Chapter 47

Just at this moment, inside the carriage, Yukimura Suzune, who was flipping through a paperback book in her hand, raised her head for some reason.

Her cold gaze swept across the slightly crowded carriage, and she frowned slightly, as if she hadn't found anything.

Afterward, that gaze subconsciously cast toward the window, just in time to capture the back of Xia Xia Xia Mujun turning and leaving on the platform.

A clear confusion flashed in her eyes.

Shouldn't he be taking this train to school? How could he go to the opposite platform?

Could it be that he forgot which train he was supposed to take?

He clearly found the right place, and even the train came, but he ran to the opposite side... is there really such a fool in the world?

The train doors closed slowly.

Yukimura Suzune's gaze followed the back of the person on the platform who was walking further and further away toward the opposite entrance through the clean window.

Until the train started and moved slowly, she found that Xia Xia Xia Mujun was still playing on his phone on the wrong platform, as if he hadn't noticed at all that he was waiting for the wrong train.

Yukimura Suzune's expression was strange: "So there really is such a fool..."

The huge Tokyo Shogi Hall stood before his eyes, magnificent.

As soon as Xia Xia Xia Mujun arrived, he saw a winding long queue at the entrance of the hall, the crowd extending from the door to the distant corner.

He was a bit surprised that there were so many contestants; a rough estimate was at least several hundred people.

Besides these people, there was also a spectator channel, and there was an endless stream of people entering it as well.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun recalled that his registration information seemed to belong to Zone A.

Did this mean there were other zones like B, C, D, etc.?

At this time, he checked his phone and found that it was already almost eight o'clock.

Who knew if there would be anything inside the hall that would affect entry.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun didn't like being late, so he started preparing to queue.

He walked quietly to the end of the line and moved forward slowly with the crowd.

During the wait, many contestants showed nervous expressions; some were buried in studying chess manuals, while others were using Shogi apps on their phones to warm up against AI or online opponents.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun didn't sharpen his spear at the last minute like them, but just like usual, took advantage of his free time to take out his phone and focus on writing, racing against time to advance the creation of "The Devotion of Suspect X."

However, just as he was immersed in the world of words, he suddenly felt someone poke his back gently.

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, it's really you! What a coincidence!" A familiar female voice rang out with surprise.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun turned back and found it was Horikawa Kaori, the staff member who helped him register at the hall last time.

He couldn't help but be a bit surprised—this was clearly the contestant queue channel, why was she, a staff member, here?

Could it be that she also signed up for the tournament?

"Hello, Ms. Horikawa." He first nodded politely.

Horikawa Kaori's face was filled with joy: "Eh? You actually remember my name?"

"I happened to remember it when I saw your work badge last time."

"So that's it!"

A hint of joy welled up in Horikawa Kaori's heart; she didn't expect this boy to remember her name.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun looked at her with an inquiring gaze:

"I remember Ms. Horikawa is a staff member... could it be that you also participated in this tournament?"

Horikawa Kaori nodded with a smile:

"Yes, I'm actually a women's first-dan, and I've been studying Shogi for many years."

"Although my strength isn't outstanding, this is a rare large-scale new tournament held by the Shogi world, and many friends I know signed up, so I also want to try my luck to see if I can win a few games and earn some pocket money."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun responded with a gentle smile:

"So that's it, then I wish Ms. Horikawa a victory in the first battle and continuous victories."

Horikawa Kaori responded happily:

"I also hope Xia Xia Xia Mujun can achieve good results."

Although she said so, she clearly remembered that Xia Xia Xia Mujun was just a beginner who had played no more than a dozen games.

To be honest, being able to win one game would be something to thank heaven and earth for...

This is by no means a joke.

Not to mention professional players and amateur players, even ordinary contestants mostly have hundreds or thousands of games of experience.

It's rare to see someone like him who dares to participate with only a dozen games of experience.

Maybe he has played even less than some children...

Therefore, although Horikawa Kaori sincerely hoped that Xia Xia Xia Mujun could achieve good results, thinking of his pitiful number of games, she always felt that the hope was slim.

However, polite blessings were always necessary.

In her view, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's lack of fear of strong opponents and his challenge to this kind of tournament as a newcomer was worthy of praise in itself.

Courageous... yes, courageous.

The line moved very quickly.

Before long, the two had already entered the hall.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun didn't expect the queue to be so fast, not even having enough time to write, so he had to put away his phone, looking forward to the tournament starting as soon as possible.

If things went smoothly, maybe he could rush back to school in the afternoon to determine his club affiliation as soon as possible.

If he didn't join a club within a week, his behavioral credits might not be guaranteed.

And once too many behavioral credits were deducted, he might even face the risk of being expelled.

If possible, Xia Xia Xia Mujun still hoped not to have points deducted.

Entering the hall, staff members directed contestants to use their phones to scan the QR code on the stand for personal information registration.

After completing the registration, every contestant would receive an exclusive QR code.

By scanning this QR code at the staff member's place, they could receive a randomly assigned contestant card.

Then, entering the venue, opponents would be randomly assigned again.

This meant that every contestant's opponent was completely random—they might be lucky enough to encounter an ordinary enthusiast, or unfortunately run into an amateur expert, or even a trainee member or professional player.

Everything depended on luck.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun and Horikawa Kaori behind him followed the instructions and completed all the steps.

Soon, they received their respective contestant cards from the staff.

Before officially entering, Xia Xia Xia Mujun learned from the staff:

Due to the large number of contestants, totaling 2,048, the hall could not accommodate all contestants to compete at the same time.

Therefore, the tournament adopted a zone system, with a total of four zones: A, B, C, and D, each with about five hundred people.

The preliminary rounds of each zone were divided into three sessions: morning, noon, and afternoon, corresponding to the first, second, and third games respectively.

Each session had about 160 contestants, and the maximum time limit for the game was three hours.

Regrettably, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's game was scheduled for the third session in the afternoon.

This meant he had to wait until the afternoon to compete.

Thinking of this, Xia Xia Xia Mujun couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

He had originally planned to finish the tournament early and return to school, but didn't expect to be scheduled last.

But it didn't matter, he had already taken leave anyway.

He could also take advantage of this time to focus on writing until the tournament started.

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, is your game also in the morning session?" Horikawa Kaori asked curiously.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun shook his head: "No, I'm in the afternoon session."

"Great," Horikawa Kaori breathed a sigh of relief, "It seems we won't be opponents."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun smiled slightly: "If we really met, it would indeed be a bit awkward."

Horikawa Kaori covered her mouth with her hand and giggled: "Yes."

She noticed Xia Xia Xia Mujun's attire and asked suspiciously: "But Xia Xia Xia Mujun, you're still wearing your school uniform, did you take leave to come here?"

"Yes."

"Since you took leave, why are you still wearing your school uniform?"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun explained softly: "I don't have any decent casual clothes at home, and the school uniform looks pretty good, so I just wore it."

This wasn't an excuse.