Chapter 90: Inventory!

The TV screen still flickered with the light and shadow of the comedy program, and the sound echoed low in the small space.

Natsume Chikage looked down at his sister in his arms and found that her chest was rising and falling rhythmically, her breathing was steady and long, and her eyes were closed gently.

Without knowing when, she had fallen asleep quietly.

He carefully lifted Natsume Ruri, gently laid her flat on the tatami, then turned off the TV with light steps and moved the small table in the center of the room away.

In this cramped three-mat room, if you didn't move this table, you couldn't lay out the bedding at all.

After moving the table to the corner, Natsume Chikage took the bedding out of the closet and laid it out quietly on the tatami.

After doing all this, he gently picked up his sister horizontally, placed her on the laid-out bedding, and carefully tucked in the corners of the quilt for her.

Plop—

The moment the light went out, the cramped three-mat room fell completely into darkness and silence.

Natsume Chikage groped his way back to his own sleeping spot by the faint light from the window and lay down.

Although the window was open and the night breeze sent in a trace of coolness, he looked at the low ceiling, and a sense of suffocation that was hard to describe surged in his heart.

This three-mat space was really too small.

In this tiny place, it was crowded with a kitchen, a bathroom, a storage cabinet, and he had to stack various electrical appliances, daily necessities, and hanging clothes.

Just these things occupied most of the space in the small room.

If it weren't for the fact that the two siblings were always frugal, tidying up all the time, and trying their best to simplify items, this three-mat room would probably be difficult even to stand in.

Although this three-mat room was small and the rent couldn't be called cheap, in a place like Shibuya where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold, they didn't have many choices.

Since their family went bankrupt, the two siblings were almost penniless.

Being able to find such a place to stay in Shibuya was already a stroke of luck.

If they hadn't been able to rent this cheap three-mat room at the time, they would probably really be wandering the streets.

Even so, the rent for next month still had no source.

Natsume Chikage's wallet now only had about twenty thousand yen left.

And the monthly rent for this small room was sixty thousand yen.

To raise it, he would have to wait for the cafe's salary to come down.

Even if he barely managed to scrape together the rent, daily expenses like clothing, food, and transportation would fall into a predicament...

And the novel he was writing hadn't been finished yet; even after writing it, it would still need to go through processes like typesetting, printing, and putting it on the shelves. Whether he could get the manuscript fee quickly next month depended entirely on luck.

This meant that if he couldn't win at least three consecutive games in the "Newcomer Shogi Tournament," even if he didn't end up sleeping on the streets next month, he was destined to live in hunger and be strapped for cash everywhere.

So, he must win!

Fortunately, his Spirit attribute had now increased to 6, and his current thinking speed was far from what it was when it was 5.

This would undoubtedly be helpful for playing shogi.

He had full confidence that if he played against himself from not long ago, he would definitely win!

Because in shogi, the difference between a player who can calculate ten moves ahead and one who can calculate twenty moves ahead is like heaven and earth.

The amount of calculation grows geometrically.

The more one can plan ahead, the greater the chance of winning!

This is also the essential difference between professional players, amateur players, and trainee players.

Their calculation amounts are simply not on the same level!

And Natsume Chikage's current computing power in shogi is simply not comparable to his former self.

However, the problem he is facing now is far more than just "money."

The imbalance between his Spirit attribute and Physique attribute is the most difficult situation.

He must collect three pieces of special equipment as soon as possible within a short period.

If he really reaches a critical moment, Natsume Chikage will never care about face or dignity and will definitely demand that his sister hand over the bracelet to him.

As for other special equipment, he will also get his hands on them by any means necessary!

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario.

The current situation hasn't reached the point of being at the end of his rope; it's just that his body has some delayed discomfort.

But if this situation continues, the consequences are unpredictable...

Therefore, Natsume Chikage decided to be more proactive in the near future!

Try to obtain at least three of these five items: his sister's bracelet, Yukimura Suzune's literary trinket, Kondo Miyuki's collector's combat magazine, Fujiwara Aoi's sports watch, and Tsukishima Rin's violin.

As for that confession cherry blossom tree, he can only give it up for now.

With his current situation, he has no way to make it his own.

Natsume Chikage remembered that Senior Yasui Ryoto had mentioned that if he found that chessboard, he would definitely bring it to school to return it to him.

He sincerely hoped that the chessboard could be a piece of special equipment like the previous shogi manual.

If that were the case, the pressure to collect three pieces of special equipment in the short term would be greatly relieved, directly reducing the requirement by one.

He would then only need to obtain two more from the list above!

The night was quiet.

Natsume Chikage, however, had no sleepiness.

He intended to continue working hard on his writing before sleepiness struck.

After all, the potential earnings of this "The Devotion of Suspect X" he was creating were far from what a part-time job or the prize money of a shogi tournament could compare to.

This is a masterpiece that, once completed, could truly bring in over a hundred million in income!

It's just that he has been really busy lately, and coupled with the fact that this novel is not short, even if he invests a lot of time, it will take until this week at the earliest to finish.

Currently, he has written about eighty thousand words of this "The Devotion of Suspect X."

It is still seven thousand words short of the 150,000 words needed to finish the book.

He thinks he will be able to finish it in two or three days.

Then he can immediately take it for submission.

After clarifying his subsequent plans and current priorities, Natsume Chikage took out his phone to prepare to type.

However, as soon as he lit up the screen, the LINE notification showed unread messages.

He clicked to check curiously and found that they were messages from Xiyuanji Qilai and Sakai Shion, so he decided to reply first before starting to write.

Noticing that Xiyuanji Qilai's message was sent around ten o'clock at night, he clicked on the chat box with her first.

【Xiyuanji Qilai: Good evening, Natsume-kun.】

【Natsume Chikage: Good evening, is something the matter?】

He knew his reply was a bit late and thought the other party might have already fallen asleep and would have to wait until tomorrow to receive a reply.

Unexpectedly, the message status changed to "read" almost instantly.

Japan's LINE is quite similar to domestic WeChat and QQ in most functions.