"Are we going to walk again?" my guide asked as we left my room. "Shouldn't we take the carriage?"

"No. My car had a little accident," I answered, dismissing the nature of it. I wasn't in the mood of explaining my teammate's little temper tantrum was the cause of it.

At least until I make him pay.

"Your smile is really scary." said my guide. "Is something wrong?"

"The weather is a bit chilly," I deflected letting myself enjoy my revenge fantasies.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The long walk between the tournament and my dorm was an excellent way to test the impact of my newest Traits, the first physical ones I had received.

And, after a fast jog that brought me to the tournament building, I was ready to call the first test a success. My conditioning was good enough to run that distance in the first place, and it was too cold to get sweaty, but my breathing wasn't as fast as it would have been.

And, to make it better, the exhaustion I had managed to accumulate disappeared quicker. My newest Traits were working well.

As far as I could tell, at least, as a gentle jog was hardly the most precise measure of endurance, something that was difficult to measure without some very complicated equipment.

My guide made no mention of my increased performance, though whether she didn't realize my extra Traits, or she didn't mention them because they weren't worthy of her attention was difficult to determine. I didn't dare to ask her, not wanting to reveal my ability to trigger the developments without her attention.

With her spotty memory and dubious intent, keeping her information limited was the best idea.

"You're here, again," said someone, a familiar voice even, pulling me out of my thoughts.

It was the raven-haired girl that had tried to kick me out of the tournament, thinking I was there for a prank as well.

"I have games to win," I said, not bothering to hide my attitude, and testing the other Trait I had received in the process. Seduction.

"Of course I'm here," I said as I smirked at her, trying to look attractive. I wasn't a blushing virgin when it came to ladies, but I wasn't exactly classically handsome. Combined with my less-than-stellar personality — something I could admit to myself — I wasn't the type of man that could charm women with a suggestive smirk.

The subtle blush that spread on her face suggested that, with my newest traits, I might have more success impersonating James Bond going forward. She raised her hand to fix her glasses, using them to calm herself down. Even then, when she tried to speak, she stuttered.

The Seduction Trait was working even better than I expected. Despite her initial distaste toward me, I managed to earn a good blush. Of course, it wasn't all the Trait. I might not be very handsome, but I was tall and muscular, which didn't hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that. I was talking about why you're here, playing chess?" she managed to say after a moment. She raised her phone, which showed a picture of me — with a surprising amount of likes, showing me at the party, being thrown around by my teammates. "You told me you weren't a football player."

Normally, I would have reacted badly against anyone that was trying to push into my deal without any reason, but like many other things in life, cute girls received certain advantages others didn't. "I said. And yesterday, I wasn't a player," I said.

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

I shrugged, hitting her with another crooked smile. "Believe whatever you want to believe, beautiful," I said as I continued to walk, leaving the stuttering cutie behind me, the smile working especially well with her obvious inexperience with being flirted.

When I entered the building, however, I realized I was at the center of the attention, even worse than the day before. Yesterday, the attention was limited to dirty looks. Today, it was filled with shocked whispers, giggles, and angry glares. A glorious cacophony.

I was having my fifteen minutes of fame.

Before, I would have hated the attention. Yes, messing with a rich boy at the party had been enjoyable, but the sudden celebrity status destroyed my carefully crafted dark, mysterious persona. There were a lot of envious gazes, but none of them carried the hesitation they had the day before.

Of course, with their jealous gossip fueling my supernatural powers literally, I was willing to sacrifice the nebulous benefit of the intimidation — especially since it didn't work against the better players in the first place.

I ignored the whispers and checked the schedule, while the other players moved around. I visited the bathroom to wash my face before arriving at the table.

My opponent was already on the table, watching me with narrowed eyes, though I could see the confidence in his gaze, along with clear dismissal. Someone leaned toward him to whisper something, and while he answered, I saw him mouthing an answer, reading his lips enough to realize he mentioned me being a football player.

The dismissive scoff that followed perfectly conveyed his feelings.

I smiled, happy with being underestimated as always. It wasn't as good as the opponent falling in pieces in fear, but it was better than a calm opponent.

Especially with mutual prejudice between nerds the jocks, somehow helping me in both cases.

I sat down, enjoying the tense atmosphere, even as my opponent tried to glare at me oppressively. Though, the lack of effect didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

"Ready for a fun game, little boy," I said, talking louder than my usual, even making sure to hold the pieces a bit incompetently.

"I'm ready," he said. "I'm not going to lose to a jumped-up bully, you can't scare me like you did the others." By those words, he proved that not only he didn't watch my games before, but also, hearing that I was a football player, he clearly developed a misunderstanding about what my reputation meant.

I shrugged. "Whatever you wish, nerd," I said, having absolutely no problem using it as an insult I had been the target just the night before.

The insult killed the conversation, until the referee arrived and started the game.

For the first game, I was the white, and started with a kingside opening, with a challenging approach in mind. One of the Traits I had received was Strategy, and while I didn't have the time to test and understand how it differed from Tactics, the name itself suggested that it was more about managing the general flow of the game.

Of course, Strategy wasn't the only trait I had received. The Tactics had been increased by a point as well, making it much easier to adapt to my opponent's counter-plays, making the game much easier.

Twenty plays into the game, my opponent had long lost his smugness, replaced by the growing irritation. I wondered if he realized I had been sacrificing a few pawns for little value, just to extend the game.

He still believed he would win, unaware of the complicated trap I was setting. A trap that included six pieces spread across the board, one that was too complicated for me to implement the day before.

The new Trait was really paying for itself.

When I finally launched the trap, I didn't neglect to look shocked, like I had just come across a happy coincidence. "Lucky win," he growled as he realized the first game was gone.

He started the second game, confident in his ability to reverse the flow.

"Enough playtime," I said mockingly, which was technically deserved a penalty if he called a referee, but he was convinced in his ability to reverse the game. He ignored my move, taking a deep breath before pushing his knight forward, determined to acquire a quick victory, before the game bogged down, giving me another 'lucky' victory.

Unfortunately for him, despite my mocking tone, I was quite determined to actually take him down, a change he realized barely ten moves into the game.

But even that was too late. Three more moves, and he found himself in a deadly fork, losing a rook for nothing, and from there, it turned into an avalanche, burying him under it.

"How?" he murmured, but in his eyes, I could see the defeat settling in. He had already lost before playing the third game. And it turned out to be a formality, barely lasting twenty moves before he surrendered, stumbling away from the table.

"The assassin struck again," I heard one of the observers murmuring, and as I walked to the restroom, there were significantly fewer mentions of football and more mentions of my annoying style of play.

It was hard to argue with the results.

The semifinal game went in a surprisingly smooth manner, as the player I was facing was even weaker than the one I had just defeated, so I didn't bother with the mind games. I just played a standard game, testing my extended chess abilities, taking an easy victory.

Then, it was time to final for the tournament. However, when I noticed my opponent, I couldn't help but smirk widely.

It was the same girl that accosted me at the entrance twice.