Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.3

  BEYOND HUMAN

I won.

“Ah ……?”

I couldn’t process that at first.

My brain was still firing on all cylinders, ready for the next move even when Sota Kunugi sat up from his bow.

The enemy King on the board had nowhere to run.

Even so, I didn’t believe I’d just won.

“She beat Kunugi ……?!”

“Damn ……!!”

“The first female 3-dan, ever …… That’s Snow White for you ……”

Only when the whispers going between the other Sub League members standing around our board reach my ears does reality start to set in.

I won?

I promoted?

I’m …… 3-dan?

“Congratulations, Ginko. This means you’re 3-dan now, right?”

“Ah …… yes. Thank …… you …………”

He’s looking up at me with a genuine smile and wishing me well.

With nerves jolting and my heart beating fast enough to break out of my chest, there’s only one thought in my head.

––– …… The Shogi gods answered me.

I ask him in a hoarse voice.

“………… Here …………”

Fingers shaking, I show him the move where I advanced my Rook in the late game. The moment I let the gods take over. The moment they answered me.

“I …… couldn’t read it ……… The board in my head, it wouldn’t move–––.”

“The board in your head? Ahh, are you talking about a mental Shogi board?”

Sota tilts his head just to the side.

“So, you have one of those, Ginko? I’m impressed.”

“? You’re great at solving Shogi puzzles, right? Your late game reads are always so accurate …… Surely, you must have more than a few mental Shogi boards?”

“Yes, I’m good at Shogi puzzles. But–––.”

Sota Kunugi nods as words roll off his tongue.

They reveal a truth so shocking that it both carves a hole in my heart and shakes me to my core.

“I don’t have a Shogi board in my head. It’s all in numbers.”

……………………… Huh?

“Sequences play out in numbers. I don’t see a board and pieces moving around.”

Thinking in numbers?

He doesn’t have …… a mental Shogi board?

“Wha? But, Shogi puzzles–––.”

“I see them in numbers, too. I can figure out how they’re built right away without thinking too hard, so the numbers line up in my head as long as I know where to start.”

His head still tilted to the side, the boy looks at me with curiosity in his eyes.

“I could picture a board and pieces if I wanted to, but that takes so much effort. Don’t you get tired, keeping track of all those pieces in your head?”

This.

This boy.

He wasn’t simply affected by software.

This boy sitting in front of me–––is a living, breathing computer.

“I, um …… I see ……”

Shogi Martians I can deal with. They’re alive just like me.

But how am I supposed to deal with an opponent that isn’t alive?

“One other thing: at about this point in the match, I could’ve been checkmated at 8 Seven. I only noticed it after deploying the Knight at 8 Five …… You moved your Rook after you read that sequence, right? I thought you let the checkmate slip by, but I’ve still got a lot to learn. If you’d hit the Bishop at 3 Two, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. Should I have played my Bishop at 3 One?”

Checkmate?

I didn’t see it, not even for a second–––.

“Anyway, I’m so happy for you! I’ll be joining you in the 3-dan division real soon! Let’s have a rematch!”

“S ……… Sure ……”

“Thank you again. Bye now.”

Sota gives me a short little bow and waits until I finish putting the pieces away before standing up and leaving the arena with light, little steps.

I …… can’t get up.

My legs, my hips, my back, that shock shattered everything. I’m still hunching over the board, my eyes locked on one spot and one spot only.

––– I only won when I stopped thinking.

––– He only lost because he read his own defeat.

I’m victorious today … because I was lucky.

But from here on out, which one of us will get stronger …… It’s obvious.

I won the battle. Not with skill. With luck.

But––––––I lost in Shogi.

My last move wasn’t Shogi. It was the same as winning a game of rock paper scissors. I’ll never improve winning on pure luck like that.

Sota Kunugi is stronger than me right now, and he’ll only get stronger still.

Because he’s always thinking.

Because when I’d given up thinking, he was still using his beyond human calculating skills to find the best move all the way up to the final second.

If.

If I have to face him again–––.

“I absolutely cannot win.”

Sitting alone in front of the board, the truth shook me to my core.

Wobbling my way to the supervisor, I tell him that I won and immediately go to the press conference.

“Miss Sora! This way! Look this way, please!!”

“Come on, smile! Crack a grin, flash those teeth!!”

The camera flashes are so bright that I can’t open my eyes.

The chairman sitting next to me and a wall of reporters in front is all I see.

In the very same room where Shumai-sensei told me to break the wall, I sit here now having broken one of the walls and answering an endless stream of questions.

“Now you are officially the first female to achieve 3-dan. Did you come here today determined to get the promotion?!”

“Which were you happier to receive? Your women’s titles or this promotion?!”

“What are your plans for high school?!”

“Do you prefer the sailor-style school uniform or the high school blazer style?!”

I don’t remember anything I said.

Unsure if I was caught in a dream or not, I went down to the third-floor offices once the press conference was finished. 

The staff greets me with applause.

Mr. Mine smiles at me and points to the TV.

“Everyone’s talking about you, Ginko! Every station is interrupting their broadcast with breaking news and newspapers all around Osaka are printing special editions! You’re going to be all over the news tonight …… Ahh, wouldn’t it be great if this starts a Shogi boom for girls?”

A dry smile is all I could give them. It’s my duty to smile at everyone in this room.

The press conference that just ended is already on the screen.

“Now you are officially the first female to achieve 3-dan. Did you come here today determined to get the promotion?!”

“Of course. I play every match intending to win,” said the resolute girl dressed in a sailor-style school uniform on the screen.

The scene then changes to the studio where the news people shower her with compliments.

“Fantastic! Typical junior high school girls can’t hold their own in interviews like that!”

“She’s an inspiration to women everywhere!”

“I’m calling it here and now. She has what it takes to become the first female pro Shogi player in history!”

–––You’re wrong.

I silently refuted every word of praise coming out of the news anchors’ mouths one after the other.

You’re wrong. I’m not skilled enough to be in 3-dan.

Today’s win was all luck. How could I ever get through the 3-dan division the way I am now ……?

The terrifying truth creeps into my mind.

I’m going to have to face the real 3-dan division members, the ones who claimed that position with skill.

“……!!”

That obvious fact sends a jolt down my spine.

My playing style is totally exposed, completely naked.

Very few 3-dan members have played in public, so their match records are well hidden. On the other hand, anyone can see all of my records from the Women’s Title matches.

And I know what everyone in there is thinking.

I refuse to be the first 3-dan to lose to a girl.

I have no weapons, no way to hide and I’m about to be thrown naked into a cage filled with monsters.

–––Hell.

That’s what it feels like.

I’ve been wanting to get into the 3-dan division since the day I joined the Sub League.

Now that I finally achieved what I’ve always wanted …… the truth scares me.

The one place that’s always been my sanctuary since I was four, where I could relax like I was at home, was the Kansai Shogi Association.

Now, it’s hell on earth.

The Player’s Room was always so warm and inviting, almost like my room at home, now it feels like a prison cell.

I was thankful to the Shogi gods the moment I beat Sota. They’d finally recognized everything I’ve done, all the effort I’ve spent over the years and answered my call.

The very same gods I refused to believe in when I was a kid, exist …… Or so I thought.

But that gratitude is long gone. I wanted to scream.

––– …… There aren’t any.

There are no …… gods here!!

“……Yaichi …… I’m scared. Save me …………”

I stumbled my way out of Shogi hell like a toddler still learning to walk.