Chess

Hao Ren clenched his teeth in annoyance. He wanted to vent his emotions but realized he didn't have much energy until he finally swallowed it again.

"I don't know who you're referring to as telling you to do all of this, and why it's still not over even though you defeated me..." Even though he looked in pain, Grandpa Ven forced himself to stand up holding his stomach that was hit earlier, "According My guess is, it looks like he did tell you to defeated me, but not in this way."

The reason why Grandpa Ven had purposely hit himself was actually to prove whether what Hao Ren said was true or not. If he didn't, then the guess he had guessed a long time ago should have been right.

"I do not understand what you mean?" Hao Ren frowned uncomprehendingly.

Before answering his question, Grandpa Ven's gaze briefly scanned the state of the house, which was originally neatly organized, now seemed to be in shambles, shaking his head slowly.

"Follow me…" Grandpa Ven told Hao Ren to follow him. He walked into the back room that was untouched by Hao Ren.

"Where?" Hao Ren asked but Grandpa Ven didn't answer.

The clueless Hao Ren finally could only obey. He forced his feet to stand up then followed Grandpa Ven from behind.

"Everything that is happening to us right now must have something to do with what is in front of you right now."

While in the back room, Grandpa Ven pointed to a flat table with two chairs facing each other. On the table there is something in the shape of a box on top of which there are several neatly lined pieces.

"Chess?"

He certainly recognized what Grandpa Ven was pointing at, it was none other than chess, a strategy game common in his home world.

"Oh, you know him, so I don't need to explain anymore."

Observing the state of the room which seemed to be nothing but a table in front of him, the two of them then approached the table together.

"As you can see, this thing has been around since I was here…"

Hao Ren looked at the chess box with the pieces neatly arranged like it had not been touched at all. He now understood the meaning of what Grandpa Ven wanted to convey. He also felt that this had something to do with the mission he had to complete on this ninth floor, considering that on the previous floors he was also faced with missions related to the use of the mind.

"Looks like you have to win against me this way." Grandpa Ven then pulled up one of the chairs and plopped down on it, "Can you play it?" asked Grandpa Ven trying to keep a smile even though he was enduring the pain.

Hao Ren sighed before replying, "I do know him but that doesn't mean I can play it," he said, sounding lethargic as he sat on the other seat.

He had never played chess at all. The reason why he had never played it was because he couldn't play a game like this by himself. Of course that's because he doesn't have any friends to play with. And another reason because he didn't really like the game.

"Oh, so you don't understand, huh..."

Hao Ren didn't answer. Likewise with Grandpa Ven.

The two of them were silent for a while before Grandpa Ven broke the silence first.

"Then I will teach you, how?" asked Grandpa Ven with a smile.

"Hah?"

"Can't you hear me, I'll teach you."

Hao Ren's face looked skeptical when he heard the offer. He seemed hesitant to accept it. Because after finding out that his real mission was something in front of him right now, Hao Ren felt guilty about what had happened, let alone having to hurt Grandpa Ven— yeah, even though it wasn't entirely his fault.

{Defeat the old man in front of you!}

In the midst of his doubts, the mission panel suddenly reappeared in front of him. It was as if telling him to accept Grandpa Ven's offer.

'Should I accept it…" Hao Ren reconsidered the offer.

'If so…System Call: open the inventory menu.'

[Good]

The inventory menu is displayed next to it.

"Alright, I'd be very happy if you would help me, but before that…" Hao Ren waved his hand to the side then took out something from the empty space.

"Treat your wound first." He took a small bottle of body restoration potion then threw it at Grandpa Ven and Grandpa Ven spontaneously caught it.

Seeing what Hao Ren had just done made Grandpa Ven's eyes widen in disbelief at what he had just seen.

"You can even use spatial magic? It's really unbelievable." The action that Hao Ren had just performed completely shocked him.

"Spatial magic? Oh, just now…"

"That's right, it's a high-level magic. I can't believe you can even master something like that too." Grandpa Ven clicked his tongue while shaking his head in disbelief.

Hao Ren responded to Grandpa Ven's surprise with a bland smile, 'Even though I don't use magic at all. I only took something in my inventory. Is this spatial magic that great? ' If he wasn't in a state of keeping his face, he wanted to laugh, thinking how special he was.

"Don't be too fussy about it." Hao Ren waved his hand, "Sorry about the trouble earlier. Also sorry that the potion I gave wasn't that great. It will only restore your state back to how it was." Hao Ren apologized looking away feeling embarrassed.

"It's okay. It's not entirely your fault anyway. I'm actually grateful. At least this way I can ease the pain you gave me." Grandpa Ven laughed when he discussed the incident as if he meant to be sarcastic.

Hao Ren didn't care much for it anymore. He also took something in his inventory menu in the form of a stamina recovery potion to restore his tired state back to normal.

The two of them consumed the potion and began to absorb its properties until it was used up.

"Okay, do you want to start now?" Grandpa Ven asked after he finished ingesting the potion Hao Ren gave him.

"Yeah, if possible I'd like to learn it as quickly as possible. I don't have much time here." Hao Ren had also finished consuming his potion.

Grandpa Ven chuckled at his reply which was like a super busy person despite his very young age. He didn't want to ask further why Hao Ren was in such a rush.

"Then let's start with the rules first. Do you understand the rules of the game?"

"A little. "

Grandpa Ven began to explain one by one the rules of how to play chess, starting with introducing pieces, the function of each piece, and the differences in each piece in stepping.

Gruu~

Before Grandpa Ven was about to start the discussion further, suddenly a voice that came from Hao Ren's stomach suddenly sounded, causing him to stop explaining and laugh. Hao Ren's indifferent face turned slightly red from embarrassment.

"Looks like the fight just now made me hungry. Let's postpone the explanation until here. Until I finish filling my stomach." Hao Ren immediately got up from his chair and walked to the corner of the room.

Grandpa Ven nodded slowly in approval. He chose to remain seated and watched Hao Ren from a distance while looking at him with a look of disbelief at everything that was happening to him right now.

In the corner of the room, Hao Ren sat leaning against the wall and took out the food and drinks in his inventory.

"Hey, aren't you feeling hungry?" he asked as his gaze met Grandpa Ven who seemed to be smiling casually at him. He didn't like it when he was eating alone and wanted to offer some food to Grandpa Ven.

"No. During my time in this place, I have never felt hungry, thirsty, or sleepy."

"Huh? Why?" Hao Ren asked feeling surprised and not understanding.

"I don't know, maybe it's because of the influence of the space and time distortion magic that surrounds this place."

"Distortion magic...But why doesn't it affect me?" he asked again.

"Don't know," Grandpa Ven replied with a shrug.

Again Akira felt strange again with his current situation. He didn't understand the exact reason why only he felt the hunger while Grandpa Ven didn't. Is it because he is a player?

"Just because you're not hungry, doesn't mean you can't eat something..."

Hao Ren opened his store menu and bought some adult-only meals there. The food he bought he took out one by one in the empty space.

Grandpa Ven who saw Hao Ren being able to easily take out that much food from the empty space couldn't help but be stunned.

"Come, come eat with me," he ordered, showing the food he had bought and lined up around him.

Grandpa Ven nodded at his request. He got up from his chair and walked over to Hao Ren then sat down beside him.

Judging from all the food that Hao Ren bought, there was none that Grandpa Ryu recognized and he knew it was the first time he saw food with strange shapes like this, including pizza, hamburgers, takoyaki, hotdogs, pasta, odading and other foods that he thought were possible. came from Hao Ren's world.

"Is all this edible?" Grandpa Ven asked hesitantly looking at all the food around him.

"Why? Is there no food like this in your original world?" Hao Ren asked back with a small chuckle.

He then took the round food beside him and handed it to Grandpa Ven, "No need to hesitate. You just need to try it first."

Grandpa Ven took it. He scrutinized the food for a moment in doubt before starting to try to eat it. After eating it for a moment the doubts he had felt disappeared as soon as he tasted how delicious the food he just had

he eats. In just one bite it was as if his taste buds had come back to life.

"Delicious! What is this food?" asked Grandpa Ven with a look of admiration.

"Oh, that's called a hamburger."

"Hamburger?"

"Yes."