At that moment, Alexander found himself questioning his own instincts.
When he had first met Yuno, the man had given the unmistakable impression of a strategist—someone who carefully measured every variable before making a move. Yet the events unfolding now painted a different picture. The decision to release poison gas inside the tunnels seemed reckless, almost irrational.
From Alexander's perspective, the move stripped away the calculated aura Yuno once carried. Instead of looking like a brilliant tactician, he now resembled something far more dangerous.
Someone desperate.
"He's willing to kill his own teammates just to eliminate mine," Alexander muttered under his breath.
The observation alone was enough to shift his entire evaluation of the man. In that instant, Yuno appeared less like a player and more like a commander molded by Midgard itself—selfish, domineering, and perfectly willing to sacrifice anyone beneath him if it meant achieving victory.
A perfect product of this twisted world.
Yuno folded his arms behind his back, standing calmly as if they were discussing the weather rather than life and death.
"It doesn't matter if you have a special skill,poison is the perfect catalyst for death. Don't misunderstand the situation,I'm not barbaric. They agreed to the plan."
His voice remained composed, almost casual.
"After you killed Gojo, they promised to eliminate your entire team by any means necessary."
Alexander frowned.
"Why include them? i'm the one who did it."
Yuno shook his head.
"When revenge is involved,details like that stop mattering."
The tension between them thickened until even breathing felt heavy. Alexander realized he had been cornered in a way he rarely experienced—placed in a situation where every available move led toward loss.
And that realization irritated him more than anything.
Still, a faint possibility lingered in the back of his mind.
"There's still a chance, you could save them… if you finish this game quickly."
Alexander slowly turned his head, his eyes locking onto Yuno with a murderous glare sharp enough to cut steel.
Then his hand moved.
One checkers piece slid across the board with quiet precision, landing exactly where it needed to be. The move created an elegant chain of pressure that threatened victory in only a few turns, forcing Yuno into an extremely uncomfortable position.
For the first time since the game began, Yuno's eyebrows lifted.
"Wow, that's more like it," he added with a grin, clearly enjoying the challenge.
Meanwhile, deep within the underground tunnels, the poisonous gas continued to spread.
The chamber had become a suffocating prison.
Bray stood frozen, his eyes darting between Jamie's staggering form and the man responsible for the trap. The air burned in his lungs every time he inhaled, and unlike Jamie, his body had not developed any resistance to this unnatural atmosphere.
His eyes had turned bloodshot.
Each cough rattled violently through his chest.
The sensation reminded him of the first game they had played in this world—only now the suffering came from poison rather than exhaustion.
"What kind of messed-up brain do you have?!" Bray shouted furiously.
The man across from him showed no remorse.
"I already know I can't win,but I'm satisfied knowing I get to take the two of you down with me."
At that exact moment, Bray's system interface suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Acquired]
[+30 Strength Points]
[+20 Speed Points]
Bray blinked in surprise.
"So he had the blue points…" he realized quietly.
Since the end of the first game, this was the first time he had gained any new upgrades.
Across the room, Jamie struggled to remain standing.
In a desperate final attempt, he pushed himself forward toward the builder responsible for the gas.
"I have to stop him," Jamie thought while forcing his legs to move.
"Don't move, idiot! You need to conserve your oxygen!"
The warning rang through Jamie's mind like the echo of church bells on a quiet Sunday morning.
He froze.
"He's right…i let anger get the best of me."
Jamie admitted weakly as his vision blurred.
His eyes closed.
A moment later, his body collapsed face-first onto the floor.
"Jamie!!!"
Bray's voice cracked as panic flooded his chest.
The killer watching them simply spat on the ground.
"There's no point fighting it, we're all dying here."
Bray stood motionless for several seconds.
Despair and desperation wrestled inside his mind.
Then something changed.
A thin thread of hope sparked behind his eyes.
Beep.
His system interface activated.
[Special Skill > Elastic Potential]
An intense aura exploded outward from his body, thick and powerful. Bray immediately sealed his lips to limit the poison entering his lungs, forcing his breathing into slow, controlled cycles.
Inside his body, his skill pushed his physiology beyond its limits.
His lung capacity expanded.
Oxygen circulated more efficiently through his bloodstream.
"It's useless," the killer scoffed.
But his voice trembled.
The poison had begun destroying his own body.
Phu—
He collapsed onto his knees, coughing violently as blood spilled from his lips. Darkness swallowed his vision seconds later.
Meanwhile, Bray remained standing.
Unaffected.
Confidence surged through him as he rushed toward Jamie's unconscious body.
"Damn… he's heavy," Bray muttered while lifting him onto his shoulders.
Nearby, the twisted corpse of the man who had chased Jamie earlier lay sprawled across the ground. His face had become disturbingly warped by the poison.
Next to him stood a partially broken wall.
Bray stared at it.
"Genius,Jamie was trying to break through before the gas appeared."
He carefully set Jamie down.
Then he turned toward the wall.
Ignoring the burning in his eyes and the growing dizziness in his head, Bray began hammering his fists against the weakened bricks.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
"Our lives won't end like this,I won't allow it."
His newly boosted strength and endurance fueled every strike.
Slam!
The wall finally burst apart.
Bricks scattered across the floor as the barrier collapsed.
Dust filled the air, but compared to the poison behind him, the fresh airflow felt like breathing heaven.
On the other side stood Alexander.
Facing him was a man dressed in a white robe and office glasses.
Between them sat a checkers board.
"Bray," Alexander muttered in surprise.
Squeak.
Bray staggered forward, his eyes immediately locking onto Jamie's unconscious body.
"Quick! poison gas is coming!"
Alexander rushed forward and carefully took Jamie from him.
Kneeling down, he checked his pulse with focused precision.
A moment later he exhaled quietly.
"He's alive."
The relief in his voice resembled that of a doctor confirming a patient had survived surgery.
"We're going to die if we don't deal with that poison!" Bray said urgently.
Yuno had been watching the entire scene in silence.
The way they protected each other.
The way they moved without hesitation.
It reminded him of something he had nearly forgotten.
Humanity.
"This place changed me,I almost forgot what people are supposed to look like.....Don't worry. I know a way out."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black remote containing two buttons—one red and one green.
Without hesitation, he pressed the green one.
Squeak.
A hidden section of the wall slid open, revealing a staircase illuminated by bright light.
"Let's go," Yuno said.
They moved quickly, abandoning the checkers board and the poison-filled tunnels behind them. Pieces remained scattered across Alexander's side of the board, silent evidence that he had been steadily winning the match.
Moments later, the boys emerged onto the grassy lawn outside the residence.
Fresh air rushed into their lungs.
Alexander stepped aside with Yuno while Bray focused entirely on Jamie's unconscious body.
Earlier, after examining him carefully, Alexander had reached a grim conclusion. Without medical supplies, their only real hope was that Jamie's body would survive the poison on its own.
Otherwise, they might lose another teammate.
"You're not going after your friends?" Alexander asked quietly.
Yuno shook his head.
"They're probably dead already."
His gaze drifted toward Bray, who was kneeling beside Jamie with clear concern written across his face.
"You care about each other."
"We only have each other here," Alexander replied calmly.
Yuno smirked faintly.
"Good to see some people still remember what being human is."
Alexander nodded slightly toward Jamie.
"That's because of him.So what happens now?"
Yuno answered without hesitation.
"I can't fight you. You're stronger than me.That leaves surrendering our base."
"Really?"
"Yeah,I made a promise."
A small smile appeared on Yuno's face.
"Thanks."
"No need to thank me,that's what you get for acting human."
He glanced briefly toward the abandoned house.
"Besides… you were already winning."
Yuno turned to leave.
"Be careful,Midgard has a habit of destroying people with principles."
he warned while walking toward the fence.
After a few steps he raised his hand in a casual wave.
"He'll recover," he called back while pointing toward Jamie.
Then he continued walking, clearly enjoying the quiet moment.
Inside his mind, memories surfaced from a world long gone.
Like Alexander, Yuno had grown up in poverty. From a young age he worked alongside construction crews, helping design buildings and carry materials to support his struggling family.
But behind that life existed another dream.
A dream only his mother had known about.
He wanted to become a professional checkers player.
Life had crushed that dream long before it could bloom.
At fifteen years old, he used to watch tournaments from outside crowded arenas. At the center of those competitions stood a prodigy named Alexander Smith—a boy with extraordinary tactics and an unmatched strategic mind.
Yuno had envied him deeply.
He wished he could stand on that stage.
Ten years later, fate had brought them both to Midgard.
And in those final moments inside the tunnels, Yuno had finally achieved something he thought impossible.
He had played against the legendary Alexander.
"I would've been terrible at professional checkers," Yuno muttered to himself with a quiet smirk.
As he approached the gate, he suddenly remembered something.
He turned around.
"Alexander!"
Alexander looked up.
"Sorry for asking, but after your parents died… why did you quit professional checkers?"
"I got tired of fame. I wanted to disappear."
Yuno nodded.
"Got it."
Then he pushed the gate open and stepped outside.
Their system screens appeared simultaneously.
[Builders > 0 Bases]
[Broken Shields > 2 Bases]
[02:00]
Alexander and Bray exchanged tense glances.
The battle wasn't truly over yet.
Jamie still had to wake up.
"What was with that guy?" Bray asked.
"One of my fans from the old world," Alexander replied.
"Does he know about the adoption?"
Alexander turned slightly.
"How did you know about that?"
Bray shrugged.
"You live in the slums long enough, you hear everything."
Suddenly, a massive mechanical voice thundered through the sky.
[Attention Players]
The sound was louder than ever before.
[The Second Game Has Officially Concluded]
[Two Teams Remaining]
[Commencing Teleportation Protocols]
"Teleportation?" Bray muttered in disbelief.
Their bodies began dissolving into glowing particles.
Piece by piece.
Cell by cell.
"No, no… wait… wait… waiiii—"
And then—
Silence.