The work of the Go master

The sword passed silently.

A graceful dagger sliced ​​through the air, and a ghost hidden in the darkness fell.

He shook off the ghost blood from the blade and sheathed it.

A cherry blossom suddenly drifted in through the skylight and landed on the chessboard.

The game is over.

Hase Kamiya was speechless.

"White has 179 points, winning by 1 points..." The vice president sighed. The score had already been counted, and they were just waiting for the final result.

This is the result after Black only made a 6-point komi.

After a period of silence, a torrent of curses swept over Hase Kamiya.

"Hase die, you disgrace to the gang!"

"Not only did the deception fail, but the recruitment of soldiers was also unfavorable, with four of them running away!"

"In the final step, just stick it back in properly and don't rush down, and you can win by half a point!"

"Idiot, give us all Jump! I'll swap mine for Margaret!" The vice president couldn't take it anymore and delivered a fierce kick to Hase Takashi's face, making him burst into tears.

Margaret is a shoujo manga magazine published by Shueisha, and is affiliated with Jump.

Ke Zhiguang leaned back in his chair, watching the farce unfolding in front of him, as if he had entered a period of post-battle sagehood, savoring the sweet wine of victory.

I've found my rhythm in chess.

It is more profound and clearer than yesterday.

"That was a beautiful win, Ke Zhiguang, but I have some questions for you, like here..." The vice president walked over in a gentle tone and began to review some details.

"Why did you stop the endgame so early in those two places?" The vice president restored the game to its beginning, right when Hase Kamiya's deceptive move had just failed.

In the corner of the small flying stance, Ke Zhiguang blocked the second path.

This was an endgame move, worth at most seven points, but the overall board was still quite open, with any move potentially yielding over 15 points. Ke Zhiguang blocked the move here, which truly stunned everyone around him.

"And here, here, why are you making so many contingencies during the planning stage?" the vice president continued to press.

Ke Zhiguang thought for a while, and then—

I yawned to calm myself down.

"Well, as I said, I've never played a complete game of Go, so I have no feel for the opening. It's more interesting to get entangled with the opponent's pieces," Ke Zhiguang replied somewhat sleepily.

"Stop lying. How could someone who has never played a complete game of chess know how to kill a piece?" The vice president, of course, did not believe this statement and even labeled Ke Zhiguang as "a person without morals" in his mind.

She pointed to a group of stones that had been suffocated by Hase Kamiya at the bottom of the chessboard.

After seeing Koji Mitsuaki finish the game one after another, Hasegawa Kamiya regained a lot of confidence and believed that Koji Mitsuaki was not very good at playing chess. The reason why his previous trick move of playing the 3-3 point was broken was simply because Mizuki Yuzuki had taught him how to break it, and it did not represent Koji Mitsuaki's true level.

So he confidently and boldly entered, like a diver, leaping and diving into the deep waters, penetrating near the thick wall of the white stones.

Moreover, they have no intention of escaping; they plan to stay put and live as long as possible, emptying out all their resources.

Then...then, he...drowned.

“I already said I’ve done life-and-death problems, so I have some insights into how to kill stones… well, some insights.” Ke Zhiguang nodded seriously.

"What kind of life-and-death problems are you solving?" The vice president's expression darkened. He felt there was no way to communicate with this person. Could this be solved with just a few life-and-death problems?

"The hardest question was something like this..."

Ke Zhiguang suddenly set up a chessboard on the empty board next to him, a move that once again surprised everyone.

Why can you still remember the life and death problems you've solved?

Who in their right mind would remember the life-and-death problems they've solved?

That's how it is.

What appeared on the chessboard was the last problem that Ke Zhiguang faced last night.

A circle of heads gathered around the chessboard, trying to dismantle it, and then several minutes passed.

"What kind of crazy question is this?!"

Finally, the vice president had a flash of inspiration: "I get it, this question seems to be about taking off one's boots backwards."

In a crucial move, the vice president captured the second rank, then crawled out, was then bent down after being pulled back, and continued to push towards the corner. Only then did the surrounding members realize the change.

"Is this question difficult?" Ke Zhiguang looked at his classmates' expressions with surprise.

"Nonsense, of course—"

Just as the vice president was about to say it was difficult, he suddenly felt that it would be embarrassing to say that, so he quickly composed himself, put his hands in his pockets, and said demurely, "Actually, it's just average, the kind that can be solved in about half a minute... um, half a minute is enough."

"I see." Ke Zhiguang nodded thoughtfully, revealing a tense and anxious expression.

It seems my talent hasn't reached that monstrous level.

I need to work hard from now on.

We aim to improve to a level that allows us to compete in team events within three weeks!

The vice president also understood Ke Zhiguang's expression.

The vice president's face twitched—

Please, please stop trying!

Give us mere mortals a way to survive!

"Keep up the good work, try your best, try even harder." The vice president's cheeks were slightly sweaty as he spoke seriously, though who knows what he was really saying.

Ke Zhiguang also stood up, holding onto the chessboard. After sitting for so long, his head was still spinning.

Winning my first game of chess was exhilarating and satisfying; it felt like some strange switch had been flipped.

Meanwhile, Hasegawa Takashi was still sitting on the opposite side of the chessboard, seemingly still reeling from his defeat and looking quite bewildered.

Koji gave Hase Kamiya an encouraging smile, which brought the other man back to his senses.

At a time like this, shouldn't I make some kind of declaration?

After all, this is a sports anime, so there has to be some elements of friendship, hard work, and victory, right?

Ke Zhiguang tried to imitate a manga from Jump, starting with a tone of "I'm sorry for the poor hospitality"—

"Put some effort into it, won't you?"

Ahem, no, it's this sentence that's correct—

Thank you for your guidance.

Strange equipment dropped in Chapter Thirteen?

When I walked out of the gymnasium, it was already completely dark outside, and the teaching building looked like a dark forest.

"Vice President, may I ask if my many unreasonable demands can now be put on the agenda for discussion?" Ke Zhiguang asked from the steps at the entrance of the gymnasium.

As the vice president locked the door, he said, "Okay, it's fine now. I'll let you join our advanced class to learn chess together. You can also ask Mr. Cangqiao for advice. But if you want to participate in the upcoming team competition, you'll need to get past the president first."

"President?" Ke Zhiguang suddenly realized that this person was only a deputy.

"The club president is the one qualified to decide the lineup, and he's also the strongest player in our club, at least at the amateur 5-dan level," the vice president said, looking at the distant moon.

Where is he now?

"The club president and the other four strongest members are currently undergoing a training camp and will probably return in about two weeks. Your chances are slim."

Training camps, also a unique product of Japanese clubs, are similar to spring outings. In practice, a group of students go to a scenic place to stay for a period of time, soak in hot spring hotels, and cleanse their tired souls.

However, training camps are often accompanied by skills training. Whether it is a sports club or a music club, they will hold training camps before major leagues, which is a common plot in anime.

To put it bluntly, it's a form of seclusion and self-cultivation.

Ke Zhiguang roughly understood.

Damn it, I was hoping to get a taste of the club training camp that's common in Japanese anime, but you guys have already secretly had your fun.

Hasegawa Takashi couldn't help but chime in again: "Yes, our club president is currently undergoing intensive training. Once he returns, you'll understand what true strength is!"

Just after Takashi Hase made his tough statement, he was immediately knocked down by the vice president's elbow.

This sentence translates to:

Once our senior brother emerges from seclusion, he'll definitely teach you a lesson!

"I will wait for him to come back," Ke Zhiguang said, his hands unconsciously clenching.

The fighting spirit that had just cooled down was brewing again.

Under the moonlight, it was as if a berserker within me was being revived.

As it approached eight o'clock, the club activity finally came to an end.

After saying goodbye to his new clubmates and also to Mizuki Yuzuki, Ke Zhiguang headed home, taking a set of chess pieces with him as a free souvenir.

Next time I'll have to treat Shuicheng to something to eat. If it weren't for her saying, "When in doubt, consult San San," we might not have won this round.

......

I finally got home at nine o'clock.

Ke Zhiguang placed the chessboard on his desk, and all his regular schoolwork had been swept away and put into the bookshelf.

Unpacking the gas device revealed two boxes of ordinary plastic chess pieces, a chessboard 0.5cm thick, and a timer. It seems the club has ample funds.

When Ke Zhiguang turned the 0.5cm board over, he found that it was indeed a shogi board panel, just as he had thought.

The reason he thought of a shogi board was because, based on his memory, the chessboard in his hometown could be flipped over to reveal a chessboard, and by analogy, it must be shogi in Japan.

Shogi is Japan's true national sport, suitable for all ages, and features a uniquely Japanese upgrade system, such as upgrading a chariot to a dragon.

But in today's world, shogi has faded considerably, as if Go has absorbed all the attention.

If Go were to expand to Europe and America someday, it might just become the black and white board of chess.

Ke Zhiguang placed his hand on the chessboard, gently stroking it to feel the texture—the texture of plastic.

【Type: Sticker Chessboard】