"Checkmate, again! " Simon said as he moved his rook.

His opponent didn't have a single figure left beside his king, standing alone in the corner of the board. He was checked by a rook and a queen. Most of his others figures were intact.

" Wait seriously, how did you know the exact turn you will win?! " his face was pale and puzzled.

Simon laughed as he flipped opposing king off the board.

" It's pretty easy actually. Considering you are still a noob at chess, you aren't capable of planning a long term plays. After playing 19 games of chess with you, I figured the way that you're thinking, which, I must admit - is physically hurting me to try and think the way you do... " he shrugged his shoulder on which the man sitting opposed to him reacted with an angry expression.

" By sacrificing mere 3 pawns, I caused your whole board to open up for me. It was easy to clear the field of your figures considering you sent them right into my, of course, pre placed figures that just waited for your troops to come. " he grinned.

Simon didn't stop there, he continued to mumble things about Dutch Defence and Bird Opening, which meant absolutely nothing to Robert - Simon's best friend that just recently started playing board games.

After about half an hour of very tiresome lectures, Simon stood up and clapped his hands few times - he was applauding himself.

" Well, I'm a long way from understanding anything you say... won't even mention beating you. " Robert stood up as well. He reaches for the last slice of pizza they ordered earlier but Simon stopped him by throwing a pawn in his chest.

" Hold up! I believe last slice should go to the winner! " Simon was flipping his own white king through his fingers.

" What?! But you said that the last time! And the time before that! AND THE TIME BEFORE THAT! " he yelled in disapproval. Robert didn't get a single slice this whole time, as he never won.

But it was too late, a massive chunk was already bitten out of the slice as Simon started eating it.

Robert sighed and slapped his forehead. He looked at his watch and spread his eyes when he noticed it's already close to midnight. It was about now he decided to leave, as he's been stuck here playing board games for the past 8 hours.

He turned around to grab his jacket off the stand and accidentally pulled it too hard, causing it to blow off a small note that was stuck on a wardrobe next to the stand. It slowly glided down right next to Roberts foot.

" What's that? " he crouched to pick it up.

" Hm nmm, dm iviamam dm " Simon tried answering with his mouth full.

Robert didn't bother asking again, he picked it up and flipped it over. It felt glossy and the paper itself seemed shiny. The letters were written in a beautiful, curly font. It all seemed were serious and official, but it also gave off a vibe of a invitation to a child's birthday party. Much to his surprise, it actually was an invitation.

' Invitation for: Simon Williams (+1 player)

Greetings!

You have been officially selected as a player in the Great Abstract Magical Event - G.A.M.E.

Before continuing, select your character! '

Robert flipped the paper few more times to check if he missed something, but that was it.

" What? What character? I don't get it. " Robert scratched his head.

Simon sighed as he finally swallowed the entire slice; " Ahhh.. Well, neither do I actually. I got handed that piece of paper after I defeated some old dude in chess few days ago. "

" What dude? "

" I was on my way to the store to buy myself few sodas and such. When I saw an old dude sitting in the park with a chess board already set up. Of course I walked up to him and played. Truth be said, he was the toughest opponent I ever had. " he looked like was was in deep state of thinking.

Be continued shortly after; " After I beat him though, he gave me that note and left.

Robert looked at the note. He couldn't figure it out. Once again he walked up to the table, pulled the chair out and sat down. He threw the note on the chess board they played on few minutes ago and tried thinking it through.

They both discussed few ' what if situations ' that all led nowhere. As Robert reached for the note again, it was nowhere to be found; " Huh? Simon did you move the note? "

Simon looked at him with confused expression; " What, no. It's on the-... board? " he noticed it was gone. He looked under the table thinking it fell down, but it didn't. He lifted the pizza box and checked under it but it wasn't there either.

" Uhm, Simon... does the.. board look different to you? " he said with confusion in his voice.

Simon turned around and realized it was indeed different. They probably didn't notice as none of them payed attention to the actual board.

Figures were are all set back up, even though they played a game moments earlier. The board itself was different as well. It was shinier than before, with golden details on the edges. Figures too. They looked old, but beautifully decorated.

Simon and Robert exchanged puzzled expressions as they sat down and gazed upon the board. They sat in silence for the first few moments. The silence was interrupted by Simon's chuckle. Robert didn't bother looking at him as he was still observing the board.

Simon reached for one of the figures but Robert caught his hand; " Wait! Don't touch it! " he yelled.

" Why not? What is the point of the game if we don't play? "

" I can't believe you are still thinking about the game when something like this happened! It's... this is some work of magic or, or... I don't even understand what happened! "

Simon's eyes flew over the board for few seconds, then they stared at Robert.

" Magic or not, game is set. One game can't hurt before we dive into exploring this mystery, right? "

Robert looked confused, but he knew it was in Simon's nature to play a game on a magical chess board. He let go of Simon's hand.

" Shit.. can't believe I'll play a magical game of chess. Fine, but I go first! " he said completely ignoring his pieces were black, meaning he is to go second. Simon shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand over the board, signaling him to play.

Robert sighed and looked at his pieces.

" All right then... " he was tapping his fingers on the table next to the board, thinking what to move. He reached for the figure and moved the pawn forward, and the game unrolled.

After 15 or so moves, Robert was close to getting checkmated, but he had a option to sacrifice either his rook or knight to prevent it.

" Go ahead, make a choice. Which one will you sacrifice? "

Robert scratched his chin and neck; " Well, I think the move is obvious-.. ". He reached forward and grabbed the rook.

" I choose the rook. "

Bright light engulfed the room and made Simon fall off his chair. He quickly jumped on his feet and raised his arms as if he were to fight someone.

But as he stood up, Robert was gone.

He looked left and right to see wether he was playing games with him, but he really wasn't in the room with him.

" Robert? Robert! " he looked around once more. Simon rubbed his fingers through his eyes to get rid of the last lingering aftereffects of the light from earlier; " Shit, what was that? ".

He looked down on the board and immediately took notice of something - Robert's rook was gone. It wasn't on the table nor the floor.

A thought crossed his mind as he was looking at the magical chess board, and remembered the note that was on it. The note that was very similarly decorated as the board is right now.

" No way. It can't be real, can it? " he mumbled.

" Select... your character. " Simon got close to the table again; " Great Abstract Magical Event... G.A.M.E. "

He leaned with both hands on the table in front of him. Last words of Robert flew through his mind.

>> I choose the rook. <<

Simon took a few deep breaths and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned around one last time before he locked his eyes with a single figure on the board. If he was right, his entire life until this point was literally leading him to this point. He always knew that years and years of playing games will lead him somewhere - now he knew that it was this moment.

" Select a character.. What is the most powerful chess piece? The jumping knight? The omni-moveable queen? No.. the most powerful piece in the game - is the king. "

He lifted his hand over the king piece.

" Without the king, all the other pieces lose their meaning. The whole game changes completely once the king makes a single move. " he picked it up and gazed upon it.

" So... " he flipped it in his palm, smiling.

" I choose the king. "