The work of the Go master

"Shuicheng, didn't you sign it before?" Ping Shisheng asked from the side.

“Yes, he didn’t sign. How could I possibly agree to such a stupid thing, trying to force someone to stay by appeals? You guys should at least consider Xiaoguang’s own feelings… But what can I do? Because I really want him to stay.” Shuicheng walked over, pressing his heaving chest. His words were soft, but incredibly sincere.

She approached Bai Meng, snatched the form from her hand, and left her name at the very bottom.

The signature was made with great force, and the sound of the pen was very clear, as if it were carved with a knife.

"It's signed, here you go. Now I'm the same as you." Shui Cheng forcefully shoved the pen and list into Bai Meng's arms.

Then she left, without even turning her head back.

As the sun set, everyone watched her departing figure, and Bai Meng even felt a slight stinging sensation in the corner of her eye.

"That's fine too. At least it's a result, and it proves that you really did fight for him," Shao Gong said to Bai Meng with a sigh.

"Now it's up to you, Ke Zhiguang. The venue is all set for you." Shao Gong finally turned his gaze to the setting sun in the sky.

.....

......

On the evening of May 12th, after the clock struck twelve, the thirteenth arrived.

Just as Ke Zhiguang was yawning and feeling sleepy, he suddenly noticed a string of red question marks appearing in the corridor outside.

The string of question marks continued its furtive journey down the corridor, eventually stopping in front of the office door.

They didn't even make a sound.

Ke Zhiguang stopped yawning, suddenly wide awake by the scene.

What kind of Hong Kong-style office ghost movie plot is this?

"Harushima, good evening?"

"Ahhh! I hadn't even knocked yet, how did you know I was here? You scared me to death!"

"To be honest, you were sneaking around in the hallway like a ghost, which scared me a bit too." Ke Zhiguang went up to open the door. "Your original plan wasn't just to suddenly knock on the door and scare me or something, was it?"

As if his true thoughts had been exposed, Shika Harujima's shoulder blades trembled.

"I...I don't have such childish thoughts."

Oh, so she knew it was a naive idea.

"I just heard from Hoshino that you were staying at Saito's study nearby, so I came to see you."

"Did you also bring me some food?" Ke Zhiguang looked behind her and spotted something that looked like a bento box.

"Ahem, consider this a thank you gift for helping me win the claw machine." Harushima Shika placed a half-price pork cutlet bento box she bought from the convenience store downstairs on the table.

After countless days of turmoil, we've returned to the half-price pork cutlet bento box, which inexplicably evokes a sense of nostalgia.

"Have you settled down here?" Harujima Kashima looked around and noticed many signs of habitation.

"Don't worry, tonight is the last night." Ke Zhiguang put down his chopsticks and started eating the pork chop bento.

Sure enough, no matter what kind of food it is, it tastes better as long as it's labeled half price.

How long have you been staying here?

"One week."

"You actually managed to stay in a place like this for a week, there isn't even a bed here..." Harushima Shika suddenly felt a little admiration for Koji Hikaru's ability to endure such rudimentary facilities.

“I will never have this experience again, so it’s quite memorable in every sense of the word.” Ke Zhiguang said, propping his head up with his hand. “If I didn’t have a strong vision, how could I have walked this thorny path to the end… even for me.”

"Hey! What's with that last sentence?! It's outrageous! Remove it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I upset you."

"Go away, go away, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey."

Sure enough, teasing her is quite fun.

"So what exactly is your vision? Is it worth working so hard for this entire week?" Harujima Shika asked, looking into Koji Hikaru's eyes.

In her opinion, Ke Zhiguang should be the kind of chess player who is too lazy, but who is just naturally gifted with a talent. Such a person would definitely have high standards for the quality of life and would not be able to stand being here for a week no matter what.

“My vision is very simple, it is... I want everything.” Ke Zhiguang put down his chopsticks and made a fist gesture in front of him.

It's like grabbing both sides at the same time.

Harushima Deer seems to understand.

“It’s very difficult to have everything you want,” said Harushima Shika.

"I know, so I'm going to take a quiz."

"What kind of test?" Harushima Shika asked.

"It was the test you gave me back then, the very first test... You told me when I was just learning Go that if I could beat you with a nine-stone handicap, it would prove I had the ability to become a professional Go player. If I couldn't beat you, I should just quit and at most treat Go as a hobby, right?"

Upon hearing this, Harujima Kashima blushed, as if a dark chapter of her chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) history had been exposed.

"That's right! That was just something I did on a whim, without thinking it through, so it doesn't count!"

"Thank you for that test you gave me back then. Although the result was that we were evenly matched and fought each other, which went against my original intention, I have decided to try the test again to see if I can hold both sides at the same time. This is a challenge to my limits."

"What if the challenge fails?"

Ke Zhiguang spoke with an upright and awe-inspiring expression: "Of course, it's the same as the conditions for failure you set back then. The condition for failure back then was that I completely gave up the way of Go, while the condition for failure this time... is that I completely give up my ordinary academic life."

"So...so you do have thoughts about these things." After a moment of confusion, Harushima Shika gave a forced, bitter laugh, tinged with a hint of envy.

“Not only do I have ideas, but they’re huge. If I can have them all, I’ll definitely take every single one.” Ke Zhiguang met the other’s eyes with a firm and clear gaze.

He extended his fist towards Harushima Shika, and Harushima Shika quickly returned the punch.

The soft touch came from my fingers, like being rubbed by a kitten.

"Then go and fight properly, do you hear me!"

"It will definitely succeed."

The final flames of the seven days erupted, bringing the long night to its end.

.....

......

May 13th was no different from any other day.

As time went by, people and cars moved along with it, and the wind moved along with it.

Saito pushed open the door to his study office; he knew it wasn't locked.

"You've arrived, Saito-sensei," said Koji Mitsuaki, sitting at his desk, having deliberately reserved the seat of honor, facing the door, for him.

The chessboard in front of him was empty.

There was also a timer next to it, but I didn't need it when practicing chess.

"It's today? I thought it would be later," Saito said with a smile, having already made preparations.

"Yes, today, let's play a game, one of us going first... a 10-second rapid chess game."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Reverse Fox's Blade

His murderous intent was now fully revealed, and Saito had been mentally prepared for this moment.

Seven days ago, Ke Zhiguang asked him for the key. He didn't understand Ke Zhiguang's purpose and thought that Ke Zhiguang had suddenly become enlightened and was planning to study hard.

But later he directly asked Saito for his most recent game records, which made his attitude very clear: he was aiming to defeat Saito even with a game on equal footing.

Saito readily accepted Koji Mitsuaki's request and gave him all of his most recent game records the following day.

His long-dormant fighting spirit, stimulated by Ke Zhiguang, was reawakened like a berserker, waiting for the moment when his opponent would come with his sword.

"It's a good thing we're just teaching chess, not swordsmanship. Otherwise, as your teacher, I'd have to be on guard against your sneak attacks all the time, right? There are some very old swordsmanship schools where the day a student graduates is the day the student takes the teacher's head." Saito sat down opposite Koji Hikaru, his back blocking the sunlight streaming into the room from the window.

“I’m not that bloody and violent. I promise that the moment my knife touches your neck, I will loosen my grip and only make a symbolic gesture of taking your head, stopping short of that.” Koji Mitsuko had a calm smile on his face. From this moment on, he and Saito entered into a state of confrontation.

As usual, let's throw in some trash talk before the game to lighten the mood.

Saito fiddled with the clock next to him and found that the time had already been set.

Backup time: 0.

Countdown: 1.

Countdown time: 10 seconds.

"A blitz chess game with a move every ten seconds... You're really something, Ke Zhiguang. Are you trying to defeat me with the calculation speed advantage that young people are most proud of?"

When in doubt, playing a quick game of chess can calm your nerves—this is a method that Ke Zhiguang summarized when playing against Qingdao Lu.

Now, he plans to try this tactic on Saito again.

Once you enter the rapid chess arena, both players' chess strength will undoubtedly decline. Some people will decline less, say by 10%, while others will decline by more than 50%, causing them to collapse on the spot.

This is why Isshin Harushima claims he can beat players of the same level with a two-stone handicap using the blitz chess format. He emphasizes recklessness and aggressiveness, and can easily overwhelm weaker opponents with a flurry of attacks.

“There’s no other way. You’re so good, teacher. If I want to defeat you, there are some things I can’t do without in terms of sportsmanship,” Ke Zhiguang said. “Actually, my original plan was to challenge you directly, but after doing some research, I found that rapid chess is also one of your specialties.”

"So that's why you came up with the idea of ​​studying my most recent game records for seven days and then defeating me in one fell swoop?"

"That's right, that's my only chance of winning."

"So, in your opinion, what are your chances of winning right now?"

"Ninety-five percent."

A raging wind howled outside the window, and the clear weather just moments before turned gray.

But as Saito's lips curled into a smile and his tense expression relaxed, the wind immediately stopped.

"Then I have another question. Why are you in such a hurry to challenge me? Is there something you want to do?" Saito's hand had already reached into the Go box, making a rustling sound on the Go pieces, as if a samurai had placed his hand on the hilt of a sword and slightly pulled out the blade.

This should be his last question. Once he gets the answer, the moment he draws his sword and performs an iaido will probably come as scheduled.

"There's nothing in a rush to do, I just wanted to make a bet with you."

"The bet... Don't even mention that I loved gambling when I was young; I still often take some time to bet on horses or something like that now... Tell me, what's your bet?"

"If I win, I'll do whatever I want; if I lose, I'll focus on learning chess."