DESPER

Yuusuke began to tremble as Gyro reached into his pocket.

"Yeah, could you not trigger that just yet?" a voice said.

Everyone turned to see Okisato standing behind them.

"Well, this certainly is a turn of events, so are you the reason Cypress is dead?" Gyro glared.

"Huh? Who's Cypress?"

"Pretty boy, slit eyes, wears a white suit, long brown hair tied in a ponytail, also hates women," Zanni nodded.

"Nope, no clue."

"Then despair as I kill your-"

"Could you not trigger the DESPER? I actually wanted you to use it for something else."

"Sorry Oni-tiger, but things don't always go your way, in fact, I think I'll make you a spect- No, your rating is too high for that, though my rating is far higher than your friend's, meaning I can subject him to spectating and sentence him to death along with you," Gyro snickered.

"But if you do that, your friend the principal won't be able to eliminate Inoue-senpai today."

Gyro paused and slowly took his hand out of his pocket. "Explain."

"Gladly. See, Inoue-senpai wished to get something more out of him, so she's decided to challenge the shogi club to a game of bughouse.

"'Bughouse' you say? ...Hahaha, interesting," Gyro grinned as he turned to Yuusuke. "Quite the luck you have today, boy. It seems we'll have to deal with you another day. Zanni, you are to play at Inferno's den and not leave until your rating is above 2000."

"As you wish, Gyro-sama," Zanni bowed before departing.

"I'll see you two after school," Gyro sneered as he too departed.

Now alone, Yuusuke turned to Okisato. "What the hell was all that, man?"

"Er, a bad dream," Okisato nonchalantly nodded.

"I ain't dreamin, dumbass, these pants are soiled," Yuusuke glared as he pointed down at his pants.

"Oh, well shit. Guess I'll have to tell you too," Okisato sighed as the two began walking.

"Who were those guys? The big guy was tryin’ to kill me."

"They're from the Desperado league, one of the most infamous underground chess leagues."

"'Underground'!? Like mafia and yakuza!?"

"Yeah, though it's not just limited to them. Anyone can partake in an underground chess match whether willingly or unwillingly. As long as you aren't caught breaking any rules, the WWCF will reward you should you emerge victorious."

"Reward!?"

"I'll talk more about that when the whole club's present. As for the Desperado league, they've managed to create some tech that will force you into a chess match."

"Is that what those things they had were?"

"Yes, they're called DESPER. They are capable of both conjuring up something from nothing and forcefully manipulating minds."

"Wait, so was all that a hallucination?"

"No, whatever you saw and felt was real."

"So then the chainsaws really would have-"

"Killed you? Yes. Though if you had won, the big guy would then get sliced and diced."

"Huh? But I said if I won he'd have to stop targetin’ us and free any prisoners."

"That's not exactly how the DESPER works. The original holder of the DESPER ultimately controls the punishment so long as they themselves are playing, though if he agreed to your terms, then your punishment for him would have stood."

"He agreed, so I guess that means he wouldn't have died if I beat him, right?"

"Correct. Though if you weren't specific, the programming of the DESPER could interpret the 'stop targeting us' punishment as killing the loser."

"Huh!? Why!?"

"Because he wouldn't be able to target any of us if he was dead; simple as that."

Yuusuke was taken aback by Okisato. "Oi, dude, just who are ya?"

"The less you know about me, the better, but I guess you're already being targeted because of me. Hmm."

"He called you 'Oni-tiger'. Why's that?"

"Because that's what I'm known as to them. See, I'm seeking to rid the world of the DESPERs."

"How are you gonna do that?"

"By beating all that have one. If the holder of a DESPER is subjected to an execution or fate that would prevent them from ever using their DESPER as punishment for losing a match with their own DESPER, the DESPER will destroy itself, becoming completely inoperable and unsalvageable."

"Is that the only way?"

"Yes, as far as I’m aware."

"Couldn't you force em to destroy the device?"

"They would then spend the rest of their life forcefully trying to destroy the device against their will. If someone were subjected to that, they would likely die either of starvation, or from the things they'd use to try and destroy the DESPER."

"That's messed up."

"Though I guess they could just lock their DESPER in a safe and never use it again."

"Huh?"

"I don't think they're some cursed item that forces its user to constantly use it or be penalized with death, so a DESPER holder could just lock away their DESPER never to use it again. That could even be done normally, but then it wouldn't be binding. Huh, never thought of that. Though most DESPER holders are criminals and bad people in general so it's probably better to kill them."

"Seriously, why are you so bloodthirsty, man? Wouldn't killing someone with that get you booked for murder?"

"No, since the WWCF officially approves the tech for match play."

"THE HELL!? Why would they-"

"Anyone can play chess; warlords, peacemongers, geniuses, idiots, the morally ethical, and the morally corrupt. The WWCF doesn't care how bad or good of a person you are; as long as you don't break the rules of the game, the WWCF could care less if you committed a crime or did something controversial as long as you’re good at chess and don’t cheat at it."

Yuusuke went pale as he struggled to digest everything. Before he could respond, he noticed that he and Okisato had reached the school. The two quickly noticed Iori, nervously hiding by the school gate, occasionally peering through it at the courtyard.

"Iori-

"WAAAAH! Oh, it's just you two. Wait! Did Yuu-kun piss himself!? Gyahahaha LOL!" Iori laughed as she snapped a photo.

"OI! The hell you makin’ fun of me, huh!?" Yuusuke fumed as Okisato held him back.

"Well, wanna collab with me? I'm shootin’ a vid right now."

"Huh? 'Collab'!?"

"Yeah, it's a BIG CHALLENGE! Can I sneak into school without getting caught!? Stay tuned to find out!"