All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends-Chapter 180 - : Genius One Vs. Potential Man?

Chapter 180: Genius One Vs. Potential Man?

On the day of the semifinals.

Unlike the preliminary rounds and knockout rounds, the semifinals were held in a competition room completely isolated from the outside world.

Inside the room, there were only two shogi players and one referee.

All spectators could only watch the match through live broadcast equipment.

This regulation was meant to ensure that the two players were not affected by the outside environment.

Yukima Azuma sat down in front of the standard seven-sun shogi board.

He looked up.

On the opposite side, a middle-aged man around forty or fifty years old had also settled into his seat.

A 9-dan shogi player, an old friend of Kiyotaki Kousuke, but Yukima Azuma didn't know this person.

Unlike Kiyotaki Kousuke, who had won countless titles and retired early,

This 9-dan player had an extremely competitive nature.

Kiyotaki Kousuke had once taken Yukima Azuma to meet many shogi players of his era.

But he had never mentioned this man.

"I look forward to your guidance."

After the two performed the customary greeting ritual, the match officially began.

The playing style of this 9-dan player was quite similar to Kiyotaki Kousuke's. The more Yukima Azuma played, the more he felt something was off.

The way he maneuvered his pieces wasn't just a 70% imitation.

It had to be at least 90%.

In terms of piece maneuvering skills, this 9-dan player might be slightly better than Kiyotaki Kousuke.

But if considering overall shogi ability...

This 9-dan player was still a bit inferior to Kiyotaki Kousuke.

It wasn't hard to understand why Kiyotaki Kousuke had never introduced Yukima Azuma to him.

After all, Kiyotaki Kousuke could completely teach Yukima Azuma this opponent's piece maneuvering techniques himself.

Moreover, his playing style was overly ambitious and impatient.

It was hard to believe that he was a 9-dan player who had competed for many years.

For Yukima Azuma, this match was much easier compared to facing Kiyotaki Kousuke.

After 230 moves, he securely led the match into the endgame.

Then, he easily broke through the opponent's formation, forcing him to resign.

After placing down his pieces to admit defeat, the 9-dan player left in frustration, flinging his sleeve as he walked away—thankfully, he didn't cough up blood or anything.

Yukima Azuma stepped out of the competition room and returned to the waiting area.

He looked at Kiyotaki Kousuke, his tone slightly perplexed:

"This 9-dan player seems to have some mental issues..."

Kiyotaki Kousuke nodded.

"That's right, his mentality has never been stable. It's always been like that, and he still hasn't fixed it."

"Back then, I didn't want you kids to learn from him, so I simply never introduced him."

The corner of Yukima Azuma's mouth twitched.

Alright then.

After resting, the second game began.

Perhaps influenced by the first match,

This 9-dan player became even more impatient as he played.

In this game, even before reaching the endgame, Yukima Azuma had already spotted a flaw, immediately advanced his rook (hisha), and tore through his opponent's defenses.

Then came the third game, then the fourth.

The opponent's performance worsened with each match.

In the end, within a single day, Yukima Azuma won with an overwhelming 4-0.

"Shishou, you're amazing! That was a 9-dan player!"

Watching the match on the live broadcast, Hinatsuru Ai cheered excitedly, the ahoge on her head bouncing along.

"It looks like the result for the other match is out too, also 4-0. The winner is that 2-dan player."

Sainokami Ika checked the match commentary on her phone and informed them.

Two 9-dan players and a series of 8-dan players had all been eliminated—none made it to the finals.

This year's Ryuuou finals would be a showdown between two young players.

Genius One vs. Potential Man.

This was completely unexpected for many people.

Fortunately, the betting scene around shogi wasn't too big.

Otherwise, who knows how many people would be heading to the rooftop to "enjoy the breeze."

...

After Yukima Azuma finished his interview and returned, Sora Ginko immediately informed him about his opponent in the finals.

Hearing that his opponent was the Potential Man he had met in the qualifiers,

The corner of Yukima Azuma's mouth twitched slightly.

A plot straight out of a shounen manga.

Oh no, I'm turning into the villain!

What if, in the finals, I end up getting reverse-swept from 3-0 to 3-4?

Let's hope he doesn't suddenly start shouting: "With this treasure, I summon....."

If he does that, I'm running away immediately.

After all, I have no intention of getting punched by a ☸ Big Daddy in white ☸whose catchphrase is ☸"Nah, I'd Adapt."☸

Yukima Azuma shook his head and laughed.

Come to think of it, ever since the start of the Ryuuou tournament, Yukima Azuma had yet to lose a single match.

He had been winning straight through.

To be precise, since his return to the shogi world, he had never tasted defeat.

Outside, reporters from various news agencies were typing so furiously that their keyboards seemed to be on the verge of catching fire.

This year's Ryuuou finals were truly entertaining.

If Kawai Kenichi—the 2-dan player—won and claimed the Ryuuou title, it would be a historic milestone.

A true shounen story.

And if Yukima Azuma won...

That, too, would be a new Chapter in history.

Until now, in this country, no one had ever gone undefeated all the way from the qualifiers to claim the Ryuuou title.

Even the current Meijin had lost two games in his most recent Ryuuou tournament appearance.

No matter the outcome, this year's Ryuuou tournament was sure to become a hot topic of discussion.

Public opinion had already exploded like water boiling over on a stove.

Yet, the central figure of all this discussion—Yukima Azuma—seemed to be completely at ease.

He wasn't locking himself in a room to analyze strategies.

Instead, he went to a film set.

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The production team of Hikaru no Shogi had reached out to Yukima Azuma.

He agreed to participate in the filming, only requesting that they schedule it around his existing commitments.

The production team didn't even hesitate before agreeing.

After all, Yukima Azuma was just one step away from claiming the Ryuuou title.

If he won the championship before joining the cast...

The hype would explode!

Yukima Azuma entrusted the contract negotiations to Laplace Corporation's staff.

He even lowered his own appearance fee in exchange for greater creative freedom.

Laplace Corporation also made an additional investment in the production.

With that arrangement...

By the time Yukima Azuma arrived at the set, the director and most of the crew came out to personally welcome him.

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"Yukima-sensei! Welcome, welcome."

The chief director, a man in his fifties, was a well-known figure in the industry.

Ordinarily, he only worked on large-scale film productions.

But because Hikaru no Shogi had investment from the Shogi Association, they were able to bring in a director of his caliber.

Amidst the warm welcome from the staff, Yukima Azuma stepped onto the set.

At this stage, the production team had largely completed the set construction, but several roles had yet to be cast.

Because of this, official filming had yet to begin.

However, before shooting could start, there were necessary preparations to be made—

Memorizing scripts, practicing scenes with co-stars, and so on.

Especially for someone like Yukima Azuma, who had never acted before—

He would need extra guidance.

Otherwise, a poor performance could kill the audience's immersion instantly.

"Kurokawa-san, come here for a moment."

The director called over Kurokawa Akane.

The young woman had been intently reading her script, but the moment she saw Yukima Azuma, she immediately set it down and walked over.

"This is Yukima-sensei. He has no prior acting experience, so I'll be counting on you to help him out."

"Yukima-sensei, this is Kurokawa Akane, a renowned acting prodigy in the industry..."

Upon hearing the introduction,

The two exchanged knowing smiles.

After the director left—

Yukima Azuma chuckled and said:

"Miss Guardian, so you're a genius, huh?"

Kurokawa Akane let out a soft snort.

"Genius? Please. I just work harder than most people. On the other hand, Azuma, you might be the real genius here."

"You've never acted before, yet you managed to fool a professional actress like me into running in circles."

( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)

Hearing this, Yukima Azuma gave an awkward chuckle.

There was no helping it—he was actually feeling guilty.

Even though faking his suicide had been to save Kurokawa Akane, which was entirely justifiable,

Logically speaking, she should be grateful to him.

But using acting to intimidate a girl, then stealing her first kiss...

There was just no way to justify that.

Fortunately, Kurokawa Akane didn't seem intent on "settling the score later."

"Let's go outside and practice in private."

Kurokawa Akane suggested.