6 The White King Always Starts!

Jason explored the school. He discovered that the first floor is separated into two major parts, the dormitory, and the school area. In the dormitory, the open facilities were the 16 dorm rooms, a trash room, restrooms, laundry room, and a large dining room attached to a kitchen. There were other rooms which he wasn't able to get access to, which were the storage room, bathhouse, which in the map in the e-handbook, it shows that the bathhouse is attached to a swimming pool and sauna. There were also stairs to a second floor, but they were blocked off by a metal gate.

In the school area, the open facilities were two classrooms, an A/V room, the school store, restrooms, the entrance to the building, which was sealed with a large metal vault door, and the gymnasium. The nurse office was off-limits as well, and there was also a big red door that was locked. The school area had stairs to the second floor as well, but they also were blocked off by a metal gate.

He found a map in one of the rooms, but decided to keep it there, so the others could see it too, and only took a picture of it. The map was the blueprint of the 1st floor of Hope's Peak Academy, which had the same structure as what he explored until now. However, there were a few things that weren't in the blueprint. The iron platings, metal vault, and the surveillance cameras and monitors were missing in the blueprint, which meant that the mastermind was probably the one who added them.

The things that caught Jason's attention in both of the parts, was that there wasn't any place without a camera, or at least, any accessible place and that both of the stairs to the second floor from both sides were blocked off.

During his exploration, he noticed that the other students were also exploring, and were divided into separate groups. He noticed that the only ones, except him, that weren't a part of a group, were the lavender haired girl and Byakuya.

After he finished his exploration of the school, Jason went to his dorm room to think. At the start, all of the dorm rooms were open, since the keys to each room were hanging from the handle of the room's door. The first thing Jason did when he discovered that, was to lock his room. While he did say that there is a low chance that someone will try to kill, a low chance is still a chance, so he couldn't take risks. Now, it was finally time to explore his room.

As he entered the room, unlike rooms he took a peek into, his room had nothing significant about it. The other rooms he peeked into, had decorations and stuff that is related to the person's talent, but his room didn't have anything of that sort. Probably because the mastermind didn't want him to know about his talent, seeing that he erased his memories about his chess career.

The room had a bed, desk, chair, round table, shelving unit, bathroom, and a surveillance camera and monitor. However, three things caught his attention.

The first one was a note, apparently written by the mastermind, saying that all of the boys received tool kits, and all of the girls received sewing kits. It also stated that the water will be off during nighttime and that only girls have a lock to their bathrooms, while the boys didn't.

The second thing that he noticed was a chessboard, and right next to it, was the third thing, a black box, and Jason immediately recognized both. That was the box and chessboard that his mother in this world gave him for his 4th birthday. In the box, was the chess pieces that were from the same set as the board. It seems that the mastermind didn't erase all of his memories that were related to chess, but only the memories of his chess career. He could still remember beating his mother on the first time he played after his mother taught him how to play, even though he already knew from his past life and also remembered his countless victories against her in every single time they played. He used that chessboard for personal matches, against people that were close to him.

Jason opened the box, and saw the familiar-looking pieces. He started to arrange the pieces as if he was starting a game. However, as fewer and fewer pieces remained in the box, Jason noticed a piece of paper at the bottom of the box. As he continued to place the last pieces, he slowly moved, so his back was turned to the surveillance camera, so the mastermind couldn't see what he was doing, and will assume that he's still placing the pieces. After he placed the last piece, Jason took the piece of paper, and on it, in what he recognized as his handwriting, was written:

"The White King Always Starts"

Jason understood that there was something in the white king, so he took it in his hand, and started to examine it until he noticed that the white king was a fake, and not a part of his original set. Then, he tried to examine it more thoroughly, until he tried to pull the top of the white king, and it came out, revealing the white king to be a flash drive. Jason immediately returned the white king to his place, before the mastermind will start to suspect, and laid down on the bed.

'How is it possible? I don't remember replacing the white king with a fake, that is also a flash drive... I would've assumed that it's related to my chess career, and hence is a part of my missing memory if the note wasn't there.

However, the note was placed specifically so the next time I'll open the box, I'll find the flash drive, but I don't remember ever doing it, but the handwriting doesn't leave any room for mistakes. Sure, handwriting can be fabricated, but why would the mastermind give me alone a clue? Or maybe, he gave everyone something like that? Anyway, I'll have to see what is on this flash drive to know for sure. For now, I need to focus on what I found during my exploration.

From what I saw, it seems that there isn't a way out, which is pretty obvious, but still was worth checking, and there aren't any locations without at least one surveillance camera. From what the bear told me when I was in the kitchen, the food supply restocks daily, and if what he says is true, we won't have any problems with food. I just hope that there is someone else who can cook since I'm not going to cook for 16 people.

For now, I have no other option than to listen to what the bear says for now, and I need to find a computer. I also need to see if it's a legitimate clue or is it just a clue that the mastermind planted. I'll try to ask the others if they also received a clue, but indirectly, so they won't suspect I have a clue, as I'm not sure if I can trust the others since anyone can be someone planted by the mastermind...'