Seven gods throw tens of thousands of humans into a self-playing chess gambling arena. Anyone whose chips reach zero is instantly eliminated. With no-cost, basic-piece status, the protagonist uses his master strategist's eye for calculations to uncover hidden interest clauses and loopholes in the notarization rules. He skips turns to collect interest, exploits timing to combine pieces with useless attributes, and turns the gods' own curses against them. He recruits a team of madmen to take on seemingly unwinnable bounty missions. When all seven gods join forces to lock down the game, he publicly bets on his own victory, forcing the house to pay out three million chips.