Home.
Natsume Chikei pushed open the door and stepped back into the cramped three-tatami room.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back!” Natsume Ruri’s voice was bright with excitement.
She came over to greet him, smiling brightly.
“Big brother, we’ve got money now!”
Natsume Chikei looked confused.
“We’ve got money?
What’s going on?”
Natsume Ruri happily pulled a 1,000-yen bill from her pocket and waved it proudly with a giggle.
“The supermarket’s been running that stamp card promotion, right?”
“I collected all the cards and went to draw a prize—and I actually won third place!
A whole thousand yen!”
“Tomorrow Ruri’s going to use this money to buy lots of fresh ingredients and make something delicious for you!”
Natsume Chikei paused for a moment, looking at his sister’s excited little face, then broke into a smile.
He reached out and gently rubbed her head.
“Our little sister really is lucky!”
“Of course she is!” Natsume Ruri puffed out her small chest and laughed happily.
“Oh, right, big brother,” she suddenly remembered.
“Didn’t you go to Aunt Kondo’s place?
Did you get Dad’s old things?”
“Mm.” Natsume Chikei nodded and handed her the old, thick shogi record book he was holding.
Ruri took it and flipped through the sturdy cover, looking puzzled.
“This shogi record book is Dad’s old stuff?”
Natsume Chikei explained, “It’s old stuff, but not entirely.”
Ruri tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
Chikei looked at the thick cover of the record book and explained, “Dad bought this from a roadside stall back when he was in high school.”
“Before he graduated, he gave it to one of his juniors from the same club—Kondo Miyuki.”
“She’s a full-time housewife now and doesn’t really use it anymore, so she wanted to return it to its rightful owner.”
“So it counts as a memento, but not completely.”
Ruri’s eyes lit up with understanding.
“Oh, I see!”
She flipped through a few pages, looking at the densely packed shogi diagrams and notes.
Her small face scrunched up slightly.
“But Ruri’s not really interested in shogi or anything… What should we even do with something this thick and heavy…?”
Natsume Chikei timely reached out his hand and smiled. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“Then let me take care of it.
I’ve actually started to get interested in shogi lately.”
Ruri froze, her big, watery eyes filled with surprise.
“Big brother, you’re interested in shogi now?
Back when Dad used to teach you, you were always half-hearted about it.
You couldn’t even sit still for ten minutes before sneaking off!”
Chikei coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment.
“That was then.
This is now.”
Ruri tilted her little head and thought for a moment, convincing herself she understood—her brother was probably feeling sentimental, missing the times he used to play shogi with their dad.
That’s why he suddenly wanted to pick it up again.
But when she thought about her brother’s old shogi skills… she couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
After all, she had personally witnessed his games against their father.
The sight had been painful to watch.
She even felt that if she had studied shogi for just one month back then, she could have easily beaten their father, who had been researching it for years.
Ruri knew she had some natural talent, but since her interest in shogi had always been lukewarm, she had never really pursued it.
It was only then that Ruri noticed the plastic bag in Chikei’s other hand.
Inside was a brand-new, still-packaged simple shogi board.
She was even more surprised.
“Big brother, you even bought a new board?
Are you actually planning to spend time studying shogi seriously?”
Natsume Chikei shook his head.
“Not seriously studying.
There are just some things I want to try.”
When Ruri heard that, she got interested too.
Since they already had a board, playing a couple of games sounded fun.
She wasn’t particularly passionate about shogi, but playing occasionally could be pretty entertaining.
As for beating this dummy of a big brother?
She thought there was zero suspense.
With a hint of anticipation, she suggested, “Since you already bought a new board, let Ruri play a few games with you!”
“Sure, let’s play a few,” Natsume Chikei readily agreed.
He knew his little sister was a genuine genius.
Not only was she the top student in her entire middle school when it came to academics.
Even in shogi, she had real talent.
Their father, while not particularly strong, had still been somewhat well-known among amateur players.
He was at a level where most people simply couldn’t beat him.
Yet even their father had been defeated by Ruri after she had only studied for less than a month.
It was easy to imagine just how formidable his little sister really was.
Ruri happily took the new board out of the bag.
She sat cross-legged on the tatami in front of the small table, neatly tore open the clear plastic packaging, set the smooth wooden board in place, and began organizing the pieces, sorting them and lining them up on both sides.
While his sister was setting up the board, Natsume Chikei’s attention returned to the old, thick shogi record book in his hands.
[Dusty Old Shogi Record]
[Quality: Blue]
[Effect: After equipping, you can instantly master all the shogi records in this book.
In shogi, your comprehension becomes extremely high—you can understand ten things from one, with insight beyond what ordinary people can imagine!]
[Description: If you don’t play shogi, seeing me is like a frog in a well gazing at the moon in the sky; if you do play shogi, seeing me is like an ant trying to shake the heavens!]
[Synthesis Condition: Requires at least three pieces of equipment of the same type!]
[You have obtained ownership of this item.
Register the equipment?]
[Yes / No]
Natsume Chikei silently thought, “Yes!”
[Registration successful!]
[Still need one more special piece of equipment for the attribute point reward!]
[Equip “Dusty Old Shogi Record”?]
[Yes / No]
“Yes!”
In an instant!
A massive flood of profound shogi knowledge, countless classic game records and layouts, and exquisitely brilliant endgame solutions surged into his mind like a roaring torrent!
Not only that—he felt as if his thinking had been completely cleared and reshaped.
His understanding, insight, and calculation ability in shogi had all reached an unimaginable level.
Just by looking at the squares on the board, countless possible moves, subsequent developments, hidden traps, and killing blows automatically flashed through his mind at high speed, combining and optimizing into a series of crystal-clear optimal paths.
It felt as though he had already immersed himself in this art for decades and had become a shogi saint who ruled the board!
“Big brother, why are you still standing there?” Ruri’s clear voice pulled him out of that mysterious and powerful sensation.
She had already set up the pieces and was looking up at him with a mischievous little smile on her face.
She patted the spot across from her.
“I’m all set!
Come sit down!”
“Mm.” Natsume Chikei looked at the old shogi record book in his hands, took a deep breath, and suppressed the shock and excitement in his chest.
He sat down cross-legged across from his sister.
The small board lay between them.
The pieces gleamed warmly under the light.
“Big brother, do you want to go first or should I?” Ruri looked relaxed, carrying a hint of senior-to-junior superiority.
“You go first,” Natsume Chikei replied calmly.
Although he knew that having the first move gave a certain advantage in shogi, he didn’t care about that tiny difference in win rate right now.