The Dangerous Game

Checkmat

After a long time, Ava left her uncle's side and went out. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a calm-looking blond man leaning against the wall, leaning slightly against the wall to the side, looking at him with a worried look. When Derek noticed her coming out, he lifted his back from the wall he was leaning against and walked towards Ava. He studied Ava carefully, as if he wanted to make sure she was okay. Ava smiled gratefully at Derek, whose worry was written all over her face.

“It's okay, I'm fine. Don't worry."

Derek tapped her on the shoulder, as if scolding. He knew very well that this girl would have said the same sentence to him with the same calmness if her stomach had been pierced. How could he believe her words? He eyed Ava with the air of a mother unable to fight her child's mischief.

“Look you. You go on duty without telling me, you don't even tell me when you get back, but don't worry…”

He suddenly dropped everything he had said and looked at Ava's red cheek. Derek's eyes flickered to the side door for a moment.

“I told him not to raise his hand at you.”

Ava looked at Derek, who looked filled with anger as if he was about to burst into the room at any moment. She took her by the arm, as if trying to calm him down, causing him to slowly turn to her. This reckless boy looked like he was going to burst into the room at any moment and make a commotion.

“Just take it easy, Derek. How about you hugging me instead, hm?”

With a shameless grin, Derek opened his arms and turned to the girl who was staring at him. Ah, how could this little nuisance remain unchanged? Was she now brazenly waiting for a hug with open arms, as if she hadn't disappeared for a month without telling him? Ah ah .. she really should have at least let me know. Derek shook his head in resignation, sweeping her off her feet and hugging her. Ava leaned completely against Derek with a relieved smile, as if this hug had all her troubles resolved. It wasn't a problem, Derek could stand it quite well with him. She shouldn't have grown into a woman who can only feel a sense of security in small moments. She deserved much better. Unaware of Derek's inner world, the young woman slightly tightened her arms as she smiled gleefully, feeling confident.

“Brother, your little brother is back.”

Derek stared at this woman who hadn't grown in his eyes over the years. He still remembered her little fingers clutching his hand helplessly as if in her sleep. How could he forget? His mind involuntarily returned to the first day he met this girl.

***

"Derek, wake up Derek, we're getting out of here."

His father had hurriedly come to wake her while holding a crying little girl in her arms. Derek, unable to understand what had happened, followed his father in a sleepy way and left his home where he had lived for 13 years and went to Zetsu with his father. He disappeared for a year after arriving, leaving him and the little girl alone in a house for a year. There was a housekeeper to take care of them, but he never took care of them other than prepare their meals. Derek was furious when he saw that the girl didn't come down to breakfast the first day they arrived. He had already moved out of her house because of her, and even now he could only talk to his father on the phone once a week. Now, was he just shamelessly waiting for them to come to his feet and invite her to dinner? Derek got angry and decided to ignore it, but after 2 days, when he saw that the girl still hadn't come down, he went to his room to check it out, worried that something would happen to the little girl. As soon as he entered the room, he heard the cry of the little girl in the dark room. When he went to her, he saw that she was still asleep. The little girl was crying helplessly in her sleep, uttering incomprehensible sentences.

Not understanding what was happening, Derek approached the girl and placed his hand lightly on her forehead. The little girl was on fire. Derek felt little fingers gripping his hand as he hurried back to find a wet washcloth and some medicine.

“Dad… can I… can I come with you?

Derek had heard that this little girl's father had been murdered. Shocked by her words, from that day on, he took care of her carefully, as if he were afraid that something would happen to him if he left her alone. For 2 days, he had regularly wiped his entire body with a wet cloth to heal the little girl. When the little girl seemed to be getting better, he brought the soup that the nanny made and tried to feed her with his own hands. After a week, the girl had healed, but her eyes looked completely dead. The little girl had looked at Derek, who had come in with a tray on the first day she had woken up, and had said a single sentence.

“Just let me go, please.”

Derek was shaken by the realization of what the little girl meant, and had become more careful about her from that day forward. He couldn't guess why such a little girl, who looked 8-9 years old, had lived to the point of wanting to die. He only knew that she had lost her father, whom she kept delirious about every night, but he believed that she must have gone through more before she was completely in this state. Finally, at the end of the first month, an incident broke out. The little girl stood up angrily and knocked over the tray she had brought, using all the strength she had accumulated in her body to knock her down. She continued to hit him with her weak fists as she stood on top of him in anger..

“Why are you doing this! Don't you understand that I have to be alone so I can go to my father! I .. i like this ! What do you want from me! Why don't you leave me alone?”

Derek looked at the little girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs as he continued to hit him, then calmly held her hands.

“Do you think your father really wants you to go to him, Ava? Are you sure about that?"

Ava looked at him for a moment as if surprised, then looked helpless as the tears continued to flow. Her sobs didn't stop as she lay on the floor.

“I, I don't know what else to do. You, you didn't see, there was so much blood all over my father..I..I..I couldn't move..to my father..blood everywhere..my father was bleeding..they..my father is my father.”

Afterwards, the little girl had a great crying fit and cried until she passed out from exhaustion. The next day, the little girl looked at Derek, who had come into the room with eyes red from crying all night. All the emotion in his eyes seemed to have died.

“I don't know how to live.”

The two of them talked until evening that day, and for the rest of a year, Derek took care of this little girl. He saw her as his younger sister. He did everything for his happiness. Later, his father came to pick up the two of them from their home and sent Ava abroad while sending Derk to another home. Ava was already 15 years old when Derek learned that Ava had been sent abroad to be trained not to study but to become a member of the organization. When she returned, Derek, seeing that all the feelings she had when he was little, had faded, and Derek was full of regret that he had let his father send her that day. He had also noticed that Ava would tremble in disgust and run to the bathroom to throw up whenever a man tried to touch her, except himself. He believed it was related to events abroad, but still, whatever his father said, he did not listen to him. At the age of 15, his father had already started using Ava in the organization's business. Derek didn't understand why either of them were doing this. They acted as if they had nothing to lose in life. After all her efforts, he had given up, realizing that no matter what Ava said, she wouldn't listen to him. Instead, he decided to focus on protecting her during her work. Meanwhile, he focused on strengthening his position within the organization so that his father's pressure on Ava would ease. After all, this girl had become his sister. Whenever she went on a mission, she would go unannounced, as if escaping his oppressive protection, and then look at her with a cheerful smile when he returned.

“Brother, your little brother is back.”

***

Derek was staring thoughtfully at the young woman who was calmly staring at the chessboard between them.

“Are you sure the contents of the USB will work?”

The young woman smiled as she heard something funny as she moved her elephant.

“If Camsat already has what it should have, yes. They won't stand still after the gift I sent them this morning. In a normal period, they could have resolved this by negotiating with Shark, but once the police get the documents I sent them, they won't stand still against Shark."

Derek stared at the board for a moment, moving his horse forward.

“How can you be sure that they will blame each other? They can stay completely unaffected.”

The young woman calmly advanced to her castle while looking calmly at the board.

“This is also a possibility. Every game can go beyond expectations after all. But I know my opponent, Derek, and I've worked them out over the years. Camsat and Shark may have started with very solid relationships at first, but trust never lasts forever in the gang world; small gaps can create big chasms. These cliffs can turn into cemeteries. For years, I have been thinly cutting Shark and Camsat's trust in each other. This time it will be their abyss. In order not to enter the tomb alone, Derek will reveal all of Camsat's information as soon as the police open the case. Camsat will believe without question that the vice president was killed by them, and they will want to attack before the police put their pressure on Shark. Shark will have no doubt that Camsat has leaked the information. Police, Shark and Camsat will be at a stalemate. Meanwhile, our troops will attack Midnigt's headquarters, giving the impression that Shark is trying to lure him into battle. When everyone falls into disarray, our headquarters troops will be transferred from Zetsu to Xandu.

Derek frowned slightly in annoyance as he took the rook the young woman had just advanced on the board and led his elephant forward.

“Even though most of our troops are in Xandu, moving the central unit is not an easy process, we need at least a month. Preparing the headquarters and moving the warehouses is not an easy process, and all the blows we take in this period will cause great damage. How can you be sure that Midnight will go to war?"

Derek looked before him at the young woman who was calmly advancing her horse across the chessboard. He knew that this woman had for years destroyed the trust between Shark and Camsat with all kinds of fine calculations, and secretly placed her men inside both the organizations and the police. It was his keen intellect and plans that enabled him to establish a strong position within Shadow at a very young age. However, this was an issue that could not be left to chance. A single mistake could cause the towers that had been built for years to collapse. Now they not only had to enter the country, but they could not let anyone notice that they had entered the country. Derek never understood why the young girl never included Midnight in all these plans. Now he was suddenly saying that he could bring Midnight, which he hadn't included in any of his plans for years, to the war. Derek stared at the board for a moment, calmly advancing his queen.

"Shah."

"I can't, of course."

The young woman thought furiously as she observed the state of the board. That insecure bastard has been carefully weeding out all the agents he's sent over the years. He had failed to put anyone in a high position at midnight. Moreover, she was throwing all the agents she caught with a ridiculous ribbon at a random place, putting a note next to them each time.

At first, there was a message telling her that she was not happy with her gift and that she did not want another present. Outraged by her first-time failure, Ava sent a magnificent gift in a box to the Midnight epicenter in return. The nighttime crews thought it was a ticking time bomb, but after cutting the wires, they only found a gesturing monkey figure in the box. The second time, the man left a note saying that he liked the gift he had sent him, mocking him by saying he could do a little more. After that, Ava freaked out and really thought of bombing the Midnight Building. Later, her uncle told her to give up. She had nevertheless angrily sent one of her trusted subordinates one last time, she. However, this time the man had quickly identified the man and left a message saying that it would be more pleasant for him to come the next time inexorably. She had to avenge all this.

“Well, Derek, it's pretty simple. If they don't go to war, you take the war to them and they'll start fighting before they even know it."

The young woman licked her lips lightly. She calmly pushed the stone forward.

“Checkmat, Derek.”