High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1030: Chapter 92 The Dunning-Kruger Effect

On a Sunday evening, just before the class examples began, while a few young Wizards of the Absolution Hunting Team were discussing ”Shadows under the Sun” and ”what constitutes objective and fair reporting”, in a lounge at Alpha Castle, the leader of another society was engaged in an interesting conversation with his members.

It was a spacious lounge, with white above and black below on the walls, and a bare floor with no carpet laid down. Besides the coffee table and a few couches by the main seat, there was nothing else in the room.

There were no armors standing in the corners with Ghosts hidden within, no portraits of the predecessors hanging on the white walls to serve as advisors to those who came after them, and unlike the other lounges in the castle, there were no golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling or green potted plants.

The lounge’s balcony was large and well-lit, but the sunlight did nothing to make the room any warmer. The decor of the entire lounge was very simple, even rudimentary, with the only material that matched the scale of the lounge being the matte wall tiles surrounding it and the white serpents with tails in their mouths carved on the tiles’ surfaces.

At the moment, this somewhat shabby lounge was packed with young Wizards clothed in white robes.

Most of them had one or two black trims on their collars and cuffs, while those with three black trims or no black trims were in the minority.

These Wizards belonged to an emerging society at First University called the Auspicious Society.

Since Alpha Academy did not institutionalize the weekend meeting system like Jiuyou Academy, student autonomy was very high, and these student societies, which usually scheduled their meetings for Sunday evenings, played a key role in maintaining cohesiveness among students, thus forming an interesting contrast with the system of Jiuyou Academy.

Most of the time, society meetings involved the reporting officers presenting their work for the past week and big shots of the society arranging the tasks for the following week, interspersed with an occasional team-building activity or small party.

Like today, Mr. Mike Gold Cypress Plano, the president of the Auspicious Society, was playing chess with one of his members.

Having been ranked seventh in the Starcoin sequence last year, Sepulano leapfrogged Sir Friedman of Alpha Academy to become a Star Knight in the latest Arcana list published by the wands in January, while Sir Friedman only got the title of Star Squire.

It was said that on the evening the list was announced, Sir Friedman smashed many valuable porcelain items in his lounge.

In a time when Augustus still held the title ”Star King,” the closer one was to his position, the higher the possibility of becoming the next Augustus. And in the eyes of most, the ”Knight” title certainly seemed a notch more prestigious than ”Squire”.

Add to that, the Auspicious Hunting Team, under the auspices of the Auspicious Society, soared six places in the latest rankings published by First University, becoming the eleventh-strongest Hunting Team in the entire University.

All these pieces of good news filled the lounge with an air of suppressed joy.

Except for Cole, who was currently playing chess with Mr. Sepulano.

Cole was a second-year student at Alpha Academy, of slim build, cloaked in a black robe, with slightly white hair and deep wrinkles on his forehead, and a pair of silver-gray eyes. When he spoke, his voice was abrupt and shrill, and his eyes flitted about when he looked at someone, which gave him a somewhat neurotic air.

”The Doyle Green effect,” Mr. Mike Gold Cypress Plano explained in a casual tone, holding a chess piece and staring at the board, ”refers to the idea that ’everything done externally can be reflected in one’s own portrait.’ For example, if someone stabbed Mr. Doyle Green with a knife, the resulting knife wound would appear only on Mr. Green’s magical portrait, and not harm him in person.”

The lounge was eerily quiet, as everyone mulled over the meaning of Mr. Sepulano’s words.

Cole sat across from Sepulano, quivering as if on the brink of an abyss, treading on thin ice—although he was a member of the Auspicious, he still didn’t understand what it meant for Mr. Sepulano to play chess with him.

”The Auspicious represents my ’portrait,’” Mr. Mike Gold Sepulano lifted his eyelids and glanced at the subordinates in the lounge, whispering, ”Any means that harm the Auspicious will ultimately harm me.”

The atmosphere in the lounge became even more oppressive, many straightening their backs and puffing out their chests, bravely meeting Sepulano’s gaze. Intermixed were some Auspicious members’ sighs of sentiment and excitement.

Kneeling across the chessboard, Cole shrank further into himself, trying to hide behind the low coffee table, but his effort was hardly noticeable.

Sepulano’s cheeks quivered, as if he smiled.

”I like chess.”

His fingers toyed with the chess piece, flipping it between them, his gaze moving from the people to Cole, and then to the object of anticipation. His voice, as always, was as if clenched through teeth, forceful:

”It’s not as compact as military chess, where opponents grapple at close quarters; nor is it like Go, binding the opponent as well as being bound. In chess, the pieces have enough space for compromises, but there are also clear rules for checkmating. You can divine without descending into chaos... What do you think, Cole?”

Cole’s complexion turned somewhat pale.

”I don’t know much about chess, Your Excellency,” said the young wizard with silver-gray eyes, his tone very tense.

”It’s simple, I’ll teach you,” Sepulano put down the piece and then drew a Bible from the drawer under the coffee table, placing his right hand solemnly upon it, ”A pawn that crosses the river can take a knight.”

Then, he lifted his hand from the Bible and managed a strained smile towards Cole, saying, ”Since I have answered your question, I hope you will also answer a question of mine with your hand on the Bible.”

He pushed the Bible towards Cole.

Cole looked uneasily at the Bible’s somewhat marred golden lettering, his lips twitching.

Behind him, several strong figures seemed to shift forward inadvertently.

”What would you like to know, Your Excellency?!” Cole immediately placed his hand on the Bible.

”Chess is an activity full of rules; it represents an Order: the pieces can only move according to regulations. Knights move in an L-shape, elephants in a field shape, and pawns step by step forward. But, if your pawn penetrates deeply into enemy territory, like this.”

As he spoke, the pawn in Sepulano’s hand advanced step by step, all the way to the opposing general’s face:

”Like this, a single pawn can checkmate the opposite old general... This is a sublimation for the life of this pawn! Of course, Cole, a knight like you doesn’t need to take risks like this pawn.”