"We have to get away from the Queen, of course," I said. It was a problem for us to move back after coming this far but it wasn't like we would be able to hit the King even if we went after the castle. "We need to do something about the castle..." 

 

"Let's grab their weapons and run." 

 

"What? But there's always something surrounding us once we move." 

 

"Then we fight."

 

Baekho took a deep breath before nodding, adjusting his grip. "If they can cheat, we will do it too." 

 

"But how do we do that?" I asked as we took a step forward, away from the threatening Queen as we headed to the castle.

 

"There has to be a way... If they can do that castle move when it's our turn, we should be able to do something too."

 

We entered the castle's tile and the red tile lit up again. The castle spun to face us and started speeding towards us without a warning. 

 

"Run!" Baekho yelped and shoved me towards the direction he was heading towards. I ran and we tried to reach for the guns on the floor but before we could pick them up, the castle slammed right into me. I lifted my arms to block it, turning my heels so I could try to at least slow down it's advance. Baekho immediately turned around and tried to stop the castle from pushing me back anymore. "Damn it! He's tough." 

 

"Ugh.. I can't push him back," I cried out in pain as my shoulder stung. Baekho pulled me away and it went speeding towards the wall, only stopping just before it crashed. It turned around and charged at us again. "We can't keep running like this." 

 

"Well, it definitely is trying to stop us from getting the guns." Baekho pulled the katana out and pointed it at the castle who started turning towards us. 

 

"But if this is the same as the Bishop or any of the pawns... You should be able to cut him. We need a way to make him drop the shield," I said while placing a hand on my shoulder, trying to keep my expression together. Now wasn't the time to be writhing in pain. 

 

"We have to feint it. We will act like we are charging at it once it comes for us and you make a run for the gun. I'll try to make sure you are in range."

 

"Okay."

 

Both of us immediately positioned ourselves for a charge forward. It started to move forward and we did too, unintentionally yelling out battle cries as we ran towards it. Baekho swung the katana up and it lifted its shield ever so slightly to block the hit. I broke off from him and slipped past it. My hand reached out for the gun but before I could grab either, a cold stone like hand grabbed me. I was not expecting the size of its hand to cover my entire torso as it lifted me off the ground almost too easily.

 

"Gah-"

 

"Minhyun!" 

 

"Let go!" I slammed my fist against its hand, trying to get it to let go but it felt as if I had been entombed within stones. Baekho tried to run to me but it swung the shield and he had no choice but to use the sword to lessen the blow's impact. The katana couldn't cut through the shield though but he was able to hold it back. It tightened its grip and I gasped painfully as my cuffed arm was stuck within too. My ribs felt like they were being crushed. 

 

"Minhyun, hang in there!" 

 

"Hah... Easy for you to say," I panted. The castle lifted its hand, dragging Baekho towards me as well. 

 

"Crap." He held the cuff and tried to stop him but his legs lifted off the ground as well. ", , !"

 

"Throw me your sword!" I yelled and Baekho didn't even think twice before he hurled the katana towards me. I barely managed to grab ahold of it and started stabbing it's arm but it didn't stop as it raised its arm all the way up. Baekho was also hanging by the chain of the cuff. 

 

"Stab its head!" 

 

I tried to change the direction of my swing but he started swinging his hand downwards. I screamed and Baekho landed. He lifted his arms, trying to grab me but I would die if I hit the ground at the speed I was being swung. I was going to die. 

 

Like this? 

 

I don't want to die. 

 

"MINHYUN!" 

 

Shoop-

 

"What?" 

 

The hand stopped moving and I peeked open an eye. There was an arrow poking out of the head of the castle. Another arrow hit its head and it dropped me. Baekho barely cushioned my fall and the katana tumbled away from my grip. A loud roar echoed deeply from within the castle as it was the first time the statue's mouth moved and opened. Baekho pulled me away and grabbed the katana as well as we scooted to the guns. It let its shield go and its eyes glowed red. We gasped as it tore its legs out from the pedestal, stomping down with an incessant growl. 

 

"I think we just made it mad!" someone from the back squeaked. It started to charge at us and I lifted my uninjured arm to brace for impact, shutting my eyes tightly. 

 

"Die!!" I heard Baekho yell before it was followed by a rain of bullets hitting rock. I peered at them and realised that it was working. The bullets shot through the statue now that it didn't have its shield. I looked around and picked up the other gun, grunting in pain as my arm was numb and wouldn't move. I propped it against myself and pulled the trigger. The recoil from the gun made me cough and I had to stop to catch my breath. Eventually, it broke into pieces before it could reach us and the red glow surrounding us died down. We both turned to look at each other, about to cheer before a loud grating sound echoed. The queen had turned and faced us again, eyes glowing a deep red. We both gasped and shuffled back on the board. 

 

"Run!" 

 

"Baekho! Minhyun! Get away!" 

 

"It's their turn now. We can't move," I panted. Baekho pushed himself up and lifted the gun after keeping the katana back into his inventory. 

 

"What if we can? What if this game is just designed to make us think we had to move like chess pieces but in actuality, it isn't?" Baekho asked as he held his hand out to me. I pulled myself up with his help and he gulped. "Trust me?" 

 

"Well, if you die, I'll die. That's as much trust as I can give you, Baekho."

 

"Aim for the king."

 

"What?" 

 

"Someone shot arrows at the castle just now. What if we can kill him that way?"

 

I used my arm to stabilise the gun and aimed at the King piece. I didn't know if this was going to work or if we would just end up being blown to pieces for breaking rules but then again, there weren't any written or verbal rules given to us. Baekho started to shoot at the King piece and the moment the first bullet hit the King piece, all the pieces' eyes started to glow red and they turned to us.

 

"Holy sh-"

 

The Queen started to move to us at a frightening speed and without a second thought but only fear in our veins at the sight of the piece, we ran towards the King. Baekho continuously fired at it and I only managed to unload a couple bullets at the King piece before the pressure in my chest started to ache again. I took deep breaths and tried to keep up with Baekho as we entered the King's box. Our path lit up in an L shape again and Baekho didn't stop even as we ran past the King. The Queen piece chased us, sliding past the King piece.

 

"Everyone who has ranged weapons, fire at the King!!" Baekho shouted. I could barely hear anything as the board soon started to become chaos. Pieces started moving towards us and the rest on the other side of the board started to move forward too. It was almost like a real war and it was hard to tell who was winning. I could feel Baekho take the gun from me and continuously shoot at the King, even going as far as to run backwards while the Queen kept chasing us. I led us following the paths we could take. As long as we stayed within the L-shape, it seemed as though we would survive. We can do this. 

 

We can-

 

"Jonghyun!" I screamed when I saw a chess piece heading straight towards him. Baekho turned around, whipping the gun over and aiming at the piece instead. 

 

"I'll be fine! Take care of their King! You have to take the king down and avoid being in the same box as any other pieces!" 

 

"He solved it," I found myself whispering before Baekho turned back to shooting at the King who was breaking apart much slower than the other pieces we went up against. In that moment, something seemed to click. "Baekho, we need to checkmate the King." 

 

"What?" 

 

"We need to land in his tile. Our moves are only decided once we move based on our piece type. So to win against him, we need to land in his tile." 

 

"Crap. But how? The queen just won't give up!" 

 

I looked around and saw a pair holding slingshots coming closer. "Hey, you two!"

 

"Huh?"

 

"We have to land in the King's tile or this won't ever end! We need help distracting the Queen. Or we can be the bait!"

 

"We are the other Bishop piece. We can get to the King with just a few more moves if he doesn't move from his tile."

 

"Whichever happens, let's checkmate it and end this!"

 

We continued circling the board, trying to land on the king piece but the other were also moving, making it even more difficult to approach despite our niche to jump over other pieces as a knight.

 

"Baekho, we just need to take this last turn!"

 

"Minhyun, wait!" 

 

Baekho suddenly pulled me back before I could make it to the next tile. The Queen entered the tile in front of us and I gaped at it. She was blocking us from checkmate.

 

"We've got it!" the other pair yelled and the Queen turned around just as they stepped into the King's tile. "Checkmate!"

 

"Now get rid of him!"

 

We can win this.

 

Or so we thought.

 

Their pieces except pawns all started heading towards the pair in the tile.

 

"We have to help them," I squeaked and Baekho nodded, both of us trying to get to them but in an instance, the Queen entered our tile instead just before we could declare our next move. She lifted her arms out from her robe, hands in the shape of long claws. She swung them down at us. 

 

Death. 

 

I don't know how many times that thought that had crossed my mind by now. 

 

Every time was a close call, getting closer and closer. 

 

But everything stopped before her claws reached either of us. Just mere inches from our faces as we opened our eyes to find ourselves still alive. The statues started to crack and breaking into dust harmlessly. We stepped out of the tile unintentionally but nothing happened as the board started to fade away back to the main hall. Some started to fall to their knees, relieved that it was over while I fell for a different reason. The burn in my shoulder stung horribly. 

 

"Minhyun? Are you okay?" Baekho asked and I nodded. "You look pale..." 

 

"Ah... I'm j-" 

 

"Minhyun!" Jonghyun called out to me and ran over. Baekho frowned a little as he helped me to my feet. "Did you get hurt?" 

 

"Hah! Why would it matter to you?" Baekho snapped and shoved him away. I blinked in surprise as he pulled me towards him, wincing as his arm was on my injured side. 

 

"What do you mean?! Of course I care about Minhyun!" 

 

"Hey, you two, calm down," Ren said with a worried expression. "You're making a huge scene right after we cleared the game."

 

"You couldn't do anything earlier!" 

 

"Baekho, stop," I whined and held his arm. 

 

"I..." 

 

"We were the King piece. What would you expect us to do? We would have all died if we made a move," Ren barked back. 

 

"So that means it's fine for the rest of us to die?!" 

 

"That's not what I wanted either!"

 

The two started to raise their voice while Ren tried to calm them down but his tone wasn't helping either. I felt my vision blurred out before stumbling into Baekho's arms. 

 

"Enough..." 

 

Clap, clap, clap. 

 

"Huh?" 

 

Prism appeared and everyone fell silent. 

 

"Welcome back, group 1. As I expected from the best players of the game, it seems like you're also the fastest to clear the board with the least casualties so far. Congratulations~" 

 

" you, Prism! Let us go! This is murder!" 

 

"I've had enough of this!" 

 

People started to create chaos again, forgetting Prism's capabilities until he lifted his fingers, ready to snap them. Everyone settled down again into a hush. 

 

"As the winners of the board with the fastest time, you are now granted free roam at night too. Enjoy." He bowed and disappeared with a twirl.

 

"Free roam? That's it?" Some started showing their dissatisfaction but no one had the energy to raise their voices after what just happened. 

 

"Baekho, let's just... Go back... To our room," I said tiredly and Baekho nodded. He lifted me up in his arms to my shock and headed to the room. I noticed Jonghyun's grim look and couldn't say anything. It wasn't his fault for being the King piece and it wasn't his for being unable to lead us to victory. He shouldn't have had to bear the flames of Baekho's anger but I knew I couldn't blame Baekho either. I knew he too, was afraid of death. Afraid that one misstep would cause us both our lives too. No one was at fault here. Every action just had their own consequences. 

 

He opened the room door and set me down in the bathroom to wash up. I lifted my sleeve to see how bad the burn was but to my confusion, there wasn't any burn marks or lesions. I blinked. The pain was still there though. 

 

"Are you okay? You haven't moved your other arm at all." 

 

"I... I don't know. It got hurt earlier but... There's no marks." 

 

"You got hurt?" 

 

"Ah... Well it was something small..." I rolled my sleeve down and smiled a little. "It's fine. I can handle something like that." 

 

Baekho fell silent and nodded as he prepared a bath. "You can bath first. I'll wait my turn." 

 

"Thank you, Baekho... Also, you should apologise to Jonghyun. That wasn't very fair of you to blame him." 

 

"... Ugh... Sorry... After all I said about you getting along with Hoshi and now I'm finding fault with Jonghyun..." 

 

I took off my clothes and entered the warm bath, feeling all my senses finally relax and muscles loosen up. Baekho picked up my clothes and tossed them into the laundry basket before kneeling beside the bath. 

 

"I'll apologise to him... So... Don't be upset at me?" 

 

I tilted my head as he looked at me with bubbly eyes. It should have been a weird sight, someone as muscular as Baekho looking this cute but it made me feel warm instead. That there was still hints of innocence in the person who didn't back down from a fight. It was also supposed to be weird that he was even asking me not to be upset at him but maybe I was too tired to process such actions that I could only find it cute. 

 

"I'm not upset... Don't worry about me..." 

 

"Okay." 

 

After the both of us bath, we wore fresh sets of clothes and exited the room. 

 

"I wonder how Hoshi is doing... As well as the other two new people we met." 

 

"I don't know...," I said softly, feeling light headed and like I could faint at any moment but we still managed to get to Jonghyun and Ren's shared room. The door was open by a creak and I reached forward to open it when Baekho grabbed my wrist. "Huh?" 

 

Baekho placed a finger on his lips and looked serious. 

 

"-Minhyun is going to die at this rate." 

 

I froze and felt my blood run cold. Why... 

 

Why did Jonghyun just say that? 

 

~~~

 

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