Chapter 153: The Chess Gambit

“First of all, since this is a chess gamble, we need pieces. Like this one in my hand.”

Yuque’s slender fingers deftly toyed with the king piece, flipping it between her digits with practiced ease—a true gambler’s touch.

“Each round, the two opposing sides must stake one-tenth of their magic power, condensing it into three pieces. From highest to lowest magic index, they are named King, General, and Pawn.

You may distribute the magic power freely, but the total must equal exactly one-tenth of your magic power.

Then, we play small rounds of piece versus piece. In each round, both sides place one piece and compare magic indices. The loser’s piece dissolves. Best of three.

The winner reclaims their surviving pieces for the next round, while the loser must prepare a new set of magic pieces until their magic runs out.

See? Simple rules. Need me to repeat them?”

Liu Qingruo’s delicate face scrunched up. Wasn’t this bullying her because her magic index was lower? Her one-tenth was only 76,000, but Yuque had 100,000 to allocate. From the start, it was outrageously unfair!

Frustrated, Liu Qingruo puffed out her cheeks, but could only tap her fingers on the board silently without complaint.

She knew at once this was the classic ‘Tian Ji horse racing’ strategy—but she was Tian Ji, and Yuque was no King Wei of Qi. Who knew if she’d end up losing her shirt?

Liu Qingruo tried to think of a strategy, but soon felt a headache coming on. It was clearly a complex problem… she wasn’t good at logical reasoning.

So she secretly glanced at Ye Qing behind her, seeking help from the black-haired girl, who was also deep in thought.

Though the gambling rules were a bit troublesome, Ye Qing quickly sorted things out.

First, for Liu Qingruo to win, she had to probe Yuque’s strategy. Since Yuque had more choices due to her advantage, Liu Qingruo only had one way to win: adopt an extreme strategy.

Bet heavily on the King and General, abandon the useless Pawn, and she’d have a slight chance.

Ideally, Liu Qingruo could use her King to eat Yuque’s General, and her General to eat Yuque’s Pawn, preserving both pieces. As for the Pawn, since it was destined to be discarded, even injecting a tiny bit of magic wouldn’t matter.

But Yuque would never let her have her way. She had several methods to disrupt Liu Qingruo’s rhythm—for example, using the same extreme distribution, causing Liu Qingruo’s King to be weaker than her General, deciding the outcome before a piece was even placed.

To counter Yuque’s tactics, Liu Qingruo would have to guess her psychology and adjust accordingly… but that was nonsense.

Yuque was a casino owner; how could she lose at this? So from the start, the chance of victory rested on Ye Qing, the ‘outsider.’

As for what she should do…

Ye Qing subconsciously glanced at Mo Yinling and was speechless to find the girl fuming over a lack of internet, her phone screen showing an AI software interface.

Clearly, this sharp little girl had immediately found a way to cheat, but how could Yuque not have thought of that?

Looking at Mo Yinling’s pathetic 650,000 and the Flower Queen’s massive 1,100,000 magic index, Ye Qing shot her a pitying glance without further commentary.

‘It’s fine. At your wedding to the Flower Queen, I’ll sneak in to steal some candy. As for the gift money… given our relationship (or lack thereof), let’s not talk about money.’

“Well, Miss Liu, have you decided?”

Yuque urged unhurriedly, three condensed pieces already in her hand, her demeanor casual, as if completely unafraid of stumbling.

Liu Qingruo bit her silver teeth. Just then, Ye Qing had also told her the plan, so she began condensing her own pieces in imitation.

A cluster of brilliant crimson flames leaped from her fingers, landing on the board and transforming into a proud fire phoenix, its head held high, no less exquisite than Yuque’s pieces, drawing a murmur of admiration.

“Not bad, quite bold, Miss Liu. I’m beginning to appreciate you more. Maybe the tea party isn’t for you… How about you stay by our side after tonight?”

Liu Qingruo curled her lips and without hesitation slapped down a piece, covering it tightly with her hand, not letting a hint slip.

“Yes, your turn. Don’t waste my patience.”

Yuque narrowed her phoenix eyes, picked up a piece, and placed it on the board.

The two locked eyes and revealed their pieces simultaneously.

Liu Qingruo: King, 30,000 points.

Yuque: General, 30,000 points.

At the center of the board, the fire phoenix fiercely spread its wings, pecked at the jade peacock, refined it instantly, and dissipated into the air, leaving only ashes.

Yuque seemed unsurprised, merely smiling faintly, unaffected by this minor setback.

Even if Liu Qingruo guessed right this time, she still had to make a second guess. Even if she won this round, Yuque would have learned the magic distribution of Liu Qingruo’s pieces, making the next round a sure win.

—She only needed to ensure her General was stronger than Liu Qingruo’s King, or her Pawn stronger than Liu Qingruo’s General. That was Yuque’s winning strategy.

This was the trap hidden in the rules by Yuque. Originally a compensation advantage for the loser, for Yuque it became an absolute advantage, because she had the strength to back it up.

For Liu Qingruo, even the best case scenario would make winning extremely difficult. Good luck couldn’t always be on her side…

Or maybe not.

Liu Qingruo was delighted at her first victory, retrieved her King piece, and revealed a faint, almost imperceptible confidence.

‘Hmph, no matter how strong you are, I’ve got dog luck—ah, no—strong luck on my side. Winning against you is easy!’

This strong luck wasn’t baseless. When she had triggered two low-probability events in a row earlier, Ye Qing had sensed something amiss.

‘This girl’s ability might be related to luck, but I recall she was pretty unlucky when writing novels?’

But magical girl abilities weren’t all as straightforward as Gu Xuanyu’s. There were all sorts of strange powers, like Shen Congqing’s watered-down ‘Everything Goes Well.’ Maybe Liu Qingruo’s power was of a similar type?

Soon, the second round was decided.

The fire phoenix swallowed the peacock: General vs. Pawn, 35,000 vs. 29,000 points. Liu Qingruo won.

Thus, the third round became meaningless. Yuque voluntarily extinguished her last piece, her face calm.

Liu Qingruo, meanwhile, saved all three pieces for the second game—but this advantage was meaningless.

Next, as expected, Yuque used her General piece valued at 41,000 points to first beat the King, then the General, killing the game.

She also saved all three pieces.

It was then that Ye Qing noticed another of Yuque’s tricks—since it was best of three, as long as it ended within two rounds, the winner could keep all pieces.

Normally, if three rounds were completed, Yuque would lose a Pawn piece, but this way she suffered no loss.

Though Yuque’s Pawn was barely worth mentioning, she could adopt an even distribution in subsequent games, while Liu Qingruo had almost no chance. This choice meant another rule favoring Yuque.

Ye Qing gritted her teeth but could do nothing.

‘Really, completely outplayed.’

But now, the only way was to rely on strong luck to keep winning. After all, Liu Qingruo had the advantage of winning first and knowing Yuque’s pieces. If they continued trading blows like this, Yuque would be the first to lose.

She could win!

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