Chapter 30: Juncheng and Zhi Shou
“Checkmate, it’s a dead end.”
“Let’s play another round!”
“Then, all monsters on the field attack directly, LP reduced to zero. You lose.”
“Sore wa dore kana? One more game!”
“It’s useless even if you have ten mana next turn. Just surrender.”
“I’d never choose death!”
“KO, your life points are zero. Wasn’t it fifty rounds to win? Hmm, I’ve already won 26 matches against you, no need to continue.”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“I’ve been solo-killed ten times… do you still want to continue?”
“Continueeeee! I’m not convinced! Aaaaaaaaah!”
Defeated repeatedly, but always fighting back.
We tried all sorts of games, from card games to fighting games, to competitive games, and even the oldest rock-paper-scissors.
If this were a casino, I would have lost everything, down to my last pair of underwear.
If this were a game, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen the words “victory and defeat are common in warfare, great hero, please start again” float before my eyes.
If this were a life-or-death game, I might have already died a thousand times over.
I was utterly and completely defeated, but still not convinced.
I don’t want to admit defeat here.
Absolutely, I cannot let it end like this!
I got up from the table, not to be outdone. Even though I was beaten black and blue and mentally broken, my heart had not an ounce of defeat in it.
“Again! This time, coin toss!”
“Heh, sure.”
The girl remained calm and composed, just like when I first saw her upon arriving here.
Or rather, still as beautiful as ever.
It’s impossible to get tired of looking at her.
We’ve been fighting non-stop, day and night. Although I don’t know how much time has actually passed, we’ve held multiple speedrun competitions of Dark Souls 3, played countless rounds of Mahjong, and tried every game I could think of.
Taken all together, it must be at least a week… no, perhaps even over a month?
Because there are no time-keeping devices in this world, and my perception of time is distorted, I have no idea how long it’s been…
But does it matter?
Continue, until victory.
Don’t stop!
For the Nth time, I saw the girl raise her pipe, take a puff, and exhale a perfect circle of smoke. Unlike ordinary smoke that quickly dissipates, her smoke was like a cloud, solid and lingering.
As the circular smoke ring hung in the air, the girl drew a heart shape in it with her finger. With a gentle puff, she blew it towards me.
I waved it away.
Her expression remained unfazed as she put down her pipe and said calmly.
“What will you bet this time?”
“………”
I thought back to the ‘possessions’ I still had, only to realize I had nothing left that belonged to me.
According to our previous agreement, I had bet everything I could.
Now, I’ve even lost my own body, piece by piece, from a fingernail to every single part, inside and out.
Of course, I lost my clothes long ago.
Other things I’ve lost include freedom, lifespan, happiness, fear, and other abstract concepts and emotions.
The only reason I haven’t lost them yet is that she hasn’t taken them.
However, there is one thing she has already taken.
My memory.
First, the memories I dreamt of, then the memories I had ‘forgotten’, then the memories of being one year old, two years old… and in the last match, I finally lost all my memories.
Except for my own identity, I couldn’t remember why I was here or why I was gambling with the girl before me.
Everything that had happened before, all my past experiences, were now gone…
I had put everything on the line.
I just didn’t want it to end like this.
It can’t end like this.
SF Light Novel
“Are you betting intelligence? Or common sense? Heh, if you lose, you’ll become an idiot, and the game can’t continue.”
Some things can’t be bet on, like intelligence, skills, or spiritual power. If I lose those, then…
So, what else do I have left to bet?
“My own name! I’ll bet my name, I must win against you!”
“Your name… Alright, what shall we bet on?”
“Just… coin toss!”
“Sure.”
A coin appeared out of thin air on the table. She gestured for me to toss it.
Every time she does something that seems like she’s giving me an advantage, as if she’s underestimating me. It makes me angry…
But what makes me even angrier is that even so, I’ve never won against her.
I tossed the coin high into the air.
I had to make a decision before the coin landed.
I began to squeeze out the last bit of my spiritual power. Although it was already at its limit, limits are meant to be broken!
Thought Acceleration!
The world around me slowed down. The girl remained in her calm posture, her eyes placid. One leg was raised, resting on the stool. I could see her fair skin and the curiously designed lace trim of her short socks.
But now is not the time to admire a beautiful girl…
Let my thoughts transcend phenomena!
Through countless games, my spiritual power broke through once again. Now, not only can I accelerate my thoughts, but I can also predict the future through high-frequency calculations!
Predicting the bounce trajectory, calculating the number of bounces, and finally… it will stop at the corner of the table, and… heads!
Deactivating Thought Acceleration, I said confidently.
“Then I’ll choose tails… let’s see the result.”
The coin bounced on the table a few times as I predicted, then stopped at the corner of the table… but it didn’t stop!
The coin actually fell off the table!
Logically, it would continue to fall to the ‘ground’… but where we are, there is no ‘ground’.
There is only darkness, and both the girl and I seem to be standing on a perfectly transparent glass. The table is also placed on this glass.
I say ‘glass’ only because I can’t see anything else. I don’t actually know what we are standing ‘on’.
Because besides the girl and the table and me, nothing else touches this so-called ‘glass’.
So, the coin wouldn’t be stopped by the glass I mentioned, but would continue to fall into the abyss of darkness, completely out of sight.
I scratched my head and pointed downwards, asking.
“Umm… what do we do?”
“Ga.”
Since she said to wait, I could only wait.
I don’t know how long I waited. By the time I felt I was bored to death, I finally heard a *clang*.
The coin fell from above, hit the corner of the table, and bounced back onto the tabletop.
Is this space connected vertically?
Whatever! It doesn’t matter!
What matters is the result…
“Hmm. It’s tails, I win! So, coin toss is also your loss.”
“Damn it!”
“According to the previous bet, I’ve taken your ‘name’.”
Finally, I had no name left.
I am…
Where am I…
What am I doing…
The first two questions are unanswerable, but the last one has an answer.
I want to win against her!
I’ve forgotten why I’m so fixated on victory, but it doesn’t matter.
“Then, let’s continue!”
“Mm, what will you bet this time?”
“…I bet… …”
What do I have left?
I still have my life!
“My life!”
“You might not remember, but I told you before, you can bet anything here, except your life.”
It seems I have nothing left…
The girl looked at me, who had fallen silent, and suddenly suggested.
“Not betting your ‘heart’?”
“Heart? I’ve already abandoned it…”
Even if I don’t remember, I know I don’t have it anymore. I’ve abandoned my heart…
“That’s fine. What you’ve lost can also be used as a bet. Ru!”
.” No, I can’t do that.”
I don’t know why I can’t.
“… Right, forget it. I originally just wanted to take ownership of your body. Then let’s end it here.”
“No! It can’t end! … I’ll bet my soul!”
“Heh, soul… Right, there’s still the soul. Then come at me, what shall we bet on?”
I don’t know why, but I knew she would accept my proposal.
No matter what I proposed, she would agree. So this time…
“Let’s arm wrestle!”
The girl opposite me suddenly froze at my proposal, then burst into laughter, a happy laugh.
“Proposing an arm wrestle with a weak woman like me? You really have no respect.”
What is respect?
Victory is everything!
Although I had deliberately chosen intellectual and skill-based contests that wouldn’t show gender differences, this time! I want to win with pure strength!
“Alright, then let’s arm wrestle.”
The girl agreed, extended her wrist, and placed her hand on the table.
I also reached out and took her hand.
Then I stopped.
I couldn’t describe the feeling, but the moment I held the girl’s hand, I suddenly felt… everything was over.
Yes, it’s finally over…
“What’s wrong? Aren’t we arm wrestling? Why aren’t you using your strength?”
Seeing that I wasn’t answering, the girl also closed her eyes and said.
“….. I’m a little tired too. Let’s leave it at this.”
She was clearly giving me the chance to win.
But I couldn’t muster any strength.
Holding the girl’s hand, tears streamed down my face.
I don’t know why I’m crying, because I can’t remember.
But this feeling is definitely not fake. There were countless things I wanted to say, but they couldn’t be spoken, so all the words turned into one sentence.
“I found you.” …
That’s right. =
…. Who are you?
