The speed of time suddenly accelerated, and the light and shadow seemed to evaporate through the city of Tokyo, changing angles, and the magnificence never ended.

On the twelfth day of August, the chess pieces fell onto the chessboard in the light, and each chess piece reflected a serious and thoughtful face.

"Play against me! Oki senior! ”

"Senior Ernst & Young, your opponent in this game is me."

"Yuzhi, come and play a game with me."

The pace of work in the chess courtyard is quite fast, and after completing the process politely, the two of them can take their seats.

"This is really a rare grand occasion, usually we are busy with holidays at this time." Yamaoka sighed with a wry smile.

"There are two title battles held at the same time, and as far as I can tell, there are many small tournaments, amateur tournaments have been started, and some people have calculated that the prize money of all the chess battles during this period adds up to more than one billion .......," Narita analyzed.

"Ten, billion?" Yamaoka was stunned.

"Even the Cowherd Cup, which has been suspended for a long time, has to be reheld, speaking of which, this is the only time I have won the championship, I can consider the pigeon dream heaven battle, back to the place where my original dream began, Jingguang, are you interested in coming to the Cowherd Cup? If you look handsome, you can sign up. Narita said.

"Ahem, this, forget it!"

"It's a shame, but I have to warn you that there may be some big changes lately, and we may really have to do what Miss Miko said, and play less chess at night." Narita said solemnly.

Yamaoka nodded, as a person who has been mixed up for more than a year, he also understands more and more how deep the water is in the industry.

Narita is a member of the standing "patrol team" within the chess world, which is specially used to find out those players who use cheating props, so it can be said that they are internal patrol officers.

At this time, you can only believe in his keen sense of smell as a criminal policeman.

A cool autumn breeze blew from the atrium, making Yamaoka tremble, and his eyes subconsciously looked at the sky outside.

The sky was already the color of dusk.

......

......

On the afternoon of August 14th, the sunset outside the window was bloodthirsty.

Ke Zhiguang looked at this scenery from the balcony of his house, and felt that the painting style of the world gradually tended to the inner world.

I don't know if it's an illusion, the recent dusk is this color, the light shows the evil nature, it is clear that it is now the middle of August, the sky darkens much earlier than before, and the dusk can last from two o'clock in the afternoon to seven o'clock.

Tokyo has never been more dangerous.

"Hey, the meal is ready, come in and eat." Harushima deer shouted from inside the house.

"It's coming, it's coming."

A few days after going to the chess academy, the two of them found that there was no need to run there every day, they could complete the training and battle at home, and the efficiency was not even worse than in the company.

Working from home is another dream of life.

Today's dinner is hamburger meat + potato stewed roast meat, a common Japanese home cooking series, full of simplicity and warmth, as if from the hands of a newlywed wife.

Well...... This metaphor always felt wrong, but it didn't feel like there was anything wrong.

"I'm moving." Harushima deer lifted the chopsticks horizontally and put his hands together with a "I hope people are okay".

“+1。”

"Hey, what the hell is adding one, can it be omitted like this!"

"Copy-paste...... Okay, okay, eat quickly, such a delicious meal won't be cold. ”

After dinner, they're going to start making that.

It's just a game of chess.

The evening game is going to start today.

The moonlight fell into the earth, the city was plated with fluorescent, and the dining table in the living room became a chess table with a chessboard, and Kojiko and Harushima sat opposite each other.

The two of them look solemn, and the background is the dark night of the city with the floor-to-ceiling windows of the balcony.

A few days ago, Xing Marry told Ke Zhiguang that he could consider playing chess at night, and this helped Ke Zhiguang to strengthen a lot of courage.

"If you want to play a game, Long Er is the best target, in this case, even if you really encounter danger, relying on the strength of your two top chess players, you should be able to successfully resolve it." That's what Xing Married said at the time.

Harushima Deer is also in favor of this, and in her opinion, it is time to team up again, and she is obliged to share some of the risks.

The two of them confronted each other quietly in front of the chessboard, waiting for the time to be ripe-

The alarm goes off at eight o'clock.

"Deer." Ke Zhiguang said solemnly.

"Yes!" As if he had been named by the teacher, Harushima shouted "to" in a cramped manner.

"If it hurts...... Phew, if you feel something unusual, you can stop it at any time. Ke Zhiguang said.

"Well, you're the same...... Whoa, what about a hammer! Don't think I didn't hear what you said before! Harushima shouted with a red face and a fist.

Ah......h

I didn't expect to use the word "bah" to fool around this time and fail, obviously it worked in the past.......

The is over, the game begins, the pieces fall, and the game world wraps all around...... Everything is no different from usual.

The chess game is carried out normally, and the high Chinese current layout of the Harushima deer, the star position that is used to the star position when the branch is in charge of the light and white.

In the quiet of the world, the chess pieces fall slowly, no different than usual.

But as the number of hands increased, the remaining space on the board became smaller and smaller, and Ke Zhiguang finally felt that something was wrong.

Something, is approaching here.

Like a boiled frog in warm water, it has been approaching here since the first move, but the water temperature has risen little by little, so that it didn't notice it at first.

"Deer, did you notice?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Well, it's coming." Harushima Ka was a little nervous, this was the first time she had encountered such a strange thing, curiosity and fear coexisted.

"Relax, it's not something to be scary...... Even if it's really scary, it's a problem that can be solved with a game of chess, and that's what I've learned during this time. Ke Zhiguang said.

The old rule is that playing chess can solve all problems, as long as you are firm in this, even if it is really the Grim Reaper, there is no need to panic at all.

There's nothing easier than playing chess.

As long as it's not the kind of death that throws the crescent moon sky.

Under pressure, both sides accelerated the efficiency of the fall, and the amount of calculation was also increased under the stimulation of the outside world, and before they knew it, their foreheads were already covered with sweat.

150 hands, it has only 50 meters left.

170 hands, and it may already be just outside the door.

The 196th hand - the next is over.

The last chess piece fell, the game world disappeared, and Harushima Deer wiped the sweat from his head and looked around.

Nothing happened, it was already far away.

"Cut, nothing happened, it made me panic." Harushima deer clutched his chest and gasped.

Basically, the existence of the crisis can be realized, and you can indeed encounter these things when playing chess at night.

But why didn't it just come up?

Is it because you find that these two people who are playing are too strong and feel that you can't afford to mess with them?

It is also possible that this is a chance event, even if you play chess at night, it is only a certain chance to encounter something strange, after all, there are so many people playing chess at night, it is impossible for everyone to have an accident, right?

The most unreliable answer should be that the number of hands is not enough, and it simply does not come.

All mysteries are hidden in the night.

Black butterflies flutter their wings in the night sky.

......

......

A few days later, on the afternoon of August 17, the dusk was still mysterious, and the noise of cars on the streets and the sounds of construction sites created a sense of white-noise emptiness.

On either side of a chessboard, Nishichichiaki is playing against the secretary of the Yajin Kunijing, his butler.

The dozen red wines given by Shen Guojing the night before had been consumed, and it felt really good, and I could clearly see my face and skin a little younger in the mirror.

According to the verbal explanation, if Nishichizhang has any relevant needs, just find this housekeeper.

It's just that it's not to pick up the goods directly, but to play a game against him, and ask to win him.

As the housekeeper of the Night God Kingdom, his strength is naturally good, but it is not difficult for Nishichiaki to win him.

After the nod, the housekeeper nodded with a smile: "You won, Xiqiandaoce, what you want has already appeared on the chessboard at your home." ”

"On my chessboard?"

"You'll know when you get home?"

Half an hour later, Nishichiaki drove home and found that there were a dozen bottles of red wine on his chessboard.

"This is really ......" After being surprised, Nishichiaki shook his head with a wry smile, and pried open a bottle of red wine to be a booze.

The world of chess is as mysterious and agnostic as ever.

After drinking, he looked at the outside world, at the city under the moonlight, the stage where the story took place, the city of Tokyo.

The city of Tokyo has been different in recent times, and he can't say exactly what is different, but as a top chess player, his instinct tells him not to play chess recently.

The reason why this happened must have something to do with the fact that he was commissioned by the Night God Kingdom to defeat a strange opponent.

To this day, he still doesn't know what he defeated, but he vaguely remembers the moment he defeated the other party, something like a door was opened......

......

......

On August 20th, as the battle between the two titles approached, the discussion in the society became higher and higher, and almost every day on the variety channel, there were chess players as guests, chatting and laughing with the audience.

In the high-rise building of Chuo Ward, the mansion of the night god Kunikyo, an explanation meeting is also held.

All the members of the Kudan who were able to attend were present, not including the young ones, of course.

Everyone was aware of the recent changes in the chess world, and they were basically sure that Yajin Kunikyo was behind all this, so they came to ask for an explanation.

"Please rest assured, when the end of the year-end Imperial City Chess Battle is over, everything will return to normal, and at that time I will close the chess and disclose all the secrets I have to you, and my wealth will also be publicly owned by the chess world, and my fortune will ....... will also be handed over. The night god Kunikyo said solemnly to everyone, and there was no wave in his expression.

As soon as these words came out, all the doubts of the nine paragraphs were blocked.

"What about you..... You really don't want anything? There are nine doubts.

"If I can continue to keep the year-end Imperial City Chess title match, I will voluntarily give up everything."

"And what if it fails?"

"Then I'm going to lose everything." The gaze of the Night God Kunikyo swept over everyone.

He continued, "In addition, I hope that during these last four months, you will be able to stay away from the city of Tokyo...... I pay for all the expenses of the trip. ”

.......

.......

On August 27th, far away on the other side of the world in Japan, in a small backcountry town in South America.

"What's that? You told me that September 1st was going to start that Dream Heaven title battle? After receiving the news, the bamboo knife forging was shocked.

On the other end of the phone, the voice of the staff of the chess academy came: "No way, this news was first announced on August 7, and we were caught off guard." ”

"Then it won't be too late to notify me twenty times!"

"This ...... We're having a hard time traveling to that kind of place, so come back quickly. ”

"You know I'm traveling in this kind of place! Rushing back from this place is not enough in three days! A mouthful of blood spurted out of the bamboo knife forging, and there was a sense of collapse in embarrassment.

But he quickly had an idea: "Wait! I came up with the idea that I could play the game over the long distance and report the coordinates on the board, so I could play even if I wasn't there! ”

"This ...... Ahem, goodbye, and I wish you a nice time, Mr. Bamboo Knife. "The staff felt that if they continued to talk, they would talk about more strange topics.

"Wait—"

A beep came from the other side of the phone.

"Well, are we two still saved?" Said the companion of the bamboo knife forging.

"No, unless a helicopter falls from the sky now to take us to the nearest airport." Bamboo Dao Forging hung up the phone and continued to put on his travel cap.

His companion, as Ke Zhiguang guessed, was Xuanyu Zhishang.

The two didn't make an appointment to travel together, but they met by chance on the plane, so they simply teamed up.

It's an interesting fate.

"Move on to the next goal!" The bamboo knife forging pointed into the distance, and simply carried out the trip to the end.

......

......

On the night of August 31, there were less than a dozen hours left before the start of the two-title battle.

In the vicinity of the chess court, the interest of the major chess halls is particularly high today, and many small handicaps such as gambling have been opened for chess oilers to spend money and have fun.

In a quiet box, a low-level new-generation chess player met with a middle-aged chess player.

"Thank you very much for being so late and willing to train with me." The new generation thanked him.

"Tomorrow is the day of war, and I have to be prepared." The Mesozoic chess players sat down, and the two began to play against each other.

"Recently, there seems to be a saying in the chess world that you should not play chess at night, which sounds weird and scary." The new generation said.

"Well, don't worry too much, I've been playing chess at night lately, but nothing happened, and none of my friends were tricked, so you should think that someone is deliberately spreading rumors to hinder our training." The Mesozoic chess player said with a smile.

But as the game progressed, the two felt more and more that something was wrong.

Something is outside the door.

Suddenly, the door was opened.

"Hey, what are you...... Person? ”

Soon, the door was closed, a new sound of falling pieces sounded in the room, and two games of chess were played at the same time.

It didn't take long for the game to end.

The new and middle generation players walked out of the room, looking the same as usual, except for a dark mist in their eyes, and their movements became stiff and mechanical.

And just like that, the first day of September arrived.