The work of the Go master

They are watching her.

Ok?

Why did the tone suddenly change in that last sentence?

It suddenly became eerie.

This sentence structure is reminiscent of "Big Brother is watching you."

This "big brother" doesn't refer to Morishita, but rather to the line from "1984": "Big brother is watching you."

It felt like I was being watched.

They are the watchers.

She, on the other hand, was the one being monitored.

Who do these two terms refer to?

Of course, "surveillance" was just Koji Hikaru's first reaction, and it's possible that the sentence was expressing affection, such as parents loving their daughters, which just happened to refer to the Inoue sisters.

In short, Ke Zhiguang will find it difficult to understand in a short time.

However, the appearance of this instruction card may also indicate that Ke Zhiguang will visit this place at some time to lay the groundwork for the mission in advance.

After putting down the cards, Ke Zhiguang began the main activity of the evening—studying music.

Regardless, the fact that this "divine intervention" quest appeared at this particular time must have had its reasons.

Perhaps the phrase that echoes this is, "The evil dragon is already waiting for you in the Pacific Ocean."

This implies that he needs a new round of training before he can defeat the evil dragon.

Before officially starting to move the pieces, Ke Zhiguang paused and inexplicably began to list the things that would happen simultaneously.

He, Bamboo Sword Forging, and Genju Tomioka compete for the title of Famous General.

Xingcai harbors untold troubles.

The Deer of Sunny Island's Visit to Relatives: A TV Interview.

Bai Meng and Shao Gong's exam.

And in the distance, the villains' clandestine activities.

There are many more people and events.

Everything is tied to this chariot that keeps speeding forward in the timeline.

Thinking this way, an epic feeling of being at the center of a torrent arises spontaneously.

The accelerator pedal was pressed faster.

Chapter Thirty-Three: A Brand New Day

On January 5th, the city welcomed the morning in the cold wind.

The gates of the chess academy were wide open, and the chess players, wrapped in scarves, braved the cold wind to climb the steps.

"Please give me your guidance in this game." In the training hall, the chess players exchanged polite opening remarks with each other.

Today is another day of fighting and more fighting.

"Hey, did you hear? Yesterday, after Ke Zhiguang got off work, he didn't go back to Taohuazhai. Instead, he went straight into a chess hall with Inoue Xingcai." Someone whispered below.

"Good heavens! This kid really knows how to have fun, choosing a place like this. Does he really want to practice all sorts of strange chess shapes on the chessboard?" Soon someone exclaimed, pounding their chest in frustration.

"Oh? It sounds like you're talking about me?"

"That's right, it's you—uh! How did you suddenly appear!"

Ke Zhiguang arrived early today and even brought a cup of hot chocolate from the commercial area.

"Uh...we were discussing how your understanding of chess positions is incredibly unique and powerful, allowing you to capture things that others can't see."

“That’s right, that’s right.” The other person nodded obediently.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Ke Zhiguang squinted at the hot chocolate as he left.

Having a drink in the morning can help you get into the game mode.

Ke Zhiguang did not rush into the game, but instead toured the entire training hall, continuing to study who were high-scoring players.

I only made a brief round trip yesterday, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that some people didn't come to work yesterday.

The hot chocolate was finished just as the parade ended.

"You, Yamaoka, step forward!"

"it's me again?"

Because the 24-hour cooling effect on your head has been restored.

Moreover, looking around, his 20 points were the highest.

“For the next few days, we’ll probably play a game like this every morning,” Ke Zhiguang said.

To be honest, although it looks like Yamaoka is the one who got hammered, it's actually a major positive for him.

Given Ke Zhiguang's current skill level, it's not easy to play a match against him. His usual training opponents are all strong sixth or seventh dan players. Players like Yamaoka, who have just reached the fourth dan level, don't actually have many opportunities to play against Ke Zhiguang.

Yamaoka readily accepted: "Sure, bring it on, let's compete, who's afraid of who!"

While the news is good, some anger still needs to be contained.

The two quickly sat down, and the timer was set to 10 minutes of backup time, with a strict condition of 30 seconds per hand.

As the clock struck, the chessboard began to move as well.

Twenty minutes later—

"Damn it, this time it was really just a hair's breadth away..." Yamaoka slammed his fist on the table as usual, and the chess pieces on the board shook as well.

This is his usual gesture when he loses a game, just like some people will type something on the keyboard when they lose a game.

The 20 points above his head also turned gray, entering a new cooldown period.

This feeling of endlessly grinding against others brought Ke Zhiguang back to more than half a year ago, when he was still in school clubs, and he was extremely happy to beat up a classmate who could make pork chop rice every day.

Well, it's really unethical.

"Hey, Ke Zhiguang, you're back from your vacation." A familiar voice came from behind Ke Zhiguang.

Ke Zhiguang turned around and saw that the other person was actually Xiangma Masae.

"Hello, Soma-kun."

"I don't remember being your classmate. By the way, as soon as I got back, I saw you playing Yamaoka, Ke Zhiguang. This game... tsk tsk, you lost badly."

Yamaoka blushed slightly at what was said.

Ke Zhiguang's attention also fell on Xiangma Masae.

Her score is 15 points, which is not low, and also so high that it is hard to understand.

"Soma, can I be your next training opponent?" Koji Mitsuaki asked, raising his hand.

“Hey! You don’t even spare girls?” Yamaoka said.

“Go.” Soma Masae pushed Yamaoka’s head away and twisted her neck, saying, “No problem, but can we wait until the next one? My next opponent is already arranged, Horie Takami.”

"Both of them are here?" Ke Zhiguang subconsciously linked the two together.

"Over there."

Following the direction pointed out by Masae Soma, a tuft of red hair peeked out from behind a load-bearing pillar in the corner of the training hall.

Sitting next to the chessboard were two members of the Cold War group.

The location was very secluded and strange, right behind a pillar, so much so that Ke Zhiguang didn't notice the two people when he first patrolled the field.

Eagles: 53 points.

Xiong Ying: 62 points.

this.....

This in the end is why?

Ke Zhiguang was increasingly confused about this scoring system.

I have a feeling that this might just be an integral randomly assigned by the god of quantum mechanics.

Regardless of strength, form, or even talent, these scores may not apply.

“Let’s go wait a bit; their game will be finished soon.” Soma Masae walked over.

There were quite a few people standing around the chessboard.

In the early morning hours, everyone tends to play their own game and adjust their state of mind, unless there is a particularly exciting game that can attract everyone's attention.

And this game of chess just happened to be a very exciting match.

"These two girls are really capable of turning every game into a fifth game of the finals in the Imperial City Chess tournament," someone exclaimed from the sidelines.

The fifth game of the final round of the Imperial Chess Tournament is a meme in the chess world, implying that the game was quite exciting and had a back-and-forth battle.

It's like having comments on the screen saying "TI10 finals, game 5".

On the chessboard, both Yingmei and Xiongying, facing each other, calmly tightened their jaws, their eyes filled with magma-like hostility.

The Cold War buffs on both sides are being triggered wildly, and they can only perform beyond their perfect state when playing against this woman on the other side of the chessboard.

"Eagle Beauty!"

"Xiong Ying!"

Ke Zhiguang could vaguely hear the two rebuking each other, like Rasengan clashing with Chidori.

In the end, the game ended in a nuclear explosion.

Xiong Ying pouted unhappily: "I don't care. Although it looks like I lost this round, I won in terms of time because Ying Mei used several more seconds of the countdown."

Yingmei remained unmoved, only letting out a disdainful sneer.

"Hey, Xiong Ying, can I play the next training opponent?" Ke Zhiguang stepped forward and asked.