The work of the Go master

After all, he considers himself quite clever.

However, I happened to have a strange Go book on hand, and I couldn't help but be curious and want to take a look at it during class.

Not long after, a small note was thrown from behind. Turning around, I saw that it was thrown by Mizuki Yuzuki, who was looking at Ke Zhiguang with a sullen expression.

There was no other way but to put the book away and instead pick up my math textbook and start studying seriously.

It feels like being watched by my mom...

Finally, the lunch break arrived.

Ke Zhiguang came to the library alone.

I had planned to come with Mizuki Yuuki, but I felt that it was better to do this kind of mysterious activity by myself.

The school's library is a three-story building that has been around for many years, exuding a rustic charm. The Thinker statue in front of the library seems to come alive at night.

It does indeed seem like a place full of mystery.

Following the instructions of the [Special Item], locate the specified bookshelf and shelf, and count the books one by one from left to right.

The first book, the second book, the third book... the fifteenth book, found it.

The book is called "Celebrities," and the author is the famous Yasunari Kawabata.

"The Master" is not a very famous work among Yasunari Kawabata's works, but it is indeed a book related to Go. When translated into Chinese, it is only about 60,000 words long.

This book tells the story of Honinbo Shusai's retirement in the 1930s in Japan, which was a dominant force in the Go world. It is consistent with Kawabata Yasunari's Japanese aesthetics and also has a tragic element unique to Japanese stories.

Honinbo Shusai lost this retirement game and passed away three years later.

That's Ke Zhiguang's impression of the book; he doesn't have any specific memory of reading it.

However, to be fair, Honinbo Shusai's sportsmanship is questionable. In order to ensure his undefeated record, he took advantage of his superior position and made numerous mistakes, sometimes as many as 13 times in a single game. He played for three months and mobilized all his disciples to study the game. In the end, he forced a two-and-a-half-point victory.

In conclusion, this person is neither talented nor virtuous.

Wait a minute, it seems like I also have a game of chess left unfinished...

Oh, then Honinbo Shusai is alright.

Ke Zhiguang pulled the book "Celebrities" off the shelf, took a deep breath, and then turned the pages one by one.

One page, two pages, three pages... Ke Zhiguang flipped through the pages very slowly, his heart pounding with tension, as if the true intentions were about to be revealed.

Page 27, I found it.

A chess score is tucked inside this page.

As expected, it was ultimately related to Go.

If this scene were depicted in a martial arts novel, the chess manual would most likely be linked to a peerless martial arts technique, and the protagonist's skill would increase dramatically after obtaining the manual.

But it's obvious that this is impossible. No matter how good a game record is, it's still just a game record. Perhaps some of the amazing moves in it can inspire people, but it will never achieve an immediate improvement.

Unless this chess manual is truly a "book of experience," which, when stewed into soup and eaten, will automatically level you up.

Ke Zhiguang flipped through the chess score and saw the dense numbers. He couldn't judge the quality of the score for a while, let alone understand the mystery within it.

Ke Zhiguang stuffed the chess score into his pocket and left. It was lunchtime, and after considering all the options, he decided that the half-price pork chop rice was the most cost-effective.

I also borrowed this copy of "Celebrities" as a bonus.

Arriving at the cafeteria, I successfully bought the school's most famous pork chop bento at half price. Taking a bite of the golden, crispy, and fragrant pork chop made me feel that life was full of color.

Japanese schools are often very frugal with the amount of oil used in their food; the well-known school fried chicken often tastes bland. Many Chinese tourists visiting Japan carry Lao Gan Ma chili sauce with them.

Fortunately, the original owner had already gotten used to the food here, so he can now enjoy the pleasure of eating it.

"Ke, did you go to the library just now?" Mizuki Yuzuki's voice came from behind him. She also sat down opposite Ke Zhiguang with a lunch in her hand.

"Yes, I just picked up a copy of 'Celebrities' magazine to take a look," Ke Zhiguang said.

"Um, you should have properly registered the rental, right?" Mizuki Yuuki tilted her head with a wry smile.

"Otherwise, when have you ever had the illusion that I didn't register the rental?" Ke Zhiguang said while eating pork chop rice.

"All right......"

Mizuki Yuzuki always had a strange feeling that the Ke Zhiguang sitting in front of the chessboard and the Ke Zhiguang after leaving the chessboard were not the same person. The former was calm, mature and aloof, while the latter always gave people the feeling that his neural circuits were different from ordinary people.

But overall, it feels quite reliable.

After witnessing Ke Zhiguang's performance in this game yesterday, Mizuki Yuzuki began to believe that Ke Zhiguang had indeed come prepared.

Whether it was cracking the deception or bringing the planning stage to a close, she felt that everything was under Ke Zhiguang's control, perfectly managed.

Moreover, she had been paying close attention to Ke Zhiguang's expressions during the game. It was the unique contemplative expression of a chess player, with eyes sharpened like blades, brows stern and imposing, and an aura of a warrior in armor. The moment he made a move was like drawing a sword, the sword passing silently on the chessboard, leaving no trace of blood. All of this gave her a unique sense of beauty.

So this is the real him?

Ke Zhiguang suddenly said, "Shuicheng, I want to ask, what kind of person is the president of our Go club?"

"You're asking this because you want to defeat the club president, right?" Mizuki Yuzuki roughly understood Koji Hikaru's intentions. Yesterday, she had also heard the vice president reveal his goal of participating in the team competition.

"You even discovered that?" Ke Zhiguang was even shocked.

"really....."

Although making it into the top five of the club would qualify them for the team competition, Mizuki Yuuki always felt that Koji Hikaru was aiming to eliminate everything.

"Our club president is a perfect person in every way. She has excellent academic performance, outstanding talent in Go, and is also a great beauty," said Mizuki Yuzuki.

Ke Zhiguang stroked his chin thoughtfully: "What a beauty! That means he looks exceptionally good in women's clothing. Not bad, I can let him try my soy milk, papaya, and pumpkin medicinal cuisine."

"What are you thinking! I already said she's a great beauty, so she must be a girl!" Mizuki Yuzuki couldn't help but slam her hand on the table.

Ke Zhiguang looked like he had just realized something: "Oh, so it's a girl. You should have said so earlier. Then my red date and nut and honey milk combo would have worked too."

"What's going on in your head...?"

But soon, Yuuki Mizuki's expression suddenly fell, and she said, "But even such a perfect president has many difficulties. For example, her family... her parents passed away, and it seems they are still in debt. She also has a bunch of younger siblings to support. In short, it must be very difficult for her."

Upon hearing this, Ke Zhiguang was speechless for a moment.

I always felt that as a feminist fighter, I had a duty to save this person.

"This team championship is very important to her, as it relates to whether she can get into a good university. If she can win the championship, with her grades, getting into the University of Tokyo is no problem."

"The University of Tokyo admissions process includes this?"

"Of course, this is the national high school league, and the chess academy is also paying close attention to it. It's a very prestigious competition."

The Go Institute, which is the world's Go headquarters, is located in Gobancho, Chiyoda Ward, a secluded and quiet place.

As if he had just thought of something, Ke Zhiguang quickly finished his meal, clapped his hands, and stood up.

"Mizuki-kun, although it's Friday today and the time after school is the most precious time of the week, could you please take some time to practice with me?"

Ke Zhiguang suddenly realized that he didn't seem to have any extra time to rest.

Of course, he was also very curious about what items he could get by farming Water City Evening Moon.

Chapter Fifteen: The Promised Milk Has Arrived

As Sunday morning dawned, the city was filled with the decadent atmosphere of Saturday night's revelry.

As usual, Harushima Deer arrived at the Go room very early and opened for business early.

As she passed through the building, she saw a drunk man in a suit lying on the roadside, and she also saw a middle-aged man being helped out of a shop by two pretty young girls not far away.

Some kind of demon is corrupting everything.

Her daily work is simple: she handles cash registers, registers customers, wipes chess pieces, organizes publications, and the store manager resolves disputes between customers.

The disputes are simply due to winning or losing, and also because of the money involved in the bets.

A game of chess is capped at 10,000; that's the hard rule here. If you want to go any higher, you'll have to go to a shady place to gamble.

The deer on the island is very annoyed.

The purpose of working here is to relax and observe the lives of ordinary Go enthusiasts, as a social experience and a vacation.

But after she arrived here, most of the topics she heard involved loans, mortgages, extramarital affairs, life troubles, family conflicts, self-discipline and rebellion. It was rare for her to hear about traveling abroad, but the content was not about exotic foreign attractions, but rather, "The minister went to Hawaii with his family again this week, and I really want to take my children there too."

Stress, negative emotions, complaints—everything felt gloomy and dark.

These people are clearly not poor, nor do they need to face much pressure to make a living, but they are constantly releasing pressure, as if there is a demon behind the pressure.

The only thing that's heartwarming is that children come here to learn chess every weekend, and their smiling faces are truly healing.

And lately, I've developed a little expectation: will that person come back...?

"Hello, Qingdao, I'm here again." Ke Zhiguang suddenly pushed open the door and entered early in the morning.

"So you actually came!" Harujima Shika exclaimed in surprise, her two ponytails flying up behind her head.

The timing was too perfect. Just when she was wondering if Ke Zhiguang would come again, he really did appear like a ghost!

"Here, this is for you. I promised to bring you some next time I come." Ke Zhiguang placed a bottle of milk on the counter. Although it was only his second time here, he gave the impression of being a regular customer and seemed to know the staff very well.

"This is papaya milk?" Harushima Shika stared at the milk in the cup with great suspicion, not expecting that the other party had actually brought it.

"Although it's not papaya milk, I think its effects should be the same as papaya milk," Ke Zhiguang said.

"Efficacy? That sounds suspicious..." Shiori Shika narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the bottle of milk with suspicion.

This is a properly packaged bottle of milk, and the cap shows no signs of being opened, so it should be safe to drink, right?

So, what exactly are the benefits of papaya milk?

Harujima Shika was deep in thought.

Ke Zhiguang found it difficult to explain the origin of this bottle of milk in a short time.

This was the item she obtained after defeating Mizuki Yuzuki; she also found a bottle of milk on the chessboard the next day when she woke up.

[Consumable Item: Milk, Evoking Maternal Love]

[It's even more effective than papaya milk!]

Hmm... this description really looks like—

I don't know what to say next.

There's a vague feeling of madness about it.