Chapter 29: The Fatal Blow
Ginko Sora vented all the conflicting emotions she had over the past few days with this momentum. After venting, she was like a deflated ball.
“Seal memories, yes, you can indeed seal the memories of these past few days. Then I’ll go back to my previous life…” Ginko Sora mumbled. “Tell me, to seal my memories of these past few days and make me forget you, what kind of price do I need to pay?”
“Young lady, your thoughts are very dangerous.” Luo Feng pressed his forehead against Ginko Sora’s. “Wanting to erase a devil from your mind and erase your most precious memories.”
“It’s not precious at all!” Ginko Sora broke free from Luo Feng and let out a low roar.
Seeing her so spirited, Luo Feng showed a fulfilled and gratified expression.
“Indeed not precious.” Luo Feng snapped his fingers. “But do you think your previous memories are very precious?”
Ginko Sora saw some scenes in her mind.
Nine years ago, in the elementary school Meijin match, Machi Kugui lost to Tsukiyomisaka in the semifinals and sat alone on a long bench in the corner of the venue, crying.
At this time, Yaichi Kuzuryuu appeared. He gently said, “Don’t cry. Let me show you an extremely interesting shogi game!” Then he defeated Tsukiyomizaka in the finals.
Love at first sight! Because of shogi!
Ginko Sora was in a daze for a moment. They, they had known each other since they were young? At that time, she still hated Yaichi, so that woman had taken advantage of the situation back then?
Luo Feng was afraid she would fall and quickly held her to sit on a chair. One hand naturally stroked her lower abdomen, and the other was placed on her temple.
The first scene was when she confessed to Yaichi Kuzuryuu for the first time, which was when Yaichi Kuzuryuu broke down for the first time during the Ryuou match.
“Is there really nothing you want me to do… Right now, I can make an exception… and do anything for you…”
“Can you not come and bother me? There are still title matches coming up, and Senior Sister, you also have the Women’s Gyokusa title defense match, right? I appreciate your concern for me, but for now, it’s better for us to focus on our own matters.”
“I’ve always been with you until now! And I will always be with you in the future! Can’t we just get stronger together like before? Is that not okay?”
“Even if you’re by my side, what can you do?”
“?”
“So what use can a Reward Association member like you be? Do you know who I’m fighting against? It’s that Meijin! Without even the experience of the 3-dan league, you dare to compare your child’s play-like shogi to a professional title match? If I study with you, I feel like I’ll become even more dull, you know? I’d rather study alone with software for higher efficiency!”
Next was the scene of her second confession to Yaichi Kuzuryuu and being ruthlessly rejected by him again.
Then there were Yaichi Kuzuryuu’s stories with lolis and some female shogi players. Under Luo Feng’s brilliant editing, Ginko Sora went from anger to despair and finally returned to calmness.
Didn’t you just see it? What’s the big deal?
She laughed. So the previous me was so stupid… only knowing how to give without receiving anything in return.
My shogi, my feelings, were all denied by him…
Indeed, I never had any beautiful memories. I shouldn’t be living in this world!
Luo Feng expressed that he absolutely didn’t deceive Ginko Sora here and didn’t fabricate anything. These were all real events. But what was god-level editing?
This was something he learned from humans. As long as you quote out of context, you can make people fall into an inescapable situation.
Luo Feng didn’t want a puppet on strings or a corpse, so it was time to show her what she should see.
Ginko Sora saw scenes of herself playing shogi in the past. When she was four years old, she took a car to find her master to play. She defeated one female shogi player after another, maintaining an undefeated record among them. The joy of winning, the unwillingness of losing to male shogi players, and the desire to become stronger gradually awakened her love for shogi.
In Ginko Sora’s calmness, fluctuations appeared again. That ash-like state of mind slowly rekindled.
“You had bad memories in the past, but these memories are also the most precious things to you! Not to mention the past, just the memories of these past few days, don’t you think they’re precious?” Luo Feng snapped his fingers.
Instantly, a memory appeared in Ginko Sora’s mind, along with the talent she had lost!
It was that segment! That shogi game played by three people! Every move could be called a divine move!
The man and woman weren’t playing one move each. Sometimes one would play a move, sometimes the other. It was two against one.
Such beautiful shogi…
Every move could extend into countless possibilities. Even though some strategies had already been defeated, changing a move or a way of thinking would create a new way to play.
This must be the true God of Shogi, right? If one could play against such an existence and lose to them, wouldn’t that be a lifelong fulfillment?
She also saw Keika Kiyotaki’s gratification upon knowing her improvement and that child’s expectation, that pure love for shogi.
He wasn’t flattering her to death, but truly wanted to see her creative shogi.
And that creative way of playing, the god-like way of playing, was all in her mind!
What she could calculate was definitely inferior to what that god-like being could calculate. How many moves could she see, how many moves could that child see, how many moves could the Meijin see?
If she possessed such shogi strength, she could even defeat computers…
No, defeating computers would be too insulting to that god-like existence!
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Do you want this kind of shogi?” Luo Feng smiled. “You’ve lost love, but you still have your career! You know what? Those two weren’t gods, but ordinary humans. They relied on their own abilities to play against gods and even… defeated gods.”(No Game No Life reference)
“You’re human too. Why can’t you do what they can do?”
“Women’s number one? Yaichi Kuzuryuu? Meijin? These are all too low-level! As long as you make a deal with me, your shogi can let you climb to the top step by step, allowing you to jump out of this world and play against gods.”
“Anyway, you have nothing to lose anymore. Why not try my proposal? Sign it. I’ll give you a discount. Half a year is enough. It’s super cost-effective!”
Hearing the devil’s whispers and seeing that magnificent shogi, thinking about the withdrawal symptoms of losing that power, Ginko Sora silently…
nodded.
