283 THE TEENAGE CHESSMASTER
[Earth- City of Snow- The Northern Hemisphere Chess Competition]
The hourglass dripped. Time was slipping away. Alexandr's forehead was slick with sweat.
His opponent was among the best chess players in the city, despite her youth. Just before his time ran out, he pushed a pawn forward—his best possible move.
Across the table, a seventeen-year-old girl sat unmoving, her sharp eyes locked onto the board, her mind a fortress. In the game, she was unstoppable, undefeated—a predator stalking her prey.
But in reality, she was a broken girl. Seven months pregnant, she endured relentless scorn the moment she entered the competition.
"Look at the shameless girl, coming here with a big bump," someone sneered.
"If I were her, I'd stay home instead of embarrassing myself," another whispered.
"This game's unfair—she's playing with two brains!" a voice jeered, followed by cruel laughter.
The insults didn't matter to Zorana.
She had already lost everything.
Just before stepping into the competition hall, she received a letter from her boyfriend—the father of her child. He was leaving the city for good, abandoning them both.
"I'm sorry Zorana, don't look for me," was his last words.
Zorana's boyfriend, the father of her unborn child has abandoned them. Desperate and hopeless, she clutched onto the only thing she had left—chess.
It was Zorana's turn.
She studied Alexandr's move and smirked. With calculated precision, she moved her Knight, capturing his Rook.
"Check," she announced.
Alexandr's sweat thickened.
Before the hourglass could run dry, Zorana whispered, "Mate." Then she smiled. She had won.
All her worries were gone at that moment, washed from her mind.
But at that moment, fate intervened.
"Arggggh!" Zorana screamed, clutching her stomach as she collapsed onto the table.
Her water had broken—her child was coming.
A medical team on stand-by rushed in, lifting her from the competition floor. As she was carried away, her fingers tightened around a chess piece that she clutched firmly onto—a Queen.
Then, the world turned upside down.
Zorana was no longer in her body. Her baby was gone. She floated weightlessly, like a spirit suspended in an endless void.
"Am I dead?" she asked instinctively.
A luminous figure appeared before her, its voice echoing with an otherworldly resonance. "No, you are not dead. You have entered the Realm of Sins."
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"Who are you, and why am I here?" Zorana demanded, staring at the ethereal being before her. It had the guise of a clown, yet its attire mimicked a Bishop from a chessboard.
"You may call me whatever you like," the being responded with an air of nonchalance.
"Bishop," Zorana decided. "Where am I?"
"You are in the palace of the Koresh Empire," Bishop replied.
"What?" Confusion clouded Zorana's mind.
Suddenly, the busy cries of a mother giving birth filled the chamber. Zorana's breath hitched, her heart clenching with grief. "What's happening here? Who is giving birth to a baby?" she cried.
"It is your child who will be soon birthed, but not by you," Bishop replied calmly, gesturing below.
Zorana's gaze dropped to the grand chamber beneath them, where a woman was surrounded by attendants.
"He is my son. How is this possible?" Zorana's voice trembled as she looked at the woman giving birth.
"It is quite unprecedented," Bishop admitted.
"Usually, only one soul enters the Realm of Sins at a time. However, your child's soul was forming when you entered, so instead of one, two souls arrived," he explained.
Zorana stiffened. "I don't understand? Can I be with my baby?"
"That," Bishop mused, rubbing his chin, "is a problem. We have only one body for you, as a player in this realm."
"A Player?"
"What do you mean by one body?" she asked again.
Bishop suddenly let out a sigh. "Zorana, I'm afraid you'll have to abandon your son. He cannot exist in this realm together with you. There can only be one body."
"No… you cannot take away my son. Why?" she demanded.
"There is only one place for your player account but in your case, you arrived with two souls. One must give up for the other. In your case, your newborn baby's soul is still undeveloped. Naturally, you shall occupy the place of your player, but your son would be gone," Bishop explained sadly.
"No… I cannot abandon my son. You cannot abandon my son", she pleaded.
Bishop thought carefully about it before replying. "You have a choice. Only one of you- you or your son can be reborn into this world."
Zorana didn't hesitate at all. "I'll give up my place in this world for my son."
Bishop nodded.
Suddenly, the room was filled with cries of a newborn baby. Zorana's son was born.
"What will happen to me now?" Zorana asked suddenly.
Bishop merely replied, "You would be lost. Gone with the game. I'm sorry."
Zorana's body quickly began to dissipate. Her soul was being destroyed.
"Is this my end? Well, whatever. As long as my baby lives," she murmured to herself.
A sudden shriek erupted from the darkness.
Something rushed toward Zorana's disintegrating body. She screamed as the ethereal mass latched onto her.
Moments passed before she realized the entity wasn't harming her. Instead, it filled her with energy. Her dissipating body was being healed.
"What is this thing?" she gasped.
"That," Bishop observed, "is a minor soul. Why is it drawn to you, I cannot say. Perhaps it's due to your unique situation. And it's healing your broken soul."
More dark entities slithered toward her, merging into her form?" she asked, her voice laced with unease.
"Am I going to live?" Zorana asked.
"I believe you may, but the real question is," Bishop corrected, "how you will obtain a body."
Zorana looked around her. A sudden surge of instinct took hold.
Zorana's spirit lunged toward the woman cradling her newborn son—the nanny. Without warning, her essence plunged into the woman's body, possessing her.
Bishop let out an amused chuckle. "So, this is how it's going to be. Well, this is the first player possession in the Realm of Sins."
Holding her child in the nanny's arms, Zorana whispered, "I love you, my son. I'll always be here for you."
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