The work of the Go master

Saito patted his shoulder as he finished his final explanation for the day.

"Let's call it a day then." Saito stood up from his seat.

"You can go now... By the way, could you send me your recent game records?" Ke Zhiguang said.

"Aren't my past masterpieces good enough?" Saito asked.

"Ideally, it should be something that's currently available, the closer the better, but regular training is also acceptable."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Saito paused for a moment, then chuckled as if he instantly understood.

"I'll bring my recent game records tomorrow. You should get some rest tonight," Saito said, then pushed open the door and left.

"Take care." Ke Zhiguang watched Saito leave, yawning several times in succession.

It's time for some pleasant time to be alone again. The first thing to do is move the chessboard from the coffee table to the desk, and then lie down in the swivel chair behind the desk, acting like the master of the place.

After enjoying himself, he continued to set up the chess pieces seriously.

Even he himself didn't expect that he would actually be staying here temporarily. He took a shower in the public bathroom and slept on the sofa. Since there was no quilt, he had to wear clothes to sleep, otherwise he would catch a cold.

Thankfully, the [Swan Guardian] item grants +10 cold resistance. With this effect, I'm not so afraid of the cold anymore. I need to get a few more +10s so I can have a blast on my Hokkaido trip this year.

Before he knew it, he had skipped the summer vacation plans and was already thinking about the winter vacation.

He had previously complained to himself that only adults think about the end of the year, while students only think about the next holiday, such as summer vacation.

Yes, before he knew it, he had reached this stage of his life and started thinking about things in terms of years.

Therefore, in order to realize the plan he wants to achieve and defend the lifestyle he desires, he must now go all out and push his limits.

The limit of chess skill.

The limits of the spirit.

And the limits of effort.

Sometimes, you can only witness your limits and break through your bottlenecks by risking your life.

The night is still long.

The flames that have burned for seven days can continue to burn.

After concluding his rather pointless reflections on life, he once again focused his attention on the chessboard.

The chess pieces fell under the moonlight, and the sound of the pieces echoed in the night sky, reaching the entire city of Tokyo.

......

.......

May 10th, at Yunjing Middle School.

Bai Meng is leading a team to intercept the principal.

"Principal! Please be sure to stamp our submitted activity plan!" Bai Meng forcefully shoved an activity plan initiated in the name of the club into the principal's face, while the principal was flanked by burly men from the Go club who forcibly held him back.

"Bai Meng, I know you are very talented, and the Go club has just achieved amazing results, but it's hard for me to agree to this," the principal replied with a bitter face, his expression as distressed as the bald patch on his head.

This is a very ambitious plan that requires the participation of students from the entire school. Usually, such activities are initiated by the student council, but considering the Go club's recent amazing championship victory and the emergence of a celebrity, the Go club has become the largest group in the school in all aspects and has the resources to bypass procedures and get things done directly.

"It definitely won't delay your studies. We only need to use the gymnasium briefly, and it's also where our club activities are held!"

"Yeah, yeah! Senior Ke is so popular at our school, everyone will definitely vote for him!"

"If Senior Ke stays, it will be a good thing for the school. Next year's enrollment season will see hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of new students come to admire the school, and the enrollment rate will set a historical record!"

Surrounded by students who were eager to help, the principal suddenly felt like he was about to be overthrown.

According to local tradition, this is highly likely to happen.

To be honest, the principal had been paying attention to Ke Zhiguang, and had also mentioned him in casual conversation with Cang Yuqiao. He learned that Ke Zhiguang was about to become a disciple of Saito Sando, a ninth-dan master, and had a promising future. It was only a matter of time before he dropped out of school. The seven-day leave he requested was a signal that he was about to drop out.

In the principal's view, Ke Zhiguang's withdrawal from school was a foregone conclusion, but the students' sincerity was truly touching, and the principal was willing to be moved by them.

But this might not be enough to sway Ke Zhiguang. Surely Ke Zhiguang wouldn't choose to reduce his Go time and stay at the university just because his friends wanted him to, right? Probably not.

The principal eventually relented: "I can stamp it, but if you want the activity to actually be implemented, you need to collect the signatures of a thousand students, is that alright? A thousand student signatures are needed for this proposal to be implemented."

"Yes, no problem, I trust Hikaru's influence."

After receiving the principal's promise, Bai Meng immediately set to work, searching for every student who might be able to sign an autograph for Ke Zhiguang.

Shuicheng didn't do much; he simply closed his eyes and returned to his seat in the classroom from the corridor to wait for class to begin.

......

......

On the night of May 11th, the night was already deep and quiet.

Ke Zhiguang hummed a little tune as he went downstairs to a convenience store, intending to get some coffee and a bento to replenish his nighttime energy.

This kind of life has been repeating itself for several days, with a unique flavor of adult life. Adults always have to face the quiet streets late at night, with only streetlights as their companions.

In a sense, teenagers who stay up all night in internet cafes also have this feeling.

Fortunately, we are currently in the era of convenience store development. Brands such as 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart are opening stores like crazy, and each convenience store is a warm oasis on the streets in the middle of the night.

Just as I was about to pay, a bottle of coffee was handed to me from the side.

"This is for you," a clear and clever girl's voice rang out.

The other party... was actually Inoue Seika.

"Are you out buying things so late?" Ke Zhiguang accepted the coffee without any resistance.

“Aren’t you the same? I’ve noticed you’ve been coming to this shop lately to buy food. Do you live nearby?” Inoue Hoshia asked.

"Yes, I'm staying in Saito's little study." Koji looked outside the convenience store and realized that it was indeed quite close to the women's dormitory; it was just out of sight from the upper floors.

Could it be that his actions over the past few days have been watched by Harushima Kashima and Inoue?

"Then why are you out so late? Is it because you've finished your training?" Inoue continued to ask.

Yes, and what about you?

"Me too. I was scolded by Senior Harushima for not having a strong sense of victory or defeat at crucial moments, and I've been guided by him ever since."

"Well, she was quite dedicated."

"Really? I thought you'd say she's a devil." Inoue chuckled softly.

"Oh, that's true, it's pretty grueling, especially at this hour."

"Okay, stop joking around, let's work together."

"effort."

After leaving the convenience store, the two went their separate ways and entered their respective battlefields.

......

......

On the afternoon of May 12th, as dusk fell, the appointed time drew ever closer.

At the chess academy, the day's classes have ended, and the students can decide whether to stay and continue studying or return to their dormitories to rest, depending on their own circumstances.

"Let me go back! I've been working hard enough lately! My new game console is waiting for me to open it!" Hideo Morisaki was about to leave, but Yasuhiro Yamaoka held him firmly in place.

"Stop joking! Tomorrow is the day Ke Zhiguang comes to kill us. If you don't make full preparations now, you'll be wiped out tomorrow!"

"Nonsense! You say it's tomorrow, so it's tomorrow? Did you discuss it with him beforehand?"

"He's already done up to question nine of the 'Daily Practice' exercise book at the entrance of our apartment building today, and he'll finish question ten tomorrow!"

"And then what? What does that have to do with his coming?"

"Because my record is exactly nine consecutive correct answers, he just tied my record today, and he will definitely come to break my record tomorrow. He definitely wants to take advantage of the momentum of breaking my record to defeat us all!"

"What kind of ridiculous reason is that! Let me go!"

In the end, Hideo Morisaki couldn't leave and obediently stayed to continue studying and reviewing the game.

An invisible pressure crept in with the approach of time. Everyone knew this moment would come, but no one knew how powerful it would be.

Kzhiguang is coming.

The arrival of scientific brilliance is just around the corner; this is probably the feeling it evokes.

For Yasuhiro Yamaoka, this person had become a harsh winter.

Meanwhile, Bai Meng's autograph collection plan is also coming to an end.

It's dismissal time now, and students are leaving school in droves, leaving only a few people from the sports department still playing on the playground.

"Excuse me, could I take up a little of your time? Do you know anything about the... uh? It's already been signed? Sorry to bother you."

I stopped several students in a row, and they all said they had already signed their names.

"The students have all left. Shouldn't we be able to count their names now?" the head of academic affairs, who was assigned to supervise the activity, urged from the side.

The statistics began, but as the table was pieced together, it turned out... one element was missing?

It got stuck right on the number 999!

"It can't be that coincidental, can it? It just happened to be on such an ominous number?"

"Quick, go and bring another person here. We'll have to use threats and bribes to get his name engraved on it!"

"There's no one left. Everyone in our club has signed up, and everyone in the sports department has signed up too. There's really no one left!"

The commune members shouted in unison.

Bai Meng gradually lowered her head.

"It seems he's not popular enough at this school. Let's just assume he's not popular enough, which is why he can't stay." Shao Gong put his arm around her shoulder.

"I... will accept this result." Bai Meng sighed sadly.

"I can sign one more!"

Shuicheng's voice suddenly rang out behind them.

She looked like she had just run a kilometer; she was holding her knees, her chest heaving, and her schoolbag was hanging at her feet.

Perhaps he had already decided to leave school, but halfway there, he suddenly felt a clench in his chest, and then uncontrollably ran back to school, just to drop his name.