Shoutout to Equinoxes and Bruh_Vista for beta-reading and providing extensive feedback for this chapter!
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As Shuri expected, the new game format went differently this time. Whether it was for the better or worse? That was a different question. The introduction of probability in a game of pure strategy was a double-edged sword. For one, it limited the extent to which a game could be predicted since a simple coin toss could overturn any long-winded strategy that her opponent might come up with. This added a new layer of complexity, creating a greater amount of reactionary play in the game, something that was absent in the previous games.
However, Shuri did notice that her opponent no longer checked out of the game. There had been an attempt, but Marie exited that state with a complicated frown on her face and never tried it again.
At this moment, Shuri decided that to secure her victory in this pseudo game of chance, she needed to unnerve her opponent a little - to throw her off her game.
"I figured out your power," Shuri probed as she tossed a coin for her turn. Even though she called "heads," it landed "tails," causing Shuri to suppress her irritation with a cough and skip her turn.
"I'm listening," Marie hummed as her call came right and she made her move.
"You can see the future," Shuri declared with unwavering certainty.
"Your reasoning, being?"
"You can perfectly predict my moves," Shuri began. "During our first few games of chess, I dismissed your nonsensical moves as just that - nonsense. But after deconstructing the matches, I realised that you were actually actively cutting off any possible unfavourable strategies that could lead to a loss. If the game could be defined as an ever-expanding, branching tree, you were pruning out the branches that would lead to a loss. This became increasingly obvious as the time limit decreased, and you adapted by narrowing the scope of your counter-strategies."
"I guess that's why you introduced this new variation to the game, huh?" Marie surmised with an impressed nod. "You could easily have just asked me to not use my powers, just as you did with the game of Blackjack."
Shuri remained stoic at that statement. There were still a lot of questions that she didn't have the answers to. How were her predictions so accurate? How far did they go into the future? How was she able to perceive the future?
"You feared that I would renege on the deal BECAUSE of the added handicap," Marie stated. "I get it. You can't trust me, and you can't take any chances."
"So, do you think you can win now?" Marie probed with a playful tone.
"I can win now that the playing field is fair," Shuri assured, though hints of uncertainty still lingered in her voice.
"Alright then..."
The game progressed from this point with little to no conversations between the players. As Shuri predicted, the new game format was fair, but victory continued to evade her. The first game was lost, though the victory wasn't as overwhelmingly in favour of Marie as before. Yet, it was a defeat nonetheless. However, Shuri still held onto hope. She could win, in fact, probability dictated that she would win.
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As the day passed and the sun set, darkness blanketed the night sky in a moonless night, and Shuri had yet to beat Marie. Despite being close to victory, she always fell short. Shuri was certain (or as certain as a mortal without proper sensing of mana could be) that Marie wasn't cheating by using her power.
Shuri's hope was withering. The stress and irritation were bubbling from within. The darkness outside seemed to seep into her mind, drowning her in despair. She looked up from the game board and gazed at her opponent's impassive expression. Shuri had been played; she was trapped. Why did Marie take an interest in her? She would never know the true answer. Maybe this was all a sick joke to the girl - to play with a mortal girl for her own amusement.
As she had hypothesised, Marie could see into the future. Any self-respecting seer wouldn't enter a wager if they weren't certain of their victory. Marie should already have known the outcome; Shuri's crushing defeat. She was probably partaking in this charade to break down Shuri's resolve and turn her into a mindless yuppie to cater to Marie's every whim. Shuri realised that she shouldn't have held hope in the first place. She should have known that the outcome was set in stone the moment Marie forcefully recruited her into being an assistant. The whole well-meaning and jovial facade was a ruse to lower Shuri's guard. Where Shuri thought she was the one playing the opponent, she had truly been dancing at Marie's fingertips the entire time.
Shuri's body trembled as fear started to take hold. There was no esca-
'Chance!'
As the coin landed "tails" and Marie moved her rook, Shuri could see an elaborate strategy expanding before her sight. All it would take is a successful call on her turn, and it would all fall into place. Shuri closed her eyes and exhaled to calm her nerves as she picked up the coin.
"Heads!" She yelled and flipped the coin. She clenched her fists while the coin tittered and tottered precariously between heads and tails before finally settling. Shuri slowly opened her eyes.
"YES!" Shuri celebrated and made her move. The pawn she had been furiously inching towards the other side of the board reached its destination and was immediately promoted to a queen piece.
Shuri held her breath as she awaited Marie's next move. Marie called the coin and failed; forcing her to skip her turn.
Controlling her jubilant heart, Shuri made her next move after a successful call. She captured the opponent's bishop that guarded the opposing queen with her newly promoted queen. She then held her breath as Marie performed her saving toss.
'Fail! Yes!'
It was happening. It was finally happening!
One after another, Shuri's gambits unfolded successfully. The victory was within reach, once again. But this time, Shuri could feel the advantages she'd accumulated through the game working in her favour. It was Marie's turn again.
The coin rose as it rotated in the air. Time seemed to slow down for Shuri. Her vision grew blurrier as the coin approached the table.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each time the coin hit the wooden surface, it released a sound that was magnified tenfold through Shuri's perception. The coin spun for a few seconds, then came to a stop.
"Aww, man," Marie groaned.
Shuri's breath stopped.
"I- I-"
"Oh, well," Marie said with a heavy sigh. "Your turn."
Shuri's trembling hand struggled to grasp the coin. She didn't place it over her thumb and simply dropped it onto the table from a height - she lacked the strength to perform a standard toss.
"Heads," Shuri mumbled.
The coin fumbled as it hit the table. It danced for a few seconds before settling on "Heads".
The strength deflated from Shuri's body instantly. But Shuri fought through it and moved the second pawn to the end of its journey and secured a second queen.
"Checkmate!" Shuri rasped. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "I- I won!"
"Congratulations!" Marie commended with a smile. It was sincere, Shuri was certain of it.
"What- Why?" Shuri blurted out.
"For winning, silly!" Marie snorted as she flicked Shuri's forehead. "Congratulations on winning! As per our agreement, you are hereby released from my assistantship. Now go on! Get some sleep."
Shuri stayed in place and refused to move. Her glazed eyes started to grow sharper as they scanned Marie's face for every single micro-expression that passed over it.
There was no sorrow or bitterness. There was no anger from being defeated by a mere mortal. There was no hint of malice or disdain, or anything of that sort. None of these emotions left even a ripple on the pure, satisfied and beaming smile on the girl's face.
After calming her rampant emotions, Shuri coughed to attract Marie's attention.
"You let me win," Shuri claimed. "Why?"
"What do you mean? You won the game, fair and square," Marie answered without missing a beat.
"I won the game, but it wasn't a fair victory," Shuri shot back. "Do not try to deny it, I know because-"
'-this is how I've lived my entire life!' Shuri completed the sentence in her mind. This was, after all, Shuri's strategy to escape from watchful eyes. What use is face if you can't live to enjoy it the next day? Losing a match was nothing if it meant that you could go on with your life.
"-because you should already know everything I am going to do from the very beginning. I was bound to fail from the start if my estimate of the extent of your powers is accurate. You won every game we played until, coincidentally at the very last hour of the very last day of our wager, you started to lose." Shuri summarised.
"Why did you let me win?!" Shuri demanded.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Marie continued to deny. But before Shuri could rebut, the older girl raised her palm and said, "In the True World Sect, we don't force people to do things they don't want to do. Doing so breeds resentment and disinterest, and builds up a heck of a lot of pressure."
"Then why..." Shuri muttered.
"We shouldn't deny something before trying it out. Open-mindedness is key to a healthy and inquisitive mind. If I hadn't forced you to be my assistant, even for a week, you wouldn't feel obligated to participate in any activity available within the Sect. I wanted you to experience what it felt like before making a negative decision," Marie revealed with a shrug. "But I guess my wager might have had the opposite effect; you probably didn't get an opportunity to properly explore what the position of a research assistant entailed..."
Shuri narrowed her gaze and continued staring at Marie for a minute. Then, she reached below the desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a cloth bag that had been stored there for the past three days. Placing the bag on the table, she reached inside and pulled out the stack of papers Marie had handed her. She pushed it towards Marie and said, "I finished the task and also took some time to write out some of the observations that stood out to me. Overall, I don't think this strategy is optimal for what you're seeking. It is far too speculative."
Marie flipped through the pages with an impressed expression. "Thanks for this, but it seems that you didn't need to do it."
"Why not? It was the task you asked your research assistant to do, so it's my responsibility, isn't it?" Shuri declared.
Marie's brows rose in surprise before mellowing out with satisfaction, "Welcome aboard, Shuri!"
"Oh please!" Shuri scoffed. "You already knew this would happen, didn't you?"
"No comments," Marie said with a blank expression before quickly fleeing the scene.
Shuri looked at the departing figure of Marie and let out a sigh. "What am I doing?"
Shuri finally realised what this whole charade was about. Marie wanted to tempt Shuri with an aggressive display of her future sight prowess. Somehow, Marie knew that this would be something Shuri would be interested in. But Shuri was still uncertain about Marie's end goal. Nevertheless, it somehow required Shuri to learn the skill as well - and that too voluntarily.
But Shuri couldn't admit with all honesty if her choice to work under Marie and learn this power of future sight was because she wanted to acquire this skill... or if it was for some other reason.
Lost in thought, Shuri failed to notice the growing thrill and anticipation that began to course through her nervous system.
