Dec 26, 2025
Author's Commentary #22:
Time to talk about Chapter 22: Atomic timetable.
Despite it having the same name and game as the original, there are some notable differences. Xiao Lin greeting Okisato and being the one to inform him of Red Reaper's ability is the big one, and second is Okisato tricking all the Chinese SPCMs to allow him to challenge them. For the latter, the change came about mainly since I did away with the real-world currency plotline from the original Season 3, which I just felt didn't make any sense.
Speaking of SPCMs, lets talk about two of them, Qiang Bai and Lu Hui. One thing to note is that I believe Chinese names are written surname first, then given name, so the second name is actually the given name of the character. If I'm wrong on this, feel free to correct me. And with that out of the way, let's begin.
强百 (Qiang Bai) is how Bai's name is spelled in kanji. 百 means "one hundred" while 强 means "strong".
チャン・バイ (Qiang Bai) is how his name would be spelled in katakana.
Bai actually debuted way back in Chapter 10: Maestro Xiao Lin of Volume 2, however, I forgot to spotlight him there. It is better to spotlight him here since back there he's pretty forgettable, while here, he's much more relevant to the story.
His birthday is August 3rd. I chose the date at random so there's no greater significance behind why this date is his birthday.
His favorite piece is the rook, mainly because he believes it's the biggest and strongest piece on the board. Ironically, rooks are actually one of the shortest pieces on the board, being taller than only pawns.
闾辉 (Lu Hui) is how Hui's name is spelled in kanji. 辉 means "brightness" which has a double meaning considering she's intelligent, and her head shines brightly, while 闾 means "hamlet". ルー・ホイ (Lu Hui) is how her name would be spelled in katakana.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is May 7th. I chose the date at random so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen, mainly because it id the most powerful piece on the board.
As stated in the chapter, Hui is a Kaifeng Jew. She's also a skilled martial artist and looks up to Xiao Lin. Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Lin's actually jealous of her prowess. She sports her hair in a queue, which involves shaving the entire front half. Hui also has the back and sides of her head undershaved, hence why her hairstyle morphs into a pigtail when she braids her hair up in a ponytail.
As for the game itself, it's a game of atomic chess. Atomic chess is a popular chess variant where pieces explode when they capture another piece and cause any adjacent pieces to the captured piece, except for pawns, to explode as well. As such, the goal is to destroy the king. Kings can't capture, but they can be on squares next to each other. Not to mention, a player can avoid a check on their king if they can destroy their opponent's king on their next move.
I actually only decided to go with this direction for the series a few days before originally posting this chapter in the original, but it definitely worked out. I was actually a bit worried I'd have to delay the chapters in order to get some good games, but I managed to get things done in time. As such, I think these next few chapters will be some of the more entertaining ones yet.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
![Escape Witch [Remake] cover](https://honeyfeed-novel-images.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/novel_image/file/14560/cover_thumb_9f88f94f-2a73-4d00-b518-6f20b53f9811.jpg)
