The work of the Go master

But when Yabu, who was still in front of the TV, saw the two familiar faces, his blood ran cold, and he stumbled and fell onto the sofa.

The two proctors exchanged glances and shook their heads, failing to notice anything amiss at such close range.

"Then let's talk again next time." The two immediately changed their expressions and left in a cold manner.

“Hey, you two…” An Yongxin reached out her hand to the two men.

They were left awkwardly standing there.

Only after the two people left did Yabu feel relieved.

He went to the balcony, looked at the distant horizon, and felt a burning passion ignite in his heart.

There are two days left until the final.

At that moment, An Yongxin's weak, questioning voice came through his walkie-talkie again: "Brother Yabu, I already know how good you are, but you said that you would meet Ke Zhiguang in the final round. Is that also within your control?"

"Yes, but it's not under my control. It will come up on its own... or rather, it will come up very easily, just like me."

"No, what I mean is, what if a powerful figure suddenly appears and snatches Ke Zhiguang away?"

"How could such a person exist? Even if they did, it wouldn't matter. My ultimate goal is the championship anyway." Yabu hung up the walkie-talkie, not wanting to waste time on this mere tool.

Since the matches here were mostly over, Yabu switched to other Go channels to watch the Women's Cup. Although the Women's Cup is considered a low-quality competition, the quality was quite high since today was the final.

Unfortunately, the women's cup has also ended today, with the final match ending in a 1-1 tie.

Just as I was about to turn off the TV, a message scrolled down the screen—

"The third game of the Women's Cup will be held soon, please stay tuned."

This was originally just an ordinary message, but Yabu frowned because of it.

Suddenly I had a bad feeling.

Who knows, someone might actually come along and ambush Ke Zhiguang halfway through.

......

......

Ke Zhiguang's match has also ended, and he won easily once again.

Having already advanced to the quarterfinals, some teams can say they have accomplished their mission.

He walked out of the game room with ease, quickly finished dealing with the media interviews, found a coffee shop to sit down, and ordered a hot chocolate.

"You look relaxed, senior."

Upon hearing this name, Ke Zhiguang looked up and indeed it was... Inoue.

She was dressed in a professional suit today, and was carrying a pile of documents, looking like a new junior employee in a company responsible for serving tea and water. Her age suddenly seemed to have increased several levels.

"What are you doing here?" Ke Zhiguang asked, puzzled, only remembering that Inoue hadn't made it into this tournament.

“Of course I’m here to cover the field and gain experience,” Inoue sighed. “Like you, I’m also an active high school student. Besides attending classes, I’m here to do work related to Go.”

Oh dear, I almost forgot. Besides her chess career, she also pursues academic studies, making her a dual-skilled player in both chess and academics.

"Just as I thought. I could tell from your expression, senior. You must have forgotten that I'm still a student, right?" Inoue sighed, his shoulders slumped.

"How could I forget something like that? I remember you transferred to our school." Ke Zhiguang snorted, seemingly unafraid of being questioned.

"Okay, then tell me, which class have I transferred to?"

"Of course she's in the same class as me." Ke Zhiguang thought that since she had asked that question, that must be the answer.

Inoue gave a cold snort: "I knew you would answer so confidently. You've obviously forgotten that we're not even in the same grade, right, senpai?"

Inoue especially emphasized the pronunciation of "senpai," as if to say, "I've been calling you senpai for so long, haven't you noticed at all?"

Everyone makes small mistakes.

"Let's not talk about that. Senior, is your mission to save the world over?" Inoue asked in a low voice.

"Not yet, but it'll be soon."

"Soon, you mean?"

"My opponent is waiting for me in the finals." Ke Zhiguang stared straight ahead, his gaze seemingly reaching the distant finish line.

Inoue was suddenly ignited by these words.

When I came to my senses, I realized how awkwardly it had been hyped up.

It gave me goosebumps.

"They say that you and An Yongxin are the most likely to make it to the finals right now. Do you know him?"

"I know a little bit about him. I've seen his previous game records. It's easy to beat him."

"What about his recent three games?"

"I haven't seen it yet."

"Then pay attention to it now, you'll be surprised." Inoue handed three chess scores from the documents in his pocket.

“Okay, I’ll study the score carefully when I get back.” Ke Zhiguang took it.

"You're really lax. I thought you'd rush back to your room immediately after getting the clue and then study the three chess scores day and night," Inoue said, propping his head up with his hand.

"Maintaining your own form and playing your best moves is also very important," Ke Zhiguang responded with a serious statement.

"So, your leisurely way of drinking coffee right now is also part of the tactic?"

"No, this is hot chocolate."

"Well... okay, hot chocolate." Inoue looked exhausted, a brief smile crossing her lips. Just then, her coffee was served, and the two of them enjoyed a relaxing break at the coffee shop counter after a long day of work.

For Kezhiguang now, it has entered a state of rest and conserved energy, waiting for the final enemy to arrive.

The feeling was like that of a young King Arthur standing on the English coastline, waiting for the Roman army to surge in from across the Channel, his heart filled with a calm anticipation of a decisive battle, like a cold, blue flame.

Most of the events that were supposed to be triggered have been triggered, and we have at least two treasure maps. That [Sacrifice Power] looks sinister enough.

Who knows, the next treasure map might drop from the boss. There doesn't seem to be a rule that says you have to collect all the treasure maps before you can fight the boss.

"By the way, did you join the Go club after you enrolled?" Ke Zhiguang was very curious about this question.

As someone who had a love-hate relationship with Bai Meng in the final team battle, they might become a couple after joining the Go club.

Let's get this going! Let's get this going!

"I'll consider that, but... what's with that expression, senpai? Why do you look like you're expecting something to happen after I join?" Inoue's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Of course I hope you can enjoy school life and get along well with your classmates," Ke Zhiguang said, showing concern like a senior student.

"Oh, really? If that's the case, I'll have to rely on you for guidance then." Inoue said, then picked up his coffee. "I have to go to work now. I'll be commentating on your match with Naosaka 8-dan on the day of the finals. I hope my first commentary will be a great game."

"Ideally, a thrilling match that lets you leave work early?" Ke Zhiguang pressed, the implication being... to crush the opponent as soon as possible.

Inoue paused for a moment before smiling knowingly: "Then it depends on your ability."

After Inoue left, Koji also hurriedly finished his hot chocolate, left the coffee shop, and prepared to go back to his room.

As he walked through the hotel corridor, looking at the golden coastline, he suddenly had an idea that had no logical basis.

Can I really make it to the finals without any major setbacks?

.....

.....

at the same time.

While the Rising Stars title race was in full swing, far to the west of Tokyo, the battle in Nagoya was reaching its final climax.

This women's cup tournament had a very long schedule, lasting for more than two months in total, which can be described as following the ancient method. Due to the long duration of the tournament, the level of attention dropped a lot in the middle of the tournament. It was not until the final match between Harushima Kashiwa and Inoue Hoshino that the level of attention rebounded and reached a very high level.

Usually, when these kinds of competitions clash with title matches, most people choose the title match, but the prize money for this women's cup is so high that it's hard to resist...

The main reason is that this competition was organized by Mr. Hanno, who is 98 years old this year. He said that he wanted to see the last scenery of his life before he was about to lie down permanently. This scenery must be surrounded by countless lovely female chess players, otherwise he would not be able to die in peace!

Although the reason sounds a bit strange, in order to fulfill his wish, basically all the female chess players with some reputation came, and the entire chess world was forced to mobilize. Most of the well-known figures gathered here, while only second-tier figures were present at the New Star Tournament.

In other words, this competition will largely determine one's standing in the martial arts world, making title battles less important in comparison.

In the final, Harushima Kashima will face Inoue Hoshino, and the score is currently 1-1.

Harushima Kashima stood by the window in the empty corridor, watching the sunset slowly sink below the horizon, waiting for the final match to begin.

That heirloom quilt... oops, the shawl was already draped over her shoulders, as if preparing for the coming winter.

Another woman's voice came from the end of the corridor: "Lu Zi, you're a bit too enthusiastic. You were just beaten by Xing Jia in the first round, and now you're already asking for a third round."

A tall woman in a suit and skirt walked towards us, her ponytail tied behind her head dyed a bright red, a very vibrant color.

Otto Xiong Ying, the girl with Soviet blood who lives next to Qingdao Lu, is 23 years old this year. Her current rank is 7th Dan, and she came in fourth place in this Women's Cup.

"Don't worry, losing to her last game was just luck. I might not lose to her this game. I'm in great form right now, and I'm sure I'll win this game," Harushima Shika said earnestly.

As she said, during the day today, she and Inoue Hoshino played the second game of their best-of-three match, but she was caught up by one point, making the score 1-1.

But just minutes after the end of that game, she suddenly made a request to the referee, hoping that the third game could be played immediately, that is, tonight.

Go is a very mentally demanding sport. A single high-intensity game can exhaust a person's energy for two days. In the past, there has never been a competition where two games were played in one day.

But how to proceed with this competition depends entirely on what Mr. Hanno says.

Ms. Hanno agreed, and Mr. Inoue Hoshino also nodded with a smile, fully accepting Shiro Harushima's request to continue the game that night.

So the third game was about to begin, and it was expected to last until midnight.

"Lu Zi, are you in such a hurry to play the third game because you want to rush back for the New Star Battle tomorrow?" Xiong Ying leaned on the fence next to Qingdao Lu, teasingly asking like a gossip enthusiast, "I've noticed that lately, whenever you pass by a TV, you always switch the channel to the New Star Battle, and you're always watching a player named Ke Zhiguang... right? right? right?"

He poked the little head of the deer with three consecutive "de ba".

"What nonsense are you talking about? I haven't been paying attention to him at all!"

"Aha, this reaction, looks like I was right!" Xiong Ying made two small pistol gestures to Qingdao Lu, accompanied by the sound of gunfire.

"Listen carefully, I just recently made plans with a friend, me and him... oops, me and her..." Harushima Shika quickly corrected her pronunciation.

“You don’t need to change your pronunciation, I heard everything,” Xiong Ying said.

“Ugh…” Harujima Kashiwagi choked on his words.

"Hmm, I never thought that Deer, who has always been so fierce, could be so cute now. It's rare to see her like this. She was so smug when she kicked the wall to warn us." Xiong Ying rested her head on the ground in the sunset and walked backwards, her heels touching the ground little by little, but she stopped after only a few steps.