The work of the Go master

The journey from Tokyo to Sapporo takes about six hours, involving transfers, which is quite a long trip for a place as small as Japan.

After leaving Tokyo, the view opened up, with fields and hills undulating outside the window, resembling a unique Japanese fantasy animation, as if Totoro's minibus might suddenly burst out of the forest at any moment.

But this view quickly disappeared as the train entered the next city and arrived at the next platform.

Qingdao Lu had already dozed off in her chair, Shuicheng was staring out the window in a daze, and Shaogong and Baimeng each set up a subject-related book and were making drafts on paper.

But soon, the appearance of Mount Fuji once again attracted everyone's attention and even popped the snore bubble of the deer on Harushima Island.

At the edge of the field of vision stood a snow-white, majestic mountain peak, like a sacred mountain full of pilgrimage significance.

It is said that every Japanese person should visit Mount Fuji at least once in their lifetime. When someone is casually making a phone call, they may be holding the phone in one hand and idly tracing Mount Fuji in the air with the other. If they see it passing by outside the window during a trip, they may say "oh" or "oh" to show their respect.

"Oh, it's Mount Fuji, right? Oh, right?" Ke Zhiguang politely adapted to the local customs.

"There has to be a limit to how much you can read in a monotone way!"

"Well, just kidding. Let's have something light and fun to kill time." Ke Zhiguang took a deck of cards that he had prepared beforehand out of his pocket and slapped it on the table.

At times like this, of course we should play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) happily.

And so, the Shinkansen sped northward across the map, and the temperature dropped lower and lower.

After passing through a tunnel and emerging from the other side, the surrounding scenery instantly changed, transforming from deep green to white, as if we had entered the world of another work of art.

The snow started falling.

Chapter Four: This type of hotel is often seen in Detective Conan...

After ten thousand years of wandering, at seven o'clock in the evening, we finally arrived at our destination.

This is a hot spring hotel built against the mountain in the suburbs of Otaru City. The surrounding area is exceptionally quiet, so quiet that only the heavy snow is falling. The snow piled up on the roadside is enough to make people climb up.

People who grow up in the south can hardly imagine that the snowfall can be so fierce and so beautiful. It's like how northerners who come to the south will exclaim that the cockroaches here are so damn big!

"Charge! Charge into the snow!" After jumping out of the taxi, Harushima Kashi pulled up his hood and rushed into the snow, as excited as a primary school student seeing the sea for the first time.

The seemingly flat snowfield, she lifted her leg and stepped onto—

With a thud, as if she had stepped into a trap, she plunged into the snow, leaving a human footprint on the snow surface. Tom and Jerry is truly a masterful storyteller.

It reminds one of GIFs of dogs excitedly rushing into heavy snow only to get stuck.

"The snow is so deep!"

"Slow down, the snow here has just accumulated recently, it's thick and soft, be careful not to fall in and never be able to climb out again," Shao Gong reminded him from behind.

Ke Zhiguang also asked, "Harushima, have you never been to Hokkaido before?"

“For a while, I came every year, but I never caught the snow. The snow would stop just as I arrived, and as soon as I left, it would start falling again, as if it was deliberately avoiding me.” Harushima Deer climbed out of the snowdrift, thin snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes, shimmering under the streetlights.

Hmm, this special effect is pretty good. Perhaps we could consider having it drop a few more times.

As for why she always manages to avoid snow, it's probably because her name contains the character for "sunny," giving her an aura of being a "sunny goddess."

Of course, Tokyo does have snow, otherwise there wouldn't be the saying "the season of white albums," but that kind of romantic snow, full of petit-bourgeois charm, can't compare to the magnificent snow in high-latitude regions.

The reason she was able to see snow in Hokkaido this time was most likely because on the night of the meteor shower, she made a wish that she would see heavy snow in Hokkaido this year.

Looking at the inn nestled against the mountain and surrounded by snow, Bai Meng suddenly became interested and said, "It's so romantic to be in a place like this. It feels like being isolated from the world. It must be perfect for creating life... no, I mean, creating stories, right?"

Ok?

Although life is roughly equivalent to a story in many ways, I still feel that her sudden change of heart is a bit strange.

“That makes sense. Jack was writing his story at the Lookout Hotel back then, and it was also a quiet, snowy winter.” Ke Zhiguang nodded thoughtfully.

"Is this the story of that movie?" Shao Gong probably realized that this guy was making some movie references again.

“The Shining,” Ke Zhiguang said.

What type is it?

"Horror movie."

"Get out!" Shao Gong immediately rushed forward and locked his neck.

"Xiao Guang, please don't say these things. With your constitution, you really might attract strange things!" Shui Cheng added another lock.

this.....

I can smell the signs of Murphy's Law kicking in again.

His professional certifications are now obsolete; they no longer offer any protection, and demons and monsters can knock on his door at will.

Moreover, there's something Ke Zhiguang has wanted to say for a long time.

This kind of hotel is often seen in "Detective Conan"...

Forget it, I don't want to.

Ke Zhiguang simply looked up at the sky and divined, using the most practical method to solve the problem.

The snow fell slowly from the sky, like dandelions frozen in mid-air. One of the characteristics of Otaru as a winter tourist destination is that there is little wind, and the snow falls very slowly, truly like goose feathers floating in the air, rather than being roughly sprinkled with salt.

Tonight should be safe.

After unloading their luggage from the taxi, hotel staff quickly came out to greet them and led them to the hotel.

The hotel was much larger than I had imagined; it seemed like the entire mountain belonged to the hotel. However, surprisingly, there weren't many tourists, giving Ke Zhiguang the feeling that he had the place to himself.

Thinking about it, there's no problem. Normally, winter break doesn't start until the 23rd, but these people got their break on the 21st, successfully reaping the benefits of the school's early winter break.

"Sir, your name is... Ke Zhiguang? Are you the winner of this year's Rising Star title?" The young lady behind the counter exclaimed in surprise, then looked at Ke Zhiguang with wide eyes, confirming repeatedly.

"Yes, it's me," Ke Zhiguang calmly admitted.

This feeling is like Kogoro Mouri being recognized wherever he goes, surrounded by people who hold his hand and say, "Mr. Mouri, I've taken detailed notes on every case you've solved!"

In this world, it means that I have carefully studied every single one of your game records, Mr. Ke!

In this world, Go is a popular sport, and Go players naturally enjoy considerable fame among the public, comparable to football or basketball stars in the previous life, and are naturally analogous to famous detectives in mystery anime.

"Rising star, I'd much rather you call me... High school pro player, Koichi Kazuki!" Koichi Kazuki gave himself a thumbs-up that was big enough to be on the front page of a newspaper, and for some reason, he added a "-" to the end of his name.

"Well... okay, Mr. High School Famous Go Player..." the young aunt replied awkwardly, seemingly not a die-hard fan.

The other girls in the group also blushed and turned their backs to the side.

Tch, everyone's stuck in the awkward silence, nobody's picking up on the joke, but that's alright, fellow Daoists are awkward, but I'm not.

"Cough cough!" Harushima Shika suddenly coughed violently twice, as if trying to get everyone's attention.

She probably wanted the shop assistant to recognize her.

"Cough cough!" Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she continued to cough.

The shop assistant finally noticed her unusual behavior, stared at her intently for a moment, and then recognized her: "This must be Princess Qingdao. I've long admired your name."

"Oh, I see. I'm quite famous now... Oh, by the way, the reason I was coughing so badly just now wasn't because..."

Let's skip the rest.

In short, she was pleased and showed a "I succeeded in pretending" expression.

There are three rooms in total. Shao Gong and Bai Meng share one room, Qing Dao and Shui Cheng share another, and Ke Zhi Guang has one room all to himself. The room is a Japanese-style room with green tatami mats. Because of the underfloor heating, it is quite comfortable to walk on barefoot.

Since the room was on the first floor, it had a door leading to the hotel courtyard, offering a beautiful view of the snow-covered scenery.

After settling his luggage, Ke Zhiguang went to the wooden platform in the courtyard and felt the refreshing coolness as he transitioned from the heating to the air conditioning.

It shines especially brightly in the snow at night, shimmering like mercury even on a moonless night.

It's truly a wonderful place to relax and unwind. Just looking at the heavy snow outside the window can purify away fatigue and irritability. If this were a spiritual object, it might even boost learning efficiency by 20%.

Maybe I really will stay here for a whole month.

Funding is not a problem. He travels here using vouchers, which are free for at least seven days and include his return transportation. He only needs to pay for his own expenses.

As they were admiring the snow scene in the courtyard, two figures suddenly rushed out of the corridor and into the snow, quickly creating distance between them and starting a snowball fight.

In the dim light of the night, the two men moved as if they were ninjas fighting.

Moreover, judging from their figures, they seem to be two women, both very tall, clearly two adults. This alone is enough to confirm that they are not members of one's own family or friends who have suddenly gone mad.

Two adult women were throwing snowballs at each other in the snow like elementary school students; their spiritedness was truly something else.

Ke Zhiguang watched with great interest as the two men fought each other on the snow.

They started by fighting at a distance, gradually closing the distance to each other, then began splashing water like waves, and finally... the two of them started wrestling on the snow, pouring snow into each other's collars.

this......

It looks so cold.

These two are so playful! They're even more playful than a third-grade boy.

After one of them pinned the other to the snow and dumped several snowballs on them, they immediately ran away, laughing heartily as if they had gained an advantage. Meanwhile, the one who had been pinned to the ground immediately got up angrily and chased after them, throwing snowballs at them.

"Come on, come on! You idiot Hawkgirl, you can't hit me!"

"Red-haired idiot bear, stop right there!"

*Thud*, a snowball was thrown at Ke Zhiguang.

Ke Zhiguang reached out and grabbed—oh dear, he missed again.

It's okay, my clothes are already soaked, so a few more snowballs won't hurt.

"Haha, you idiot Yingmei, you hit a passerby! Go apologize right now!" she shouted as she ran past Ke Zhiguang.

With just this one photo, Ke Zhiguang could see some of her physical features by the light in the room: a face with a touch of exoticism, a ponytail dyed wine red, and a smile as bright as the rising sun.

Another woman who had been chasing after her came up to Ke Zhiguang and simply apologized: "I'm sorry, please don't mind this idiot's behavior."

"Well, as long as you're having fun while traveling, that's all that matters."

The girl's appearance also has a Western feel, making her look mixed-race, but her hair is particularly sharp and pointed, with what appears to be some blue highlights.

Then she immediately chased after him, and the two of them disappeared from Ke Zhiguang's sight like a pair of clowns.

Ke Zhiguang scratched his head, feeling like he'd seen these two people somewhere before.

And I didn't see it in real life, I saw it in a magazine.

Who on earth is it?