Chapter 62: Competency
Translator: Krrizis
Editor: 5d100
First Published on Ainushi
「Yamada, prepare to face my king’s attack! Absolute Power Force!」
「GWAHHHHHH!」
「Yosh, since it’s my win, your juice is mine!」
「ARGHHHHH! I LOST AGAINNNNN! Why can’t I ever beat Andouuuuuuuuuuu!?」
Such a pain in the ass though. Yamada’s really bad at it yet he’s so worked up that he just keeps challenging me… (Andou)
「Ooo… Andou, Yamada, what are you up to?」
「Hey, if it isn’t Yoshida! As you can see, it’s shogi!」
「But shogi nowadays isn’t as exhilarating… Heh. So it’s a shogi phone app? But wow, Andou, you’re really good at shogi.」
「Well, I used to play this board game alone a long time ago so I’ve learned the ins and outs of the game.」
「You mastered shogi on your own…Is that even possible?」
Well, I didn’t have any friends! It’s embarrassing to admit it out loud though…No, for realsies. (Andou)
「And therefore, Yamada lost?」
「Yeah, he seems really weak at it even though I played with a 4-piece handicap …」
「You cornered his king with just that? Amazing…」
「What gives? How is it that Andou won even when I had my rook and bishop?! That’s just impossible!」
「「Nah, it’s possible!」」
((Given that Yamada lost with those circumstances…)) (Andou & Yoshida)
「Well then, Andou! How about playing a round with me? Yamada, pass me your phone.」
「Eh!? Yoshida, you can play shogi?」
… even though you’re a baldie!? (Andou)
「Oi… Andou, your face has『You can play shogi even though you’re a baldie!?』written all over it.」
「Nah, I mean…Aren’t you in the baseball club?」
「Wor~~~d! Yoshida may be a baldie, Andou but as you can see, he’s also the captain of the baseball club! Hence, he may be a baldie but he’s surprisingly one smart cookie! Word!」
「Sawatari! You said too much!」
「Yoshida! Yoshida! Yoshida! Instead of dueling Andou-kun, duke it out with me! I’ll surely ace this if you’re my opponent! You’re a baldie afterall!」
「Yamada! Hand over your phone and butt out!」
Ah, I see. Yoshida’s always hanging out with Yamada and Sawatari so it’s no wonder that he’s perceived as a moron but he’s surprisingly quite level-headed. Certainly, in his position as captain, he would be familiar with coming up with strategies… (Andou)
「Alright, shall we? We’ll play on equal terms.」
「Great~ Bring it on!」
We were supposed to have drama practice after class has ended, but the girls are busy taking down Asakura’s measurements for her outfit and since the boys have nothing on their plates, we’re just loitering around. If they don’t drag it out for too long, I believe a round should suffice to kill time… (Andou)
20 minutes later
「Grrr…… Oi, Andou! You … Are you that obsessed with the ranging rook?」
「No, not particularly? I’m not fixated on having my rook in a specific position. I just felt that playing against someone like you in shogi, the ranging rook would be a good challenge.」
「… You have a pretty nasty side of you, huh?」
「Hereupon, I call forth my silver general from the drop! And now, checkmate!」*snaps fingers*
「What!? You— You’re checkmating me here!? Eh, is it even… a checkmate?」*snaps fingers*
「Adding to this, I summon a knight from the drop pile!」*snaps fingers*
「Amazing! You forked my king and rook!? Even if my king had escaped, the rook would have been captured… No, even if it hadn’t, the silver general would have done the same— Ugh, it’s my defeat…」
「Thank you for the high praise.」
All the boys in the class:『WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH!』
「It’s Andou’s victory!」
「Awesome! That was so one-sided!」
「But ya know, that didn’t seem like shogi. For a minute, I thought it looked like that other card game!」
Holy mackerel … Before I knew it, all the boys had started gathering around us… Shouldn’t all of you be rehearsing the play? (Andou)
*rattles~*
「We’re done taking measurements~~ Hmm? What’s with the uproar…」
「Phew, it’s finally over… Haa, they didn’t grow much.」
「Geez, Sakura! You don’t have to be so concerned about them. Having these large babies ain’t a good thing either, I’ll tell ya!」
「Hah… People like you who have them will never understand how people like me feel.」
「Asakura-san, welcome back!」
「Ah, Andou-kun! I’m terribly sorry. We were so caught up that we didn’t realize the time… Everyone, sorry to keep you guys waiting.」
「It’s alright. I was wasting time playing shogi.」
「Eh, you know how to play shogi!?」
He knows how to play shogi? So coooooolllll! (Asakura)
「Hoh~ …Andou-kun. You’re the leading star of this play yet instead of practicing, you deign to play shogi?」
「Oh, Class Rep! Welcome ba-」
「『Welcome back』, my foot! Hey, Andou-kun! Did you make progress rehearsing for the play? Do you remember your lines?」
「It’s fine! I have it all under control.」
After all, I did come up with the script therefore of course, it’ll be a walk in the park when it comes to memorizing my lines and as for acting… It doesn’t matter if I can’t act. It’s enough that I understand Romeo’s feelings. (Andou)
「Oh really? If you say so, then why don’t you show us. Let’s see, how about you act out page 12.」
「Eh? You mean here? Right now?」
「If there’s no issue, begin.」
Hmm, because I played around, there’s no room for rebuttals, huh… Can’t be helped then. (Andou)
「A— Hnn, Ahem…『O Juliet… Why, oh why art thou Juliet…?
Had thou been an ordinary inconspicuous girl but Juliet, I would reveal my heart to thou this very instance. Alas, thou are Juliet and I cannot!
For if I were to reveal these emotions deep inside of me, thou will have to part with many things!
These… These are things that I am unable to give thee…
Therefore, I shall take these feelings to my grave.
O Juliet …』」
「…………」
「…………」
The entire class:『…………』
*silence*
Ah, Hnn…? Did I bomb it? (Andou)
Guhuhu… If he had been the slightest bit shitty, I was going to call him a worthless piece of shit but the heck? He pulled it off perfectly! (Class Rep)
Andou-kun! You’re so handsome!!! (Asakura)
The entire class:『(Holy shit, that was an amazing performance…)』
「Hmm, hmm! Well, I suppose I’ll count that as a pass.」
Phew… I somehow made it. (Andou)
「I’m glad I met your assessment, Class Rep!」
「Next, since Andou-kun did his, let’s have Asakura-san rehearse hers as well. Asakura-san, have you memorized your lines?」
「Yup, I have! I have all the lines memorized completely!」
「Then, Asakura-san, please recite the lines from page 5.」
「Aye aye! Ahem …………『Oo Romeo! Yo, Ro-Me-Oh… Why ART thee? Ro-Me-Oh …?』」
The entire class:『–!?!?!?!!!!』
*silence…*
Fufufu! Everyone’s wowed into silence by my performance, huh… That would mean it’s a success! (Asakura)
The entire class:『(Er… That’s a joke, right? There’s no way that Asakura-san’s—!?)』
A, Asakura-san … T-T-That can’t be! You’re– (Andou)
Oi Oi… Asakura-san, you’re a ham of an actress………… (Class Rep)
Translation Notes:
- Absolute Power Force! Kek. My editor tells me it’s a Yu-Gi-Oh reference! Please comment with the relevant meme down below!
- Shogi (将棋, shōgi), also known as Japanese chess or the Game of Generals, is a two-player strategy board game native to Japan.
Each player has a set of 20 flat wedge-shaped pentagonal pieces of slightly different sizes. Except for the kings, opposing pieces are undifferentiated by marking or color. Pieces face forward by having the pointed side of each piece oriented toward the opponent’s side – this shows who controls the piece during play. The pieces from largest (most important) to smallest (least important) are:
-
- 1 king
- 1 rook
- 1 bishop
- 2 gold generals
- 2 silver generals
- 2 knights
- 2 lances
- 9 pawns
-
- The 4-Piece (四枚落ち yonmai-ochi) handicap in shogi has both of White’s major pieces, the rook (飛) and the bishop (角), removed as well as their lances (香). Thus, White is left with pawns, golds, silvers, and knights.Black has the usual setup of twenty pieces. The 4-Piece handicap is an official handicap of the Japan Shogi Association. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-Piece_handicap
- Ranging Rook or Swinging Rook (振り飛車 furibisha) openings in shogi position the rook to the center or left of the player’s board to support an attack there. By default, the term 振り飛車 usually assumes that the Ranging Rook player is White as it was played traditionally. However, Ranging Rook positions are also possible for Black, when it is specifically referred to as Black’s Ranging Rook (先手振り飛車 sente furibisha).
From its defensive origins, the standard way to play Ranging Rook openings is for the player to close the bishop’s diagonal by advancing a pawn to the 66 square when played by Black or advancing to 44 when played by White. Thus, Ranging Rook is sometimes termed Ordinary Ranging Rook or Normal Ranging Rook (ノーマル振り飛車 nōmaru furibisha) or Standard Ranging Rook (スタンダード振り飛車 sutandādo furibisha) to contrast with the newer Ranging Rook strategies that keep the bishop’s diagonal open. Since the traditional Ranging Rook prevents early bishop exchanges, it is described as a slow game (持久戦 jikyūsen) in Japanese. Preventing an early bishop exchange allows for the Ranging Rook player to develop the castle and defense without needing to worry about being stymied by bishop drops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranging_Rook
- Captured pieces are retained in hand and can be brought back into play under the capturing player’s control. The Japanese term for piece(s) in hand is either 持ち駒 mochigoma or 手駒 tegoma. On any turn, instead of moving a piece on the board, a player may select a piece in hand and place it – unpromoted side up and facing the opposing side – on any empty square. The piece is then one of that player’s active pieces on the board and can be moved accordingly. This is called dropping the piece, or simply, a drop. A drop counts as a complete move.
A drop cannot capture a piece, nor does dropping within the promotion zone result in immediate promotion. Capture and/or promotion may occur normally, however, on subsequent moves of the piece. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi
*coughs* So when they mentioned that other card game, I couldn’t figure out if the author meant Vanguard, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Z/X Zillions of Enemies, Buddy Fight or Weiss Schwarz. But now that I think about it, Z/X would probably be a better fit due to how the map plays out like a 9 grid box. If you know other Japanese TCGs that tick the box, please write it in the comment section! Thanks.Editor: This was a reference to YuGi-Oh. He was summoning a monster, and then putting a card face down. (I.E. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caUnlb_DNoo without the weird editing)- Ham actress: An amateur or professional actor who is affected, self-indulgent, or conceited, and who tends to strive for attention over the other actors on the stage by overplaying.
Thankz for this
Thank you for the chapter.
Hoping that you start to feel better and that things begin to look up.
Hi, I’m the new editor. This is the first time I tried this so please be gentle~
Also, as always,
Thanks for the chapter!
Lali~ho!
Thanks