Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 12 - Chapter 5.3

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SOTA KUNUGI

“He’s a prodigy.”

People were calling me that before I knew how to speak.

My parents are very caring, but also extremely upstanding people. They may have been blessed with a genius for a son, but they never let that go to their heads.

They wanted me to grow up with as normal a childhood as possible. I think that’s a great mental attitude to have.

However, it was a big mistake.

Schoolwork, lessons, games …… Whenever something had a correct answer, I was always the first to find it (that includes adults, not just children my own age).

What do you think happens when someone like that goes out into normal society?

“Waaaahhhh!! I don’t wanna play with you no more!”

“Your son …… He cheats, doesn’t he?”

No matter the situation, I always came out on top.

It’s just no fun for the other person when I always win by an overwhelming margin. That was especially true for children.

So, I came up with an answer.

“I’ll lose every once in a while.”

I thought it was brilliant, but trying it just made the situation worse. People got angry and hurt if and when they found out I meant to lose.

I found the best solution in everything I tried.

The problem is …… human hearts don’t have a correct answer.

That’s why I asked my parents for something very special for my birthday years ago — the first one I can remember, in fact.

“I want the most accurate single die from a pair of dice in the world.”

My parents searched everywhere they could think of to find one that would satisfy me.

It was titanium with a precision rate of 99.999999999 percent. The edges were rounded to cut down on wind resistance and friction, almost to the point that it was hard to see them with the naked eye.

Truly, it was a die fit for the gods.

I carried it everywhere with me, always rolling it around in the palm of my hand and in between my fingers.

So, whenever I couldn’t think of an answer, that die always gave me one.

I did so many things out of consideration for those around me, they were the ones who came up with a way to come to terms with me despite everything I tried.

“He’s a prodigy.”

My opponents stopped crying once they understood that.

“Okay. I have to be a prodigy.”

Defeating everyone by an overwhelming margin was necessary. First I had to show them that I was a prodigy, and then I would tell them. Plenty of people hated me for it, but that was fine. I’d rather they hate me than get upset.

Unfortunately that led to a different problem.

People started going out of their way to avoid playing against me.

That wasn’t all.

I’d enter tournaments just to find someone to play against, but anyone who was matched up with me would give up before we got started. The matches weren’t even close.

Performance always declines when someone’s fighting spirit is on the verge of breaking.

My attention drifted away from people almost out of necessity.

At least emotionless machines could still perform at full capacity when playing against me.

Right around that time, a sport where humans played against machines started making waves around the world.

“Mom? What are they doing?”

“This is a board game called Shogi. A professional Sensei is playing against a computer.”

The fact that the human lost was all over the news.

That silver glinting robot arm across the board from a Shogi player in a fancy kimono became all I could think about and I learned the rules right away.

…First with a simple app.

Then I got a high performance computer and installed the strongest Shogi software on the market at the time.

Once I felt I had a handle on it, I tried my hand at playing other people over the Internet. Except once I started coming from behind in the late-game to win against highly rated players, I started getting messages in the chat.

“Using a program? Go to hell.”

Software user …… In other words, someone who would go online and let a software program play in their name. I got accused of doing that enough times that my account got banned.

So it seemed people’s hearts could shatter even without seeing my face.

The only option I had left was to find strong opponents to play against in person.

My hometown of Nara doesn’t have many Shogi classrooms to speak of, so my parents took me to the Kansai Shogi Association one day while they went shopping in Osaka.

I walked in and spotted someone sitting at a booth in the corner. There was a sign that said anyone could do an instructional match with a current member of the Sub League.

He was wearing a black school uniform with a clip collar.

…That, and glasses that didn’t fit his face at all. It was like he was trying to appear grown-up, but just couldn’t pull off the look.

His name was written on an orange tag, but I wasn’t sure how to read it.

I challenged him …… And, for the first time in my life, utterly lost.

“You don’t play against people much, do you?” he said after our match. It was like he saw right through me.

“?! You can tell?”

“Yep. Your style matches a few things that software does.”

Enamored, I told him all in one breath how I learned Shogi by playing on the computer and how everyone accused me of using software programs on the Internet.

“Really? So, the software-native generation is already here. Still, I can tell you have a lot of talent. Why not join the Practice League?”

“I get called a prodigy a lot.”

“No kidding.”

“But …… I think you are so much more talented than me!”

“You do? I used to be a pushover, actually. Someone younger than me with a whole lot more talent was always around, and they toughened me up. Well, something like that.”

“There are people even more talented than you?!”

“Lots of them. The pros are much stronger than me.”

“Um!”

“Yeah?”

“How …… do you read your name?”

“Yaichi. I’m Yaichi Kuzuryu.”

The first thing I did when I got back to Nara was find the closest classroom to my house. It belonged to a retired professional, and I asked him to take me as an apprentice.

He very nearly lost his mind the first time we played.

“T-Too strong …… Boy, you’re a prodigy!”

“Yes. I hear that a lot.”

However, he was too weak to be a professional in my eyes. I only found out after I became his apprentice that he only achieved 5-dan during his career and was forced into retirement in his thirties. He very well could have been the weakest professional ever.

Due to a lack of business and having a chronic illness, Master had been seriously considering closing his classroom to open a pickle shop, but suddenly became healthy after I became his apprentice.

“I’m gonna live ’til I see you become Meijin! Whaaat? That day’s not so far off.”

I passed the Sub League Entrance Exam without a single loss.

My Master’s methods couldn’t have been more obvious.

“I won’t teach you a thing. Go to the association and learn from the best. Use the software or anything that you see fit. If it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me.”

He’d never used a computer in his life, but suddenly he upgraded to a smartphone so he could use Shogi apps and watch match streams in real time.

“I’ve gotta learn this stuff before you go pro, Sota. Otherwise, it’ll be boring if I can’t understand what’s going on.”

Honestly, I didn’t think he could comprehend why the software does what it does considering his level of talent and his age. Then again, he seemed happy and energetic, so there was no harm in letting him try.

“I’ve been playing Shogi all my life, but I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed researching as much as I do now. Thanks, Sota.”

It was a strange feeling.

Knowing that my talent made someone happy. That was a first.

I tracked down Yaichi and played against him the very day I joined the Sub League.

But he promoted almost right away, claimed his own title and even took his own apprentice. Suddenly Yaichi was too busy to spend time playing against me. That being the case, I wanted nothing more than to become a professional myself and face him in a league match as soon as possible.

I played against the younger, more talented person who Yaichi had mentioned, Ginko Sora, but I honestly didn’t think she was all that good.

“Heh. You aren’t that strong after all!”

I remember her glaring at me after I said so. Maybe Ginko, the one person who was closest to Yaichi, was jealous of me.

Then there was him.

“Hey there, Sota! Let’s play a match.”

The oldest member of the Sub League, and kind of a strange person.

He was the first one to come up to me in the Player’s Room, and always seemed to follow me around for some reason.

“…… You again? I don’t like playing against people who don’t have any talent.”

“Don’t be like that. Why don’t you share some of yours with me?”

“Life wouldn’t be so difficult if that were possible.”

“Oh? The kid in grade school is going to tell me — a guy still in the Sub League only because of a winning record — about how difficult life is?”

“Haaaaaa ………… Would 10-second Shogi be okay?”