The work of the Go master

Perhaps the current prosperity of chess, and even the overall fortune, is built on this false bubble.

"What do you think?" Ke Zhiguang asked the person next to him.

But no sound came from the side.

Well, it seems the god of quantum mechanics can't answer this kind of question.

Forget it, let's just finish hammering what needs hammering first, that's the right thing to do.

There will always be an answer.

......

......

That evening, as Harushima Shika was lying on the sofa at home, engrossed in watching children's cartoons, the phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, who is this?" Harushima Shika asked impatiently, picking at her ear.

"I am Ke Zhiguang."

"You, you, you, what do you want to see me about so late?" For some reason, Harushima Kashiwa suddenly became nervous.

"Interested in going to Hokkaido with me?"

With a thud, Harushima Deer fell onto the sofa.

—This sounds like an invitation to elope!

"What...what's wrong with you lately? How come you suddenly..." Harujima Shika stammered, her fingers fidgeting on the phone line.

"It's nothing. I've been quite tired lately, so I need to go out and relax a bit. It would be nice to see the snow."

Qingdao Lu Pinle read the words of Ke Zhiguang.

Her expression immediately turned serious.

These are early signs of depression!

That's true. Being a professional Go player does put a lot of pressure on you. Don't be fooled by how happy they are now; they might be sighing and groaning behind the scenes all day long, like a kidney deficiency advertisement.

But she quickly recovered and chuckled, "I won't fall for your tricks this time! If I'm not mistaken, it's definitely Bai Meng and the others again this time!"

"She probably won't come this time. She has entrance exams coming up, and I feel bad inviting her."

Harushima Deer was taken aback again.

Is it really true that I'm all alone this time?

"Alright then, I'll keep you company for now. Remember, don't go to high-rise buildings lately, and if you do get there, don't go near the windows, understand?"

"You understand the general idea?"

I don't really understand either.

Is this a new way to get tired of being ripped off?

So the travel team finalized the arrangements, and on the day of departure, Qingdaolu hurriedly arrived with her small suitcase.

"Damn it, I knew I wasn't the only one coming!"

Chapter 3: I heard that saying "Oh!" twice when passing by Mount Fuji is a local tradition.

Harujima Kashima stared at the familiar faces in front of her with a dark expression.

Isn't everyone here?

—Damn it! I've been fooled by him again!

"Why did you come? Didn't you say you were preparing for exams or something?" Harushima Deer said angrily to Shiromu, biting her lip.

"Oh, I didn't expect Miss Qingdao to be so concerned about my studies. But it's alright, my recent exam preparation is going very well. I should have no problem passing the unified exam in January, and then I'll focus all my efforts on the college entrance exams in February and March." Bai Meng revealed an elegant smile, her condescending and cunning demeanor perfectly mastered.

Parentheses: This is an emoticon specifically for the Shireshima deer.

Shao Gong delivered a chop to her head: "Alright, stop showing off. This is just a change of learning environment for you. Stop thinking about fighting all day long. Once we get there, you'd better stay in your room and study properly."

"It hurts!" Bai Meng was furious but dared not speak out.

Upon hearing this, Harushima Kashima revealed a smug look, as if she had just scored a goal: "What? I really thought you were the type who could travel and play while getting amazing grades. Turns out you have to carry your study materials to tourist destinations. How pitiful."

Then the two of them went back to their usual tsunami mode, and the team was filled with a joyful atmosphere again.

"Their relationship has become quite good," Shuicheng said with a satisfied smile. "Didn't Xingcai come this time?"

“She’s also at the end of the year trying to meet her work targets, so she doesn’t have time to accompany me,” Ke Zhiguang said.

In every sense, she really delivered on her promise; her travel team seems to be an all-female lineup.

In an effort to balance the genders of the team, Koji Hikaru did indeed look for other men, but as everyone knows, all the characters in this series are 'five' (meaning they're not good enough), and none of them were able to come. Even Kaoru mentioned having a winter camp activity, so he decisively chose to crash the plane.

In short, it's really not that I intentionally created a harem; it's just that none of these people were able to come!

So there was no other option but to restart with the old lineup.

Although Ke Zhiguang did not contact Bai Meng, she was still very quick to catch the news that Ke Zhiguang was putting together a tour group, and she took the initiative to sign up for the tour.

Since she was here, Shao Gong naturally came too, bringing her homework with her.

Perhaps this is what a demon mother type of character is like.

No need to say anything more, I'm shipping this couple!

But to be honest, it's a bit of a shame that Inoue didn't come.

Inoue knew a little about the last mission, which gave Koji Mitsuaki a feeling of fighting alongside her, but she didn't come today.

There are still some mysteries surrounding her, such as her strange background as a shrine maiden and her family of Go players. At the rank awarding ceremony, Yagami Kunikyo's message to her was "to rid herself of anxiety." What exactly does this anxiety refer to? Has she rid herself of it now?

Moreover, she still has two items that haven't been dropped yet.

Ke Zhiguang later played a few rounds with her, but she just couldn't get those two items.

There may be some event that hasn't been triggered yet, which is why these two items are still marked with a question mark.

"Then let's set off, just the five of us." With that, Ke Zhiguang carried the luggage and led the group onto the Shinkansen bound for Sapporo.

With so much added strength, carrying luggage has become much easier, and I no longer worry about not having the strength to put my luggage on the luggage rack.

The Shinkansen departed quickly, gradually gaining speed before accelerating to high speed, bringing back the feeling of riding the high-speed rail from my past life.

This was the first time Ke Zhiguang had left Tokyo after his time travel and gone to another city. His mood suddenly became strangely light, and he began to stop thinking about work.

Today is December 21st, the first day of winter break. Students, freed from school, will soon be exploring every corner of Japan's tourist attractions. Hawaii's beaches will be bustling with people again, and Hokkaido's ski resorts are expected to be packed with both local and foreign tourists.

It starts snowing in Hokkaido in November, and now it's the peak of the snow season. The magic of the ice flowers will cover the entire land, turning it into a divinely blessed healing place.

I was planning to think of a few more Go anecdotes related to snow, but after thinking for a long time, I still... couldn't come up with any.

Ancient people would never play Go in the dead of snow. They could probably sit still and meditate, but they probably couldn't lift the Go pieces because their hands would be frozen stiff.

However, it cannot be ruled out that some martial arts novels might depict a scene of masters playing chess in the snow.

The only connection between snow and Go might be that they both appear to be very elegant.

That's just how it appears.

"How long are we going to stay in Hokkaido this time?" Harushima asked, seemingly unaware of anything, as she hurriedly brought her suitcase over.

"I expect it to take about a week. If you want to play for longer, that's fine too, but at least give me two weeks to prepare for the Grandmasters Battle," Ke Zhiguang said.

"So you only plan to prepare for the competition in two weeks!" Harushima Shika couldn't help but complain.

But after thinking about it, she realized she hadn't quite hit the nail on the head, so she pressed on: "Wait a minute, are you planning to stay here for a whole month?"

“Right, since there are only two weeks left, I might as well include these two weeks in the preparation time. Let’s put it this way, there’s no limit to how long I can stay here. I might stay here until the Battle of the Famous Generals begins.” Ke Zhiguang quickly adjusted his strategy as if he had been reminded.

"Are you saying you're going to prepare here for over a month?"

"That seems to be a valid interpretation... So, it turns out I'm actually the hardest working person on the team, having devoted all my time to preparation." Ke Zhiguang nodded thoughtfully, praising himself.

"Nonsence!"

"And you, Qingdao, when will you start preparing for the Battle of the Great Generals?"

Harushima Shika snorted and rested his head on the armrest: "As for the Famous Generals Tournament, I'll pass. I'm not playing that."

"You skipped your title fight too?"

"I'm not used to playing rapid chess, so I'll just play this tournament symbolically. If I get eliminated in the first round, please don't laugh," said Harushima Shika, hanging his head.

Bai Meng smiled and said, "It's alright. Even if you, Miss Qingdao, are eliminated in the first round, I will remember the game in which you were eliminated and make sure that most of the people in our club can recite it by heart."

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

Rapid chess is indeed a challenge for Harushima Kazuya. Back when Koji Mitsuko was just entering the professional stage, he successfully defeated her in a 10-second rapid chess game. If he were to play another rapid chess game now, Koji Mitsuko might be able to reduce her komi to 0.

Speaking of rapid chess, this is actually one of Koshikawa Tatsumi's strengths. Although his current title is Dragon Throne, he once held both the Meisho and Dragon Throne titles simultaneously, which was quite prestigious.

Ke Zhiguang, of course, studied his game records carefully afterward and was able to feel the unparalleled madness and tension in his moves.

His strength lies in sacrificing pawns.

He often dares to sacrifice pieces that other masters wouldn't dare to sacrifice. Others have famous dragon-slaying games, and he also has famous dragon-sacrifice games. By sacrificing a giant dragon with sixty points, he gains a thick wall of the entire board without any dead ends.

In this game, his decision to sacrifice his dragon was truly astonishing. The commentators on site were trembling as they explained, finding the behavior utterly incomprehensible.

However, from the moment Koshikawa Tatsumi decided to abandon the dragon, his furrowed brows, which had been furrowed in deep thought, turned into an expectant smile, and finally became wild and unrestrained.

But at least he didn't laugh out loud, otherwise he would have been dragged out by security guards long ago. In the world of chess, even the best players can't beat security guards.

The final result of that game was a resounding victory for him. The moment he won, he finally couldn't contain his laughter and burst out laughing, scaring his opponent into a state of shock. It took him several months to recover his form.

Almost every game of Koshikawa Tatsumi is like this: he frowns and ponders in the first half, and after sacrificing pieces in the second half, he can't help but smile more and more, and finally bursts out when he wins. Therefore, there are rumors in the industry that this year's Dragon Throne is very dangerous.

A person is like a chess piece; someone who takes the crazy and flamboyant tactic of sacrificing pieces to the extreme is bound to be a dangerous person in real life, and only a dragon could describe such a person.

In five months, it will be dragon-slaying season again.

Thinking this, Ke Zhiguang took a deep breath, relaxed his tense hands, and then returned to the languid reality.

It's really too early to be thinking about the Dragon Throne Battle before even passing the Famous General Battle.

And it's an important holiday now.

After about half an hour of travel, the initial excitement of boarding the train cooled down, and the people in the carriage began to settle into their normal routines. Some started to doze off, while others began to play cards. The slight shaking and soft noises created a cradle-like hypnotic effect.