Target—A New Shogi Tournament!

Ruri's lips curled up slightly as she thought that her idiot brother was indeed just playing around.

She didn't even know how to decide who went first.

After all, the first player's win rate was higher than the second player's!

Still, he was her brother, so she decided to go easy on him and let him make a few more moves so he could have some fun.

Ruri casually moved a pawn.

"Alright, then I won't hold back."

The instant Natsume Chikage saw where his sister had placed her piece, he barely paused to think. With a light tap of his finger, a bishop slid into an seemingly ordinary position.

Seeing her brother play without a moment's thought, Ruri smiled faintly and continued with her mindset of playing a "teaching game," placing her pieces rather casually.

Yet after only a dozen or so moves, the relaxed smile on Ruri's face gradually froze. Her gaze turned slightly serious, and she straightened her posture.

She felt she had gone easy enough. It was time to get serious, or her brother might actually win!

However, Natsume Chikage remained calm in response, without the slightest ripple of emotion. His gaze pierced through the board as though he had already seen how it would end.

As the pieces continued to fall—

The initiative on the board quietly changed hands. Ruri followed the developing position, and her expression shifted slightly—at some point, an inescapable net had been laid around her king!

No matter how she maneuvered, she could not escape the fate of being checkmated.

"Huh... When did I get checkmated?"

Ruri stared at her checkmated king, her little cheeks puffing out slightly.

"That doesn't count! I went easy on you that game, so let's do it again!" As she quickly reset the board, she muttered, "This time, I'm going to take it seriously!"

"Mm, let's play again." Natsume Chikage could tell that his sister had gone easy on him. This game had not shown her full strength, so playing again was fine.

In the second game, Ruri cast aside every trace of contempt and brought out the concentration she had once used against their father.

Right from the opening, she chose her strongest Static Rook formation. Her attacks were fierce as she tried to end the game quickly.

Yet although Natsume Chikage's defense appeared full of holes, no matter how ferocious Ruri's attacks became, he always silently planted fatal traps within the gaps of her formation.

Finally, after an apparently ordinary exchange, one of Natsume Chikage's rooks cut in diagonally. Together with a knight and silver general he had long positioned in ambush, it instantly formed a killing formation!

"Checkmate," Natsume Chikage calmly announced.

Ruri stared blankly at the board.

No, what was going on here?

Had she gone too long without playing and become this bad?

How could even her idiot brother beat her now?

Unwilling to accept it, she clenched her little fists.

"No, again! I didn't see that move clearly just now!"

"Ruri, I've already found my rhythm again!"

"This time, I'm really, really, really serious!"

Natsume Chikage merely smiled without speaking.

After this game, he had already realized that after equipping the Dust-Covered Chess Manual, his strength had far surpassed that of his genius little sister.

Whenever his sister made a move, he could practically see the next ten or twenty moves that would follow.

It could be said that her intentions were almost completely exposed before his eyes.

So no matter how his sister played from here on, she probably could not beat him.

Because of that—

Natsume Chikage was deeply shocked as well. He only felt that the effects of the [Dust-Covered Chess Manual] were unbelievably powerful!

He had gone from a complete shogi novice to an expert capable of crushing his genius sister in an instant.

After that—

Ruri fought again and lost again, tiny pearls beginning to glimmer at the corners of her eyes.

"Do you still want to play?"

"Yes!"

Chikage knew very well that although his sister appeared polite and dignified, she was actually rather unwilling to admit defeat.

If he kept winning, she might keep playing while crying—perhaps even until tomorrow!

Normally, that would not matter.

But he was planning to write now, to work on The Devotion of Suspect X. There was no need to waste any more time on shogi.

With that in mind, he figured he should go easy on her. Otherwise, this might never end.

Still, seeing his sister like this was rare, and he found it quite amusing.

Natsume Chikage rested his arm on the small table, propped up his cheek, and smiled as he watched his sister.

"Do you want to go first this time, or should I?"

"I'll go first!!"

Natsume Ruri puffed out her cheeks, her stubborn gaze fixed directly on the board as she made the first move.

Very quickly—

With Chikage deliberately going easy on her, Natsume Ruri finally won a few games and excitedly shouted:

"Checkmate! Brother, you lost again!"

Natsume Chikage smiled calmly.

"That's true."

Natsume Ruri put her hands on her hips and giggled.

"When Ruri gets serious, she's invincible!"

"But then again, Brother, you've only just started learning again. You've already done very well to reach this level."

"If you work a little harder in the future, maybe you really can surpass me, Ruri!"

Natsume Chikage smiled.

"Alright, it's getting late. You should take a bath first. Once I'm done washing up later, I'm going to sleep too."

"Tomorrow is the first day of school, so it's better to go to bed early."

Natsume Ruri was clearly in a good mood now. She nodded with a smile.

"Mm."

With that, she took her change of clothes and went to bathe.

Natsume Chikage quietly sat before the small table, took out his phone, and began typing. He planned to finish writing The Devotion of Suspect X as soon as possible.

But judging by his current pace, it would probably still take him a week to finish it.

The novel was 150,000 words long.

Even if he simply copied the contents from his memories, he could write at most twenty thousand words a day.

Just then—

A familiar voice came from the old television in the corner of the room once again.

It was the commercial for the new shogi tournament that had played before:

"[All-Japan Rising Shogi Challenge] is now accepting registrations! Amateur enthusiasts may also participate! Challenge powerful opponents and win generous prize money! The prize for your first win is 10,000 yen, and it doubles with every consecutive victory! The final winner will even have a chance to challenge for the Dragon King Throne! ..."

Natsume Chikage's gaze was involuntarily drawn toward it, settling on the prize figures scrolling across the screen—ten thousand for the first win, twenty thousand for the second, forty thousand for the third... Ten consecutive wins would mean 5.12 million yen!

A powerful impulse rose within him.

Writing novels was certainly a way out, but even if he finished the book this week and submitted it immediately, he would not receive any royalties until next month.

Rent, tuition, living expenses... money was needed everywhere. His sister could be happy for half a day after winning a thousand yen, which showed just how great their financial pressure was.

Natsume Chikage only earned at most 800 yen an hour at his part-time job.

After working eight hours a day, he could earn at most 6,400 yen.

And that was only possible because the manager had specifically scheduled him for extra hours.

In reality, high school students had limits on how long they could work.

They could work no more than five hours a day, and forty hours a month.

If they exceeded that and someone reported it, the shop could be shut down and fined.

That was why many workplaces would not openly let high school students work too long. They were afraid of being reported.

Based on the amount of time a high school student was allowed to work, Natsume Chikage could earn at most 68,000 yen a month...

And this tournament had only until tomorrow left for registration.

Once registration ended tomorrow, the competition would begin!

Natsume Chikage did not believe there were many professional players who possessed his ability to calculate ten or twenty moves ahead with every move.

So with the terrifying shogi skill he had just obtained, he could definitely win quite a few matches.

Even if he could not win all the way to the end, he could at least earn tens or even hundreds of thousands of yen. No matter how he calculated it, he would not lose out!

In the short term, this tournament would bring in money faster than either part-time work or writing novels.

Before the novel was successfully published and earned royalties, it could ease most of the family's financial burden.