Go: Is the portable old man the nine-time champion?

Chapter 208 One Must Be Shameless
"The moon is supposed to be fullest on the sixteenth of the lunar month, but tonight's moon is definitely much fuller. I wonder how my sister is doing back home..."

Old Ke leaned against the window, gazing at the moon outside, and sighed, "The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed just like that; another year has gone by."

It feels like I've been in this world for a very long time, so long that I've almost forgotten how much time has passed.

Although I was in a daze, I could still feel the passage of time.

If I calculate it this way, it seems like I'm already in my thirties, and I suddenly feel like an old man.

No, who adds an age to their body even though they're already a spirit? I'm still in my twenties! Still very young! That's right, that's exactly how I am!

Thinking of this, Old Ke nodded immediately, indicating that he couldn't possibly be over thirty.

Yi Zheng finished his meal and entered the room. Seeing Old Ke leaning against the window again, he asked, "Old Ke, do you think we can achieve our goal tonight? Can Li Junhe really put aside his pride?"

Upon hearing this, Old Ke shook his head: "Not everyone is as thick-skinned as me. I don't know if Li Junhe has mentally prepared himself."

It's actually quite difficult, especially in such a short time. Although I was the first to step in on various fronts back then, and many people thought I could suddenly let go of my pride, I still did a considerable amount of mental preparation.

Asking him to accept it immediately is unrealistic. It's okay if he can't accept it right away; take it slowly. Time heals all wounds, and eventually everyone will accept it.

Back in the original world, Ke Lao was often criticized for being thick-skinned, but he didn't care. He even said that he was shameless and not embarrassed at all. During a live stream, he even said that he thought being thick-skinned was a pretty good thing.

However, during his live stream, Mr. Ke also stated that not all chess players are as thick-skinned as he is, and that other players shouldn't be cyberbullied. Many players who participate in the world championship qualifiers pay their own way, receive no appearance fees, and even after being eliminated and returning home, they still thank the organizers for giving them the opportunity to participate. Where can you find such pure and kind-hearted chess players? It's wrong for everyone to mock them. Not all chess players are as thick-skinned as he is.

He also said that the netizens on a certain website were quite friendly, especially towards him, unlike some platforms that were too aggressive and had no bottom line when they attacked. However, he probably never imagined that this would become a boomerang a few years later.

However, this particular point clearly lacked any memorable or viral moments during the live stream. All that people remembered were the jokes about the "hotel bad chess virus" and the "immortal elixir roasted sac" mentioned during the same time slot, and they expressed that Mr. Ke was still being unethical and mocking others' skill level, showing no respect for anyone else.

Another reason why Ke Lao is considered shameless by others is that, with the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology around the world, although the first AI that Ke Lao faced back then announced its retirement and no longer appears in front of the public.

However, the Go AI developed by various countries is also constantly evolving. From being unable to beat humans in the test version to gradually and steadily defeating professional players, to the point where there is no suspense about the outcome when human players play against AI with equal moves.

Of course, this refers to the most advanced artificial intelligence developed by China, not some disgraceful dog.

At that moment, without any warning, Ke Lao suddenly entered the game and played a handicap game against the country's strongest artificial intelligence, Jueyi. Just a few months earlier, he had managed to defeat this test version of Jueyi by relying on his skills to fight a ko fight and gain an advantage.

This can already be considered a pretty good achievement. It met expectations that his strength at the time should have surpassed that of the first generation of dogs, which was quite a prestigious thing, especially since he himself posted a message to celebrate.

Furthermore, at that time, Coach Ko was absolutely recognized as the world's number one, so he should have maintained a certain level of composure.

However, Professor Ke still didn't care about saving face and was the first to play against the artificial intelligence, giving them a two-piece handicap.

Even the nation's most respected figure couldn't help but comment: "With even Ke joining the game, the other players won't feel any psychological burden."

Of course, some people commented that Professor Ke was simply completely defeated by artificial intelligence and had given up entirely.

But in reality, if the world's number one player can put aside his pride, others will naturally no longer worry about losing face when playing handicap games, and can naturally learn from artificial intelligence in a more compliant manner.

Later on, it became common practice for professional 9-dan world champions to play handicap games against artificial intelligence, and you could see it on any platform.

For example, a professional 9-dan player once said during a live stream, "If things don't go beyond X, you'll definitely win against Jueyi."
It's actually quite rare for them to be able to distinguish each other, even when dealing with some weaker artificial intelligence.

"Ah Zheng, if you were the world's number one player, do you think you would play a handicap game?"

Yi Zheng shook his head upon hearing this, indicating that he had no relevant experience: "It's hard to say. You can't understand it unless you've been in that position, not to mention that there are many more things to consider once you're in that position. Not only yourself, but also the people around you, and so-called business and endorsements. Thinking about it this way, being the world's number one seems to be quite stressful. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight."

"Mr. Ke, what would you do if you were in that situation?"

Yi Zheng countered with a question to Elder Ke, after all, he was the one who had relevant experience and might have already made his choice.

Looking at the full moon in the sky, Old Ke smiled and said, "What is dignity? Can you eat it? I only know..."
I like playing Go. I love Go. That's enough.

Yi Zheng glanced at Old Ke and instantly put on a fly-like expression: "You're usually so carefree, yet you can actually say something so philosophical."

"roll!"

"If I leave, you'll miss the game tonight."

"Your uncle's!"

After exchanging a few insults, Ke Lao glanced at the time and followed Yi Zheng to the computer, waiting for today's match to begin.

Today's event is also being broadcast live. You can see from the live stream that the Silla Chess Academy is making preparations. However, with less than five minutes left before the start of the match, Lee Jun-hyuk has yet to arrive at the venue.

Although it's not unusual for players to walk over the line during official matches, and many even deliberately walk over the line and then leisurely walk over to put pressure on their opponents.

However, this competition is an online competition, so everyone is not in the same venue. Also, Li Junhe arrived ten or twenty minutes early yesterday, so why is he so late today?

"Can there really be traffic jams on Silla Road?"

Let alone Seoul, such a tiny place, even the entire Silla region could be easily explored by a single car.

Therefore, most Silla people do not understand why they have to take a plane to go somewhere in China. Why can't they just drive?

Meanwhile, the Silla Go Academy also felt something was strange. The live broadcast of the match was being held at the academy, and according to the schedule, Lee Jun-hyuk should have arrived long ago.

"What's going on? Why hasn't Li Junhe arrived yet?"

Did you call him?

"Why can't I get through on the phone?"

"We can't exactly say that Li Junhe was afraid of fighting, can we?"

The director of the Silla Chess Academy was also very troubled when he couldn't get through to Lee Jun-hyuk on the phone. If Lee Jun-hyuk really didn't want to play, he should have discussed it with him in advance.

I have plenty of ways to mediate, but how could someone just vanish without a word? That makes public relations really difficult.

Could it be that Lee Jun-hyuk really broke down yesterday and can't accept reality at all?

If we think about it more deeply, perhaps Lee Jun-hyuk is contemplating suicide.

Don't do that! Lee Jun-hyuk still has at least five years of commercial value left! You can't afford to get into trouble now!

(End of this chapter)