Mash-Up Anime World: Anything for Money

Hakuto looked at Ginko's serious expression and adjusted his own attitude accordingly, focusing entirely on the shogi board.

After about 90 moves, Ginko stared intently at the board, her face tense. A long silence passed before she finally let out a sigh, placed her piece down, and admitted defeat.

"I lost."

"Thank you for the match," Hakuto replied with a gentle smile. He picked up the pieces on the board and began resetting them.

Ginko, watching Hakuto's relaxed demeanor, waved her fan slightly and asked,

"Hakuto, are you really not considering adding some kind of shogi club?"

Hearing her question, Hakuto shook his head lightly and replied in a soft voice,

"No… I only play shogi because of you, Ginko. Or rather, the only reason shogi has any meaning to me is because of you."

As he spoke, his eyes were filled with sincerity—there wasn't even a hint of hesitation.

Ginko instinctively opened her fan, revealing the words Certain Victory inscribed on it, and used it to cover half of her face.

"Idiot… Why are you saying things like that all of a sudden?"

Hakuto smiled at her reaction and simply replied,

"It's the truth."

By now, he had already finished resetting the shogi board. Looking at Ginko sitting across from him, he made a welcoming gesture.

As he did, his thoughts drifted back to when they had first met.

It was about ten years ago. Hakuto, only six years old at the time, was still in elementary school.

Having refused adoption from multiple families, he had remained in the orphanage until he moved out after entering middle school.

Back then, during a class at school, Hakuto had encountered shogi for the first time—introduced to it by his classmates.

Maybe it was out of boredom, or maybe because his classmates had begged him to try it, but that day, he picked up a shogi piece for the first time.

There was no dramatic love at first sight moment. On the contrary, Hakuto thought of shogi as nothing more than a simple pastime.

However, perhaps due to the fact that he had lived two lives, his natural talent wasn't bad—enough to completely overwhelm the kids around him.

Of course, with his matured mindset, he had no interest in crushing children for fun. After a few casual games, he set shogi aside.

But after learning that Hakuto had picked up the game, some of the orphanage staff—including the director—would often call him over for a match. 

Every time they played, they would end the game with a wry smile and say,

"You have real talent, Hakuto. Have you ever thought about becoming a professional shogi player?"

Each time, Hakuto would simply smile and shake his head. He never considered himself particularly talented.

After all, as the old saying from Journey to the West goes, someone who cultivates their entire life to become immortal might still end up as just one of the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers fighting against Sun Wukong.

No matter how talented he was, it was only within this small circle.

Having lived two lives, Hakuto never allowed himself to believe he was some kind of genius—because he knew that true geniuses were everywhere in the world.

With that mindset, he left shogi alone. He would only pick it up again when someone else asked him to play.

He never found it troublesome, though—after all, he understood exactly how a child should behave to gain favor from adults.

And it was on that very day, inside the orphanage director's office, that Hakuto was introduced to the world of online shogi for the first time.

"Hakuto, Mom has something to do for a bit. Can you play this game for me?"

The director of the orphanage was a woman in her thirties named Kawaju Ritsuko. 

She came from a well-off family, but after losing her child at a young age and later being divorced by her husband, her father arranged for her to take this position at the orphanage.

Because of her background, Kawaju Ritsuko became the orphanage director as soon as she arrived—though in reality, the position had been passed around as a mere formality for years.

Perhaps due to the loss of her own child, she treated the orphans at the facility exceptionally well.

Especially Hakuto—she cared for him as if he were her own son.

She insisted that Hakuto call her "Mom" and would even introduce him to others as her child.

Hakuto didn't mind at all. He gladly accepted this rare experience of having a family.

At this moment, Hakuto looked at the computer screen, where a shogi match had just begun.

Maybe it was because she had noticed Hakuto's talent for shogi—Kawaju Ritsuko often pulled him into games, hoping to spark his interest in the game.

This time was probably no different. As for her excuse about needing to use the bathroom, it was likely just that—an excuse.

Hakuto glanced at Ritsuko, who was pretending to be in a hurry, but he didn't call her out on it.

Instead, he obediently sat down at the computer and focused on the match that had already started.

Since it was his first time playing shogi on a computer, he felt a bit unaccustomed to the interface. 

He fell behind in the first few dozen moves but gradually caught up as the game progressed.

When the words Victory appeared on the screen, Hakuto felt nothing in particular. However, behind him, Ritsuko clapped enthusiastically.

"Hakuto, you're amazing! That player had a really high win rate!"

Like a real mother, she showered him with encouragement. Hakuto responded with a quiet smile.

But just as he was about to exit the match interface, he saw a message pop up from his opponent.

"One more game!"

Immediately after, a rematch invitation appeared on the screen. But since Hakuto had no real interest in shogi, he naturally had no intention of accepting.

He simply typed a short reply on the keyboard:

"I don't accept disciples."

Then, he declined the invitation and promptly shut down the computer.

"Hakuto, isn't that a bit too much? You're just teasing them now," Ritsuko said as she ruffled his hair. 

However, she didn't seem to disapprove of his behavior—after all, he was still a child, and it was natural for kids to play around a little.

Hakuto understood this well. He knew when to act mature and when to let himself be a kid.

"It's fine. What's she gonna do, hunt me down in real life?"

It was just a simple joke. Who would have thought that the very next day, his opponent would actually track him down using his IP address?

When Hakuto opened the door, he found himself face-to-face with Ginko, who was only four years old at the time. 

She glared at him with a murderous expression, her tiny fists clenched as if she was ready to punch him at any second.

"Wait, seriously? You actually came all the way here?"

—Back to the present—

As Hakuto focused on his shogi match, he glanced at Ginko sitting across from him, her expression as serious as ever. 

Remembering their first meeting, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Hearing him laugh, Ginko frowned in confusion.

"…What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just remembered how four-year-old Ginko tried to 'assassinate' me in real life over a shogi match."

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