Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 17 - Chapter 5.09

  THE COURAGE TO STEP FORWARD

An overwhelming number of ladies are waiting to meet me when I leave the association.

“So-chaaan!”

“Cheer up!

“You fought so hard!”

I’m surprised, actually.

It’s already after midnight.

The last trains are long gone and I lost the match, but there are so many people here …… standing in the street waiting for me. It’s not just ladies, either. There are men and children, too ……

———Why?

I didn’t understand at first. Did they want a picture of me being depressed that badly?

But, one look at them and I understand that’s not it at all.

They’re genuinely worried about me and came to cheer me up.

“Thank you. I will keep trying.”

I bow and they applaud. What I don’t understand is why the loss hurts so much right now when it didn’t bother me at all when it happened. The agony is making my eyes hot.

Oh …… I see now.

I’d only thought about how someone had to suffer every time I win up until now.

But I wasn’t quite right about that.

There are people who are happy when I win and people who feel more pain than I do when I lose. Some people have placed their own livelihoods on my shoulders.

———That’s what becoming a professional means.

Something else hits me at the same time.

The importance of expressing emotions.

I’m a smart person, so I tend to make the assumption that most things don’t need to be said to be understood.

But, smart as I am, many things click for the first time now that emotions are coming across.

Which means I had better speak up, too.

Like that person who came up to me and said, Let’s play Shogi! no matter how many times I coldheartedly brushed them off.

Now it’s my turn.

Rather than just waiting around …… I have to say what I want in my own words.

“Kunugi 4-dan! May I have a moment?!”

Just then.

A reporter breaks through the throng of people and holds out a microphone.

This is probably a freelancer working for one of those tabloid magazines or a YouTuber who couldn’t get clearance to enter the association building.

“You’ve made headlines with your record-tying winning streak, but Women’s Legend Ai Hinatsuru is also getting attention for setting a record as the first Women’s League player to defeat ten pros in a row!”

“Hinatsuru? Oh yes …… Yaichi’s apprentice.”

I played against her once before in the Player’s Room. Wait, was it with his other apprentice? Whichever one it was, I’ve forgotten the match entirely.

I’m pretty sure I saw her during a practice session at Kiyotaki-sensei’s house, but …… Hmm …… It seems remembering girls’ faces is challenging for me.

I stop walking to search my memories, but the reporter took that as their cue to continue with their question.

“Miss Hinatsuru is pressuring the Shogi Association to create a Professional Entrance Exam by defeating as many pros as possible! Basically, she wants to skip the 3-dan division entirely and become a pro. What do you think about her proposition?!”

“A Professional Entrance Exam?”

One that would allow someone to join the professionals right away, not just the 3-dan division?

Well ……

“Could anyone take that exam?”

“There aren’t any specifics yet …… But a gambler apparently did something like it in the past. But they played with money on the table, and a criminal like that would never be allowed to join nowadays———”

“That’s a fantastic idea.”

“Wha?”

The reporters must have assumed I would be angry because they’re staring back at me in disbelief.

As someone who took the correct route through the Sub League to reach the professional ranks, I guess they thought I would be staunchly against a fast-track option.

“I think a Professional Entrance Exam is a wonderful idea! The Shogi world is based on strength, after all. I’ve only made it to where I am today because gender and age aren’t barriers in this world. While gambling on Shogi matches is a crime, that doesn’t mean people who have made mistakes in the past shouldn’t be given another chance if they genuinely regret their actions, does it? The great thing about Shogi is that you can start over from the beginning as many times as you want.”

“B-But, Kunugi 4-dan, you worked so hard to clear the 3-dan division ……”

“There are strong players who didn’t make it through.”

I know that for a fact.

There’s one killing time by putting seeds in the ground or something in his hometown right now.

“The Shogi that professionals play has gotten old because software has become so strong. If someone comes along who’s become stronger than professionals without playing against human beings, I think having to play in the Sub League and 3-dan division is just a waste of time.”

“B- …… But, then there is no way to know for sure if they’re a strong player———”

“Sure there is. If they play against me.”

Just in case the stunned reporters misheard, I repeat myself as clearly as possible.

“If this exam ever materializes, I would happily volunteer to play against the candidates as an examiner myself!”

I check the paper the next morning and see that the Entrance Exam idea is getting just as much coverage as my winning streak coming to an end.

“Kunugi 4-dan Approves Pro Exam!”

“Declares Wish to be an Examiner!”

“‘Keeping someone strong enough to beat Kunugi out of the pros makes no sense!’ The World Sounds Off!”

The idea of a Professional Entrance Exam is starting to catch on like wildfire, both on the airwaves and the internet.

There seems to be a lot more to say about it than my winning streak, and all sorts of people are chiming in.

“There we go!”

Now that I know I’m still in the news, I open the mail app on my smartphone and start worldly working my way through the inbox. It seems everyone and their mother is desperate to secure a piece of my now-open schedule!

But I politely turn them all down.

Once that’s done, I start composing a message of my own.

I already know what work I’ll be doing to fill the time I was planning to use for a 7-Match Ryuo Title series against Yaichi.

Something I decided to do myself!

“Now …… Oh! I have to buy sunscreen!”

Once my message is on its way, it’s time for me to go shopping for the first time in ages. There’s so many things I need to buy. After all, I’ll be going somewhere I’ve never been for work.

The sunlight has to be very strong in Kyushu.