The work of the Go master

After finishing such a brain-teasing game of chess, he was already extremely sleepy, and the [Sacrifice Power] had burned off a lot of his attributes, making him even more depressed.

But the moment he touched the Rising Star Trophy, all his attribute values ​​surged upwards, accompanied by a beeping sound.

Health, strength, and fortune are all increasing.

Everything that needed to be replenished has been replenished, and the situation has been restored to pre-war levels!

No, it's even better than before the war.

It's decided, I'm going to find a random place to stay all night!

Congratulations on earning the title: Rising Star!

In the coming year, all your wishes will come true!

"So, senior, this is the first championship trophy you've ever won. Do you have any words of thanks for winning?" Inoue handed a microphone to Ke Zhiguang.

"Strictly speaking, my first trophy was in the high school team competition."

"Now that you think about it, it does seem to be true. To be more specific, it was obtained by stepping on my corpse, wasn't it?"

"No, I didn't say that..."

"So, senior, what are your thoughts on winning your second trophy in your life?" Inoue cleverly changed the subject.

"Not bad. I need to buy a small cabinet to display it. Next, I need to hold a small celebration party."

"Does this mean I might get a chance to participate in the party?"

"Of course."

The interview proceeded smoothly, filled with laughter throughout, and the trophy's glow illuminated the evening's conclusion.

Traditionally, after the final of a major tournament, there is a signing session where players sign their pieces. The champion signs their name for each of the brilliant moves they made in the game, signing as white if they played black and as black if they played white.

These signed masterpieces will later be sold at high prices to wealthy collectors interested in their collections, a testament to his business acumen.

Without a doubt, these chess pieces come with useful fortune.

Ke Zhiguang came to the chessboard and picked up each piece marked as a brilliant move, signing his name on it. Although the pieces were so small, as long as the pen was small enough, it was not impossible to write his name on them.

Ke Zhiguang flicked his wrist, and a graceful "Guang" character landed on the chess piece.

This behavior is reminiscent of some works where magicians engrave patterns on bullets to imbue them with magic; it's unexpected that Go could be done in this way.

An Yongxin also enthusiastically joined the autographed chess piece activity. Although she was the losing side, she still came up with many clever moves in this game. In short, thank you, Brother Yawu.

Normally, the runner-up is the biggest loser in a competition, worse than being eliminated in the first round. But An Yongxin was overjoyed with this runner-up title that he got for free. He was as happy as if he had won the championship when he was interviewed.

Let's wander around.

After signing, the chess pieces are returned to their original positions. The game ends here in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, where they will remain overnight to be bathed in the moonlight and ocean tides before being collected by the chess academy the next day.

Finally, there's a photo of Koji Mitsuaki posing with a large check for 900 million yen.

Five months have passed, and now it's his turn to stand in front of the camera and take a photo with the million-dollar check. Looking back, it feels like he's come a long way.

But when he turned back, he found that the road ahead seemed even longer, with six more titles to conquer and an even more distant Stone Heart to reach.

As for the more immediate goal... let's spend this 900 million first.

Although 900 million sounds like a lot, it's only in Japanese yen, and given the current market conditions, it seems like it could be spent very quickly.

While being interviewed here, Noriyuki Sasahara and Shunji Narita also sprang into action.

An Yongxin had already given out the location of Yabu's room, and it was all sold out.

After receiving the room key from the front desk, the two entered the room without any problems.

The only light in the room was from the television, which was broadcasting the Koichi Koichi Awards ceremony. Yabu was lying on the bed in a comatose position, foaming at the mouth and with his eyes rolled back, which looked particularly eerie under the light from the television.

"Is this the price of playing Go with Koji Mitsuaki? That's way too much!" Sasahara Noriyuki said, embarrassed.

"We just want to condemn this: stop it! This is not playing Go at all," said Narita Shunji, looking around as if searching for signs of a fight.

"Let's take him away first; it looks like he won't wake up anytime soon."

The two carried the unconscious Yabu out of the room and dragged away all the dark spiritual objects, such as the chessboard that could exchange souls and the high-tech headphones.

They carried Yabu outside the hotel, got into a black Mercedes that had been waiting for them, and drove off. The upcoming championship night banquet would be out of their reach.

After seeing Ke Zhiguang win the championship on TV, Harushima Kazuya was overjoyed and planned to go out for a nice late-night snack to reward herself for encouraging him before the competition and helping him overcome his nervousness in the final.

But then she realized something was wrong. The finals were supposed to be upstairs, so what she needed to do was hurry upstairs to celebrate! What was she thinking about having a late-night snack?

So she hurriedly went back to her room to change her clothes, turning her suitcase over and over, trying to figure out which outfit to wear.

If she were to attend Koji Mitsuaki's victory celebration wearing just a yukata, the impact would be terrible. The sound of camera shutters would be several times more frequent, and all sorts of jokes and anecdotes about her would increase significantly.

While studying clothing combinations, she suddenly remembered the prophecy Inoue Hoshino had told her two days ago during the competition—

She planned to raid other men's rooms at night.

And she will spend the night in this man's room.

this....

—Ahhh! She predicted everything correctly!

After a brief moment of frustration, she sighed resignedly, finally finished hanging up her clothes, and then stepped out of the room, jogging down the corridor to get to the top floor as quickly as possible.

"Wait a minute, let me into the elevator!" She managed to slip inside just before the elevator doors closed.

"Phew... thankfully I made it in time." She breathed a sigh of relief, but when she turned her head, she realized that something was wrong.

Besides her, there were three other girls in the elevator.

The problem is, these three people... look really familiar.

At this moment, the elevator began to rise, and the four people inside looked at each other in bewilderment.

The scene became extremely awkward.

After a moment of silent stalemate—

"Sunny Island Deer! Weiwei, why are you here?!" Bai Meng shouted, squeezing her cheeks with both hands, looking completely terrified.

"That's what I wanted to ask! Why are the three of you here?" Harujima Shika also quickly retreated, pressing herself against the elevator wall.

"Of course we came to cheer for Hikaru-kun, but we couldn't get there right away because of the heavy rain. But now it's all good, Hikaru-kun has won the championship, what a happy ending, Ms. Harujima, what do you say?" After recovering, Bai Meng immediately raised her head and puffed out her chest to fight back, revealing a bright (malicious) smile.

After a brief moment of awkwardness, Harushima Kashima regained his footing and let out a snort: "Hmph, I'm sorry, you guys weren't able to help at all. Let me put it this way, he came to me for help before the competition because he was too nervous. In other words, I deserve some credit for his victory!"

"What? You also have the ability to guide Guangjun in life?" Bai Meng was stunned for a moment, her face full of "I'll give you that idea" expressions.

—No matter how you look at it, you're the kind of person who gets life guidance!

“Well, of course! I’ve won a championship before, so I’m certainly qualified to give him some advice!” Harushima Kashiwa’s tongue stammered.

A few hours before the match started, Ke Zhiguang said some strange things to her and told her to hold onto a fan tightly and not let go, otherwise he would lose. This... seems like pre-match nervousness!

If that's the case, then she truly is the one who helped Ke Zhiguang relieve stress and emotions!

The situation had clearly turned in Qingdaolu's favor. Bai Meng anxiously pinched the hem of her skirt, but still couldn't come up with a good way to counter her.

"Xingyue, help...help me." Bai Meng turned her head and looked at Shao Gong with a bullied expression.

Shao Gong casually rubbed his eyebrows and did some eye exercises, feeling like he was the only normal person in the whole anime; everyone else was either crazy or just plain cute.

Shuicheng smiled warmly, a smile reflecting the joy of everyone finally being able to reunite.

Shao Gong whispered a few words of advice in Bai Meng's ear: "You just need to do this... and then touch her sore spot... that's all."

Bai Meng immediately nodded in realization.

“That’s true. Miss Harushima made a significant contribution to Hikaru’s path to victory.” Bai Meng’s attitude suddenly softened, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Hmph, good to know." Harushima Shika snorted smugly, finding it more satisfying to have his opponent praise him than to defeat them.

"It's really touching that they deliberately made such a big mistake during the semi-finals to pave the way for Guangjun's path to the championship."

--puff!

As if her most sensitive spot had been hit, Harujima Deer's face turned red.

"That was truly a masterpiece. Hikaru-kun managed to turn the tide from such a disadvantageous position. Of course, Harujima-san certainly deserves some credit for that as well. To remember this game, I've decided to print out the game record and distribute it to all club members, requiring them to memorize it thoroughly..."

"Drink! Die, Mujin!" Harujima Shika used her height to launch a headbutt attack at Shiromu.

"Alright, you made the first move again this time, then let's go!" Bai Meng retorted, not to be outdone.

The elevator, carrying the sounds of a fight, ascended to a higher level, giving off a daily "Tom and Jerry" vibe.

Inside the game room, the interview session ended early, and everyone was eagerly anticipating the celebratory banquet that followed—what the production crew called the wrap party.

Ke Zhiguang also picked up the trophy and walked towards the elevator with everyone, chatting and laughing.

The elevator reached the top floor and made a dinging sound.

The elevator doors opened to the left and right, and just as Ke Zhiguang was about to step inside, he was surprised to find that there was nowhere to put his feet.

The scene inside the elevator was even more... baffling.

Bai Meng and Qingdao Lu are having a pillow fight on the carpet in the elevator, while Shao Gong and Shui Cheng are standing aside, away from this silly and meaningless battle.

"Come on, keep calling out, why aren't you calling out anymore?" Bai Meng said, locking the deer on the island.

"Let me go, let me go!" Harushima Shika was desperately trying to break through the attack.

"Quickly, admit that you're just a little girl whose breasts have already given up developing, and I'll let you go."

"Heh, dream on! I still have three years to develop. In these three years, I'll definitely show you what transformation means!"

"I'm sorry, I'm also 17 years old this year. I still have a year to grow. You only have two years at most!"

"Two years it is, who's afraid of who? Do you believe that in these two years, my legs will be longer than yours!"

The people at the elevator entrance were stunned, their minds blank as they watched the two girls inside perform a bewildering spectacle, their faces turning into stick figures.

"So, this is the group I'll be joining from now on?" Inoue pointed to the elevator, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he were looking rather disgusted.

"Well, it was pretty fun anyway." Ke Zhiguang shrugged.

To be fair, these two... fighting so fiercely in public, they must have a very good relationship, right?

Bai Meng suddenly noticed Ke Zhiguang standing at the door and instinctively greeted him, "Guang-kun, congratulations on winning the championship..."

"Haha, you're distracted!" Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qingdaolu launched a counterattack, pinning Baimeng beneath him.