Ryuuou no Oshigoto! - Volume 18 - Chapter 1.08

  A Game of Numbers

Ika is carried out of the room still unconscious and Okito-sensei joins the staff members as they file out one by one to have a meeting about what to do now in another room.

That leaves me alone in the arena with Ai Yashajin and Ms. Noboryou. It’s totally silent.

There’s also a bad taste that goes beyond words.

Thirty minutes pass with us just sitting by a blood-splattered Shogi board when the fusuma sliding doors quietly open.

“After deliberation, we have decided victory belongs to the Challenger,” says the observer in a strict tone without sitting down.

Ai bows her head like she would in a normal match. Except this time, it’s to an empty upper seat. Ms. Noboryou and I lower our heads out of reflex.

We must look confused because the observer steps inside by himself.

“There are two reasons. First, chances are extremely high that the Empress’ waiting time would have expired had the match continued and, second, that there is no rule to postpone the match due to health issues after the match begins at this time. By the way, if I my ask―――.” says Okito-sensei as he takes a seat at the boardside table. “If you are indeed a god, you would of course know the solution to Shogi, yes? That is why said match would be boring. Was Shogi such a simple game all along?”

“You know those games based on numbers?”

“…………”

That answer doesn’t line up with his question ……

I guess I look like the one who doesn’t get what’s going on because Ai takes one long look at my face before nicely spelling it out so even an idiot like me could understand.

“Two players go back and forth, saying numbers from 1, 2, 3, etc. until one of them loses for saying a specific one. As long as the amount of numbers you can say at one time is limited, it’s easy to find a way to win.”

“Intriguing―――”

Okito-sensei is the first to figure it out.

“Ai Yashajin. Am I correct in assuming you have reached the narrowest solution?”

“Yes. As far as I’m concerned, Shogi is over,” answers the girl fleetingly.

Over, she says.

Not this match, but Shogi altogether.

“H-Hold on just a minute …… Ai.”

I don’t follow at all.

“I saw Shogi’s solution using Awaji just like you …… At least, I thought I did. What you just played is very different from my own conclusion. How in the world did you surpass Awaji’s sequence in the first place? What do you know? What is this narrowest solution?”

I’m familiar with the concepts of narrow and broad.

But how would those change the solution to Shogi?

“I have the fastest supercomputer in the world, as well as the resources to run the most powerful calculation software in existence. As of this moment, there is nothing stronger. Yes?”

“Probably, yeah.”

That’s why I thought Awaji playing against itself would show the pinnacle of Shogi, its ultimate solution.

But Ai’s words shatter that assumption like glass.

“However, even Awaji can’t beat run-of-the-mill Shogi software on personal computers if the match starts in certain formations.”

“Haaa ……?!”

At first, I thought I’d just heard something revolutionary.

But …… on second thought, isn’t that common sense?

“Well yeah, if the starting point is already checkmate or hisshi …… Or if the formation was completely out of whack, sure it could lose.”

“Yes, but there are other instances, too.”

Ai begins to succinctly explain to her slack-jawed audience.

The end of the grand epic known as Shogi.

“It’s included in what people call standards.”

Standards ……?

“By standards, you mean standards, right? The sequences that have already been figured out.”

The one we say all the time? Like everything so far has been standard or the standard here would be ……?

“Yes. People have spent the last 1,400 years unearthing all sorts of standards. What are they, exactly? Don’t you think that using Awaji, which is many times stronger than a person will ever be, would make them next to useless? That’s what I thought at first. It turns out that wasn’t the case.”

“And that’s how you managed to surpass Awaji’s sequences?”

“Right again. I found formations where low-spec computers ended up winning against Awaji and went backwards from there.”

“Ah ……!!”

Ms. Noboryou and I gasp at the same time.

That hit me like a hammer to the head. An idea that could flip heaven and earth, make Copernicus go pale ……!

The first thing you’d normally do after getting a high-spec machine is investigate where and how it surpassed existing software.

Except Ai decided to go in the other direction.

“………… Prodigy …………”

I mumble, stunned. Her mind is just built different. Too different. She found a method to find an answer to Shogi that her junior-high-grad Master never even considered.

I’ve got a murky gist of what Ai is trying to say.

Deciphering Shogi completely is impossible, even for Awaji. There are certain formations in which it can’t produce an accurate rating.

That’s probably very true in the early-game.

But the way Ai put it, it sounds like she figured out how to make points of no return before Awaji can rate the formation.

Where even Awaji can’t avert checkmate.

Which means nothing on this planet could win starting from that point.

In that case, what’s wrong with calling it the narrowest solution?

“I’ve named those points death flags. The player who initiates that point will lose in Shogi.”

And …… Ai continues.

“Death flags are hidden in all types of formations, but they’re easiest to find in a specific one. It’s the most important one, by the way.”

I have no idea. Noboryou 3-dan looks just as clueless next to me.

Okito-sensei, however, answered instantly.

“Opening formation.”

“Right. Games derived from chess purposefully limit the movements of pieces at the beginning. There aren’t many legal moves at the beginning and putting your opponent in check is impossible.”

“Applied wisdom meant to draw out the game, I would presume.”

“Older RPG video games use the same method. Everyone would die if they were allowed to face monsters on the world map right away. So the player is locked in the King’s chambers instead.”

“Dragon Quest? How nostalgic.”

What does Dragon Quest have to do with this?

I can’t keep up with these two as it is, and now they’re going off on their own tangent.

“Ai. Hey …… could you go back to that number game thing again? I still don’t get what you meant ……”

“Game 21, for example. The rule is that you can say up to 3 consecutive numbers. The person who goes second and who always says a multiple of 4 will win. If the first player says one, then the second player says two, three, four.”

“So if the first player says one, two, the second just says three, four? How could you ever compare Shogi to something so simp―――”

I remember it just as the words are coming out of my mouth. The future Awaji showed me pops into my mind.

A truly terrifying conclusion strikes me like a bolt of lightning.

Goosebumps flood my whole body.

Shivering and covered in sweat, I manage to say, “No way …………… The reason Awaji played 5 Eight King first is because …………”

“It’s waiting,” answers Ai with her eyes locked on mine. “Awaji waits for the opponent to step on a death flag.”

“In which case, Shogi’s conclusion is an inevitable win for the defender?” inquires Okito-sensei. “Hmph ……”

Ai responds with a faint grin, but nothing more.

I know it’s just the four of us here, but Ai divulging this much information in public means she doesn’t think it's valuable anymore.

―――Then …… Ai Yashajin really found a way to guarantee victory in Shogi ……?

If so, then what does that make my Shogi conclusion?

What about all the Repetition Draws, Double Nyugyoku matches and Stalemates that Awaji found playing against itself? That wasn’t the solution to Shogi ……?

The more I hear, the more questions I have.

Wait …… Is Ai telling the truth to being with?

Is there any proof that this whole situation isn’t an elaborate trap she set for us?

Anything Ai Yashajin says must be taken with a grain of salt.

But there’s one thing that’s very clear.

Her words are going to send waves through the Shogi world and everyone is going to be just as stunned as me.

This tiny girl sitting in front of a large Shogi board.

Not only are the two titleholders in the room unable to refute her statements about the essence of Shogi, their own Shogi senses are being thrown for a loop.

One of the pro players put in that position, Okito-sensei, is very blunt about his feelings on the matter.

“…… I may have been better off dead.”

Ambulance sirens echo off in the distance.

Ai ends her spiel on a humble note.

“It’s too difficult for a calculation machine, even one as powerful as Awaji, to fully express an answer to Shogi. Even if it anticipates death flags and watches for them from the beginning, it doesn’t have enough power to perfectly decipher the sequences. That’s why I think the conclusion to Shogi itself will keep changing.”

“But these flags of yours will remain in place.”

“Yes. The line that separates a win from a loss isn’t going to move. So long as a rule change doesn’t allow Knight to go backwards or something like that, anyway.”

“Because the possible numbers you can count at once in the Game 21 applies to the amount of possible squares one particular piece can move at once in Shogi, and Shogi is limited to the number of squares on the board.”

It’s surprising how simple Ai’s solution to Shogi sounds when put into words.

Yeah, the Shogi gods wouldn’t play against her. What moron would keep playing a number game forever when they already know how to win?

It wouldn’t matter if offense or defense was guaranteed to win.

“Players are forced to start in an uneven opening formation in Shogi. The number of death flags that exist from the opening formation to the point the formation becomes absolutely even …… Well, not too many to memorize.”

If anyone could memorize them all.

If Ai Yashajin is the only one here who knows where they are.

“Let’s suffice it to say that as long as Awaji is the fastest supercomputer on earth, no human being could ever beat me.”

The current solution to Shogi―――Ai Yashajin is guaranteed to win.