Chapter 94: Why are you here too?

The huge Tokyo Shogi Hall stood before his eyes, magnificent in momentum.

As soon as Natsume Chikage arrived, he saw a winding long line at the entrance of the hall, with the crowd extending from the door to the corner in the distance.

He was a bit surprised that there were so many contestants; a rough estimate was at least several hundred people.

Apart from these people, there was also a spectator passage, and there was an endless stream of people entering it from there as well.

Natsume Chikage recalled that his contestant information seemed to belong to Zone A.

Did this mean there were other zones like B, C, D, etc.?

At this time, he looked at his phone and found that it was already almost eight o'clock.

Who knew if there would be anything inside the hall that would affect entry.

Natsume Chikage didn't like being late, so he started preparing to line up.

He walked quietly to the end of the line and moved forward slowly with the flow of people.

During the process of waiting in line, many contestants showed nervous expressions; some lowered their heads to study the shogi manuals in their hands, while others used shogi apps on their phones to warm up with AI or online opponents.

Natsume Chikage didn't sharpen his spear at the last minute like them, but just like usual, took advantage of his free time to take out his phone, focused on typing, and raced against time to advance the creation of "The Devotion of Suspect X."

However, just as he was immersed in the world of words, he suddenly felt someone poke his back gently.

"Natsume-kun, it really is you! What a coincidence!" A familiar female voice sounded with surprise.

Natsume Chikage turned back and found that it was Horikawa Kaori, the staff member who helped him handle the registration at the hall last time.

He couldn't help but be a bit surprised—this was clearly a contestant queue; why would she, a staff member, be here?

Could it be that she also signed up for the tournament?

"Hello, Horikawa-san." He first nodded politely to greet her.

Horikawa Kaori's face was filled with joy: "Eh? You actually remember my name?"

"When I saw your work badge last time, I happened to remember it."

"So that's how it is!"

A trace of joy surged in Horikawa Kaori's heart; she didn't expect this boy to remember her name.

Natsume Chikage looked at her with an inquiring gaze:

"I remember Horikawa-san is a staff member... could it be that you also participated in this tournament?"

Horikawa Kaori nodded with a smile:

"Yes, I'm actually a women's professional first dan, and I've been studying shogi for many years."

"Although my strength isn't outstanding, this time the shogi world is rarely holding such a large-scale new tournament, and many acquaintances and fellow enthusiasts have signed up, so I also want to try my luck and see if I can win a few games and earn some pocket money."

Natsume Chikage responded with a gentle smile:

"So that's how it is, then I wish Horikawa-san a successful start and continuous victories."

Horikawa Kaori responded happily:

"I also hope Natsume-kun can achieve good results."

Although she said this, she clearly remembered that Natsume Chikage was just a novice who had played no more than a dozen games.

To be honest, he would be lucky if he could win one game...

This was by no means a joke.

Not to mention professional players and amateur experts, even ordinary contestants mostly had hundreds or thousands of games of experience.

It was rare to see someone like him who dared to participate with only a dozen games of experience.

Maybe he had played even less than some children...

Therefore, although Horikawa Kaori sincerely hoped Natsume Chikage could achieve good results, thinking of his pitiful number of games, she always felt the hope was slim.

However, polite blessings were always necessary.

In her view, Natsume Chikage's courage to challenge such a tournament as a newcomer was worthy of praise.

Courage is commendable... yes, courage is commendable.

The line moved very quickly.

Before long, the two had entered the interior of the hall.

Natsume Chikage didn't expect the line to be so fast, not even enough time to type, so he had to put away his phone and look forward to the tournament starting as soon as possible.

If things went smoothly, maybe he could return to school in the afternoon and determine his club affiliation as soon as possible.

If he still hadn't joined a club within a week, his behavioral credits might not be guaranteed.

And once too many behavioral credits were deducted, he might even face the risk of being expelled.

If possible, Natsume Chikage still hoped not to have credits deducted.

Entering the hall, staff members guided the contestants to use their phones to scan the QR code on the stand to register personal information.

After completing the registration, every contestant would receive an exclusive QR code.

By scanning this QR code at the staff member's station, one could receive a randomly assigned contestant card.

When entering the venue, opponents would be randomly assigned again.

This meant that every contestant's opponent was completely random—they might be lucky enough to meet an ordinary enthusiast, or unfortunately run into an amateur expert, or even a trainee member or professional player.

Everything depended entirely on luck.

Natsume Chikage and Horikawa Kaori behind him completed all the steps according to the instructions.

Soon, they received their respective contestant cards from the staff members.

Before officially entering the venue, Natsume Chikage learned from the staff:

Due to the large number of contestants, totaling 2048 people, the hall could not accommodate all contestants to play at the same time.

Therefore, the tournament adopted a zone system, with a total of four zones: A, B, C, and D, with about five hundred people in each zone.

The preliminary rounds of each zone were divided into three sessions: morning, noon, and afternoon, corresponding to the first, second, and third games respectively.

Each time slot had about one hundred and sixty contestants, and the time limit for the game was a maximum of three hours.

Regrettably, Natsume Chikage's game was arranged in the third session in the afternoon.

This meant he had to wait until the afternoon to play.

Thinking of this, Natsume Chikage couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

He had originally planned to finish the game early and return to school, but he didn't expect to be arranged in the last session.

But it didn't matter; he had already asked for leave anyway.

He could also take advantage of this time to focus on typing until the game started.

"Natsume-kun, is your game also in the morning?" Horikawa Kaori asked curiously.

Natsume Chikage shook his head: "No, I'm in the afternoon session."

"That's great," Horikawa Kaori breathed a sigh of relief, "it seems we won't be opponents."

Natsume Chikage smiled slightly: "If we really met, it would indeed be a bit awkward."

Horikawa Kaori covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled: "Yes, it would."

She noticed Natsume Chikage's attire and asked suspiciously: "But Natsume-kun, you're still wearing your school uniform, did you ask for leave to come here?"

"Yes."

"Since you asked for leave, why are you still wearing your school uniform?"

Natsume Chikage explained softly: "There aren't any decent casual clothes at home, and the school uniform looks pretty good, so I just wore it here."

This wasn't an excuse.