Why Are You Here Too?

The massive Tokyo Shogi Hall stood before him, grand and imposing.

The moment Natsume Chikage arrived, he saw a long, winding queue already formed at the entrance, stretching from the doors all the way around a distant corner.

He had not expected so many participants. By rough estimate, there were at least several hundred.

Besides the competitors' entrance, there was also a spectators' entrance, with a steady stream of people filing inside.

Natsume Chikage recalled that his registration information seemed to place him in the A division.

Did that mean there were also B, C, D, and other divisions?

He checked his phone and saw that it was nearly eight o'clock.

Who knew whether something inside the hall might delay entry?

Natsume Chikage disliked being late, so he prepared to join the line.

He quietly walked to the end of the queue and moved forward slowly with the crowd.

While waiting, quite a few players looked nervous. Some lowered their heads to study shogi records in their hands, while others warmed up by playing against AI or online opponents through shogi apps on their phones.

Unlike them, Natsume Chikage did not cram at the last minute. As usual, he took out his phone whenever he had spare time and focused on writing, racing against the clock to continue working on The Devotion of Suspect X.

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

"Natsume-kun, it really is you! What a coincidence!" a familiar female voice exclaimed in surprise.

Natsume Chikage turned around and discovered that it was Horikawa Kaori, the staff member who had helped him register at the hall last time.

He could not help feeling surprised—this was clearly the competitors' queue. Why was she, a staff member, here?

Could she have registered for the tournament too?

"Hello, Miss Horikawa." He politely nodded in greeting.

Horikawa Kaori's face lit up with delight. "Huh? You actually remembered my name?"

"I happened to remember it when I saw your name tag last time."

"I see!"

A trace of happiness welled up in Horikawa Kaori's heart. She had not expected this young man to remember her name.

Natsume Chikage looked at her questioningly.

"I remember Miss Horikawa is a staff member... Did you enter this tournament too?"

Horikawa Kaori nodded with a smile.

"Yes. I'm actually a women's first-dan, and I've studied shogi for many years."

"My skill isn't anything exceptional, but it's rare for the shogi world to hold such a large new tournament. A lot of fellow enthusiasts I know signed up, so I wanted to try my luck too—see if I can win a few games and earn a little prize money."

Natsume Chikage returned her smile gently.

"I see. Then I wish Miss Horikawa a victorious start and success in every match."

Horikawa Kaori responded happily.

"I hope Natsume-kun achieves good results too."

That said, she clearly remembered that Natsume Chikage was a novice who had played only a little over ten games.

Honestly, he would have to thank his lucky stars if he managed to win even one...

That was no exaggeration.

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

Someone like him, daring to enter with only a dozen or so games under his belt, was truly rare.

He might even have played less than some children...

Therefore, although Horikawa Kaori sincerely hoped that Natsume Chikage would achieve good results, when she thought of his pitiful number of games, she could not help feeling that the odds were slim.

Still, one had to offer polite encouragement.

In her eyes, Natsume Chikage's willingness to challenge such a major tournament as a newcomer, without fearing strong opponents, was courage worthy of praise in itself.

His courage was commendable... yes, commendable.

The line moved quickly.

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

Natsume Chikage had not expected the queue to move so fast. He did not even have enough time to write, so he could only put away his phone and hope the tournament would begin soon.

If things went smoothly, perhaps he could return to school that afternoon and settle which club he would join as soon as possible.

If he still had not joined a club within a week, his conduct credits would likely be in danger.

And if too many conduct credits were deducted, he might even face the risk of expulsion.

If possible, Natsume Chikage still hoped to avoid losing any points.

After entering the hall, staff members directed the participants to scan the QR code on a standing sign with their phones to register their personal information.

After registering, each contestant received a personal QR code.

By having the staff scan this QR code, they could collect a randomly assigned contestant badge.

Once inside the venue, opponents would be assigned at random once again.

This meant that every contestant's opponent was entirely random—one might be lucky enough to face an ordinary hobbyist, or unlucky enough to encounter a skilled amateur, a member of the prize association, or even a professional player.

Everything depended on luck.

Following the instructions, Natsume Chikage and Horikawa Kaori behind him completed all the procedures.

Before long, they received their respective contestant badges from the staff.

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

Due to the large number of participants—a total of 2,048—the hall could not accommodate all contestants competing at the same time.

Therefore, the tournament was divided into four sections: A, B, C, and D, with roughly five hundred people in each section.

The preliminary rounds in each section were split into three sessions: morning, noon, and afternoon, corresponding to the first, second, and third matches respectively.

Around one hundred and sixty contestants competed during each time slot, with a maximum time limit of three hours per match.

Unfortunately, Natsume Chikage's match had been scheduled for the third session in the afternoon.

That meant he would have to wait until the afternoon to compete.

Thinking of this, Natsume Chikage could not help feeling a little helpless.

He had originally planned to finish early and return to school, but he had not expected to be placed in the final session.

Still, it did not matter. He had already taken leave, after all.

He could use the time to focus on writing until the match began.

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

Natsume Chikage shook his head. "No, mine is in the afternoon."

"That's great." Horikawa Kaori let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like we won't end up as opponents."

Natsume Chikage smiled faintly. "It would be a little awkward if we really did face each other."

Covering her mouth with a hand, Horikawa Kaori laughed softly. "Yes, it would."

Noticing Natsume Chikage's outfit, she asked in confusion, "But Natsume-kun, you're still wearing your school uniform. Did you take leave from school to come here?"

"Yes."

"If you took leave, why are you still wearing your school uniform?"

Natsume Chikage explained quietly, "I don't really have any decent casual clothes at home. The uniform looks pretty good too, so I just wore it."

That was not an excuse.

Back then, any reasonably presentable clothes, shoes, or hats at home that had been worth anything had long since been seized by the bank to pay off debts.

Only by selling off nearly all their family possessions had he and his sister managed to avoid falling into debt.

Even so, a life of hardship was unavoidable.

Now, his most presentable outfit really was this school uniform.

Japanese high school uniforms, whether for boys or girls, were generally quite well-designed.

Some were even so exquisite that girls still wore them out after graduation.

The boys' uniforms were the same.

However, the uniforms at Private Moonlight School were frighteningly expensive.

A few sets of uniforms would cost two hundred to three hundred thousand yen.

They were expensive, but they looked good, so Natsume Chikage did not feel embarrassed wearing his uniform out on the street.

Upon hearing this, Horikawa Kaori immediately realized that Natsume Chikage's family circumstances might not be very well-off.