The blinding white light disappeared from his vision, and Serin found himself in an unfamiliar place.
His eyes widened, filled with awe as he looked all around him.
There was light—soft, pale light—but no clear source. It did not glare or burn his eyes. Instead, it seemed to exist everywhere at once, dull and distant, like sunlight filtered through layers of fog.
He blinked.
The first thing he became aware of was the ground beneath him. It somehow felt smooth, yet also coarse. It was neither warm nor cold.
It looked like dark stone, coarse and rough. However, it felt remarkably smooth as he stood nervously; his fingers twitched instinctively, brushing against the surface and grounding himself.
"I'm… standing?" he muttered.
That alone felt wrong.
Startled, Serin looked down at his body. Shrouded in fog and distorted, he could not make out what his own body looked like. Even more bizarre—Serin felt weightless, as if he could fly away if he wanted to.
With a mischievous grin, he tried… and failed miserably.
He tried again, only for the floor beneath him to keep him grounded, as if a magnet were constantly pulling him down.
Helplessly, Serin slowly lifted his head.
Shapes emerged next.
Tall, vertical silhouettes loomed in his blurred vision—massive pillars stretching upward, their tops lost somewhere beyond his sight. They were too far apart, too evenly spaced. Looking up and around, Serin almost felt his neck ache. Of course, there was no such thing in reality.
His breath echoed.
The sound was faint, but it lingered just long enough to make him uneasy.
Serin swallowed.
Only then did he notice the clamour around him.
He walked forward for quite a bit, passing by crumbling old stone walls and collapsed ruins, briefly noticing inscriptions and vague imagery etched into the stones, but not sparing them further thought.
His vision opened up as a sudden burst of light rushed over him. After a moment, he saw many, many figures all around him—gathered within the open, vast ancient hall.
Serin's breath stalled, and his heart began racing. They were all human silhouettes just like him, with various names visible above their heads. No one, however, was recognisable. One couldn't even distinguish whether they were thin or fat, pretty or ugly, tall or short.
Not everyone was the same, however. Looking at some, Serin could feel a powerful pressure radiating from them. These figures were mostly solitary, with not many others approaching them.
Some of the people even glanced briefly at Serin. He could somehow feel the various expressions behind their distorted faces. Some looked at him with disdain, some with pity. Anyhow, not a single one spared another glance. Everyone moved forward, toward the pavilions floating in the sky.
In the distance, there were many pristine white and golden pavilions simply floating high above, broken stairs leading up to them—pity that the stairs, too, were floating, beginning in the air and inevitably stopping abruptly, leading nowhere.
Serin watched everything in wonder as he began sorting through the information he had received after hearing the monotonous voice earlier.
Suddenly, he halted, almost colliding with the folks behind him. His gaze flashed with brilliance, a smile filled with excitement and joy bursting behind the shroud.
He could see various groups of people gathered separately, encircling stone platforms and discussing with quite animated gestures amongst each other.
Serin broke into a sprint as he quickly reached one of the elevated platforms. On the rugged stone, he saw something he thought he would never see again.
It was a chessboard.
From the information that had flooded his mind, Serin had suspected as much, but to see the board and the pieces, just as they were on Earth, in person, he couldn't believe his eyes.
At that moment, Serin forgot all his grievances, all his depression, a renewed sense of vitality filling his entire being.
Serin saw the pieces on the board and fell into thought. The figures around him were passionately analysing the position, trying to find the best moves to solve the difficult puzzle.
For Serin, of course, it was just a piece of cake. The moment he saw the position, his mind had already grasped the solution.
Serin quietly observed as various people offered their answers, only to be refuted by the others. Everyone was pushing their brains, trying to find the best move, but to no avail. In the crowd, there was one figure with a strong aura.
Serin looked above his head and asked inwardly, "Who is this?" Immediately, the information became visible above the person's head in a small, translucent pop-up window.
[ Name - Jegga
Rank - Beginner, Layer Four
Rating - 1180
Status - Active
W/D/L - 60/8/56
Divine Blessings - Three ]
Just as Serin read this information, the person standing beside him suddenly slapped his thigh and called out, "Hah! I got it! I got it!"
Everyone turned their heads in surprise. Some started demanding the answer. Then, Jegga raised his head and asked with a chuckle, "Oh? Our novice friend here has the answer? Let's hear it then!"
Serin looked up the person's information curiously; their name was Wasp. Serin instantly realized why everyone was so surprised. As it turned out, this Wasp person was also a total newbie, just like him.
Wasp excitedly shared the answer, and then everyone fell silent. The person named Jegga seriously evaluated this newbie standing beside Serin. In fact, everyone present did the same. Of course, Serin went completely unnoticed.
"Good! That's correct. Looks like… Wasp… was it? I will be waiting for you in the Beginners Arena! Don't get killed until then!" Saying this, Jegga stood up and left in a huff, with someone else taking his place at the chessboard.
Serin did not want to attract any attention, at least before knowing more about what kind of situation he was in. Looking around, he saw similar scenes everywhere. Groups of people were discussing and analysing over chessboards.
"It's just like a chess club…" he thought amusingly.
[ Apostle, what name would you like to go by while competing in the Divine Arena? ]
Serin jerked back in surprise, almost having a heart attack as the robotic voice rang in his mind again. He heaved a sigh, calming himself down, and then furrowed his brows.
"I probably shouldn't use my real name… just in case," he thought cautiously, feeling apprehensive.
After a moment of contemplation, an imperceptible, almost silly smile appeared on his face as he said inwardly, "Stockfish."
[ Are you certain, Apostle? You cannot change your alias after confirming. Would you like to continue? ]
"Yes!"
[ Understood! Apostle, your name has been selected! ]
Serin then saw a translucent screen pop up in his vision.
Name - Stockfish
Rating - 1000
Rank - Novice, Layer One
Status - Active (Yet to Be Filtered)
W/D/L - 0/0/0
Divine Blessings - None
Serin saw a timer ticking at the corner of the translucent pop-up screen, but he did not care.
Serin's brows furrowed after recalling Jegga's words—"Don't get killed until then!"—as he finally realized a crucial piece of information he had missed earlier.
"Anyone losing their first match in the Divine Arena will be killed, their soul forever disappearing from this world," Serin recalled in horror.
Serin was not worried about himself. He could not comprehend why chess existed in such a form in this world, or why it was the same as on Earth. But he knew he would not lose his first match.
However, that meant his opponent would.
The person unlucky enough to be assigned as his first opponent would undoubtedly die.
Serin gulped hard, not knowing what to do, his gaze turning toward the timer ticking down.
Then—
His eyes widened suddenly in panic.
Unknowingly, only seconds were left on the timer.
There was no time left to think. Serin froze in place, his gaze once again overwhelmed by a blinding flash. Then, he heard that same robotic, cold voice again.
[ Apostle, your first match begins. ]