Chapter 493

“Hmph, fine!”

“Since that’s the case… it wouldn't be impossible for you to be my senior brother.”

He muttered to himself, but a flash of relief after admitting defeat crossed his eyes.

“I’ll… tell Master later.”

Private Moonlight Academy.

Shogi Club room.

The outcome on the TV screen had been decided, but the room had fallen into an eerie silence.

The air seemed to have solidified.

The three people present—Araki Jueai, Yasui Yasui Yasui Liangdou, and Nomura Tomohiro—were like statues, instantly petrified.

Their eyes were wide, their jaws almost hitting the floor.

The first to “come alive” was Araki Jueai.

“Yaah—!!!”

After a short, sharp exclamation, wild joy erupted like a volcano.

She jumped up, grabbed Yasui Yasui Yasui Liangdou’s shoulders, and shook him desperately as if he were a roly-poly toy.

“Yasui Yasui Liangdou! Did you see that! Did you see that!”

“Xia Xia Xia Mujun won! He really won!”

“He actually beat that quasi-professional, stuck-up Suzuki Takayuki!”

“And he won it fair and square, steady and solid!”

Her voice rose with excitement, her cheeks flushed red.

Yasui Yasui Yasui Liangdou was swayed back and forth by her, but his gaze remained dazed, fixed on the screen.

Even though he felt pain in his shoulders, he didn't react at all.

He muttered unconsciously, his voice dry:

“If… if that’s the case…”

“Doesn't that mean Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s strength… is already… no, even more than mine…”

“Strong?”

He said that last word with extreme difficulty.

A cold sense of loss and panic suddenly gripped his heart.

If that were really the case…

Then in the future, in front of Senior Tsukishima Rin, he would no longer be the unique, reliable Shogi Club expert?

That kind of thing…

Ahhhhhhh—I don't want that kind of thing to happen!!!

The fluorescent light of the TV reflected off the lenses of advisor Nomura Tomohiro’s glasses.

His mouth twitched, once, twice, followed by a sense of annoyance at being “deceived.”

He pushed up his glasses, his eyes narrowing behind the lenses, and couldn't help but grumble:

“This guy…”

“He really hid it deep!”

His voice was mixed with amazement and a hint of teeth-gritting.

Araki Jueai immediately echoed loudly, waving her small fists:

“Exactly! Exactly!”

“He even beat Suzuki, whom I’ve never been able to win against! This guy is just too infuriating!”

“To have such strength and not tell me, his Sister Ai!”

“Just wait until I ‘teach’ him a lesson later!”

She puffed out her cheeks, looking “very angry,” but her eyes were full of pride.

Nomura Tomohiro didn't respond, just tapped the table slowly with his fingers.

The eyes behind his lenses flashed with the excitement of someone who had discovered a treasure.

“Regardless…”

He spoke slowly, his tone carrying an unquestionable certainty.

“Since he possesses such strength…”

“Then, joining our Shogi Club is a matter of course, an absolute necessity.”

“Otherwise, it just doesn't make any sense, right?”

“I object!” Yasui Yasui Yasui Liangdou suddenly snapped out of his daze, raising his hand almost reflexively.

His voice was distorted by urgency.

A merciless elbow strike hit his ribs precisely.

Araki Jueai pulled back her arm, rolled her eyes, and grumbled impatiently:

“You were the one who wanted him to join the most, nagging about it every day!”

“What the hell are you objecting for now!”

“Did a shogi piece smash your brain stupid?”

Yasui Yasui Yasui Liangdou clutched his side, wincing in pain, but was speechless.

He could only swallow his deep frustration and sense of crisis back into his stomach.

Private Moonlight Academy.

First-year Class A classroom.

Just as the bell rang for the end of class, Fujiwara Aoi sprinted over like a little whirlwind.

Her cheeks were flushed from running and excitement, her chest heaving slightly.

“Suzune-chan! Nanase-chan!”

Before she had even steadied herself, her crisp, trembling voice arrived first.

She looked at the two of them with eyes that were shockingly bright with excitement.

“Xia Xia Xia Mujun… he won!”

“He beat that quasi-professional Suzuki Takayuki!”

“It’s really too amazing, too incredible!”

And at this moment.

Yukimura Suzune and Saionji Nanase were both stunned.

Saionji Nanase quickly lowered her head, her slender fingers sliding rapidly across her phone screen.

Yukimura Suzune leaned in close, her soft long hair sliding from her shoulders.

When the clear news flash and match results came into view—

The two girls looked at Xia Xia Muchun’s calm face on the phone screen, and astonishment slowly surfaced on their faces.

Deep within their clear eyes, ripples of complexity and subtlety emerged in unison.

In truth, they had both secretly thought that it would be very difficult for Xia Xia Muchun to get through the “hellish double-header” of the fifth round this time.

After all, at school, he really almost never studied shogi.

Every day, they saw him either on his phone or reading a book.

Recently, he even added the “leisurely hobby” of drawing.

In short, they had never seen him like other players, poring over shogi manuals or deep in thought before a board.

Yet, in this state of near “neglect”…

The most outrageous thing happened.

He not only beat those opponents who studied shogi all day long.

This time, he even cut down a quasi-professional player.

First-year Class B classroom.

?(?>?

Akita Sana was practically jumping for joy.

She gripped her phone tightly, the screen frozen on the image of victory, and shook the arm of Kondo Miki beside her incessantly.

"Miki! Miki! Did you see?"

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun won! He really did it!"

"He even defeated a quasi-professional player!"

"It's really, really... too amazing!!"

Her voice was filled with irrepressible joy and admiration, her face flushed like a red apple.

Kondo Miki’s gaze fell upon the phone screen Akita Sana was thrusting toward her.

In the image, Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s calm profile looked exceptionally clear under the arena lights.

A strong sense of disbelief caused her breathing to hitch slightly.

He actually... really won?

That Xia Xia Xia Mujun who always stayed at home and was thought by everyone to only play video games...

Actually beat a quasi-professional player who had reached that level through day after day of hard study?

This realization challenged her previous judgment.

A trace of an inexplicable emotion flickered through her heart.

However, as she looked at that overly calm, even somewhat distant handsome face on the screen, another complex emotion quietly sprouted.

Kondo Miki gently bit her lower lip.

Even if he really had quasi-professional strength... what was the point?

Even if he really won this fifth round... so what?

He was, after all, not a true professional shogi player.

From this match, it was already clear that the upcoming schedule would be the stage for professional players and even top-tier masters with titles.

With Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s non-professional status...

How could he possibly beat those true professional experts?

The area where the Private Private Private Tianhao Academy group was located.

The air seemed to have dropped to freezing.

Morimoto Yūki’s face, after the initial stupor, quickly turned ashen and burning hot.

Because he had just admitted in an interview that he had been "shaved bald" (shut out) by Xia Xia Xia Mujun because he wasn't in good physical condition.

But now, Xia Xia Xia Mujun had beaten Suzuki Takayuki, whom he had never been able to defeat.

Didn't that mean Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s strength was simply greater than his own?

And that he had just been making excuses?

Thinking of this, Morimoto Yūki felt his face burning, it was extremely painful.

He stared fixedly at Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s figure on the screen.

Once he had fully digested the fact that "Xia Xia Xia Mujun won," something that had been supporting him suddenly collapsed.

Following the sense of collapse was an even more surging, impotent rage, and a resentment that went deep into his bones.

He roared in his heart:

You, Suzuki Takayuki... what the hell is going on?!

When you played against me before, wasn't it a 100% win rate? Weren't you always acting so high and mighty?

And now you get "first-encounter killed" by this guy Xia Xia Xia Mujun, who you were playing for the first time?

Trash!

You piece of trash!!

He absolutely refused to admit that Xia Xia Xia Mujun was not only outstanding in appearance, but also ruthlessly crushed him in the shogi field he was most proud of and most familiar with.

He could only retreat once more into a fortress of self-comforting fantasies, whispering:

"No... no..."

"Suzuki, this guy... must have been in a bad state too!"

"Otherwise, how could he possibly lose?"

"It must be that... it must be that!"

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, trying to use the pain to numb that bone-chilling shame.

Beside him, Honda Takashi, after witnessing the victory screen frozen on the big screen, was stunned at first.

Immediately, his slender eyebrows slowly furrowed.

But soon, those furrowed brows smoothed out, replaced by a cold and mocking sneer.

"Heh..."

He chuckled softly, but his eyes were as sharp as knives.

"Interesting."

"Who would have thought that in that Shogi Club at Private Moonlight, where all the trash gathers..."

"There was actually hiding such a... quasi-professional player?"

His tone was drawn out, carrying undisguised contempt.

"However..."

He changed the subject, the sneer at the corner of his mouth deepening.

"That's all it is."

"Just a quasi-professional; there are plenty of people who have been stuck at this threshold for a year or two unable to advance."

He and Suzuki Takayuki were both in their second year.

And he was already a dignified professional 4-dan.

Looking at Suzuki Takayuki, even after all this fuss, he was still just a "quasi-professional."

The difference in status was clear, a gap as wide as heaven and earth.

Honda Takashi analyzed it methodically, more as if he were convincing himself, reinforcing that condescending mindset:

"Although this Xia Xia Xia Mujun beat Suzuki..."

"But in the end, he didn't crush Suzuki like he crushed that trash Morimoto."

"No matter how you look at the early game, Suzuki had the advantage."

"If it weren't for Suzuki having a mental lapse, whimsically trying to predict some 'drop' and making that inexplicable move..."

"How could the situation have turned so sharply and collapsed all at once?"

The more he said it, the more reasonable it felt, and his eyes returned to their habitual arrogance.

"If it were a formal professional match, a best-of-three or best-of-five series..."

"Who is stronger and who is weaker is still very hard to say!"

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun at this level..."

He snorted a very light, disdainful sound through his nose.

"I could easily suppress ten of him."

Or rather...

The corners of Honda Takashi’s mouth curled upward, unable to be suppressed.

A crazy and joyful arc gradually appeared on his face.

He was very satisfied with the current situation.

After all, Xia Xia Xia Mujun had openly mocked him and their entire Private Private Private Tianhao Academy on the arena floor earlier.

If he defeated him in private, it would certainly be satisfying, but it wouldn't be nearly enough.

It wouldn't be grand enough, public enough, or enough for everyone to see that guy’s miserable, ugly defeat!

"If it’s not on the formal stage under the eyes of everyone..."

Honda Takashi muttered to himself, a paranoid light flickering in his eyes.

"Absolutely not!"

He had just learned an interesting piece of news from that trash Morimoto.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun and that trash had actually made a bet before the match.

And he had won all the prize money that trash had accumulated from the first round until now—150,000 yen.