Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 2.5

  MATCH RECORD JOURNAL

“Well …… Let’s get started,” I say with a head bowed out of habit before realizing everything in front of me isn’t real and laugh at my own expense.

This fabricated scenery from Awaji is more realistic than the real thing, but the only setting in place is Shogi.

Then again———

“……”

I could’ve sworn the silver-haired illusion of a girl sitting across from me just nodded.

———…… My imagination?

Did Akira throw in this feature as a bonus? Or is my brain bugging out because I want to see Big Sis so bad?

Either way, my competitive fire is burning now.

“Well, now that I’ve shown my respect ……”

With the first move, I build the formation that’s known as Shogi’s bread and butter.

A yagura.

Big Sis and I played it in our first match against each other.

Idolizing Master Kiyotaki’s yagura is what started us on the path to become Shogi pros.

“It’s been around for 400 years. It’s time to see …… if it’s still around after another 100!”

Full go from the first move. My brain is firing on all cylinders.

The introduction of software brought snowroof strategies into the forefront, and even I once said that the yagura was over.

But A League players Ayumu and Natagiri-sensei each used their own yagura style in Placement Matches …… As far as I could tell, they worked out evenly.

———Natagiri-sensei lost to an instant death in that match, but let’s see about the world’s best supercomputer!!

Cutting right to the conclusion:

The yagura is still around 100 years from now.

It’s here, but …………

“What’s ………… this …………?”

Awaji’s move on the 20th turn stops my hand cold.

Once I had a yagura, Awaji changed to a Rapid Attack strategy, which computers tend to do. It’s sort of a mix between the yagura and the Double Wing Attack, with some younger players dubbing it the 7 Seven Silver Double Wing rather than a yagura …… But that’s fine.

As someone who specializes in the Double Wing, I can play my best Shogi out of this formation.

But Awaji plays something I can only call bizarre. Just a simple attack, sacrificing the Pawn in the Rook’s column by moving it forward to 8 Eight.

“…… Is that viable? A straightforward trap like this.”

I look up from the board and sneak a peek at the Big Sis across from me.

Of course, her expression doesn’t change. It’s artificial, so why would it?

“…………”

On full alert, I read deeper into the board. Indeed, this sequence would let the defender take control of the pacing, so it’s on me as the offender to prevent that from happening. It’s necessary …… But.

“…… Are you saying building a yagura with the opening move already puts the offender at a disadvantage?”

Is the yagura already extinct then?

I boldly take Awaji’s forward Pawn with my own to find that answer.

Big Sis …… no Awaji plays its move a second later.

The next column over, 7 Five Pawn!

“?! Forcing the Bishop’s Path open, huh? In that case ……!!”

In for a penny, in for a pound.

I take Awaji’s invitation and do the exchange. It immediately deploys the Bishop it took into position to take either my Rook or one of my Golds.

“Think I didn’t see something that obvious coming, did you?!”

I deploy my newly captured Bishop on the left edge of the board. It’s lined up to skewer both a Silver and the defending King. Now Awaji is on defense.

“Your attacks aren’t all that sharp for the world’s strongest! Can you block?!”

Sending in my Rook to promote to a Dragon on one side, I complete the pincer by deploying a Knight on the other. Slide my Bishop up into position to take the King, and my onslaught will be unstoppable.

———Wait …… I might actually have this.

Even though I haven’t read to checkmate, I like how this is shaping up. I can win———!!

I confidently press forward, but the end comes out of nowhere.

“Ngh?!”

Awaji’s counterattack hits my formation’s weak spot perfectly, like a laser-guided counter cross punch to the chin.

“…………… 7 Eight Pawn. I see, that makes ……”

A hidden hole just got exploited.

That move makes my defeat all too clear.

I had no clue that weak spot was there …… It’s obvious that I’ll never win a race to checkmate now.

“Good match. I’ve lost this one.”

I throw in the towel after 56 moves. What really irks me though is Big Sis returning the bow. This time, I know I’m not imagining it.

“…… Awaji. Can I see the log?”

A detailed record of the match we just played appears in my line of sight along with a percentage rating for each move.

At the point where I knew I was in trouble, the rating was already 90% in the defender’s favor. To be blunt, I didn’t think I was that far behind …… For a supercomputer, that’s the same as a loss.

The problem is finding exactly where things went south.

“The move where I went on the offensive …… Nope. Ah, now I see. Then was it taking the Pawn at 8 Six? The player with the first move shouldn’t do that either?”

Shocking revelations hit me one after another as I rewind the match.

“…… Advancing the Pawn in front of the Rook after my opening move made my rating fall? Huh? Before that? ………… Opening the Bishop Path?! No way!!”

The yagura isn’t all that’s over.

That’s what Awaji is telling me.

The age of yagura, Double Wing and Bishop Exchange is over.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! This can’t be right! If those openings make the formation worse, then there’s no advantage of going first at all!”

Sure, Ranging Rook strategies are left, but …… I mean, come on.

No offense to the World Maestro, but I have my doubts.

Apparently, there was a time 20-some years ago when a bunch of Static Rook players switched to Ranging Rook, but that fad ended real fast.

“…… All right. Why don’t you show me how it’s done? Playing the first move.”

That’s when the real shocks start.

Awaji considers the opening move for a split second.

Once I see it …… I nearly quit Shogi.

“…………………………………………………… Huuuh?”

The supercomputer showing itself as Big Sis reaches out and grabs———the King.

And moves it one space forward.

5 Eight King.

The Pawn in front of the Rook is still in place and the Bishop’s Path is shut.

Not only that. The King is now blocking the Rook’s horizontal path.

“Y-Yeah …… That’s not Static or Ranging Rook, but ………… But!!”

Anger starts bubbling up.

How could it not? This supercomputer just snubbed 1,400 years of human progress.

“…… Trying to be funny, huh?! I’ll tear you to shreds!!”

I set out to punish Awaji for that ridiculous opening move but got beaten back so hard I had to throw in the towel before the 30th move.

“Nope, can’t do this. Not in a million years. I mean, that’s not even Shogi.”

“Griping on day one?”

Submerged all the way to my neck in the bathtub, I report to Ai Yashajin what happened in today’s matches.

Smart speakers have been installed in several spots around the room, so voice commands are all I need to do pretty much anything. The bath fills on its own and I don’t need to turn the knob to start the shower.

It’s even possible to communicate with the outside from the tub, like I’m doing right now.

“It was taking it easy on you, actually, because the settings won’t let it read for more than a second. Today’s Shogi was maybe 20 years from now, let alone 100.”

“20 years …… That’s it ……?”

Which means I’d be playing that in my prime, just before hitting 40 years old.

This would’ve been a blessing beyond words just a few years ago …… At least, it should’ve been.

Because right now, I’m too exhausted to feel joy or frustration. That’s what Shogi will look like in 20 years …… All the research pros are doing right now is meaningless.

Ai changes the subject out of the blue as if the conversation had already run its course.

“Have you heard of the boiling frog?”

“Is that Chinese food?”

“A warning in business, moron,” says the business savvy prodigy, scorning her Master who never went to high school. “A frog will jump away if it’s thrown right into a boiling pot of water. However, it will miss its chance to escape if the heat is slowly turned up and be boiled to death.”

“Oh, I see now. You think I’m a frog.”

The bath temperature isn’t too high, is it?

“I’ll keep it so the settings aren’t lethal. By the time you’re done, you’ll be able to communicate with Awaji as a full-fledged oracle of the future.”

“That’s the hope ……”

I scrub my face with the sloshing bathwater. I always have since I was a kid, and Big Sis used to call that gross back when we’d bathe together.

The refreshing jolt that comes from washing your face helps reset the mind. It’s safe to say that a refreshing splash of water to the face is the one thing players look forward to in the middle of a match, for men at least.

Now then …… There are a few strategies I can use to contend with Awaji.

“By the way, are there any standards programmed into Awaji?”

“No. Standards would be pointless.”

Ai shoots that down in no time flat. There goes my best tool for making a plan.

I was thinking I could memorize the standard sequences Awaji used for reference. That would be the quickest method to fight back, but ……

“Besides, all of Awaji’s resources aren’t being devoted to your matches in the first place, Sensei. It continuously plays matches against itself to grow stronger. Its moves get more precise the stronger it gets. What point is there in models based on research from a bygone era?”

“Then it’s growing fast enough to rewrite the standards themselves …… So much for trying to come up with a strategy.”

“…………”

Playing tons of matches in the old-fashioned way is the only option. Then again, that’s fine by me because there’s no point winning with shortcuts.

“…… What are standards, anyway?”

“Come again? The standards are standards, yeah?”

Getting philosophical all of a sudden ……

Since Ai has already spent a lot more time with Awaji than I have, there’s no doubt she has the most advanced Shogi sense in the world right now.

———There has to be a meaning to each word, but ……

I still can’t pick up the tiniest piece of it.

“You’re in for a long battle. I’ll have them support you whatever you need, so let me know.”

“Some encouraging words would be great.”

“Moron.”

Click. She hung up on me.

“…… I was being serious.”

Of course, playing so much takes a toll on me physically, but it’s all over if my fighting spirit breaks from all these matches. Any lingering attachments I have to the Shogi I’ve learned before now could slam the door to the future closed.

Curiosity is my fuel.

“All right …… What Shogi are you going to show me tomorrow?”

Awaji wiped the floor with me today, but I’m still curious.

As a human being, I had no way of looking a few hours into the future.

Otherwise, I’d have known that this mental leeway would be obliterated by the second night.