Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 5 - Chapter Ep

30th Season Ryuo Title Match 7th Match Review

THE ONE TO END THE LEGEND

Written by: Mato

The Shogi world is bearing witness to a legend.

It’s the story of one man and everyone else.

Out of Shogi’s nearly 1500-year history, the reason that the legend is transpiring right now is due to the one man presiding over it like a god.

The series of miracles he has performed harken to those found in mythology.

Joining the professional ranks in junior high school, he claimed his first title at the age of nineteen. From then on, there wasn’t a single season in which he did not have at least one title to his name. His domination of the Shogi world continued, and his feats are now a marvel that no one else has been able to achieve.

That is why, right now.

The Shogi world is bearing witness to a legend.

Yaichi Kuzuryu left his first small footprint on the Shogi world at the Elementary Meijin Title Match.

In third grade at the time, this was both his first tournament and his first championship. At eight years old, he was the youngest person to ever claim that honor. “A wiz kid has arrived!” The Shogi world took notice of him right away.

His record would be broken the following year by none other than his younger older sister and lifetime rival Ginko Sora, but Yaichi Kuzuryu’s steady advance into the world of professional Shogi had only just begun.

He became the fourth junior high school student to turn professional.

Also, he became the youngest person ever to claim a Shogi title.

What’s more, it was the Shogi world’s most prestigious title: Ryuo. His ascension prompted discussions about how the next generation had arrived throughout the game and expectations were on the rise.

––– However, the Shogi world was witnessing a legend.

The first match of the 30th Season Ryuo Title Match in Hawaii was to become the legend’s final act.

“Eternal Septuple.”

“100 Cumulative Title Seasons.”

All hoped for a chance to witness this miracle of miracles.

Refusing to let the moment slip into history unnoticed, news networks and publishing companies sent representatives across the sea to join Shogi fans on a pilgrimage encompassing the arenas where the matches took place. The official live blog received hundreds of thousands of views on consecutive days, and it felt as though not a day went by without the Ryuo Title Match on the front page of newspapers and being discussed on the evening news. The country had Shogi fever.

“It had already been decided that once the Meijin claimed the Ryuo Title, he would receive the Honorary Citizens Award. The Shogi Association was making its own preparations and Meijin, who refused the award once before when he had all seven to his name, would surely have accepted it this time,” the Shogi Association chairman and possessor of the Eternal Meijin title, Seiichi Tsukimitsu, frankly stated.

The first three matches were dominated by the Meijin–––.

Watching those victories unfold, it seemed that the Eternal Septuple was just a matter of time.

But, a miracle took place during the fourth match.

Final Judgment–––After forcing a draw in a heated match by triggering the single blank spot in the Shogi rulebook, Yaichi Kuzuryu claimed his first victory over the Meijin in the rematch that took place thirty minutes later. Their duel spanned three days for a total of twenty-nine hours and forty-seven minutes.

Tsukimitsu, who was on hand as the observer, explained, “While I am a professional Shogi player, I am also a Shogi puzzle creator. I’ll be the first to admit Shogi puzzles are not the same as an actual match …… But I assure you with the utmost certainty that this situation will never happen again. That goes for Shogi puzzles as well.”

When I asked him why, the very man who made the decision to replay the match despite the unknown territory, Tsukimitsu smiled and said, “Because the rules will be changed.”

“Had I not been there, the match very well could have been scheduled for another day. While that may sound like the most suitable option, there were several circumstances like the Ryuo Title Match schedule and the Citizens Award, which denied the Association and Player Committees the time necessary to officially change the rule. As the observer, I decided it was my responsibility to do everything possible to find a solution and asked the participants for their input. Both wanted an immediate replay, and that settled the matter.”

This is in hindsight, but there is a possibility the Meijin may have won had Tsukimitsu not stepped in. Reason being that compared to the Meijin in his mid-forties, Kuzuryu is a teenager and could win on endurance alone.

“Indeed. Conducting a replay in that condition can turn out for better or worse, but I believe that Shogi turned out for the best. One look at the Shogi record makes it very clear. Shogi of that caliber on a rematch is exceedingly rare. At the very least, I do not remember any that compare.”

The fifth match. Kuzuryu rode his momentum from the earlier match to an overwhelming victory.

The sixth match. The Meijin took full advantage of being on offense and opened with an aggressive strategy, but Kuzuryu took it in stride and shut it down completely. Strong Shogi.

Then, the match of destiny, number seven.

After a piece flip determined that Kuzuryu would play on defense, he drew on his trump card, the Move-Loss Bishop Exchange, and attempted to extract revenge for his loss in the first match.

While impossible to tell who had the stronger formation through the bulk of the match, the Meijin’s hand quivered a total of three times.

However–––it was Kuzuryu who claimed victory.

I had an opportunity to speak with the one who has had a closer view of Kuzuryu’s ascent than anyone, Ginko Sora. She had this to say about her younger brother apprentice.

“Yaichi’s …… No, Kuzuryu-sensei’s Shogi clearly changed during the seventh match.”

“Yaichi is just fine,” I offered.

But Sora said, “Please fix it for the article, okay?” before going into greater detail. “It’s stronger. I don’t mean that he found stronger formations or that his skills have improved. I think it’s stronger on a level that can’t be explained like that. He’s obviously elevated himself to a higher plane. Up with the Meijin …… Leaving us behind ……”

“Where do you think the gap is between Mr. Kuzuryu and yourself?”

“…… It’s impossible, to improve at Shogi without winning.”

This was quite possibly the cruelest question any player could be asked, but Sora gave me a straight, honest answer.

“Many people say that losing makes you stronger. But that’s a lie. They’re only trying to distract themselves after losing. No one gets stronger at Shogi without winning. I’m sure you can relate?”

“Yes. I believe you are absolutely right.”

“Win at Shogi and you can play against stronger opponents. Those stronger opponents will then include you in their practice sessions and allow you to experience a higher stage. Without that, the gap only gets wider–––.”

Gaze falling to her feet, those words lacked her usual mature, almost frozen tone.

Almost as if–––.

“You sound almost as if you were being left behind by a special someone.”

I gently prod for a reaction. But rather than deny it, Sora had this to say.

“I love Yaichi. I want to hold his hand and go out to the town. I want to go to the movie theater with him, go to the beach with him and do all sorts of things together. Not as siblings, but as a couple ……”

Revealing her feelings to someone else for the first time, Sora continued.

“But, what I really want to do with Yaichi is play Shogi.”

Just play Shogi–––.

Ginko Sora said loud and clear: Shogi was all she wanted. That’s why she had no choice but to get stronger herself.

I felt defeated because I was unable to become strong like her.

Eight years ago, Elementary Meijin Title Match–––.

Eliminated in the semifinals, a little girl was crying her heart out on a sofa in the corner of the television studio in Shibuya that hosted the match when a young boy came up to her.

“Don’t cry. You shouldn’t cry.”

“…… Why?”

“Because you only really lose when your heart breaks.”

“But …… I can’t stop. It hurts, and I’m too sad ……”

A fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. The boy, unsure what to do, kept saying “Don’t cry,” like a broken record until he finally pointed to the Shogi board with a shining beacon of a smile on his face.

“I’ll show you some fun Shogi!”

With those words, the boy went to face the one who defeated her in the semifinals and took a seat at the board under bright lights.

Then, once the match started–––the girl forgot to cry.

She was enjoying watching him play Shogi so much that the tears dried up …… 

Deviating from standards from the early game, it had the excitement of venturing into a cave for the first time. The boy’s match record was a treasure map.

She watched him hoist a trophy taller than himself up over his shoulders during the awards ceremony. Their eyes met, and he flashed that same beaming smile.

See! Wasn’t that Shogi fun?

As if he were saying it out loud.

Seeing him for the first time that day–––seeing his Shogi, she was certain that this would become part of his legend.

That was also the day she started running.

Since she didn’t have talent, she thought sitting across the board from him in a league match would never happen. She would never experience his Shogi from the closest position possible, as an opponent.

Then, she at least wanted a front row seat–––to become a journalist and watch his matches from the board-side table.

She also strived to join the Women’s League in order to acquire the knowledge she would need to understand his Shogi even just to a slightly deeper degree.

Her efforts paid off with a Women’s Title, allowing her to interact with him at the Kansai Shogi Association as well as in Title Match arenas. Even now, she follows him wherever he may go–––.

“Today’s Shogi was just as fun to watch as the one back then,” I tell Kuzuryu in the hallway after he left the party to return his sleeping apprentice to her room. A look of confusion washed over his face before asking me.

“Did I ever say that?”

This wasn’t some façade, but he truly seems to have forgotten that day.

I felt anger swell, but then remembered that Shogi was the only thing on this wiz kid’s mind and overcame that anger to conduct the interview.

“…… Would you tell me how you defended your title? I’m especially interested in your mental condition before that all-important fourth match …… From right after the third.”

I press for the answer I didn’t get that night on the platform at Tendou Station, and this time he gave me one.

“I was in a bad place after the third straight loss. After having what I thought I knew about Shogi rejected in the first match …… My physical and mental endurance were up against the wall. I know I caused more than a few problems for the people closest to me. I was so high-strung at one point that my live-in apprentice couldn’t take it anymore and hid in the restroom at one point ……”

The little girl asleep in Kuzuryu’s arms flinched upon hearing the word apprentice.

“How did you come back from that? So many other players fell into slumps after going against the Meijin and didn’t recover for quite some time.”

“The Meijin is amazing. His talent, his experience, effort and accomplishments. I can’t beat him in anything like that. Now that I’ve successfully defended my title, I think I figured it out. The Meijin is definitely stronger. But–––.”

Looking down at his sleeping apprentice with kind eyes, Kuzuryu continued.

“Just as he has many things, I have important things, too. Once I realized that, everything just worked itself out.”

“Important things?”

“Even when I couldn’t believe in my own talent and skills …… I believed in the important people inside me. When everything I thought I knew about Shogi was proven wrong, when everything I thought I was got rejected …… Then what’s left inside? What is it that determines who the pro Shogi player Yaichi Kuzuryu is? I was able to find a new answer.”

“And what was it? That answer ……”

“I have the best Master in the world; the strongest older sister apprentice, Keika; a rival like Ayumu; a strong Kansai Shogi network with people like you, Mato–––.”

Hearing my own name certainly caught me off guard, but I maintained a strong poker face as I wrote down every word Kuzuryu said. I wasn’t going to let one escape.

“Every bit of Shogi knowledge I built up over the years was shattered, but the important things inside my heart will never break. I think that’s what kept my spirit going.”

“Just to confirm …… You are saying that you won because of the people there supporting you. Is that correct?”

“Yeah. The Meijin was too, but I think I was blessed with just a little bit more.”

“And you have the best apprentice, yes?”

“Yes. Apprentices.”

Kuzuryu flashed a grin.

“I have two of them, but the Meijin doesn’t even have one.”

“So, apprentices are the key to victory?” I jokingly asked, but Kuzuryu donned a surprisingly serious face and nodded.

“I think so.”

Making his declaration with no waiting time, Kuzuryu tilted his head forward in a slight bow, said, “Good night,” and walked right by me. Just as he passed my ear, he added, “…… You only lose when your heart breaks.”

Carefully supporting his apprentice sleeping in his arms as she clung to his kimono, Kuzuryu walked down the long hallway alone.

All by himself. No–––.

The legend is not over. At least, not in the way most predicted or wanted it to end.

The legend is not over. The Shogi world is still witnessing it.

However, it’s no longer the story of one man against the rest.

Someone has appeared in front of him: a boy possessing the same strength. He appears as a dragon wielding an unbreakable sword and continues to challenge the man at every turn.

These two will surely clash many times in the future. Their battles will take place far out of reach of anyone else where they will play Shogi unlike anyone else. This new era is sure to stand out as one built on miracles within Shogi’s long history. Then–––.

The legend ends, and a new legend now begins.