Checkmate!

Riley sprawled on the muddy ground, wounded and battered. His limbs were broken, and one of his legs twisted in an unnatural direction, bleeding profusely.

Little Riley had injured him heavily despite him fighting back with all he had. Thankfully, Little Riley didn't kill him. Instead, he turned to Alison.

"Bandage this piece of scrap. I want him standing before me in three minutes."

"Yes, boss!" Alison replied as she took out a small orb which was emitting faint green light, immediately Riley felt the soothing sensation of the orb on his skin. And the wounds on his body started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eyes. He turned to Alison. 

"Good news! I tested your theory, and it was 100% accurate."

Pretty soon, Riley was back in shape. Apart from his torn clothes, he was otherwise in the same condition as before being used as a punching bag. Still, he had the urge to make fun of Little Riley.

"Why is it so hard to die?" Riley asked Alison as Little Riley exited the space.

"What did you say?" Little Riley suddenly appeared behind him, startling him to the core.

"No—Nothing!" Riley responded. He never thought he would be so afraid of someone—well, afraid of himself. Little Riley disappeared behind the automatic rock door, which closed as he was out of sensor range.

"Shit, I almost died!" Riley mumbled, exhaling loudly.

"You can't die. The Captain intentionally left you alive. It's always a rare sight," Orion spoke, breaking the silence that had descended on the space.

"Now, you're all fixed up," Alison said, standing up, leaving Riley in his tattered clothes on the muddy floor. The fight—or rather, the one-sided beating—had damaged the place, with barrels of water broken due to Little Riley repeatedly slamming Riley into them.

After adjusting himself, at least to look presentable, Riley was led out of the space by Alison. Orion was right behind them. As the rock door detected Alison and Orion, it slid open, revealing another room, beautifully designed.

Little Riley stood in front of a large aquarium, watching several aquatic creatures moving gracefully.

"Bring him," Little Riley commanded, disappearing behind a double-reinforced steel door. Riley was shoved into the room the Captain entered; they didn't bother to bind him. After all, there was nothing he could do to their Captain.

"Will he make it?" Orion asked.

"I suppose he will. If he does not make any sarcastic remarks," Alison replied. "Should we make a bet? 100 dollars." 

Riley entered the room, the door shut itself close, and a magic circle covered the ground. In the middle of the smaller circles, a larger magical circle was drawn on the ground. It pulsed with sinister energy, making Riley want to recoil. The orange half of the circle joined the other half with a burnt sienna color. Together it formed a large circle with equal colored sides—except for the burnt sienna diagonal in the middle.

Little Riley was standing on the orange half, gesturing for Riley to move and stand on the blue-colored half. Of course, Riley didn't ask any questions; he knew Little Riley wasn't trying to kill him… at least, not now.

Standing on the blue-colored half of the circle, Riley found himself directly opposite Little Riley, staring into his eyes. Little Riley smiled, a smile that made Riley shiver. How could someone so ruthless manage to smile?

"We each control 49.770 percent of this magical circle gateway. The remaining 0.23 is still in the balance. Whoever claims this portion, claims the entire gateway,"

Little Riley spoke, his tone laced with excitement as he rushed through his words. He showed a golden key to Riley, indicating it as the prize, alongside full control of the magical circle gateway.

"This gateway will break the time loop we are stuck in, but it can only be accessed with the golden key, which can only belong to one of us. " he added.

Riley's curiosity was instantly piqued. Was this his chance to break out of the loop? However, something felt off. He had thought Klein knew how to break the time loop, but now, his shadow version also knew about it.

He started to suspect his shadow self was aware of the real world, that the world he had grown up in was just a shadow world. But without evidence, Riley couldn't be certain, so he intended to win the game.

"Why are we competing for the key?" Riley asked.

"We are both stuck in this time loop. One of us has to unlock this magic circle gateway, gaining full control over it. I would have escaped a long time ago if not for you appearing in this world and ruining everything," Little Riley said.

"The magic circle gateway divided the moment you arrived. It now has two owners, and it cannot function with both of us as the master. So we have to decide who the master will be. Now."

For a fleeting moment, Riley was shocked. Little Riley actually knew he was from another world. That was the least of the matter now.

According to Little Riley's explanation, only one of them could break out of the time loop. However, the method of breaking out of the time loop made Riley a little nervous.

Was this the Real Nexus Trial? Then one of them had to die. At least that was the logical deduction Riley came up with based on the information he had at hand.

"You know you're not real?" Riley asked.

Little Riley shrugged. "I know, and I've already fixed that. I'm not some idiot who can't think for himself," he added proudly.

"Do you play chess?" Riley asked.

"The rules of chess are in my memory runes." He responded proudly, raising the hair covering his temples, showing the runes carved into his temples. He looked conceited, as if wanting Riley to be jealous. "You're proposing we play chess to determine who the new owner will be?" he added.

"Winner takes all," Riley responded. "Nobody can access the full portion of the magical gateway without winning the game. Doesn't matter how," Riley suggested, rushing his words.

Little Riley accepted immediately. The circle emitted a bright orange, burnt sienna, and blue light. The lights were so intense that they covered them both, teleporting them into a three-colored room. Orange represented Little Riley, while blue represented Riley.

A glassy chessboard was placed on a table, each chess piece made of glass, one team emitting a faint orange glow, while the other emitted a faint bluish glow.

A chair appeared out of nowhere, one orange and the other blue. Riley sat on the blue chair, facing his opponent. The match they were about to play was likely a death match. Only one would leave the room. From what Riley deduced, he was certain they would only face each other once. No second chances.

A lady wearing a burnt sienna gown appeared out of thin air. She sat adjacent to them.

"Hello, contestants. You only have one round. The winner will be decided in this round. I am the judge of the game. No cheating allowed," the judge said. "Winner takes all. Nobody can access the full portion of the magical gateway without winning the game. Doesn't matter how," she repeated Riley's words.

"The gateway is different from what you thought it was. I won't tell you what it actually does; it's not my job. All that matters is that one of you has to die. It doesn't matter how.". the judge said, her tone carrying a subtle hint of something none of them could guess. 

"Okay then. Start the game!" the judge announced.

Little Riley was the first to make a move. He played: "1. E4."

Riley countered by playing: "e5."

"You know, I've always wondered if the real world is the same as ours," Little Riley broke the silence, moving his bishop forward.

"Yes, it is, but our history isn't as messed up as yours," Riley responded, sighing. "If I survive this... I will definitely learn how to play chess properly." 

Riley didn't know much about playing chess. He preferred action games—shooting games—killing games, not some old progenitor games like chess and other board games.

The game continued in silence. 

"Charlotte is dead in this world," Little Riley spoke. Breaking the silence.

The game was already at its climax, the winner would be decided in just few more moves. And mistake on both side could end in disaster. 

Riley grimaced. Charlotte was his sister's name—well, in this world. Most of the children born in the shadow world have the same name as the real ones in reality. Was Little Riley trying to distract him? Yes, that must be it, Riley thought.

"I killed her," Little Riley continued, a slight smile etching onto his face. "You don't believe it?"

"I confirmed it. He's telling the truth," the judge added, her voice carrying a knowing tone that suggested there was more to this revelation than met the eye.

"I killed her immediately after you arrived in this world... Well, in this loop." Little Riley added.

Riley's face contorted. Although Charlotte was just the shadow version of his real sister, he couldn't help but be disgusted by his shadow self for killing her. After all, she was his sister in this world, too.

"But I have to ask, did you think I would be affected by you telling me you killed Charlotte?" Riley asked as he moved another chess piece forward.

He grimaced as the realization dawned on him. 

He had lost. Little Riley had taken down all his soldiers, the king was now in a check position.

"Yes, and I've already won," Little Riley announced. Folding his arms in front of him, he smiled slightly before declaring,

"Checkmate!"