Chapter 498

It worked!

A strong sense of surprise surged into his heart.

He suppressed his excitement and began to conduct more tests.

With another thought, the cash in his hand decreased by another 5,000 yen.

The number on the panel immediately updated to [15,000 yen].

Next, he tried the reverse operation—retrieve.

He muttered in his heart, specifying the retrieval of the 5,000 yen he had just deposited.

A faint light flashed, there wasn't even a "flashing" process, and the 5,000 yen banknote appeared intact in his other empty hand.

The panel number synchronized back to [10,000 yen].

After several quick deposit, withdrawal, and mixed operations.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun confirmed a few points with surprise:

First, storage and retrieval are completed almost instantly, without any delay, and the money appears as soon as the thought is reached.

Second, the numbers displayed on the panel can be accurate to the single digit, and the deposit and withdrawal amounts are completely free.

Third, and most importantly—the storage space seems to have no upper limit, or rather, the limit is so high that he cannot test it at all at the moment.

He tried to deposit all the remaining cash in his hand at once.

The numbers on the panel jumped smoothly, finally settling at [150,000 yen].

And his hand was already empty.

This meant that this "Leather Wallet" was essentially an infinitely capacious private bank bound to him personally and absolutely safe!

In the future, he would no longer have to worry about cash being lost, stolen, or attracting attention because of carrying a large amount of cash.

All wealth could be turned into invisible numbers, hidden in this system space that only he could access.

Although for now, this ability seemed to have little use in many situations.

But Xia Xia Xia Mujun immediately thought of its wonderful uses—especially in certain special situations, such as needing to suddenly pay a large amount of cash, or like now, needing to keep valuables absolutely secret, it was simply a priceless treasure.

Of course, for Xia Xia Xia Mujun right now, the first "practical" scenario he thought of was teasing his sister Ruri.

Imagine...

Making money appear out of thin air in front of Ruri...

Or pretending to have lost his wallet, and when she was worried, smiling and taking the money out of "thin air"...

The corners of Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

That girl’s reaction would definitely be very interesting.

Just thinking about it made him feel happy.

He took out all the cash again, put it back into his regular wallet properly, and straightened his clothes.

He calmed down his slightly excited mood from obtaining a new ability.

Then, he pulled open the stall door and walked out.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun, who returned to Furukawa Masahiro and the others alone, was immediately surrounded by the crowd who had been waiting for a long time.

All kinds of blessings and exclamations came rushing toward him.

Horikawa Kashiori was the first to step forward, a look of disbelief still lingering in her eyes, her tone full of surprise:

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, congratulations on your victory!"

She shook her head slightly, still feeling it was unbelievable.

"I... I really didn't expect your strength to be so strong, you even beat the quasi-professional Suzuki Takayuki."

Asahina Akatsuki also followed up, her beautiful face filled with sincere joy, looking at Xia Xia Xia Mujun with burning eyes:

"Yes, I didn't expect it either... you actually really beat Takayuki."

In her words, besides surprise, there seemed to be a hint of something else, something softer.

Tanabe Yuto’s complexion was much more complex.

He adjusted his glasses, trying hard to squeeze out a natural smile, but it still looked a bit forced.

"Me too... congratulations, Xia Xia Xia Mujun."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun took in the reactions of everyone, a faint, polite smile appearing on his face.

"Thank you all."

Suzuki Takayuki, standing to the side, snorted softly upon hearing this, turned his face away, but eventually turned back, his tone somewhat stiff as he said:

"He... really has some strength."

"He really has the level to compete with me."

Immediately, he couldn't help but add another sentence, carrying clear dissatisfaction:

"However... if I hadn't made that mistake, who would win and who would lose is another matter."

Fukuda Tsukasa folded his arms, looking Xia Xia Xia Mujun up and down, the scrutiny in his eyes much less than before, with a bit more recognition.

He rubbed the stubble on his chin, and finally, he spoke, his tone carrying a kind of affirmation from a senior to a junior:

"Not bad... played well, kid."

"I didn't expect you to really break through this fifth round."

He paused, admitting:

"It seems... I underestimated you."

"I didn't expect you to be hiding quasi-professional level strength."

Furukawa Saio was unhappy as soon as she heard this.

She jumped out from beside her grandfather like a kitten protecting its young, hands on her hips, puffing out her small chest, and said crisply:

"I already said so!"

"Big brother is very amazing! He even..."

However, before the "won against" after the word "even" could be said—

An old but agile hand reached out from the side and precisely covered her small mouth.

"Mmph! Mmph mmph!"

Furukawa Saio’s remaining words turned into vague whimpers.

Furukawa Masahiro’s old face flushed, and cold sweat seemed to seep from his temples.

While covering his granddaughter’s mouth, he coughed twice, trying to hide his embarrassment, and quickly took over the conversation:

"Cough cough... haha..."

"Yes, yes, Xia Xia Xia Mujun is indeed very strong."

"Saio means... even an old man like me admires him, haha..."

He laughed dryly, quietly glaring at his granddaughter, signaling her not to talk nonsense anymore.

Fukuda Tsukasa didn't delve into the little girl’s unfinished words, his attention was more on Xia Xia Xia Mujun himself.

He rubbed his stubble, his gaze falling carefully on Xia Xia Xia Mujun again, carrying inquiry and a bit of confusion:

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun... you hid yourself deep enough."

He directly raised the question that many people had in their hearts.

"With this strength, why didn't you join the Shogi Association earlier?"

"In that case, you could have long ago obtained stable match prize money through the association’s internal matches and activities, right?"

"Why wait until now to participate in this kind of public, cruel-format competition?"

This question clearly also hit Horikawa Kashiori’s heart.

She nodded quickly, a look of concern and urgency appearing on her beautiful face, and took the opportunity to suggest:

"Yes!"

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun, with your current strength, I highly, highly recommend you join the Shogi Association."

"In that case, you would be equivalent to having a formal, and potentially huge 'job'."

"You can get a more stable source of income, and also get more systematic training and match opportunities."

Furukawa Masahiro nodded slightly upon hearing this, expressing agreement.

Everyone else around, Asahina Akatsuki, Tanabe Yuto, and even Suzuki Takayuki, who had been turning his face away just now, also looked over.

They all knew or guessed Xia Xia Xia Mujun’s embarrassed family situation to varying degrees.

They also understood that financial problems might be one of the important reasons why he refused to start a relationship.