The last one

We were brought to a spacious arena, large enough for all five hundred of us to fit inside. My eyes averted their gaze from the rows of seats that numbered over a thousand, to the glass room at the top.

My guess would be, that the higher ups would be watching the games from that angle. Putting that aside, the bright light from every corner shone upon the main cause of distress.

"What is the meaning of this?" I asked, stepping out from the back, referring to the sight in the middle of the arena.

Large chess boards laid out in the centre, with about 32 people standing on each board, occupying a box. Their arms tied behind their backs, and a thick black bag hung over all their heads, preventing us from seeing their faces.

"Everyone take a seat, and let me explain the rules to this game." She replied, blatantly ignoring my question. Hell, before she gave a response, her eyes stole a glance at the glass room above, as though she was seeking permission.

I parted my lips to protest, but 177 rested her arm on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. "You mean those seats are for us?." She pointed at the rows of seats scattered around the arena.

"Oh yes!." Lily all too excitedly replied, spreading her arms apart from each other. "Take a seat my flowers, and don't you forget..." She averted her gaze from me to the ceiling of the arena.

We all followed her gaze, and stared at the ceiling, only to find a timer counting down.

"Each game takes up 48 hours, irrespective of whether a player has finished playing or not. Your timer started counting down the moment you all were brought to the arena. Which means, that the more time you spend chatting here with me, the lesser time you'll have to play." She informed us, a twisted smile on her face.

With that being said, 177 let lease of my arm and took the first step towards the seats, taking hers in the back row.

Others followed immediately, and took their respective seats in the back as well, while some sat middle row. I caught a glimpse of 415, taking a seat at the left wing of the seats, taking a front row seat.

Not wanting to drag everyone further behind, I hastened my steps and jumped over the stands, helping myself to a middle row seat in centre. Just as I took a seat and settled down, the window of words flashed before my retina once more.

[Garden survival system online.]

[Prepare to slaughter!]

[Location 1 unlocked: Match Arena.]

[Reward for clearing first game: 30xp]

"Great, let's get to it then." Lily said, standing at the middle of the arena once more, taking a bow to all of us. Something that made me roll my eyes at how hypocritical she was.

"The rules of this game are simple to understand, but I'll go through them for you. Each one of you will be chosen to play in the first set, in accordance to the time you regained consciousness. If you are in a duo, then the time will be determined after it is balanced out. A duo is allowed to play against a single player, as long as they strictly adhere to the rules of the game. And now to the rules." She lectured, waltzing over to one of the chess boards.

"As you can see, there are four chess boards laid out on the stage. With 32 chess pieces standing on each box, the aim of the game is to make the other person lose and take victory for oneself. Under those seats are the rules on how to play chess, you all have thirty minutes starting now to memorize all of them."

I reached under the seat and pulled out a black book, with the word Chess, written in bold white letters. Without wasting time, I flipped it open and digested it's contents.

"Beware, each game can only last thirty minutes, meaning once your time is up, both parties will have to leave for the next set to play. Failure to leave means a deduction of your accumulated points."

That made sense, allowing two people to play a game of chess under these circumstances could lead to a game dragging out for hours on end.

My lips flattened into a wide grin, "being last to regain consciousness isn't such a bad thing if I get to watch everyone's exhibition matches and pick up some skills." I mouthed to myself, flipping through the rules book.

It was all sunny for me, till my eyes landed on the name of this game.

"Blindman Chess." It read in bold letters, right above the rules of the game. I could hear the thumping sound of heartbeats all around me, coupled with some curses here and there.

'System, can you screenshot these rules and store them in my memory?' I inquired, just realising how tensed everyone would be, too tensed to understand what the damned rule book said.

[Taking screenshot.]

[Screenshot saved.]

I heaved a sigh of relief, glad that I thought that far ahead. At best, the only problem I had, was mastering how this game worked, and not losing to my opponent. Whomever that would be.

"Duo huh?" I thought it over, wouldn't the concept of two heads being better than one be the ideal thing to do in this situation?.

And just what did she mean by balancing the time?.

*Thirty minutes later*

"Times up! Books down! Let's play!." She cried out, demanding our utmost attention.

"First player to take the stage is 008!(double 'O' eight.)." She announced, looking across the crowd for 008, she made an ah sound with her mouth once her eyes landed on her.

The woman nervously stood up from her seat startled that her name was called first. I folded my arms, readied to be entertained by their so called game of blindfolded chess. Only for me to be kicked off my proud horse, miserably.

"You'll be matched up against...333." Lily announced, looking through the crowd till her eyes locked with my stunned gaze. The spotlight shone on me, drawing everyone's nervous stares in my direction.

"Wait what?!" I protested, standing to my feet, still in shock over why she suddenly announced that I would be playing first.

"Come on triple three, you have to come play, or else, the others won't have enough time for their games." Lily sheepishly told everyone, causing a certain uneasiness amongst us.

"But you said we would play in accordance to when we regained consciousness! How come am starting up first?." My voice was drowned out by some murmurs and side comments made here and there.

"I said that you would play in accordance to the time you regained consciousness, but I never specified which order. You see, the person who woke up first, is the highest, and the one who woke up last is the lowest. And if the game is to be played in an ascending order then..." Her pause made my heart almost leap out of it's chest.

The only nervous heartbeat I could hear was my own, coupled with my uneasy breaths.

"The last one to regain consciousness has to start first." She finally said, shattering my resolve completely.