Chapter 53

Class 1-B was right next to Class A.

Students going to the school store after class had to pass by the door of Class A.

Miki Kondo and her best friend Sana Akita were students in Class B.

The two walked together, preparing to go to the school store to buy drinks.

Passing by Class A, they happened to hear several girls discussing Xia Xia Xia Mujun.

"Could Xia Xia Xia Mujun be sick? Otherwise, why would he suddenly take leave today?"

"I think so too."

Hearing these conversations, Miki Kondo couldn't help but slow her pace.

She looked through the window at Xia Xia Xia Mujun's seat and found that it was indeed empty.

Even the school bag that usually hung by the desk was gone; it seemed that as they said, he really had taken leave.

"Eh? Xia Xia Xia Mujun is sick?" Sana Akita opened her eyes wide in surprise, "But when Senior Tsukishima confessed to him yesterday, didn't he look fine?"

Miki Kondo recalled the details she had observed over the past two days and shook her head gently:

"Maybe... but it's more likely he's just too lazy to come to school and took leave to play games at home."

Sana Akita was even more confused:

"Play games at home? Why do you say that?"

Miki Kondo's thoughts drifted back to the past.

When she visited Xia Xia Xia Mujun's house back then, she often heard his relatives complain that he always used taking leave as an excuse to play games at home, causing his academic performance to plummet, forming a sharp contrast with his intelligent and hardworking sister.

At first, she didn't believe it, because every time she visited, Xia Xia Xia Mujun was sitting quietly in the living room; although he rarely participated in their conversations, he didn't stay in his room playing games or anything.

At that time, the one who often received her and other children was usually Xia Xia Xia Mujun's sister, Ruri Natsume.

That little girl was not only cute but also particularly good at talking.

Compared to the reticent Xia Xia Xia Mujun at the time, Ruri Natsume was more like the heir raised by a wealthy family.

And that was indeed the case.

Ruri Natsume had excellent grades since she was a child, knew a little bit about everything, and was well-spoken.

Therefore, Miki Kondo did indeed prefer playing with his sister rather than Xia Xia Xia Mujun.

Until one day, she took leave to visit her grandmother who was sick.

On the way back, her parents felt it was very close to the Natsume house, so they stopped by for a visit.

The Natsume family wasn't holding a party that day, and only her parents and the head of the Natsume family were talking in the living room.

The head of the Natsume family saw she was bored and told her to go find Xia Xia Xia Mujun to play, saying he had also taken leave and was at home today.

At the time, she found it strange: it was a school day, why wasn't his sister there, but he was? Could it be that he was on sick leave?

At this time, the young Miki Kondo recalled the rumors about Xia Xia Xia Mujun liking to take leave to play games at home.

With this question in mind, she pushed open the door to Xia Xia Xia Mujun's room, only to find him staring intently at the screen playing a game.

The room was piled with all kinds of gaming equipment and discs.

He was so engrossed that he didn't notice her entering the room for a long time, still immersed in the game world.

He didn't look like a sick person at all.

From that moment on, she was convinced that Xia Xia Xia Mujun was indeed addicted to games, and those relatives' words were indeed true.

He just liked taking leave to play games and didn't like studying!

The facts also confirmed this.

Seeing him at school these past few days, he was either playing mobile games or sleeping on his desk, and today he had even taken leave directly!

According to Xia Xia Xia Mujun's personal situation, besides playing games at home, it seemed he couldn't do anything else.

As for working part-time or something, it could be arranged after school; there was no need to take leave specifically to work.

Combining all the facts, Miki Kondo found it hard to believe that he hadn't gone home to play games.

Miki Kondo sighed helplessly, only feeling that Ruri Natsume must be very troubled following such a brother.

"Hey~ Miki, how do you know he took leave to play games?" Sana Akita asked.

"I heard his relatives say before that he often took leave to play games, and I have indeed seen with my own eyes what he looked like taking leave to play games at home," Miki Kondo explained flatly.

Sana Akita suddenly realized, her face lighting up: "So that's how it is?!"

What a coincidence—she loves playing games!!

The competition continued in a tense atmosphere.

In the commentary area specially set up in the venue, two professional commentators, a man and a woman, were facing the camera, analyzing the exciting duels on the field for the audience.

Thanks to the perfect soundproofing design, they could speak freely without any scruples, without worrying about affecting the performance of the contestants on the field.

The commentary was not only clearly audible through the broadcast in the venue but also transmitted to viewers all over the country in the form of a live broadcast via TV signals.

However, according to convention, the commentary usually prioritized the duels of professional players.

After all, compared to ordinary contestants, professional Shogi players brought their own fame, and their duels were often more watchable and technically demanding.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun wanted to pay attention to Kaori Horikawa's match situation.

Unfortunately, the director's camera only stayed on the boards of a few ordinary contestants for a few seconds before quickly switching back to the professional players' duels.

However, this didn't matter.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun also wanted to understand how the professional players' Shogi paths differed from his own.

However, after watching a few moves and combining them with the commentator's analysis, he learned that this professional player's opponent was only an amateur player.

Having observed only the three moves made by the professional side, Xia Xia Xia Mujun had already grasped his layout intention.

He predicted that the opponent would bury a key foreshadowing move on the seventh turn.

After that, within five moves, the situation would inevitably become one-sided.

It could be said—this amateur player's defeat was already set!

When there is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides of a duel, it is indeed difficult to see the full strength of the stronger side.

Seeing this, Xia Xia Xia Mujun stopped paying attention to the screen and picked up his phone again, focusing on his own writing work.

Unlike him, the grandfather and granddaughter beside him were listening with great interest, staring intently at the broadcast of the professional players' duel.

The old Dragon King Masahiro Furukawa, although advanced in years, still had eyes as sharp as an eagle.

He pointed at the moves made by the professional player on the screen and patiently explained to his granddaughter:

"Saio, this Jyuya Yoshikawa is a professional 4-dan in the Shogi world, and his strength is quite solid."

"Look at his seventh move, it looks plain and unremarkable, placed on the edge of the board, but it actually hides a mystery, already paving the way for subsequent offensives."

"The way of Shogi is often one wrong step, and the whole game is lost. The price of wanting to recover from a disadvantage is extremely high."

"His opponent clearly failed to see through this move, only caring about defending the most threatening piece in front of him. According to this development, the defeat is already set."

"You must remember, no matter how unreasonable the opponent's move seems, you must deeply analyze the intention behind it."

"Otherwise, you will be like this player, kept in the dark, and even if a sharp blade is hanging over your head, you won't even notice."

Saio Furukawa had already vaguely felt that something was wrong with the game, and after her grandfather's guidance, she suddenly realized.

A more vigilant expression appeared on her little face, and she nodded vigorously:

"Mm! Saio remembers!"

And at this time.

Masahiro Furukawa's phone suddenly rang, and when he took it out to look, he found it was Orihime Xiangyutang.

His heart couldn't help but tighten.

Although he was Orihime Xiangyutang's master and guided her in Shogi, this was essentially just a coerced transaction.

After all, this eldest disciple's background was terrifying; when she came to him to learn Shogi, he couldn't refuse at all.

And she didn't usually call him, so why did she suddenly call today?

"Hello, Ms. Xiangyutang, is there something the matter?"

An extremely cold woman's voice came from the other side.

"Give the phone to Saio."

"Mm, alright..."

Masahiro Furukawa didn't understand, but he could only do as told, giving the phone to Saio, "Your senior sister is looking for you."

Saio Furukawa blinked and nodded as she took it: "Sister Orihime, is there something the matter?"

A cold, high-and-mighty commanding tone came from the other side.