Chapter 613

On the other end of the screen, Sakai Shion put down her phone, leaned back in her chair, and was slightly lost in thought.

According to the matches she had watched previously, as well as some professional commentary and analysis on the internet, Xia Xia Xia Mujun being able to break into the sixth round had already greatly exceeded the expectations of many people.

Analyzing from objective strength, the opponents he would face next would all be professional Shogi players; wanting to go further would be extremely difficult.

However... being able to reach this step and get hundreds of thousands of yen in prize money was already an extremely outstanding achievement for a high school student.

She thought again of Xia Xia Xia Mujun's novel, "The Devotion of Suspect X."

She had heard him mention the publishing matters before; it seemed it was officially going on sale these few days?

She had been very busy these past few days, so she didn't know how the situation was.

Sakai Shion originally wanted to send a message to ask, but after looking at the time, she decided against it.

It was too late; she would wait until Xia Xia Xia Mujun returned to school for class and ask him in person.

At the same time.

Private Private Private Tianhao Shogi Club President Honda Honda Chongsi was half-leaning on his headboard, the light from his phone screen reflecting on his somewhat excited face.

He was browsing discussion posts about the "Newcomer Shogi Tournament" on forums and social platforms.

Netizens were analyzing the Shogi styles and win rates of various contestants, predicting the upcoming matchups and results.

Among them, quite a few posts mentioned him, Honda Honda Chongsi, and also mentioned that "Xia Xia Xia Mujun" who left a deep impression on him.

Some people even made screenshots of their "remote shouting" in the live interview into a topic.

Honda Honda Chongsi looked at those comments with great interest.

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun? He looks good, but it's a pity this is a Shogi tournament, not a beauty pageant. I think he will definitely lose in the sixth round!】

【If Honda Honda Chongsi really faces Xia Xia Xia Mujun in the sixth round, that would be a good show. An arrogant genius professional 4-dan, a mysterious dark horse contestant with no rank...】

【Although I don't like the arrogance of this kid Honda, I have to admit that he has the capital to be arrogant. A minor professional 4-dan, the future is promising. As for Xia Xia Xia Mujun... winning against the quasi-professional Suzuki Ryuji is probably his limit; there's a lot of luck involved.】

【Agreed. Suzuki Ryuji was clearly not in good condition that day. This single-elimination format has too much contingency; if it were best-of-three, the winner would definitely be Suzuki.】

Looking at the comment section almost overwhelmingly favoring himself and looking down on Xia Xia Xia Mujun, Honda Honda Chongsi's mouth split open, revealing a malicious smile.

How could he not look forward to facing that guy?

Not only did he publicly mock their Private Private Tianhao Academy in the live stream, but he also used a bet to win the full 150,000 yen in prize money accumulated from the first to the fifth round from that stupid club member of his!

As for avenging that piece of trash? He didn't have the leisure.

But that money... he was very jealous of it!

How much pocket money can an ordinary high school student have in a month?

150,000 was definitely not a small amount.

He heard that Xia Xia Xia Mujun's family had fallen on hard times and he was desperately participating in the tournament to make money to support his sister?

If... if he could meet him in the tournament and, like he did to others before, set a bet, and then take away all the prize money he had won before in one fell swoop...

Imagining the expression of collapse, pain, and despair that might appear on that handsome face when Xia Xia Xia Mujun lost the match and became penniless at the same time...

Honda Honda Chongsi felt a wave of pleasure surge in his heart, and the smile on his face became increasingly distorted and excited.

That scene must be very, very interesting! ===== CHAPTER 982 =====

The next day.

Outside the Tokyo Shogi Hall, the morning sun shone on the ancient building.

When Xia Xia Xia Mujun arrived, he noticed that the queue of people at the ordinary spectator entrance in front of the main gate of the hall was winding and tortuous, appearing even denser than in the previous rounds, and the noise could be heard vaguely from a distance.

On the other side, the dedicated passage for contestants appeared quite deserted.

In stark contrast to the lively scene where contestants also needed to queue to wait for entry during the first round, there was almost no one in sight near the entrance of the passage at this moment.

Clearly, the contestants who could reach the sixth round were already few, and most of them might have already entered the lounge inside the hall to prepare, while a few might not have arrived yet.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun didn't think much and walked straight to the contestant passage, preparing to enter the hall early to let himself calm down.

However, just as he approached the entrance of the passage and hadn't had time to show his contestant ID to the staff, he was discovered by sharp-eyed spectators.

"Look! It's contestant Xia!"

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun is here!"

"Contestant Xia! Please do your best today too!"

"Xia Xia Xia Mujun! I will be cheering for you the whole time!"

Enthusiastic shouts came from the spectator queue, and many young people even stood on tiptoe and waved at him.

Even more, an emotionally excited female spectator suddenly shouted:

"Contestant Xia, do your best; if you win, I want to have your baby!"

This earth-shattering shout made the originally lively scene quiet for a moment, and then it erupted into even greater laughter and teasing.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun nodded politely in the direction of the crowd, but hearing the last sentence, even with his steady temperament, he felt his temple jump slightly and his back felt a bit cold.

He immediately quickened his pace and almost "slipped" into the contestant passage.

The hall staff at the entrance of the passage clearly recognized him too—it was hard not to leave an impression on this boy who stood out in appearance and temperament among all the male contestants.

The staff smiled and verified his ID, then let him pass smoothly.

Walking through the quiet passage, he stepped into the main hall inside the Shogi Hall.

The view suddenly opened up.

The spectator hall, which could accommodate hundreds of people, was already buzzing with noise, with a sea of heads sitting there, and the air was filled with an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation.

There was still some time before the match started, but it looked like the seats would soon be completely full.

Just as Xia Xia Xia Mujun appeared from the passage entrance and stepped into the lights of the main hall, it immediately caused another small commotion.

"Oh oh! Contestant Xia has entered!"

"Here! Look here!"

Cheers and whistles sounded again.

Many spectators' eyes were cast on him, and among them were newspaper reporters and freelance photographers with professional cameras; they skillfully adjusted the focal length, and the shutter sounds "click, click" rang out, capturing the pre-match state of this popular dark horse contestant.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun felt helpless in his heart, but he also understood that this was an unavoidable part of large-scale tournaments.

He steadied his mind, his gaze swept over the contestant reserved seating area, and he prepared to find a seat to sit down and wait for the match to start.

Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He took out his phone, and the name "Furukawa Masahiro" was displayed on the screen.

He pressed the answer button.

【Furukawa Masahiro: Hey, Xia Xia Xia Mujun, I see you.】

The old man's vigorous voice came from the earpiece.

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: Mr. Furukawa, where are you?】

【Furukawa Masahiro: Right next to the contestant seats, very close; if you look in this direction, you should be able to see me.】

Xia Xia Xia Mujun turned his head as instructed, his gaze sweeping across the front row of the spectator seats.

Sure enough, in the VIP spectator area immediately adjacent to the contestant seats, he saw Furukawa Masahiro waving at him.

Only, today the old man Furukawa was dressed somewhat specially—wearing a pair of wide sunglasses on his face, almost covering half of his face, which was very different from his usual casual image.

Beside him, the petite and cute Furukawa Saio was jumping excitedly, and her little hands were also waving vigorously.

Sitting next to them was Horikawa Kaori, and... that Fukuda Tsukasa.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun felt slightly surprised, but still walked towards them.

Just as he approached that area, Furukawa Saio couldn't wait to jump off her small chair, ran forward like a happy little bird, and grabbed Xia Xia Xia Mujun's hand:

"Big Brother! You're here!"

She looked up with her little face, her eyes shining:

"There are so many, many spectators today, and the ordinary good seats were booked up long ago! It was Saio who begged Sister Orihime to save us these seats closest to the contestant area!"

As she spoke, she vigorously pulled Xia Xia Xia Mujun towards the contestant seats next to them:

"Big Brother, you are a contestant, sit here quickly! You can see the clearest here!"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun was pulled by her, sat down in the empty contestant seat next to her, and then rubbed Saio's head.

He understood in his heart.

With the power of the Yutang family, reserving a few seats for such an occasion was indeed not a difficult thing.

Furukawa Masahiro adjusted his sunglasses, and even through the lenses, one could feel his gaze with a smile:

"Morning, Xia Xia Xia Mujun. How was your rest?" ===== CHAPTER 983 =====