have interviews.

nWhen she seldom appears in music shows, she participates with the condition that she only plays music.

nThere was a saying that the face of EverLake is Jae-in Kwon, but the voice is Jared Lee.

n‘Is Jae-in Kwon going to be active for this album? Still, that’s strange.’

nCoincidently, the soundtrack of her new song ‘Homecoming’ was released today.

nThe song that was first played in public at that concert in Hoyeon Hall, starting with pizzicato.

nHomecoming was released at midnight, and it got explosive reactions.

nVarious cover versions of Homecoming, recorded by members of music-related clubs, were used as class bells all day.

nJae-in Kwon was in the spotlight again with the release of a new song.

nThe club leader said they had asked EverLake for an interview with Jae-in Kwon, expecting to be declined.

n“I was surprised their answer came right away! They said if you came as the reporter, she’ll come to the interview. Did you know senior Jae-in Kwon?”

n“When senior Jae-in Kwon came to perform in Ho-yeon Hall, I worked as a staff member and met her there.”

n“I see! Ui-shin, we can think of the questions together. But please do the interview!”

nSome things about Jae-in Kwon bothered me.

nI remembered some disturbing gut feelings I had at the concert.

nThis interview may settle those doubts and disturbances.

nI nodded willingly.

n“Sure. Can you help me do background research?”

nClub leader replied gleefully.

n“Of course! Saeron is already doing her research.”

nI acquired help from the newspaper club and Eun-kwang high’s most skilled informant to investigate Jae-in Kwon.

n* * *

nAfter club activities.

nBefore saying goodbye to Jiho Hwang.

n“You really don’t want to know?”

nJiho asked again about ‘the thing’ he had refused to tell me.

nHe seemed very eager to tell me.

nI started to wonder a little, but he was so insistent that I didn’t want to ask somehow.

n“Yeah. Not at all.”

nJiho made an upset face then spun around and left.

nThat wasn’t the direction to the school gate, I had no idea where he was going.

nIf he does that again, I decided to ask what it is out of politeness, and check my hologram map, and went to the designated coordinates.

n‘I think it’s here.’

nThe 3rd gym of the General Club Hall grounds.

nThat was where the chess tournament was held.

n‘They didn’t reserve a conference room? It’s a gym? There must be more people coming than I thought.’

nIn front of the 3rd gym.

nChess players and spectators were required to enter a different entrance.

nI showed my student ID to a Stalemate member with a staff nameplate, and they lead me to the participant exclusive entrance.

nI arrived at the waiting room.

nThere were a bunch of my playable characters.

n“Hello, Ui-shin. Let’s try our best today!”

nSeung-hyun Park, who I sometimes encountered in the dorm, said hello.

nHe was also a chess player.

nI knew he liked to think than act, and knew he had the ability, but didn’t know he liked chess.

nHe looked happy as if he was looking forward to the tournament.

nIt was very different from the face I saw on April Fool’s Day.

n“Yeah, let’s do our best.”

nThere are so many playable characters who love chess.

nIn the game, this wasn’t mentioned in the story, so I didn’t even know chess tournament was a thing here.

n‘If there weren’t so many playable characters, I would’ve definitely run away.’

nThere were also people who played chess with an AI on a hologram.

nWhen I saw the hologram chessboard and the moving chess pieces, I felt dizzy.

nI felt a more severe headache than when I opened the exclusive menu tab.

n“The opening ceremony will start soon! This way please!”

nWhat kind of school chess tournament has an opening ceremony.

nI thought it was weird but followed the staff.

n‘It’s bigger than I thought.’

nThe stadium was on the first floor, and the second floor was for the audience.

nThe referee and staff were standing on the stage on the first floor.

nI thought we would go straight to the stadium on the first floor, but under the guidance of the staff, the students who participated in the chess tournament stood on the stage on the first floor as well.

nLooking down on the stadium from the stage, it seemed quite lonely to have only desks and chairs in the spacious gym.

n“Before the tournament begins, we will start the opening show. Please do not move for your safety.”

nJe-gun Yong said that on the microphone.

n‘Opening show? Safety?’

nMy questions were soon answered.

nThe gym began to change with the hands gestures of Je-gun Yong.

nWith his spatial skills, he made fist-sized cube spaces and stacked them like blocks to create ornaments.

nOooh! Aaah!

nWith the changing landscape, exclamations poured down from the audience seats on the second floor.

n‘Awesome!’

nHuge white and black chess pieces surrounded the gym.

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nThe white and black chess pieces were elaborately laid out, and it was impressive that, from bird’s eye view, the arrangement was made to look like the school emblem.

nOn top of that, the audience seats on the second floor were reconstructed like box seats in the opera theater.

nJe-gun Yong colored small blocks of space and carefully stacked them.

nProbably because of his teacher’s contract that constrained his power, I saw trickles of sweat on his forehead.

nJe-gun, who stopped his hand movements, spoke.

n“I now announce the opening of Eun-kwang High Stalemate’s chess tournament. Let the tournament begin.”

nThe chess tournament began amid applause from the audience and players.

nAnd my first opponent was the playable character Jin-seung Ma.

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