The work of the Go master

"Why does it sound like you're gambling with yourself?"

"There's also a bet with you, although it sounds a bit far-fetched..."

Koji Hikaru slowly began to speak, starting with the part about the bet with Saito—

Saito was stunned for a moment after hearing this, but he quickly came to his senses and laughed twice: "The bet is very interesting. I accept!"

Once the emotions had been brewing, the murderous intent poured out like water bursting from a dam!

Saito grabbed a Go stone and hid it on the board. The game of guessing who would go first began.

Without saying a word, Ke Zhiguang slapped a chess piece away!

Guess the order!

The answer is revealed—two!

Ok?

this.....

Did I guess wrong again?

Ke Zhiguang recalled his recent experience of guessing the first move in chess and felt that he had guessed wrong in almost eight out of ten games.

It felt like the white piece was welded to my hand, and I couldn't shake it off.

He got to play white again.

【White is invincible】, now in effect.

The first chess piece fell from Saito's hand, and the fox god descended from the darkness. A fierce wind swept down, swirling up cherry blossoms on the ground, each broken petal transforming into a blade.

Ke Zhiguang quietly placed his pieces amidst the sharp cherry blossom rain.

The ten-second timer started, and both sides' pieces landed on the board at lightning speed.

Small eye, small eye, small eye, three three.

Just as Ke Zhiguang was holding the line at 3-3, a dialog box popped up.

My First Time Playing Triple Three

Every time he makes a new move on the chessboard, the dialog box will pop up, such as the first small knight's move corner approach, the first feint, and the first move outside the eye.

This is the first time that Dan Shousan has revealed his strategy, a method specifically designed to counter Saito.

For the past seven days, he has been doing this: repeatedly studying Saito's recent game records, understanding his recent playing style and usual moves, and then making moves against them one by one.

Targeted preparation before the game is also an essential part of a chess player's strength.

In the first Sino-Japanese Go Tournament in his previous life, the bridge master faced the most formidable top-tier Japanese player. He spent months preparing for the match, studying his opponent's game records day and night, and analyzing his opponent's personality. In the bridge master's own words, he thought about his opponent even while eating and sleeping, and he could only see him when he closed his eyes.

Although these words may sound somewhat mysterious today, putting aside all the nonsense, they are indeed a remarkable path to victory. Only with a strong vision and a competitive spirit can one complete this arduous training that lasts for months.

In short, back in the day, the bridge master spent a month or two thoroughly understanding his opponent, but I, Koji Mitsuaki, could easily defeat you, Saito, in just 7 days!

The pieces spread upwards from the lower right of the board, growing from an ancient opening pattern, stirring up the storm center on the board with sweeping movements.

42, 44. Ke Zhiguang made an extremely damaging move by blocking and connecting from under Black's thick position. Every move he made was like punching a piece of tough broken glass with his own fist.

Blood spilled from Ke Zhiguang's fingertips and fell onto the chessboard.

Hmm...

It looks scary, but it doesn't actually hurt much.

Moreover, they gained a crucial first-mover advantage.

Moreover, from a visual perspective, a fist covered in one's own blood might be more effective at beating someone up.

"How cruel! To gain the initiative, they're willing to damage one of their own pieces." Saito maintained a casual demeanor even during the countdown.

"You too, in order not to be restrained by what I had prepared in advance, you even changed your playing style. That's not flashy at all, teacher?"

That being said, both players' playing styles have actually changed.

Koichi Hikaru's game began to focus on territorial expansion, while Saito's game shifted towards a strong external influence, as if they had completed a change in playing style, both entering areas where they were not good at.

On move 52, Ke Zhiguang continued to place his stones.

Ignoring the white stones that were under attack outside, they solidly moved to the upper right corner!

He nipped a potential robbery in the bud. On the chessboard, a demon hidden in the shadows died instantly, its corpse disappearing automatically after a while, just like a dead NPC in an online game.

"That's really going too far. I thought your killing techniques were excessive before, but now it seems that your territory-gaining techniques are not much gentler than your killing techniques."

Before the words were even finished, at move number 67, the Divine Fox finally erupted in a riot.

One of its four tails suddenly began to take shape, and a spear forged from a hurricane was pulled out from its tail and hurled by the wind!

That was a precise strike against the weak white stones in the lower right corner, striking the most vulnerable spot of white with a bold and elegant style!

The chess pattern was quite familiar to him, and he used the same technique to stab Ze Zi Ge when he was fighting against the demon dragon.

Now that times have changed, he stands on Zezi's side, facing the dragon hunters' fierce attack.

In fact, when Ke Zhiguang later turned the game around, he realized that Ze Zi had a million chances to turn back, but he chose the kind that he could never turn back from.

Even when there was no way to turn back, Zezi still had a chance to return home alive, but he failed to seize that opportunity.

In other words, it's because Brother Zezi himself is incompetent.

If Ke Zhiguang were to go back two weeks and kick Zezi off the chessboard to take over the second half of the game, he would absolutely not have been able to win.

He broke through the bottleneck of his strength last night, and is now far stronger than he was two weeks ago.

At move 74, Ke Zhiguang placed his stone in the final countdown of the countdown—a split-shaped move placed on an incredible second-line position.

"This?!" Saito's eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock.

"This is... Ghost Hand..." That was the only name he could think of.

Chapter Thirty: In the way of chess, the freest person is called a chess saint.

Ke Zhiguang's consciousness suddenly wavered, flickering like a light bulb with a faulty connection.

In the 10-second rapid chess mode, many things cannot be obtained through calculation, but rather through a mysterious first impression.

When he came to his senses, he realized that he seemed to have made a move that sent chills down his spine.

The unusual board shape and the strike that transcends the sense of the game might be able to be pulled out of the deep sea of ​​complex choices when solving problems by repeatedly deliberating and selecting points, but in actual games, most people would not spend even a little time on it.

He... seemed to have used a sinister move.

"Ghost hand" is a relatively uncommon Go term.

The most common interpretations are "skillful hand" or "evil hand," both of which have meanings that are easy to understand at a glance.

The "ghost hand" is much more sinister and evil, falling somewhere between a derogatory and a commendatory connotation, and it evokes the same feeling when it lands on the chessboard.

A skilled hand can immediately discern the subtlety of something and applaud its excellence.

Once a bad move is made, one naturally has to hold their nose and walk away, as if the game itself had a foul smell.

The moment the "ghost hand" appears, everyone is bound to be surprised and wonder if the player misread the move or placed it incorrectly. In the context of Go in the internet age, it would be like saying, "This move must have been a slip of the pen."

Ghost hands are indeed commonly found on the first or second line of the board. This is a dead line on the board, a place where ghosts roam.

10, 9, 8... 3, 2—

In the final second, Saito finally realized the power of this move.

Suddenly! Accompanied by a terrifying jump scare, ghostly black chains erupted from the chess piece, binding the high and mighty Fox God like a torrent of ink!

In the final second, Saito had no time to think and placed his piece on what seemed to be the strongest possible position!

It snapped! With a crack, it shattered.

The chains of death and the white fox tail danced wildly in the air before plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

"Is this already a life-or-death struggle? I think this game is still a long way off," Ke Zhiguang said, taking a moment to speak between moves. In his view, everything was falling, leaving only the small space beneath his feet to form a chessboard.

"Don't take the life and death of the pieces too seriously. I've seen many games where you win after a seemingly hopeless situation, and lose after capturing pieces." Saito's voice landed slowly, still sounding experienced and at ease.

This was no bluff. Although the fox god behind him was bound by a net of chains and was missing a tail, its proud expression remained unchanged, still maintaining a high degree of consistency with its master.

Even after realizing the destructive power of the Ghost Hand, he remained completely calm.

As expected, the purple-level super boss is not easy to defeat. It requires both skill and mentality that have been honed through countless trials and tribulations, and the strength to turn the tide in countless desperate situations.

Of course, it has also been turned upside down countless times and has learned countless painful lessons.

This is one of the monsters who ascended to immortality after mastering the art of chess, and who once guarded the Dragon Throne for many years, ultimately claiming the eternal Dragon Throne crown...

A formidable opponent, powerful enough to make one's hands burn with excitement.

Ke Zhiguang suppressed the urge to take a breather and continued to keep every nerve taut.

The clock chimes alternated between black and white, and as the cold chimes announced their arrival, they were immediately turned off just before the clock reached zero, shifting the pressure to the other side.

Attack quickly, attack quickly, attack quickly again!

In what appeared to be a quiet space, the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle resembling a chainsaw duel.

One hundred and twenty moves!

One hundred and fifty moves!

One hundred and eighty moves!

Normally, this number of moves would have brought the game to the endgame, but this game was exceptionally long, with a significant portion of the board still open for battle.

198 moves, a new, ingenious technique, like a knife cutting through flesh, replenishing itself while exerting pressure on the black formation below!

Another tail of the fox god detached from its back and sank into the deep sea.

207 moves! This time it was Black's turn to make a brilliant move. The Fox God once again chose to sacrifice a tail, successfully sacrificing a piece and saving an important one for home.

For an ordinary Go player, every loss means the end of the game, but for the Inari God Fox, every tail is a life. After enduring three losses, it still maintains its tenacious vitality!

Ke Zhiguang couldn't help but feel secretly relieved. Luckily, it wasn't the Nine-Tails he was fighting, otherwise, his health bar would have been drained to the point of exhaustion.

The Inari fox spirit has only one tail left.

The situation was extremely subtle, with the difference in vision shifting by only a glance.