Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 4.2

  AWAJI SHOCK

“Sorry to take up your time, busy as you are.”

“No, no. I was already at the association to work on something else.”

I’m at the Kanto Shogi Association building in Sendagaya just as the rainy season starts.

The person called the Sage hands me a colored sample of an upcoming magazine article while I look around at all the people busily working in the editing department set up inside the association’s basement.

“It must be really hard work making books.”

“Once you understand the flow, all you have to do is keep up. Well, things can get a bit dicey before the manuscript comes in,” the Editor-in-Chief Kayaoku 7-dan tells me with a shrug as he fans himself with a folding fan.

People come in and out of here so often that the air conditioning doesn’t make much difference. Basements get muggy too ……

“And an avalanche of demand that only comes once every few decades just hit. With summer vacation starting in schools, I’m planning to have Ayano come up and pitch in part time.”

“Ayano is coming here?!”

“Yes. Sota Kunugi’s winning streak set off a massive Shogi boom, haven’t you heard? I need all the help I can get.”

Kayaoku 7-dan, also called the Sage, is both Kugui-sensei’s and Ayano’s Master. That’s part of the reason why he’s so kind to me.

He’s the one in charge of the Shogi magazine and even made this page just for me. I want to ask him about getting information on a Professional Entrance Exam included in the article.

“Anything to say about the pictures or the layout?”

“…… No. This is fine.”

“Great! I’ll have the page inserted as is. Sorry about that cover shot mix up.”

Kugui-sensei told me the picture of me cosplaying as a maid in Akihabara would be going on the cover, but I managed to have it changed to Kunugi-sensei instead. Now my picture is squeezed into the corner of the insert and I’m pretty happy about that.

The plan was to have my interview included in black-and-white along with everything else …… But….

“Now then, the reason I had you come down here in person…”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry about this, really …… But I want to shave it down a bit. A very important piece of news has come up and I need more space. You have my word you’ll be getting a full-page spread in next month’s issue.”

“News? Is it about Kunugi-sensei?”

“I think it’d be faster if you heard it with your own ears.”

Kayaoku-sensei closes his fan and stands up. Then, he guides me to a meeting room in the corner of the editing department.

There are two people sitting on a sofa built for four, and they look really serious.

One is Kugui-sensei dressed in her reporter clothes.

“Have you had a chance to see Awaji’s match records?”

“I have. And they’re insane.”

The man facing her …… is Mirai Futatsuzuka 4-dan, I think.

He’s a young professional in Kanto and played against Master in a placement match, at least I’m pretty sure he did.

What really stuck with me is how much Master lifted him up, saying things like, “If only I were as smart as Mr. Futatsuzuka” or “If I’d gone to university like Mr. Futatsuzuka.”

What in the world could they be talking about?

Ah! Maybe …… are they talking about Master?!

The Sage tells me to “Go on in,” so I quietly sneak my way closer to the sofa so I don’t disturb them.

“Using Shogi software as a benchmark for the world’s best supercomputer was a total surprise. Who came up with that idea ……? Whether to call them a genius or a devil, I don’t know.”

“Software is the issue, not the hardware,” says Kugui-sensei as she both records the conversation and takes meticulous notes. “The supercomputer named Awaji is using a CPU along with deep learning software. Do you believe this to be true?”

“I would say so, yes. Judging by the match records.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“The way deep learning software plays Shogi …… it’s rather boring.”

“Boring?”

“Yes, plain and boring. All it does is search for ways to extend a lead. Another identifying characteristic is the use of Golds. It’s a hyper defensive style that crushes attacks before they happen.”

“Strong defensively. I see ……”

“Also, it places no value on Ranging Rook at all. It’s even harsher on those strategies than existing programs, and it’s not even close.”

“There were 100 total Awaji match records released, and not one of them used Ranging Rook.”

“From the software’s point of view, Ranging Rook must be over.”

Over? Ranging Rook?

I can’t keep up with all the words flying back and forth. So a super computer …… has been running Shogi software?

“It’s important to remember that deep learning software is known to occasionally overlook major details in the late-game. It’s due to the system specs being insufficient, or accuracy problems, but———”

“Those flaws don’t appear in Awaji’s records?”

“It could be that the records with those issues weren’t released. It’s impossible that only 100 records of its automated matches exist, after all. There should be hundreds of millions, so these matches must have been cherry-picked as a means to an end. What concerns me more than that is———”

Futatsuzuka-sensei’s next words make me gasp in surprise.

“——the fact that Yaichi Kuzuryu agreed to select the records and provide analysis. What route did the Demon King of the West take to come across this line of work? Personally, I believe that you put him up to this. After all, you had him writing that bombshell entitled Kuzuryu’s Notebook.”

“I wasn’t involved.”

Kugui-sensei shuts him down right away.

“However, I do have an idea who it might be.”

“Is that so? Then you claim that someone other than yourself has the financial means and influence to use the world’s strongest supercomputer to run Shogi software?”

“Yes. There is a person who would resort to this childish fantasy to draw the attention of Yaichi Kuzuryu …… probably the only person in the world.”

Then, Kugui-sensei looks over at me.

“Isn’t that right, Miss Hinatsuru?”

“…………… Yes.”

I connected the dots too.

———It’s Ten-chan.

That strange feeling I got while looking through her records of the Queen and Women’s Throne Title Matches. There were times when her formations fell apart at the seams. Ten-chan doesn’t play that way, but something else dawned on me at the same time.

———Master …… likes this style.

It’s like a painting that’s not finished yet.

There are rough edges everywhere, but there’s power behind it. Every move inspires all sorts of new sequences to spring up in your head. That kind of Shogi.

If Ten-chan is using a supercomputer and the latest software to come up with new strategies like that …… I suddenly feel so insignificant clicking away on the personal computer I bought in Akihabara.

Just how much progress has she made?

Ten-chan is already supersmart on her own, but put her in that environment ……

“There’s a technique to making deep learning Shogi software more powerful.”

“A technique …… you say?”

“It’s based on Go software, and it has the same flaw in that just running the program won’t lead to improvement. That’s why it couldn’t surpass existing programs. In fact, attempts to research Chess, a game with many similarities to Shogi, with deep learning software haven’t yielded many results as of yet.”

“Then, you believe Awaji’s records were created with full knowledge of this technique?”

“Okito-sensei does, yes.”

Kugui-sensei’s pen is flying across a page of her notebook, but hearing King Yo Okito’s name makes her look up.

“There are circumstances, you see. Even though he was developing a high accuracy program, he has devoted more resources to analyzing these 100 matches. Apparently, they’re tastier.”

“…… Tastier?”

“Our team, we consider ourselves foodies. And we love big meals.”

Everyone knows that King Yo Okito is developing his own deep learning type software but …… a foodie? Who is he talking about?

“You.”

Futatsuzuka-sensei calls out to me out of nowhere, like an ambush.

“You’re Women’s Legend Ai Hinatsuru, are you not?”

“Oh ……! I-I’m honored to meet you, Futatsuzuka-sensei! Master told me a lot about you———”

“Did he?”

It’s hard to tell what this young sensei is thinking. He sits up a little straighter and turns to face me.

“Is it true that Kuzu …… Mr. Kuzuryu only recently started using software? Maybe a year and a half ago.”

“When I first became his live-in apprentice, I don’t remember seeing him use it. He was glued to the computer screen for a long time after losing the first match against the Mejin in the Ryuo Title Match but …… it was a very old computer.”

“I’ve heard that story several times before and I still can’t believe it ……”

Now, I think so, too.

I never noticed it when Master was close by, but now I can tell his true talent is flexibility. No matter what kind of Shogi he sees, Master finds a way to fit it into his brain.

It could be Grandpa-sensei’s yagura, Chairman Tsukimitsu’s Move-Loss Bishop Exchange, Oishi-sensei’s Ranging Rook or even the all-rounder Meijin’s playing style.

And …… If my arrogance can be excused, my late-game skill.

What would happen if he played Shogi with a supercomputer?

“The Demon King of the West is a decade ahead of the rest of us. Who knows: one false move and he could end up seeing a century into the future. If that happens———” Futatsuzuka-sensei almost sounds fed-up as he says, “Only actual Shogi Martians will stand a chance against him.