06:11.
Six minutes and eleven seconds.
That was all that remained.
The auditorium had become unnaturally quiet.
The device Bai Shuying had used to calculate the board lay beside her, completely inactive.
Nobody in the audience understood what had happened.
They had seen Bai Shuying place something on the table.
They had seen the system fail to react.
They had seen Lin Xia smile.
But they didn't know why.
Lin Xia looked at the board.
Bai Shuying looked at the board.
Neither woman moved.
Five seconds passed.
Ten.
Fifteen.
The timer continued.
05:52.
Mei Chen whispered,
"Why aren't they moving?"
Yue Ning didn't answer immediately.
"Because the next move decides the entire position."
Mei Chen looked at the board.
"How?"
Yue Ning pointed toward the center.
"Look."
There were only fourteen pieces remaining.
Seven black.
Seven red.
But the board looked more complicated than when there had been twenty-four.
Several pieces were locked behind each other.
Two possible captures existed.
Neither was safe.
Three separate paths could lead to promotion.
And one wrong move could open the board completely.
Lin Xia finally moved.
A red piece advanced one square.
Click.
A simple move.
Almost disappointingly simple.
The audience murmured.
Bai Shuying looked at it.
Then laughed softly.
"You're doing it again."
Lin Xia raised an eyebrow.
"Doing what?"
"Making an ordinary move look meaningless."
Bai Shuying moved one of her black pieces.
Click.
Lin Xia immediately moved another.
Click.
Bai Shuying responded.
Click.
Three moves.
The position changed.
Then Lin Xia stopped.
She stared at the board.
Something was wrong.
Not with her strategy.
With Bai Shuying's.
Bai Shuying had abandoned the center.
She had moved toward the edge.
At first glance, it looked like a defensive retreat.
But Lin Xia knew better.
"You're not trying to promote that piece."
Bai Shuying smiled.
"No."
"You're trying to make me chase it."
"Exactly."
Lin Xia leaned closer.
Bai Shuying had created a false target.
One of her pieces looked dangerously close to reaching the opposite side.
Naturally, Lin Xia's attention would move toward it.
But if she attacked...
the center would open.
And another black piece would gain a clear route.
It was elegant.
Annoyingly elegant.
Mei Chen whispered,
"She's baiting her."
Yue Ning nodded.
"And Lin Xia knows."
"Then why doesn't she just ignore it?"
"Because ignoring it is also part of the trap."
Mei Chen groaned.
"I hate intelligent people."
THE BOARD CHANGES
04:21.
Lin Xia moved.
Instead of attacking the threatening piece...
she moved backward.
The audience erupted in confusion.
"You can move backward?"
A student shouted.
"Only kings!" someone answered.
"No, she's moving a different piece!"
The system displayed:
LEGAL MOVE.
Bai Shuying's eyes widened.
She hadn't expected that.
Lin Xia hadn't attacked.
She had repositioned a completely different piece to prevent the center from opening.
Bai Shuying stared at the board.
Then she smiled.
"That's good."
Lin Xia said nothing.
Bai Shuying moved.
Lin Xia moved.
Bai Shuying moved.
The pace increased.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The audience became louder with every move.
Students began standing.
People shouted suggestions.
Some were cheering.
Others were betting.
The auditorium had transformed from a quiet examination hall into a stadium.
But Lin Xia barely heard them.
Her entire world had narrowed to sixty-four squares.
THE KING
Bai Shuying's piece reached the final row.
The system announced:
KING.
The audience exploded.
Bai Shuying now had a king.
The balance shifted immediately.
A king could move backward.
It could attack from directions ordinary pieces couldn't.
It changed the geometry of the board.
Mei Chen jumped up.
"That's bad!"
Yue Ning grabbed her arm.
"Sit!"
"But she has a king!"
"Lin Xia expected it."
Lin Xia stared at the newly crowned piece.
She didn't look worried.
Instead...
she smiled.
Bai Shuying noticed.
"You knew."
Lin Xia nodded.
"I knew you'd get there."
"Then why didn't you stop me?"
"Because I needed you to."
Bai Shuying's smile disappeared.
THE TRAP WITHIN THE TRAP
Lin Xia moved.
Her piece stepped into what looked like an obvious capture.
Bai Shuying stared at it.
She could take it.
A clean capture.
Then another.
Potentially two more.
The audience began shouting.
"TAKE IT!"
"TAKE IT!"
"TAKE IT!"
Bai Shuying didn't move.
She studied the position.
Her king could capture.
But if she did...
Lin Xia's remaining pieces would force a chain.
Bai Shuying would gain material.
Then lose mobility.
Her king would become trapped near the edge.
She looked at Lin Xia.
"You're offering me another piece."
Lin Xia nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you're going to refuse it."
Bai Shuying smiled.
"You think you know me."
"No."
Lin Xia's expression became serious.
"I know the board."
That answer changed something.
Bai Shuying looked down.
Then moved.
She refused the capture.
The audience groaned.
Lin Xia immediately attacked the opposite side.
Bai Shuying's king was forced to retreat.
Yue Ning suddenly stood.
"That's it."
Mei Chen looked at her.
"What?"
"Lin Xia isn't trying to win pieces."
"Then what is she doing?"
"She's taking away squares."
Mei Chen looked again.
And finally saw it.
Every move Lin Xia had made had reduced Bai Shuying's available territory.
She wasn't attacking the king.
She was slowly removing its escape routes.
It wasn't a trap.
It was a cage.
THE LAST FOUR MINUTES
03:08.
Bai Shuying moved her king.
Lin Xia moved.
Bai Shuying moved.
Lin Xia moved.
The board became smaller.
Not physically.
Strategically.
There were fewer and fewer legal choices.
Bai Shuying's expression became more serious.
She had stopped smiling.
She was calculating manually now.
"Interesting," she whispered.
Lin Xia heard her.
"What?"
"You've changed."
Lin Xia looked at her.
"You too."
Bai Shuying moved her final ordinary piece.
It reached the opposite side.
KING.
Now both players had kings.
The audience erupted again.
Three red pieces.
Two black pieces.
Three kings.
Two kings.
Everything came down to positioning.
THE MOVE NOBODY EXPECTED
Bai Shuying suddenly moved her king toward Lin Xia's strongest piece.
The move appeared reckless.
Even Yue Ning didn't understand it.
"Why would she do that?"
Mei Chen stared.
"She's attacking."
"No."
Yue Ning shook her head.
"She's forcing Lin Xia to move."
Lin Xia's eyes narrowed.
If she protected the piece, Bai Shuying would gain the center.
If she moved it, she would expose another piece.
There was no perfect answer.
The timer showed:
01:49.
Lin Xia closed her eyes.
For two seconds.
Then opened them.
She moved.
Not the threatened piece.
Not the obvious defensive piece.
Instead...
she moved her king directly into the center.
The auditorium went insane.
"WHAT?!"
"IS THAT LEGAL?"
"WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?"
The system immediately confirmed:
LEGAL MOVE.
Bai Shuying stared at her.
Lin Xia had deliberately entered the most dangerous area of the board.
A place where both players could attack.
A place where one mistake meant immediate loss.
Bai Shuying whispered,
"You've lost your mind."
Lin Xia smiled.
"Maybe."
Then she pointed toward the board.
"But you forgot something."
Bai Shuying looked down.
Her king had nowhere safe to go.
THE INVISIBLE ADVANTAGE
Lin Xia had not been trying to gain material.
She had not been trying to promote first.
She had not even been trying to trap Bai Shuying's king.
She had been controlling tempo.
Every move had forced Bai Shuying to spend her turn responding.
Now Bai Shuying had reached the point where every legal response led to the same problem.
Bai Shuying looked at the board.
Then at the timer.
00:58.
Her eyes moved rapidly.
Left.
Right.
Center.
Back.
Nothing.
For the first time in the entire match...
Bai Shuying had no move she trusted.
Mei Chen whispered,
"She's stuck."
Yue Ning nodded.
"No."
She looked at the timer.
"She's running out of time."
00:31.
Bai Shuying finally moved.
Lin Xia immediately responded.
00:22.
Bai Shuying moved again.
Lin Xia captured.
Click.
One black piece disappeared.
00:14.
Bai Shuying's king moved.
Lin Xia moved.
00:07.
Bai Shuying looked at the board.
She had one legal move.
She made it.
00:03.
Lin Xia moved.
00:00.
The timer stopped.
Silence.
The system processed the position.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then:
MATCH COMPLETE.
WINNER: LIN XIA
The auditorium erupted.
Students shouted.
People jumped from their seats.
The betting boards froze.
Mei Chen screamed,
"WE WON!"
Yue Ning laughed despite herself.
Lin Xia didn't celebrate.
She looked across the board.
Bai Shuying was staring at her remaining pieces.
Then she slowly looked at the dead cheating device beside her.
She picked it up.
Turned it over.
And placed it in Lin Xia's hand.
"Keep it."
Lin Xia frowned.
"Why?"
Bai Shuying stood.
"Because you just proved something."
"What?"
Bai Shuying looked toward the enormous screen.
"The strongest advantage isn't knowing the answer."
She looked back at Lin Xia.
"It's making sure your opponent never knows what question you're asking."
The crowd continued cheering.
But none of them noticed the small message that appeared beneath the match results.
Only Lin Xia saw it.
Only for a second.
ANOMALY DETECTED.
Her smile disappeared.
Then another line appeared.
PLAYER BEHAVIOR: UNPREDICTABLE.
And finally—
UPDATING MODEL...
The screen went black.
Lin Xia slowly looked at Yue Ning.
Then Mei Chen.
Something about that message bothered her.
Because the system hadn't congratulated her.
It hadn't even acknowledged her victory.
It had studied her.
And somewhere beneath the school...
something had just learned a new way to play.