[E-mail name: Happy 18th birthday, Anson Deer.] 】

"Happy birthday......" Anson Deer muttered as he stared at the email.

Birthday?

Oh, it turns out that today is my birthday, how can this old man remember it better than me......

He clicked into the mail and looked at the text that appeared.

[Email content: I don't have much time left...... I think that with your ability, you should have already guessed my identity, and your intuition will also help judge and sort out the clues I left behind, so I won't say more. 】

[There has only been one "old chess player" in history, and that is you, and I at the same time. 】

Anson Lu's fingers trembled slightly, and he pursed his lips before turning them down.

"It's really you, you have been hiding from me for so long."

[I apologize for what happened to Yuri, but honestly, I don't think I did anything wrong, because in the future, including Yuri, the three girls in Iceland died in the evolution game......]

[Asugi, too, if she doesn't have the blood of a dragon, then she will die sooner or later, from recklessness and a sense of justice. 】

[Subject to some rules, I must sacrifice some people and pay some price to increase your chances of victory, and balance your extreme indifferent personality so that you don't go down the same path as me. 】

[I have been fighting alone all my life, and only the chess pieces have accompanied me in these decades. 】

[Did you know...... The Raven had approached me before, but I had never trusted him, and after using him, I strangled him in a copy, which was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. 】

[The presence of crows is important...... Perhaps, he is also a person who can influence the world. 】

[Now the people around you, whether it is Lorenzo or Juliu, they have all died before my eyes. 】

[Because of this, I failed to treat everyone as a burden and insist on going my own way...... I have been completely defeated, billions of human lives, the weight of which is not enough for one person to carry. 】

[You are different from me, I am not sure if you will be able to succeed......]

[But...... At least take my share and live well. 】

The email is ticked to the bottom.

No matter how much you draw it, you can't draw new words.

There's only one circle, and it's going around all the time...... Keep turning ...... Turn all the time.

It's irritating to turn.

"I'm annoyed ......"

"What the hell are you talking about......

"Why do you keep mentioning all this boring stuff......"

"Didn't you say it's good......" Anson Lu's eyes were covered by strands of hair, and his voice was hoarse, "Didn't you say yes, and then we would play chess together?" ”

He stayed for a long time, moving his fingers and flipping up the text message interface, there were many messages, which were the messages that the two had talked about in the past few months.

...........

...........

"Classmate, what's your name?"

"Anson Deer, come, play a game of chess with me, and if you win, I'll let you enroll."

"Interesting, it seems that I usually practice a lot."

"Anson Lu, do you feel lonely, seeing that you don't usually make many friends at school, it's a good thing to make more friends."

"Study hard, but don't forget about playing chess."

"Every day at noon, after dinner, they will come and play two games of chess with me, which is the principal's order."

“…………”

“…………”

"Let's go, Anson Deer, play chess."

"Come, play chess, and have some tea by the way."

"Have you finished eating, let's play chess."

"Chess, stinky boy, why are you standing in the hallway?"

"Penalty station? Which teacher told you to stand and tell him to come to my office for tea and watch you play chess with me. ”

"This is Blue Mountain coffee, imported from foreign countries, produced in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, and the higher the altitude, the more expensive it is."

"Stinky boy, what is called must be fake, I think you just don't know how to appreciate it."

"Okay, okay, don't have this expression, let's have tea, and I'll buy some good coffee next time."

“…………”

“…………”

"Why do you like you so much?"

"I said, you have talent, I mention you in order to make you live better than me in this life, and when you make some achievements in the future, why don't you continue to play chess in this place and reminisce about the past."

"It's really spineless, I'm only seventeen years old and I'm talking about frustration here."

“…………”

“…………”

"I really haven't beaten you in a game of chess, huh...... I'm relieved that you're going to take a different path than I am. ”

"I've lived for so many years, there is only one truth I can teach you, people can't be too paranoid sometimes, if you only have a goal in your eyes, and you walk, there will be only one person left."

“…………”

“…………”

"I'm a failed person, I have spent my whole life and achieved nothing, and the people around me have also been lost by me, and before I know it, I have gray hair, and finally ...... I can only stay in this small place and drink tea to get by. ”

"Stinky boy, I don't want to hear you comfort me, I don't want you to follow my old path."

“…………”

“…………

"Something happened today."

"Busy, let's do it another day."

"I have something to do today."

"Stinky boy, don't keep sticking to me, don't you still have friends with you?"

"Hey, what's the hurry, there's time, next time."

“…………”

“…………”

"Is your birthday coming soon?"

"What? I have never received a blessing text message in my life...... Okay, then I'll be the first one for this old man. ”

“…………”

“…………”

"You're already an adult, and you have to take your share of responsibility."

"Happy 18th birthday, Anson Deer."

..............

..............

"Headmaster, my birthday ......," Anson Lu laughed self-deprecatingly, "but I'm not happy at all." ”

He leaned back on the bed, tilted his head, and stared at the hollow ceiling for a long time.

After a long time, Anson Lu put down his phone, his figure was like a kite with a broken string, slowly walked to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and the hot bath water gradually filled the bathtub.

He took off his clothes and soaked in the bathtub exhausted.

Half of his cheek gradually dipped into the water, and the blisters "gurgled" and bubbled.

The erodive spirit, soaked in hot water, collapsed layer by layer of tight defense.

Thoughts, gradually becoming ambiguous.

Anson Deer's mood is mixed.

He liked to play chess with himself since he was a child, and when he grew up, he thought he had found someone who was willing to play chess with him all the time...... As a result, this person is still 'himself'.

It's as if nothing has changed, as if everything has changed again.

What remains unchanged is that no one will understand him, only he will understand himself.

What had changed was that he began to feel a little lost.

"Empty heart...... That's what you say, Yuri. ”

The boy lowered his eyes, the brown of the child had never been so dark, like the light of a extinguished fire, he stared quietly at the crumpled palm, and smiled softly.

"Please, my life is messed up enough, and I have to mess up like this again......" Anson Lu muttered softly, "I seem to have been ...... for a long time. If you haven't experienced this feeling, can't you talk to me more? ”

After a long time, he moved his cheek and looked at Tokyo at night from the window where the raindrops were falling, the city's thousands of neon lights were gradually dimming, the sky was drizzling, and there were several figures walking on the long street, their backs were like slow motion, dragging on longer and longer, slowly moving away.

However, the Tokyo Sky Tree, which stands in the center of the city, still shines brightly and brilliantly.

Anson Lu moved his lips and whispered:

"Good night, Headmaster."