Chapter 96: Not optimistic!

Horikawa Kaori's expression was slightly hesitant; she really wanted to ask about Natsume Chikage's family situation.

But on second thought, she felt it was too presumptuous.

In the end, they weren't actually very familiar with each other.

Even for close friends, asking about the other party's family situation rashly seemed inappropriate—this was, after all, a very private topic.

Once brought up, it would inevitably make people feel offended.

Horikawa Kaori pondered for a moment and finally swallowed the question that had reached her lips.

At this time, the two squeezed into the interior of the hall with the flow of people.

In an instant, the noisy human voices, the unique scent of wooden shogi boards, and an invisible pressure called "competition" rushed toward them.

Inside the venue, spectator seats surrounded the area, and the central area was the competition venue.

The center of the venue was surrounded by four huge pieces of transparent glass, forming an isolation from the spectator area.

And in the center surrounded by glass, there were many neatly arranged shogi boards, seats, and timers that had been set up long ago.

What was even more eye-catching was that there was a TV crew in the center of the venue debugging equipment, and a beautiful female anchor was focused on looking at the manuscript in her hand.

Since the tournament hadn't started yet, most of the contestants found seats in the spectator area at will.

Some had relaxed expressions, some had solemn faces, and some couldn't hide their nervousness—all kinds of states were present.

Natsume Chikage belonged to the exceptionally calm type, and almost no emotional fluctuation could be seen on his face.

Horikawa Kaori appeared a bit uneasy.

After all, she had also spent a full twenty thousand yen to sign up for the tournament.

This money wasn't a huge sum for her, but if she were eliminated without winning a single game, she would inevitably feel heartache.

You know, winning the first game only rewards ten thousand yen.

She had to win two consecutive games to have a slight surplus.

If she could win the third game, that would be a real harvest, and she could directly get forty thousand yen!

Thinking of this, Horikawa Kaori found a vacant seat with Natsume Chikage and sat down, then didn't bother to chat with him, immediately taking out a shogi manual from her bag and studying it with full concentration.

Natsume Chikage didn't do this, just took out his phone and quietly continued his creation.

Time passed quietly in the silence.

At this time, an uninvited guest came unbidden.

The middle-aged uncle with a stubbly beard, Fukuda Tsukasa, passed by the two, and after recognizing Horikawa Kaori and Natsume Chikage, he was instantly overjoyed.

"Horikawa-san? It's really been a long time since I've seen you on the tournament field. You actually participated too?"

"It seems we might have a chance to play against each other this time."

"Please go easy on me then."

Horikawa Kaori snorted coldly:

"Are you that confident you can be randomly assigned to me?"

Fukuda Tsukasa smiled:

"Who knows."

He turned to look at Natsume Chikage and said with surprise:

"Yo, isn't this Natsume-kun? We met by chance while lining up last time; I didn't expect to meet again in the tournament. What a coincidence!"

"It seems we have good luck, both being assigned to the same zone."

"If we could really meet in the tournament—hahaha, that would be so interesting!"

Fukuda Tsukasa knew very well that his strength was far above these two.

Natsume Chikage went without saying; a pure novice who had only played a dozen games was simply the newest of the new in the Shogi Association.

Simply here to give money!

If he met him in the tournament, that would be a god-given opportunity, and he would definitely win a game!

As for Horikawa Kaori, although she was a women's professional first dan, she was ultimately not his opponent.

Even if the strength of a women's professional first dan was already stronger than many amateur players, converted, it was at most equivalent to the level of a trainee sixth dan.

And he was a real trainee fifth-grade player.

In the shogi world, the gap between each grade is quite obvious and not so easy to cross.

Every promotion requires fierce competition with a large number of players of the same grade, and only a very few people can stand out in the end.

It can be said that every grade is obtained through cruel fighting with other players.

Therefore, he was only one grade higher than Horikawa Kaori, and he was still full of confidence.

He had long since defeated many players of her sixth-dan level.

Horikawa Kaori rolled her eyes without hiding it.

"Bad luck, actually being assigned to the same zone as you."

Fukuda Tsukasa laughed instead of getting angry:

"Hahaha, isn't this just right? Finally, there's a chance for you to wash away your shame."

"Since we are all competitors now, understanding each other's tournament time in advance is good for everyone, isn't it?"

"So... what session are you in?"

Horikawa Kaori didn't hide anything:

"I'm in the morning session."

Fukuda Tsukasa turned to Natsume Chikage and asked curiously:

"What about you, little brother?"

Natsume Chikage answered indifferently:

"Afternoon session."

Fukuda Tsukasa was instantly overjoyed and laughed loudly:

"Isn't this a coincidence? I'm also in the afternoon session!"

"It seems we have a high chance of meeting in the tournament; it's really something to look forward to!"

After saying this, he laughed loudly and walked away.

Horikawa Kaori's face sank; she knew that nothing good would come from this guy coming over.

It turned out he was here to scout for information and had set his sights on Natsume Chikage, this "soft persimmon."

No wonder he said "let more ordinary people participate" last time; it seems he was relying on his own strength to specifically bully novices!

"Natsume-kun, if you meet this guy in the tournament, you must be careful."

"He still has some strength!"

"And when he was at the Shogi Association, he liked to specifically target you novices to suppress them; he's really very mean!"

Although she said this, she thought in her heart that Natsume Chikage couldn't possibly defeat Fukuda Tsukasa.

After all, she often encountered Fukuda Tsukasa when playing shogi.

At first, she could occasionally win a few games, but later she basically lost continuously.

As long as Fukuda Tsukasa used the tactic of wasting time, she, who lacked physical strength, would eventually make mistakes in the game over time.

And then it was one wrong move and the whole game was lost...

This was also something that couldn't be helped.