Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 14 - Chapter Pr

  PROLOGUE AI HINATSURU

“Your early game skill is truly on the rise. Any particular reason, I wonder?”

This is the second time I’ve done a practice session with the two people smiling at me through the screen.

When I got the invitation at first, I thought it was a joke or a fake email …… But I knew it was real as soon as we played a match.

Even so, doing a review session on an app like this and seeing their faces makes me so nervous that talking is really hard ……

“Last time you abandoned the early game completely and that was that. But this time, you stayed neck and neck all the way to mid game. Have you started using software for research, by chance? He-he …… Elementary students grow up so fast! I can see why Yaichi treasures you the way he does.”

But he took total control in the mid game.

That’s the difference in our abilities.

He used a few sequences I’d never seen before. Since I fell into every one of his traps, the board turned into something completely different from what I had in mind ……

“Yes, your formations fell apart trying to stretch too far. That’s why the match was decided before we got to your favorite part, the late game. You need to have a better sense of formation judgment before those software sequences are useful. This is just a guess on my part, but …… that Master of yours has forbidden you to practice using software, has he not?”

“……!”

All I can do is bite my lip. How could he tell?

“He-he. Disobeying your Master’s orders …… Naughty naughty.”

Even through the screen, I can tell he’s giggling.

“I’m not saying that Yaichi is being mean to you. In fact, he’s being protective. You’d better be on your guard …… Once you set foot in the Women’s Legend League, borrowed knowledge isn’t going to work on anyone. That includes Tamayo here, yes?”

This man can tell how nervous I am just by looking.

The Women’s Legend League, which is right around the corner, decides who is going to win the opportunity to challenge Women’s Legend Rina Shakando for the title.

The number of players is set at nine. It’s very competitive, with the bottom four being replaced each year. There was a time when people called it the Women’s A Division. Being in it was proof that you were among the best of the best.

No one there is weaker than me. Everyone is ranked higher. And the more I look at their match records, the more hopeless I feel …… But I have to win!

I have to keep the promise that Master and I made with my parents–––.

“Being matched against higher ranking players, what paradise.”

…… Huh?

Playing against stronger people is …… paradise? What’s that supposed to mean ……?

“It’s only natural to lose against stronger opponents. There’s no pressure, so it’s easy to go all out and thus play up to your potential.”

I can relate. That’s what it’s always like for me.

“On the other hand, when everyone around you thinks it’s only natural for you to win …… See? That’s why so many professionals and Women’s League players lose their luster right after playing so well as amateurs. I speak from experience, having succumbed to that pressure in my own debut match.”

He tells me about the hell that’s waiting for the players who get strong.

…About the world that I, an amateur until very recently, couldn’t imagine.

“I still get reminded of it, even after reaching A and challenging for titles myself. That includes being ridiculed, I might add. Those voices only get louder with every victory.”

He always smiles, but this is the first time I’ve seen his face cloud up. I gulp as the horrible scars hidden beneath his handsome white features appear right before my eyes.

That look tells me everything I need to know about scars that won’t heal even after more than 20 years.

“After all, I am the professional who lost to a ––––––––– in his debut.”