章 10: Game

Hana had a six-month observation period, during which, according to a confidentiality agreement, she couldn't leave the country or engage in social work. As a legal citizen and a special time-traveler, she received a year's worth of social assistance, ensuring her basic needs were met. These six months were allocated for her to adapt to the new society.

During this time, she stayed at home, learning various social norms and having ample time to ponder her future. It was said that among the four time-travelers who had come before her, the second—a young girl—hadn't been able to adjust to the temporal shift of decades. She developed depression and took her own life at the age of sixteen. The reasons were unclear—either her subsequent family had failed to provide proper care, or there was some other cause.

Hana was likely the quickest to adapt among all the time-travelers, both mentally and emotionally. After the initial disorientation, she regulated her mood. Each day at home, she would either play games or go through the 'historical' documents that Jun had gathered for her, familiarizing herself with the events of the intervening years. She even sought out various qualification materials required for kindergarten teachers in the current era. Aside from that, she would cook and do grocery shopping with Jun.

Jun, the older man who had initially agreed only to help her get acquainted, ended up following her quietly whenever she stepped outside. Hana didn't bother to comment. At first, they walked in silence, but over time they began to talk.

"Aren't you a teacher? How come I didn't see you teaching these past days?" Hana finally asked one day.

"I resigned as the head of the Literature Department at the university a year ago," Jun replied. "However, because I'm acquainted with the dean, he requested that I come back to teach two classes a month. So, I didn't need to go every day."

Sensing something amiss, Hana probed, "You resigned at sixty-five? Back in my time, people didn't retire until they were seventy. Why did you retire so early?"

Jun offered a wry smile. "Last year, I fell ill and had to stay in the hospital for a while. I felt drained, so I decided to resign and focus on organizing some materials at home. It was nothing serious."

"What illness? Was it serious?" Hana asked, her brow furrowed.

"Not serious, just a minor issue," Jun responded, maintaining a calm demeanor. "It's just that I've aged, and my health isn't as resilient as when I was younger. A small lapse led to illness, but I've since fully recovered."

After a moment of silence, Hana pulled out her PT and began to fiddle with it, ignoring Jun. He assumed she was playing a game, but to his surprise, Hana set the device down and declared, "Starting tomorrow, you'll be joining me for a morning run to improve your health. Don't worry, I've checked; it won't exceed your physical limits. A slow jog around here should suffice."

Jun looked at the distance she had circled on the map, hesitating a bit. "Well..."

Hana interjected, "What do you mean, 'well…'? The older you get, the more you need to take care of your health. Exercise is essential!"

Jun had lived in this community for many years and naturally knew some of the neighbors. Every morning, as he accompanied Hana on her run and grocery shopping, they'd run into familiar old men and women who would inevitably ask, "Sato Sensei, who is this young lady? She's quite attractive. Is she a relative of yours?"

Before Jun could answer, Hana would smile at the neighbors and say, "I'm Sato Sensei's wife."

This would lead her to explain, under the astonished gazes of those around her, that she had time-traveled forty years into this dimension.

"Ah! I saw the news about that recently, about a new time-traveler who had come forty years into the future. They only gave a pseudonym; it's you!" The elderly men and women would exclaim and then gather around in curiosity. After all, this young person appeared to be from their own era, which was fascinating and astonishing to them.

Fortunately, this community was originally allocated to retired professors and later expanded to include these smaller buildings. Most of the residents were intellectuals, and not many were inclined to gossip. Those who knew Jun and got along with him were usually focused professionals who didn't meddle in others' affairs. Therefore, they were quite friendly towards this 'May-December' couple.

Among them, Mr. and Mrs. Yoshita, whom Hana had met before, were especially warm-hearted. Hana and Jun even had to accept their invitation to dine at their home twice.

Life became more tranquil than Hana had anticipated after the neighbors learned of her situation. No one came to gawk at her. She was only casually chatted up by familiar faces when she went out in the morning for groceries or to pick up deliveries.

Some even nostalgically mentioned 'the old days' to her, which felt strange to Hana. For her, the world of forty years ago was just a little over a month away, but for these elderly people, it had already become a time to reminisce. This gave her an odd sense of disorientation whenever they talked.

There were also young people and students of Jun in the community. However, when his students greeted him, they would feel awkward asking who Hana was and would usually scurry away after the greeting. So, for now, Hana hadn't made a name for herself among Jun's students.

That was a bit disappointing.

Hana was someone who couldn't stay idle at home. Unlike Jun, who could peacefully spend days on academic research, Hana needed to step outside for a breath of fresh air every day, no matter what.

Apart from their morning jogs and grocery runs, Hana also liked to take walks in the evening when the weather was good, and Jun would accompany her.

As the two walked under the streetlights, they encountered a few old men playing chess under a sycamore tree. Seeing Jun, they enthusiastically invited him over to join a game.

"Jun, come on, help me out! This guy's too tough; he's wiping the floor with me. Come and take him down a notch!"

"Ah, why do you always call for reinforcements when you're losing?"

"Seeking help is not shameful! Jun, come sit here!"

Jun knew them all and sat down to play chess. Hana followed and stood by to watch. An older woman watching the game whispered to her, "Your husband is really good at chess. Not like my hopeless husband, who won't admit defeat despite being a terrible player. Others are almost afraid to play him."

The old man giving up his seat for Jun laughed, "Well, you can't quite say that. We play chess for mental cultivation; winning or losing isn't important."

The older woman snorted, "If it's not important, why do you want help to win?"

Hana had only dabbled in chess during extracurricular activities in elementary school. Even with her limited experience, she could see that Jun was an excellent player. He quickly captured several of the opponent's key pieces, drawing claps and exclamations from the spectators, who were either amazed or felt sorry for the other old man.

Jun was very focused and quiet as he played, while the man across from him couldn't stop talking. Each time he lost a piece, he'd slap his thigh and lament his last move.

Hana's eyes shifted from the chess game to Jun. He was deep in thought, examining the board, moving his pieces with calculated precision. They had been married for a year, and she never knew he played chess. 'Is it a recently acquired skill, or did he know it before? Okay… A year or two's not enough to completely understand a person.'

As Hana was lost in thought, the game concluded rather quickly.

Someone from the crowd wondered, "Why did Sato Sensei finish so quickly today?"

The losing old man grinned, "Yeah, Jun usually gives me a few breaks. Normally, our games could last an hour, but today he's shown me no mercy."

The older woman next to Hana chuckled, "Sato Sensei probably didn't want to keep his wife waiting."

Hana responded, "To be honest, I don't understand the game. Next time you want to play chess with Jun, just come to our house. He'll be there, and I won't disturb you. Play as long as you'd like."

"Good, good, you hear that Jun? Your wife said it; next time we'll come straight to your house for chess."

Jun cast a helpless glance at Hana, who stood at a distance, and replied to the old man, "How can I ever say no to that?"

After sharing a few jokes, everyone reset the board for another game. Hana and Jun decided to head back home.

"Let's play chess," Hana said as soon as they returned home.

Since she'd brought it up, Jun wouldn't dampen her spirits. He dug out the chessboard from the closet and set it up. Considering Hana's novice level, she wouldn't last three minutes against him. Jun didn't want Hana to be defeated so quickly. With meticulous effort, he prolonged a foregone game to last about ten minutes.

Even with him holding back, Hana was soon cornered with just her lone Gyoku left on the Shogi board. Suddenly, she pushed one of Jun's Gin (Silver Generals) forward, taking out his Ōshō (King).

Jun was speechless.

Hana explained with a straight face, "Even though this Silver General is on your side and looks like it's against me, it's actually a spy for my side. So it took out your King for me!"

Jun was dumbfounded. "That's... basically cheating."

Hana retorted, "Can there be cheating between a husband and a wife? No." She tossed the chess piece back onto the board. "You were struggling so much to let me win; I thought I might as well win fair and square to make everyone happy."

Jun couldn't argue with that logic, or lack thereof. "Want to play another round?"

Hana boldly proclaimed, "No need, it's not interesting if you can't beat me."

In terms of audacity, Jun admitted defeat.

Days later, Jun's chess buddies came over for some games. After losing three consecutive matches, they lamented, "No one can beat Sato Sensei anymore."

Jun, usually reserved, cracked a joke: "Hana beat me last time we played."

His friends were astounded. "Really? We didn't know Hana was a chess master too!" They all requested her to join them for a game.

Hana, who was busy playing a game on her handheld console, chuckled, "To be honest, I don't know the first thing about chess. But who cares? I'm Sato Sensei's wife; no matter how good he is, he wouldn't dare win against me."