In the end, Yukima Azuma won the first game.
The next dayGame 2.
Still Aigakari, this time with Yukima Azuma playing second.
Game 2: Yukima Azuma lost.
( `)‚(o)
Chapter 293 Hinatsuru Ai: Shishou and Oba-sama Are Leaving Me Out!
The first two games of the Meijin Tournament ended with one win and one lossat first glance, it seemed like the result depended on who went first.
But in truth, both Yukima Azuma and the Meijin knew very well...
The outcome between the two had not yet reached the level where such things could decide the result.
In the third game, Yukima Azuma lost.
In the fourth game, Yukima Azuma won.
In the fifth game, Yukima Azuma won again.
In the sixth game, Yukima Azuma lost.
Major shogi tournaments, though officially set as seven matches, with the first to four wins taking the championship
In reality, matches that actually go all seven games are incredibly rare.
And for a match like this Meijin Tournament, so earth-shaking, such an event was completely unprecedented.
The livestream caused quite a stir.
People who didn't understand shogi could only marvel, speechless.
And anyone with even a bit of knowledge about shogi could only wonder: Are these two even human?
Every move in the shogi matches was nearly the most optimal choice possible.
In matches between other players, it's usually about who can read deeper, who makes fewer mistakes, who has stronger willpower.
But in the matches between these two it felt like they were both capable of arriving at the correct answers.
It was just a matter of who could find the optimal solution faster.
After the sixth game ended...
The tournament was temporarily paused.
There was a rest day in between.
This was a customary practice, to give both players time to fully recover.
High-intensity matches like these consumed massive amounts of mental energy.
Historically, there have even been cases where players, from overthinking during matches, developed respiratory disorders on the spot.
During this resting period...
Yukima Azuma was together with his senpai and disciple.
"Shishou, do you feel nervous?"
(,,><,,)
Little Ai quietly asked, a bit of tension in her voice.
Even though it wasn't her match...
Just watching the livestream, Hinatsuru Ai could already feel the suffocating tension at the shogi board.
She was a little worried about Yukima Azuma's state of mind.
There were similar concerns voiced by others as well.
Online, many people doubted Yukima Azuma's mental resilienceafter all, he was still very young.
But in truth, at that moment, Yukima Azuma felt completely at ease.
He was even thinking about what delicious food to cook for dinner that night.
Yukima Azuma gently ruffled Hinatsuru Ai's hair.
( _)()
With the corner of his mouth slightly lifted, he gave a soft smile.
"There's really nothing to be nervous about. After all, only when you stay calm can you bring out your full potential."
Hit with a "head pat of high damage," Hinatsuru Ai nodded seriously.
But just a moment later, she realized...
This was Yukima Azuma's match.
She was the one who came to cheer him on.
Yet somehow, it ended up with her being comforted instead.
"Shishou!" Hinatsuru Ai softly cried out and tried to leap into Yukima Azuma's arms.
( )
But halfway there, she was yanked back by the collarcaught by Sora Ginko.
The little girl was lifted up and carried back like a kitten.
"Oba-san, what are you doing!"
"You little brat, don't go bothering your shishou!"
"Ai's not bothering him at all! Ai's giving shishou a love-filled blessing!"
"Huh? What the hell is that?"
The two started bickering loudly.
In the end, Hinatsuru Ai ended up being closely watched by Sora Ginko.
The little girl glared at Sora Ginko in frustration.
( )
She had a strange feeling that this so-called "Oba-san" in front of her something about her aura had changed.
Hinatsuru Ai was still too young to clearly recognize exactly what had changed.
...
And that night
Late at night, Sora Ginko quietly pushed open the door to Yukima Azuma's room.
"Ginko-senpai?"
Seeing Sora Ginko hugging a pillow as she entered, Yukima Azuma blinked in confusion.
Even though the two had already crossed that line...
Sora Ginko's personality was extremely tsundere.
Hopelessly shy.
After that night, Sora Ginko kept an even greater distance from Yukima Azuma when in front of others.
And yet todayon such a critical occasion as Yukima Azuma's match...
With even the Masters, Keika, and Hinatsuru Ai all present...
Ginko chose this exact moment to launch a late-night surprise raid...
It truly caught Yukima Azuma off guard.
"D-Don't get the wrong idea, I just I just thought you might be feeling nervous, that's all."
"So I came to check on you, that's it! Absolutely no other reason!"
(,,,,)
Sora Ginko buried half her face into her pillow, her voice slightly muffled.
Her glistening eyes lowered softly.
A kind of adorable charm that made one want to protect her radiated from her presence.
Yukima Azuma immediately understood.
So it turns out little senpai came to give her version of a love-filled blessing!
With a soft yelp from Sora Ginko, Yukima Azuma suddenly lifted her up in a bridal carry.
Then casually turned and walked toward the bed.
A passionate yet peaceful night passed.
...
The next morning.
Hinatsuru Ai stared intently at Sora Ginko.
(_ )
The intense gaze made Sora Ginko feel a bit uneasy.
"W-What are you looking at?"
()
Sora Ginko's voice was slightly strained.
Hinatsuru Ai raised her small hand, rubbing her chin, pretending to ponder something deeply.
"Something feels off. What is it?"
A moment later, it was as if a lightbulb lit up above her head.
"I got it! Oba-san, your scentit smells just like Shishou!"
"Don't tell me you two secretly did something last night?!"
Sora Ginko: ( ®®) !!
Hearing that, Yukima Azuma lifted his arm and lightly sniffed his wrist.
Then, casually took Sora Ginko's hand and bent down to sniff his senpai-chan.
Hmm no particular scent.
On the contrary, his senpai still carried the same refreshing and familiar fragrance as always.
Sora Ginko: ( ®®) !! again
Being sniffed by Yukima Azuma, Sora Ginko's face instantly turned red.
As red as a ripe apple.
"Baka!" she muttered with embarrassment and annoyance, yanking her hand back.
(,,><,,) b-baka!
Then gave Yukima Azuma two light punches to the chest before fleeing in shame.
Only Yukima Azuma and Hinatsuru Ai remained, looking at each other.
"As I thought, oba-san and Shishou have a special secret together!"
Hinatsuru Ai pouted with a look of betrayal.
She felt completely left out.
"Don't let your imagination run wild, there's no secret. Once you grow up a bit more, Ai-chan, you'll understand."
Yukima Azuma ruffled Hinatsuru Ai's hair again.
After the brief morning chaos
Yukima Azuma headed to the shogi association hall in Osaka.
The final decisive match would be held in Osaka.
Once again, he sat before a shogi board.
Though the desire to win within him had clearly been stirred...
Yukima Azuma still maintained a calm mindset.
After all, to him, shogi was just a hobbyperhaps even a habit.
It wasn't some grand ideal to pursue.
To put it bluntly, Yukima Azuma didn't really count as a true shogi player.
He lacked the "heart" of a real prono burning ambition or lofty dreams tied to shogi.
Normally, those without ambition rarely make it to the top in any field.
But Yukima Azuma had the system.
He could grind proficiency points to level up his skills.
That's why he was able to sit here.
And conversely, because he didn't have some grand ambition
Yukima Azuma was able to remain composed.
On the other side of the board sat the man opposite him
The Meijin, who at this moment, could no longer maintain his usual calm.
The reigning king of the shogi world, holding his folding fan
Opened it, then snapped it shut again, the ribs of the fan letting out soft clicks
Chapter 294: Ascending to the Peak Talent Skill Point
In the final match, the right to go first was decided by a coin toss.
Yukima Azuma chose heads.
It landed on heads.
Just that alone made it seem like today, luck was on Yukima Azuma's side.
And in reality, that did seem to be the case.
He chose to go first.
Once again, the opening was the Aigakari style.
The first hundred moves flew by in an instant.
Both of them had mentally rehearsed this exact match countless times before.
The first hundred moves were played with such ease, and yet each one was flawlessly optimalalmost as if no thought was needed.
But what both players performed so effortlessly
Nearly "crashed" the professional commentators on the livestream.
They simply couldn't keep up with their train of thought.
Eventually, the commentators gave up.
This shogi matchat least for the rest of the current shogi worldwas something that could only be studied and transcribed afterward. No one dared to comment or critique it on the spot anymore.
Later on, the pace of the game slowed slightly.
The time on the clocks beside each player began to tick down noticeably.
Until both players had used up all their main time
From that point on, each move had to be played within 30 seconds.
Right before one move, Yukima Azuma suddenly paused.
It wasn't until the referee counted down to the very last second that he finally made his move.
Then, within his vision, the system suddenly flashed a series of notifications:
[Your Shogi skill's proficiency has reached the maximum.]
[Shogi skill level has changed: Lv9 Lv10.]
[Your Shogi skill has reached the peak level. Congratulations on reaching the summit!]
[You have acquired a bonus skill.]
[Your Intelligence has increased by one point.]
[Your Intelligence stat has broken through to 9 points. You have received one bonus Talent Skill Point to allocate.]
The systemsomething that usually remained dormant and unintrusive
Suddenly burst out with a string of alerts.
Even Yukima Azuma was momentarily stunned.
Beneath this barrage of messages
What Yukima Azuma felt most clearly was: his mind was incredibly sharp.
Information that used to take time to process could now be handled effortlessly.
It seemed like eight points in base stats was some kind of threshold.
Once that boundary was crossed
It was no longer just the level of a genius.
This shogi match, which normally would have required total concentration
Now, Yukima Azuma could split his attention and still respond smoothly, like it was nothing.
He opened his system panel.
The info there had also changed significantly.
[Host: Yukima Azuma]
Physique: 8Intelligence: 89Charm: 8
Skills:
Linguistics (Lv6)
Literature (Lv7)
Cooking (Lv8)
Programming (Lv4)
Shogi (Lv10 Peak)
Acting (Lv4)
Music (Lv4)
Auxiliary Skill: Shogi
(Note: In Chinese, this term seems to encompass all types of board games like shogi, chess, go... but there's no precise term for this in English. "Board game" sounds awkward here, so I'm keeping it as "shogi.")
Available Talent Skill Points: 1
Notes: Skills under level 4 are hidden from the panel.
Notes: Talent Skill Points can be allocated to any skill. Upon use, you will receive a special talent corresponding to that skill, accelerating your mastery of it.
,,,
Seeing the new annotation that had appeared on the system panel,
Yukima Azuma raised his eyebrows slightly.
Nine points in Intelligence had granted him a Talent Point.
It felt like one of those "don't-know-where-to-invest-but-anywhere-is-right" kinds of moments.
It didn't look particularly flashy.
But one had to understand: all of Yukima Azuma's skills were self-learned.
On top of that, thanks to the system, he could grind proficiency.
His learning speed could only be described as inhumanso long as he grinded, he could reach the pinnacle.
With that as the premise, the skill point gained at this moment
No matter how you look at it, it couldn't be taken lightly.
Yukima Azuma felt a bit curious, wondering what kind of talent would be unlocked after using this skill point.
However, a skill point was incredibly precious.
If ten points per stat was the limit, then Yukima Azuma could only ever obtain a maximum of two skill points per stat.
He had to think carefully about where to spend it.
Moreover, the shogi match was still ongoing.
Yukima Azuma had just placed a piece, but his thoughts couldn't help drifting elsewhere.
On the system panel, a new auxiliary skill tab had appeared.
The auxiliary skill corresponding to shogi was also named "shogi."
It didn't sound any different.
But Yukima Azuma could feel itthis game that he had always been able to control,
Had now completely condensed into something tangible.
It had practically become an aura that hovered around him.
Yukima Azuma could use this aura to sense the presence of those around him, and even exert pressure on them.
Even without ever testing it, the power was visually perceptible.
As for actual progress in shogi
Surprisingly, it was minimal.
Reality proved that the tactics and techniques Yukima Azuma had already mastered were already close to perfection.
The real breakthrough lay in his mental capacity.
It could be saidafter the software had reached its peak, the hardware was directly upgraded.
He placed another piece.
The Meijin, holding his piece, fell silent for a moment, then lowered his head.
"I concede."
Yukima Azuma bowed in return.
"Thank you for the game."
The semifinal of the Meijin Tournament concluded with Yukima Azuma's victory.
Though it wasn't the final match, in the eyes of everyone else, this battle was no different from a true final.
This earth-shattering game had already become a legendary moment in the history of shogi.
Even years later, when a new era dawned and AI entered the world of strategic games like shogi, chess, and go
The hottest debatewhether humans or AI were stronger
Many argued that no AI could ever produce such a magnificent game.
Some even wanted Yukima Azumalong since retiredto make a comeback and challenge the AI.
