Galileo had to admit that the CEO was rather generous, as the man had not only donated him a fine suit, he even opted to get Galileo extra paid vacation and sent someone to pick him up when the morning of the event arrived. Thanks to that, not only did Galileo arrive on time in the unfamiliar part of the town, he didn't even look out of place at the event.

Soon after entering the venue he was greeted by the CEO who had apparently already been awaiting him for quite some time. The man tried to get a conversation going which Galileo allowed, though it stuck mostly lead to just idle chatter. It was a few minutes later that the entrance door opened. Not strange as people were still arriving, though what attracted Galileo's attention was a young woman which had walked through. She had long golden hair and clear blue eyes, and based on her curves Galileo reckoned that even most celebrities would greatly envy her appearance. But that vanity was not what made Galileo look over. It was the small amount of mana he felt from within her body. It was even weaker than the demon he had met a few days prior, but even that appeared to be relatively decent when compared to the standards of the new world.

"She is here," the CEO followed Galileo's gaze and commented, "We are used to calling her the Devil of the board. She is a bit of a legend around these parts since she had never lost a match. Don't let her youth deceive you. Even though she looks barely over 20 she has won every single completion she had ever participated in around here. She could probably be very famous, however, she rarely ever plays outside the region. Her name is..."

"I will find out myself," Galileo grinned widely. He had always appreciated a gruelling challenge and she appeared just like one, "I will see whether she can maintain that untainted record after today."

Not long later the competition started. Although there was an entrance fee, Galileo was confident he could win it back. As the competition started, Galileo was surprised to see just how much resistance his opponents maintained. His first opponent was superior even to the CEO, and Galileo thoroughly enjoyed the encounter before eventually delivering a checkmate to the startled man. The following matches were not quite as fun, though they were at the very least light exercise. Since the tournament was not an elimination he was instead being matched with opponents that had a similar number of victories. The quality of the side dishes improved as he scored one victory after another and it was inevitable that they would meet as he avoided defeats.

“You are new,” And indeed, in the sixth and final round, they finally faced each other. The woman seemed surprised when she saw an unfamiliar face after her multiple consecutive wins. She naturally knew everyone who would usually meet her after 6 uninterrupted victories. Nevertheless, Galileo noticed that she also appeared quite bored.

“Galileo, nice to meet you,” he smiled and offered the woman his hand.

“Let’s just get to it,” however, she did not appear to even consider returning the gesture as she spoke in a bored monotone. Galileo did not take offence, his excitement was far too great for that. Instead, his mind focused as he touched one of the pawns moving it forward.

What ensued absolutely amazed Galileo. With his bits of experience he managed to significantly reduce the useless lines of play he was following, and in turn the number of moves he could foresee increased to almost 40, yet relatively soon after the match had stated he noticed something unexpected: He was being pushed back. Despite his ability to predict many more moves than what was within reason, Galileo was falling into a disadvantage. When he realised that he became ecstatic, at his unexpected disadvantage. Never had he expected that despite his best efforts there would be a mortal skilled enough to out-think him. Since that was the case, Galileo would have to take drastic measures in order to win.

"Amazing," Galileo chuckled as magic sparked behind his eyes. His mana was unleashed and flooded into his brain in a cascade, wrapping around every bond and every neuron. Overcharging his brain in such a way naturally came with a large disadvantage. The original gift Galileo had developed this ability from could result in lasting damage or even death. Of course, Galileo would never push it that far, even if he were to be brought to the bring of death. Instead, he made sure it would at worst result in a brutal migraine. His thoughts quickened with his mana, and his processing ability improved tremendously while his already sharp eyes became even more acute. As those changes happened his eyes darted around momentarily and he noticed the change in the woman’s expression. Her previous neutral, almost bored, visage was instead showing a wide smile, not unlike Galileo’s.

Now that his brain was overcharged Galileo’s ability increased as he could predict nearly 60 moves and naturally became confident in his victory and enjoyed the sensation of their battle of wits. Yet to his surprise he soon realised that he was not overwhelming the woman. In fact, he was beginning to lose more and more ground. Perhaps blissful, still unacceptable in Galileo’s eyes. It was unthinkable that he could be defeat by a mortal. No matter how much experience she had it was not unsurpassable. It couldn’t be insurmountable. With that thought more and more mana poured into Galileo’s mind, yet each time he felt like he would reach beyond his opponent he came to realise that the peak was even higher. No matter how many steps he ascended upwards there was still more left.

Galileo shivered as he reached his limit at around 100 moves. If he pumped any more mana into his brain he might suffer a permanent injury to his mind, something he would not risk even if his life was in lethal danger. It was a strange and unfamiliar sensation. Galileo had lost many before, in magic, in martial arts, in dexterity. But never had he ever been defeated in a battle of wits since he head reached immortality. Not even by Gods, much less mortals. Yet in the chess match he had reached his wit’s end. Although the match was not yet over the winner was already determined. Galileo would lose.

When he realised that he felt a myriad of emotions, so chaotic he could not fully derive what he was really feeling. He didn’t think he would be angry, perhaps merely baffled, though that could have just been slight surprise or something different entirely. Yet they were all slowly being dominated by one which Galileo was intimately familiar with. He was about to be defeated by a pathetically weak mortal in a battle of wits, yet a single emotion began to take over more his feelings each time he touched a piece. Soon enough there was only that one sensation overwhelming his mind.

He was morbidly curious.

How could such an impossible thing happen, what made this woman so special that her expertise was deep enough to defeat him, and other similar questions cycled through his mind as one move was followed by another. Because of the rapidity of their moves, their time budget had not decreased despite the fact that the game had been going on for a while. Pieces moved one after another as Galileo was slowly pushed back. Despite the fact his defeat was inevitable, Galileo still felt immense satisfaction in his struggle. It was such a strange yet satisfying feeling to be pushed into a corner with no hope of escape after being in the other position so many times. He was not going down without a futile fight.

Even as he began to see the first significant increase in checkmates among the feasible lines of play he masterfully avoided them. Yet against this woman, masterful was not nearly good enough, and more and more dead ends appeared among the moves that Galileo saw in his mind. One by one he was running out, until eventually he could no longer see a single line of play that didn’t end in a checkmate within those 100 moves. There was no longer anything more to play or anything left to discover.

“Thank you,” he looked up at the woman, once again seeing her half-insane wide smile as she also looked up at him. At that moment, it was perhaps even more crazed than his own, “Who would have thought that defeat tastes this sweet,” he laughed and touched one of the pieces. Without any further struggle he flicked his finger, knocking down his king, “I resign,” he said as he once again outstretched his hand over the board.

“Thank you,” this time around the woman took his hand with an overjoyed chuckle, “Galileo, was it? I haven’t had such an intense match in years,” her smile was maintained as she spoke, “You can call me Quinn.”

“Shall we play again sometime?” Galileo withdrew the mana overcharging his brain and immediately felt the agonizing pain hit him, though he did not allow that to change his expression.

“Definitely,” she apparently realised her slightly terrifying smile as she reduced it to merely a wide one, “Here is my business card,” she handed him a piece of paper with her picture, full name and phone number on it. Galileo did not read through it as he put into his pocket and they both stood up, thinking that they must have delayed the tournament.

Only to realise that the room was completely empty and already cleaned up aside from their table. The light around them was coming from a single lamp which someone was kind enough to bring to them since the lights in the large hallway were already turned off and it was already dark outside. Galileo and Quinn shared a glance as they realised that they must have been playing for hours upon hours until the tournament had to end without them as no one could get their attention while they had been entranced by their match. It apparently went on for so long that no one even bothered waiting behind for them.

Quinn quickly took out her phone and called someone while Galileo pondered about the situation as well as his barely bearable migraine. He had a good reason for barely ever overcharging his brain like that. Quinn profusely apologized through her phone and asked whoever was calling for a quick pick up, “I am sorry, I really have to go,” she apologised to Galileo as soon as she finished her call, “Call me and let’s play again sometime, ideally soon,” she managed before she rushed out the hall, somehow orienting flawlessly through the almost pitch-black room.

“See you soon then,” Galileo shouted at her as she was about to disappear through the door. He did not stop her nor chase after her. She seemed to be in a hurry, and he needed the terrible headache to recede before he could even try to challenge her again. As he left the room with steady steps and oriented into the lobby, he realised that at least the automatic doors let him leave after the area was closed up. He saw Quinn entering an expensive-looking black car just as he left the building, apparently, her ride lived somewhere very nearby. Though they could’ve at least offered him a lift.

Galileo then spent a significant chunk of the night trying to get home through public transport while having no idea what time it was amidst his torturing headache since he hadn't learned to drive a car yet. By the end of it, he vowed to get himself a phone the very next day.