Chapter 13: Goal—New Shogi Tournament!

Ruri's mouth curled up slightly, thinking that her silly brother was indeed just playing around.

He didn't even know how to fight for the first move.

You have to know that the winning percentage of the first move is higher than the second!

But no matter what, he was her brother, so she decided to go easy on him, let him make a few more moves, and have fun.

Ruri moved a Pawn (Fu) casually.

"Alright, then I won't be polite."

The moment Xia Xia Xia Mujun saw his sister move to that position, he didn't think at all, his finger tapped lightly, and a Bishop (Kaku) slid into a seemingly ordinary position.

Ruri, seeing her brother move without thinking, smiled slightly and continued her "guiding chess" train of thought, her moves appearing quite casual.

However, after only a dozen moves, the relaxed smile on Ruri's face gradually froze, her eyes became slightly serious, and her sitting posture became much more upright.

She felt that she had let him win enough, and it was time to get serious, otherwise, she would really let her brother win!

However, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's response remained calm, without any waves, his gaze piercing through the chess game as if he had already seen the final outcome.

As the pieces continued to fall.

The initiative on the chessboard quietly changed hands, and Ruri followed it, her face changing slightly—her King (Gyoku) was surrounded by a net from heaven and earth before she knew it!

No matter how she moved, she couldn't escape the fate of being "checkmated".

"Eh... when was I checkmated?"

Ruri looked at her checkmated King, her little mouth pouting slightly.

"Doesn't count, doesn't count! I went easy on you this game, let's do it again!" She muttered while quickly resetting the pieces, "This time I'm going to be serious!"

"Mm, let's go again." Xia Xia Xia Mujun also saw that his sister had gone easy on him; this game couldn't show her full strength, so doing it again was fine.

In the second game, Ruri put away all her contempt and brought out the focus she had used to deal with her father.

She chose her best "Static Rook" formation at the start, with fierce attacks, attempting to end the game quickly.

However, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's defense looked full of holes, but no matter how fierce Ruri's attacks were, he could always silently bury fatal foreshadowings in the gaps of Ruri's formation.

Finally, after a seemingly plain exchange, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's "Rook" inserted diagonally, and in coordination with the "Knight" and "Silver General" that had been lying in ambush, instantly formed a checkmate!

"Checkmate!" Xia Xia Xia Mujun calmly announced the result.

Ruri stared blankly at the chessboard.

No, what's going on now?

Is it because I haven't played for too long that I've become too bad?

How could even silly brother win against me?

She clenched her little fists in dissatisfaction.

"No, again, I didn't see that move just now!"

"Ruri has already found her state!"

"This time I'm really, really, really serious!"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun smiled without saying a word.

After this game, he already understood that after equipping the 'Dust-covered Chess Records', his strength was far beyond that of his genius sister.

Watching his sister play a move, he could actually see the next ten or twenty moves.

It could be said that his sister's intentions were almost invisible in his eyes.

So no matter how his sister played next, she probably wouldn't be able to win against him.

Because of this.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun was also very shocked in his heart, feeling that the effect of the [Dust-covered Chess Records] was simply unimaginably strong!

He had transformed from a Shogi layman into a master capable of crushing his genius sister in an instant.

Afterward.

Ruri fought and lost again, and the corners of her eyes were already slightly glistening with little pearls.

"Do you want to play again?"

"Yes!"

Qianjing knew very well that his sister looked polite and dignified, but in reality, she was quite unwilling to lose.

If he kept winning, she might keep playing while crying, maybe even until tomorrow!

If it were normal times, it wouldn't matter.

But now he was preparing to write, writing "The Devotion of Suspect X", so there was no need to waste time on playing chess.

Thinking of this, he felt he should go easy on her, otherwise, it would really be endless.

But it was rare to see his sister like this, and he still felt it was very interesting.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun rested his hands on the small table, supporting his cheeks, and smiled as he watched his sister.

"Do you want to go first or should I this time?"

"I'll go first!!"

Natsume Ruri pouted, her stubborn gaze fixed on the chessboard, and she made the first move.

Soon.

Under Qianjing's "letting the water flow" (going easy), Natsume Ruri finally won a few games and shouted excitedly:

"Checkmate! Brother, you lost again!"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun smiled indifferently.

"Indeed."

Natsume Ruri put her hands on her hips and laughed:

"Ruri, when serious, is invincible!"

"But, Brother, you've only just relearned it, so being able to reach this level is already very good."

"If you work harder in the future, maybe you'll really be able to surpass me, Ruri!"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun smiled:

"Alright, it's very late now, you go take a bath first, and I'll get ready for bed after I finish washing."

"Tomorrow is the first day of school, it's better to go to bed early."

Natsume Ruri's mood was clearly good, and she nodded with a smile:

"Mm."

After saying that, she took her change of clothes and went to take a bath.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun sat quietly at the small table, took out his phone, and began to write, preparing to write the novel "The Devotion of Suspect X" as soon as possible.

However, he estimated that at his current pace, it would likely take a week to finish.

This novel had 150,000 words.

Even if he copied it according to the content in his memory, he could write at most 20,000 words a day.

Just at this moment.

The old TV in the corner of the room once again broadcasted a familiar sound.

It was the advertisement for the new Shogi tournament that had been played before:

"[All-Japan Newcomer Shogi Challenge Tournament] is now open for registration! Amateur enthusiasts can also participate! Challenge the strong and win rich prize money! Initial winning game prize is 10,000 yen, and it doubles with consecutive wins! The final winner will have the opportunity to challenge the Dragon King throne!..."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun's gaze was involuntarily drawn to it, fixed on the prize money numbers scrolling on the screen—10,000 for the first win, 20,000 for the second, 40,000 for the third... ten consecutive wins would be 5.12 million yen!

A strong impulse rose in his heart.

Writing a novel was indeed a way out, but even if he finished it this week and submitted it immediately, he wouldn't get the manuscript fee until next month.

Right now, rent, tuition, living expenses... everything needed money, and his sister could be happy for half a day just by winning 1,000 yen, so one could imagine how great the economic pressure was.

You have to know that Xia Xia Xia Mujun's part-time job now paid at most 800 yen an hour.

Working eight hours a day, he would make at most 6,400 yen.

And that was only if the store manager specifically arranged a few more hours for him.

In fact, there were time limits for high school students working part-time.

They could only work at most 5 hours a day, and 40 hours a month.

If it was reported once it exceeded that, the store would be inspected and fined.

So many places that hired part-time workers generally wouldn't openly let high school students work for too long, fearing they would be reported.

Calculating based on the hours a high school student could work, in a month, Xia Xia Xia Mujun could earn at most 68,000 yen...

And this tournament only had tomorrow left as the final registration day.

After registration ended tomorrow, the tournament would begin!

Xia Xia Xia Mujun didn't think there were many professional chess players who could have his chess skill of calculating ten or twenty moves ahead.

So he would definitely be able to win quite a few rounds by relying on the terrifying chess skill he had just acquired.

Even if he couldn't win until the end, he would at least be able to earn tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand yen, which was not a loss no matter how you calculated it!

In the short term, this tournament's income would come faster than his part-time job or the novel.

It could alleviate most of the family's economic pressure before the novel was successfully published and he received the manuscript fee.