Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 10 - Chapter 4.6

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MIO’S DETERMINATION

“…… Yep, Ai is amazing.”

I line up and play through the match as soon as I get home.

My first time as a match recorder, the first official record I ever wrote.

“Mio Mizukoshi” is written in the space for the match recorder’s name. And, “Ai Hinatsuru” is written in the Player’s spot.

A precious memory of today that I’ll keep forever.

But, to be honest …… I really have no idea what happened. How and why did hisshi go away? Is Ai really human?

“I …… can’t. This way of winning will never work for me ……”

I don’t have the talent.

Not only that, I haven’t been working as hard as Ai does. Not even close.

I mean, I thought I was, but …… Seeing her today showed me that what I’ve been doing can’t even be called “effort.”

The idea of transferring schools all to practice Shogi has never crossed my mind.

I just ended up joining the Practice League because the Shogi Association is right down the street from my house. I never seriously committed myself to playing.

I’d already figured that out by the time Ai wiped the floor with me even though I had the handicap advantage when she was in the Practice League.

I haven’t achieved anything or even tried to.

And, that’ll probably never change ……

“…… Maybe I was just full of myself, thinking I could win a big tournament ……”

Suddenly, my phone buzzes.

“Oh! Another match invite from ‘Black Cat!’”

I’ve played against them a lot recently on my Shogi app.

They’re ranked at the top, 9-dan. Quite a bit higher than me, Black Cat is a monster of an opponent.

In amateur Shogi terms, they could fight on the national level.

“Taking them up on all their invitations has really hurt my own rating. Did I make them angry or something?”

Watching the rating that I spent so much time building up go back down really stings.

But after that fight with Ai, I don’t have anyone to play against anymore. So, I’ve taken them up on the invite whenever I could.

“And, Black Cat gives such good advice during the review sessions! They’re kind of blunt, but they lay out all the sequences for me step-by-step.”

I learn so much every time we play.

Kuzunyu-sensei said it in class, but it looks like the only way to get good at Shogi is to play against lots and lots of strong opponents. Having a strong opponent like this asking me for matches when I should be on my knees begging them …… is unbelievably lucky!