After 109 moves, Hayama Kazuto conceded defeat. Sora Ginko's shogi skill was far superior to his; if she hadn't taken over Yoshizaki Miho's game midway, Sora Ginko would certainly not have lost to him.
Although she won, Sora Ginko looked as if she had lost. She was covered in sweat, clutching her chest, and breathing heavily. From the fifth move, the pressure Hayama Kazuto exerted on her never disappeared. She felt that playing shogi with Hayama Kazuto was far more stifling than playing with Kiyotaki Kosuke, a 9-dan professional shogi player.
"Ginko, wipe yourself off." Kiyotaki Keika, kneeling beside her, handed Sora Ginko a hot towel. She didn't actively help Sora Ginko wipe herself; the sweat from hard work was best wiped away by herself to feel more satisfying.
"How do you feel?" Kiyotaki Kosuke's brow was furrowed as he looked at Hayama Kazuto.
"I'm alright. I'm not particularly fond of Shogi, and my desire to win isn't strong either." Hayama Kazuto picked up a piece of shortbread and crunched on it.
"How's your mental state? Can you continue?" Kiyotaki Kosuke began to set up the board.
"If you can drive me back later, then sure."
It was already 11:20 PM. If they continued playing shogi, the trains would stop running soon, and Hayama Kazuto didn't want to spend the night at Kiyotaki Kosuke's house.
"Then let's begin. It's still a fast game, with a ten-second limit per move." Kiyotaki Kosuke sat down in Sora Ginko's original spot. He was ready to play himself.
Sora Ginko looked at Kiyotaki Kosuke, then at Hayama Kazuto, and knelt down properly with Kiyotaki Keika.
"Clack!"
"Clack!"
"Clack!"
The crisp sound of pieces being placed continuously echoed in the room, as if performing a Shogi concert.
After 142 moves, Hayama Kazuto lost again.
Although not interested in Shogi, Hayama Kazuto still frowned slightly. After all, losing two games in a row would make anyone a bit unhappy.
[If I had played this game, I definitely would have lost!]
Although Sora Ginko wasn't playing, her forehead was still covered in sweat. She could only barely understand the game between Hayama Kazuto and Kiyotaki Kosuke. If it were any faster, her calculation ability wouldn't keep up.
"One more game, seven seconds per move." A slight sweat also appeared on Kiyotaki Kosuke's forehead. If he hadn't used a brilliant move recorded in Amano Sohobu's shogi records just now, both sides would probably have continued playing for dozens more moves.
"Clack!"
"Clack!"
"Clack!"
After 133 moves, Kiyotaki Kosuke, drenched in sweat, said, "I lost."
Chapter 3: The Highest Good is Like Water
Sora Ginko, who was standing by, trembled slightly. She hadn't understood that game at all. The moves were simply too fast, and her calculation ability couldn't keep up.
[Even Master couldn't beat him. How is that possible? Has his growth rate been that fast?]
Kiyotaki Keika handed Kiyotaki Kosuke a hot towel. Kiyotaki Kosuke wiped his face and looked at Hayama Kazuto: "Can you play even faster?"
"One second per move, or even half a second, is fine." Hayama Kazuto smiled. In fact, when it was his turn to move, he had never taken more than one second.
"As I suspected, phew." Kiyotaki Kosuke took a breath. "Your calculation ability is astonishing."
"No, 'astonishing' isn't the right word. You are the person with the strongest calculation ability I have ever seen! Even the Meijin in his prime, I'm afraid, his calculation ability might not be as good as yours."
"In my opinion, if the time limit per move were restricted to within five seconds, you should already be invincible." Kiyotaki Kosuke had half a sentence left unsaid: when playing Shogi, even in fast games, there are at least thirty seconds per move.
"Thank you for the compliment." Hayama Kazuto didn't act humble; he just gave a symbolic thanks.
"However, you haven't been exposed to Shogi for long, have you?" Kiyotaki Kosuke changed the subject and asked.
Hayama Kazuto looked up at the clock. It was already 12:20 AM. "I've been exposed to shogi for about two hundred minutes."
"Two hundred days? To have this level of Shogi skill is already quite astounding... No, no, did you say two hundred minutes?" Kiyotaki Kosuke suddenly stood up, looking at Hayama Kazuto as if he were a monster.
"I learnt the rules of shogi around nine in the evening, so it's been roughly two hundred minutes until now." Hayama Kazuto spread his hands, explaining that he didn't say three hours and twenty minutes because he found it awkward.
"Please, be my disciple!" Kiyotaki Kosuke performed a dogeza, kneeling before Hayama Kazuto.
"This, your posture, looks like you're asking me to take you as a disciple..." Hayama Kazuto was full of embarrassment.
"I'll tell you a secret: I'm Kiyotaki Kosuke, Professional Shogi Player 9-dan! You can search my name online! Although I don't have an Eternal Title, I did win many titles when I was young. If you become my disciple, you also get a Keika and a Ginko!"
"Go to hell!" Kiyotaki Keika and Sora Ginko said in unison.
"Please be normal, old man!"
A few minutes later, Kiyotaki Kosuke finally returned to normal: "Um, Kazuto, what do you think of Shogi?"
"It feels a bit boring. After making a move, I always have to space out for a long time, and playing on my phone or eating snacks feels a bit impolite," Hayama Kazuto answered honestly.
Fast shogi with seven or ten seconds per move was fine, but fast shogi with thirty seconds per move was a bit boring. If it were a formal game, with ten minutes or even longer per move, Hayama Kazuto wondered if he would fall asleep while playing.
Sora Ginko felt like her heart had been stabbed. She calculated with all her might in every game, hoping to make her moves more perfect, yet Hayama Kazuto would space out after making a move and even wanted to play on his phone and eat snacks!
"I still underestimated you." Kiyotaki Kosuke's tone was somewhat heavy. He had already tried his best to overestimate Hayama Kazuto's calculation ability but still underestimated him.
Hayama Kazuto didn't speak. Perhaps, like Kato Megumi, who was used to being a background character, he was also used to being underestimated.
"With such strong calculation ability and no interest in Shogi, you probably don't want to develop in the Shogi world, do you?" Kiyotaki Kosuke said to himself.
"Master, his Shogi talent?" Sora Ginko's tone was a bit nervous.
"Very strong, unbelievably strong. If he enters the Shogi world, he might be able to achieve Eternal Eight Crowns within fifteen years. And his calculation ability is incredibly exaggerated; an undefeated year during his prime isn't impossible."
Sora Ginko's mouth dropped open in surprise. She knew Hayama Kazuto's talent was strong, but she hadn't expected it to be so powerful.
"Correction, what's strong about me isn't Shogi talent but mathematical talent," Hayama Kazuto interjected.
Kiyotaki Kosuke glanced at Hayama Kazuto and said with some disappointment, "It seems you really have no interest in shogi."
"Yeah, not much interest." Hayama Kazuto shrugged, expressing his apologies.
"Alright then, I'll drive you back. Where do you live?" Although he felt some regret, Kiyotaki Kosuke had experienced this kind of regret before.
"You, do you really not want to become a professional shogi player? With your talent, an annual income of over 100 million yen wouldn't be a big problem, would it?" Sora Ginko looked at Hayama Kazuto, seemingly tempting him with money, but her tone was full of pleading.
Hayama Kazuto tilted his head, looking at Sora Ginko. Monetary temptation held little meaning for him; the bounty he received for fixing a few bugs last week alone was nearly two million euros, which converted to over 250 million yen. However, the pleading in Sora Ginko's voice made him feel a slight concern.
"Why don't you tell me why you insist on playing shogi? Your body doesn't seem very suitable..."
"I must become a professional shogi player." Sora Ginko's tone was firm, but her lips were tightly pressed together, unwilling to discuss it further.
[Indeed, are we of the same kind?]
Looking at Sora Ginko's appearance, Hayama Kazuto's thoughts raced. He recalled a glorious past: "I have a friend whose situation is similar to yours. His body was very weak, but he possessed a brain smarter than anyone else's."
"Many people looked down on him, thinking he was a sickly person. He desperately wanted to prove himself and ultimately chose to challenge the most brilliant jewel in the crown of world mathematics—the Goldbach Conjecture."
Hayama Kazuto didn't continue speaking, but Sora Ginko looked full of longing: "Did he succeed?"
"His efforts were even greater than yours. Twenty out of twenty-four hours a day, he was doing mathematical calculations. He invented a new mathematical method and seven new mathematical tools. At the age of sixteen, he won the highest award in the mathematics world—the Fields Medal. But he still fell short of the Goldbach Conjecture."
"It wasn't that he couldn't complete the Goldbach Conjecture; he was only one step away from the crown. But his body gave out first. He was already weak and had been working overloaded for a long time, dying of kidney failure on the eve of his twenty-first birthday."
"Go to hell! You're cursing me!"
Sora Ginko grabbed a tool and threw it at Hayama Kazuto. Only after she threw it did she realise it was her folding fan.
Hayama Kazuto caught the folding fan and opened it with a 'swish': "Unyielding. The characters are nice. I'll keep this folding fan."
"Give it back!" Sora Ginko walked over, wanting to snatch it back, but with her strength, she couldn't take the folding fan from Hayama Kazuto's hand.
"Do you have any blank fan surfaces? I'll write you a new one."
Kiyotaki Keika watched Hayama Kazuto and Sora Ginko, then silently returned to the room and brought out fan surfaces and a brush.
Hayama Kazuto picked up the brush and swiftly wrote four large characters:
The highest good is like water!
Chapter 4: Soccer Match
The folding fan read 'The Highest Good is Like Water', with the inscription 'Kazu'.
Sora Ginko held the folding fan, looking at the vigorously written four characters, her small face a little flushed.
"If you're free tomorrow, you can come to Private Toyonosaki Academy to watch my soccer match. Your current Shogi skill bottleneck is calculation ability, and brain calculation ability is closely related to physical strength. After the soccer match, I can specifically arrange some physical training for you."
Sora Ginko's mind replayed the words Hayama Kazuto said as he left, her heart fluttering slightly: [Tomorrow, should I go to Toyonosaki?]
By the time Kiyotaki Kosuke dropped Hayama Kazuto off at home, it was already 1:30 AM. Hayama Kazuto was about to take a shower and go to bed when he suddenly remembered something: "I think I forgot the message from Megumi Kato."
Hayama Kazuto quickly took out his phone and opened Line. Kato Megumi had sent three messages in total:
21:46:12 "Hayama-kun, I'm home."
22:18:55 "Hayama-kun, not home yet? It's getting late!"
22:59:59 "Looks like Hayama-kun didn't check his phone. Good night."
For some reason, from these three ordinary messages, Hayama Kazuto felt a chilling aura. He had a feeling that if he didn't explain himself now, he might be 'cleaved with a hatchet' the next day.
"Sorry, Megumi Kato, I was playing shogi at Kiyotaki Kosuke's house and didn't check my phone."
"Eh, is that so?" Kato Megumi replied quickly.
"Megumi Kato, didn't you say you were asleep?" Hayama Kazuto replied sheepishly.
"I suddenly remembered there's a late-night drama I wanted to watch. It's almost over now." Kato Megumi's reply speed was still astonishing; after all, she was a phone addict who never let her phone out of her hand.
"Oh, oh, I see."
Hayama Kazuto wanted to explain Sora Ginko's situation to Kato Megumi, but he didn't know where to start.
"Yoshizaki-kun already told me about Sora Ginko's matter." Kato Megumi seemed to have mind-reading skills, suddenly sending a terrifying message.
"This... what did Yoshizaki-kun tell you?" Hayama Kazuto felt a mix of anxiety and uncertainty.
"She said Sora Ginko is a Shogi idiot. Once she starts playing Shogi, she doesn't care about anything else!"
Although it was a bit harsh, Hayama Kazuto surprisingly found it quite fitting.
"And she also said that Sora Ginko's body isn't very good, and she tends to have difficulty breathing when she's emotional or overexerts herself. Hayama-kun must have noticed this, which is why you followed her, right?"
Hayama Kazuto did notice some things, but his reason for following Sora Ginko was simpler and more direct: he was worried that if he resisted, Sora Ginko would dislocate something.
"Eh, but, Megumi Kato, when we were in the board game room, you didn't say more than three sentences to Yoshizaki-kun. How did you add her as a friend?" Hayama Kazuto suddenly realised something was off.
"Hmm, I asked her to add me as a friend, and then we added each other. Hayama-kun, that comment was a bit rude!"
"The drama's over; I'm going to rest. Hayama-kun should also rest early; there's a soccer match tomorrow."
"Good night, Megumi Kato."
Kato Megumi tucked her phone under her pillow: "Hmm, I'll have dark circles tomorrow. Should I put on makeup? No one will notice me anyway."
Hayama Kazuto walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, and the 40-degree hot water pouring over him made his consciousness a little hazy: "Sora Ginko is a shogi idiot, so what was I in my previous life? A math idiot?"
That's right, the friend Hayama Kazuto spoke of was himself. His soul came from a parallel world in China. In his previous life, his name was Ye He.
After dying of kidney failure, Ye He's soul did not enter reincarnation but instead transmigrated into this world, becoming Hayama Kazuto.
In this life, Hayama Kazuto possessed not only a more terrifying mind than Ye He but also a strong body. If he continued his research, he could definitely master the Goldbach Conjecture in two or three years! However, Hayama Kazuto no longer had the same obsession as in his previous life.
Walking out of the bathroom, Hayama Kazuto picked up the folding fan and flicked it open.
Unyielding — Sora Ginko.
...
Private Toyonosaki Academy, soccer field.
"Contest! The Toyonosaki team wins the contest! Super Ace Hayama Kazuto gets possession of the ball!"
"Hayama Kazuto's dragon-like bicycle kicks! He dribbles past two defenders in a row! Truly a super ace, a future superstar! He's just one step away from his absolute territory—the penalty box!"
"Hiss, Hayama Kazuto is brought down! Ashikaga High School's #14 makes a tackle from behind, bringing down Hayama Kazuto! Hayama Kazuto has entered the penalty area; this should be a penalty kick! Hayama Kazuto seems fine. By the way, the Super Ace's penalty kick success rate is one hundred percent!"
"It's a free kick! The referee's officiating makes me doubt his nationality! He must be a Korean referee!"
"Let's see, a free kick, still taken by Hayama Kazuto! Hayama Kazuto is truly the epitome of an all-around forward! In the last match, Hayama Kazuto even scored directly from a free kick!"
"A perfect dragon-tail curve free kick, the ball is in!!! Let's cheer the name of the scorer! The brutal King of Goals—Hayama Kazuto! Congratulations to him for scoring his fifth personal goal of the match, performing the miracle of five goals in two consecutive matches!"
On the sidelines, Sora Ginko held a long, black-handled umbrella, gazing intently at Hayama Kazuto.