The work of the Go master

There is a chance to trigger a chess-playing event.

The description of its effect was very vague, and it was really hard to know in what situations this scroll would be effective. If he wanted to play chess, he could find opponents either in the club or in the Go room next door, so he didn't need this scroll. As a result, Ke Zhiguang forgot about its existence for a while.

Ke Zhiguang's intuition told him that now was the time to use this scroll.

[Match Trigger Scroll]

use!

Chapter Twenty-One: The Game

"Good evening, dear guests. Our long-awaited program is about to begin."

[Match Trigger Scroll] Just as the scroll was finished, a manager-looking man stepped forward and politely announced to the guests present.

Although the manager said it was a well-prepared program, Ke Zhiguang always felt that if he didn't roll this up, the store would never be able to prepare it properly.

"Our program today is related to Go. How many of you would like to participate? Please raise your hand if you'd like," the manager said.

Ke Zhiguang raised his hand.

Mizuki Yuuki glanced at Ke Zhiguang, whose hand was raised with bright eyes, and could only follow suit and raise her hand as well.

In addition, many other customers raised their hands, proving that in this era, anyone you randomly grab on the street can play chess.

The group of elementary school students who had come in earlier all raised their hands.

At that moment, Ke Zhiguang seemed to understand something. This activity was prepared for these primary school students, and it had been pre-arranged.

Given the spending power of this store, the students' families must be quite well-off, so it's natural that the student association could organize such an event.

This is similar to a gallery holding a children's art exhibition, aiming to exploit parents. Parents are happy to pay this money in order to boost their young children's confidence.

Ke Zhiguang often sees this tactic.

In that case, the rules for the upcoming activities will naturally favor them.

“Very good, it seems quite a few guests are interested in this game, but what we are about to do is not a game, but a tsukkomi competition.”

Tsukiki is a general term for all kinds of board games, not just Go, but also Chinese chess, shogi, and even Gomoku.

To put it bluntly, it's still a Go problem.

"The group consists of four people and they work together to solve the problem. The first group to finish the problem will receive a voucher worth 50000 yuan, the second place will receive 25000 yuan, and the third place will receive 10000 yuan. But if you go any further down the list, you will only receive a consolation prize of 1000 yuan, provided that you finish the problem on time."

Upon hearing about the reward, the children at the next table were eager to try it out. Although the reward wasn't huge, far less than the numbers the parents mentioned, the encouragement it gave the children far outweighed its practical significance.

The competitive spirit unique to elementary school students was aroused.

"So, can I use the voucher together with the half-price coupon?" Ke Zhiguang asked, raising his hand.

“Yes, of course.” The manager nodded politely. “But there’s one thing I need to make clear beforehand: to prevent plagiarism and cheating, each group will receive different questions.”

Ke Zhiguang understood the implied meaning in those words.

That is, the questions given to guests other than the children will be slightly more difficult.

"Slightly" in quotation marks.

But it doesn't matter to Ke Zhiguang. When it comes to Go, you just roll up your sleeves and get to work.

"Do you have any further questions?"

“No doubt about it,” Ke Zhiguang said.

"Very good, then let's start the grouping now," the manager announced with a smile.

As the group activities began, the elementary school students bustled about, forming small groups and huddling together. The other guests, however, remained relatively still, too lazy to find group members, indicating that they could play even without a few people.

Suddenly, an adult couple joined Ke Zhiguang's table, forcibly making it four people. The two seemed exceptionally excited, chattering away, showing the anticipation of elementary school students on a spring outing for this unexpected little activity.

"Hello, my name is Matsumoto Yukie, and his name is Shang Xixingren. What about you?" the woman in the couple asked as soon as she came up, her smile radiating that of a mature older sister.

"Hello, my name is Mizuki Yuzuki, and his name is Ke Zhiguang," Mizuki Yuzuki replied politely.

"Ke Zhiguang... the name sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?" The woman named Matsumoto Yukiko chewed on the pronunciation, which sounded like pure Chinese characters.

Mizuki Yuuki has always had a hard time with the name Ke Zhiguang. Given the Japanese people's habit of pronouncing kanji with rolled "r" sounds, she has always been a mediocre person, much like how she has trouble distinguishing between "l" and "r" in Japanese-English pronunciation.

"How about we call him Hikari?" Mizuki Yuuki had a sudden inspiration and came up with this simple name. There are quite a few people named Hikari in Japanese.

"Okay, I understand. So how many years have you and Hikaru been dating?" Matsumoto Yuki asked with a playful smile, resting her chin on her hand.

“This…we are not…” Mizuki Yuuki’s tongue stammered for a moment, her hands waving in front of her chest like a fan, unsure how to refute.

"Huh? You two aren't a couple? A man and a woman eating in a place like this, and they're not a couple?" The woman was surprised, then revealed a wavy, mocking expression.

Mizuki was speechless for a moment, and awkwardly lowered her head.

She turned to look at Ke Zhiguang—sure enough, he showed no embarrassment at being mistaken for a couple, but instead earnestly discussed tactics with her partner, highlighting the difference in thinking between men and women.

"Can you tell? This activity is prepared for these elementary school students, isn't it?" Shang Xixing put his arm around Ke Zhiguang's shoulder and quietly pointed to the group of elementary school students.

"I understand." Ke Zhiguang nodded.

"Since you know that, then things are easier to discuss. You're also aware of this despicable class difference, right?" The man gritted his teeth.

"I have a general understanding."

"Yes, they are a bunch of despicable rich kids who will turn into devils sooner or later. Giving them a good talking-to now might be more beneficial for their growth."

Shang Xixing was a little indignant. He had never had the opportunity to receive such a good education before. He could also see that this activity was just to help these primary school students boost their self-confidence, or simply to make them happy. Actually, there was nothing wrong with that.

But it's really annoying that this store advertised that all customers could participate in the activity while using a group of elementary school students as a foil.

Shang Xixing decided to punish these elementary school students.

Ke Zhiguang didn't have so many thoughts. He felt that this was just KFC celebrating a kid's birthday, and bystanders could just watch the fun.

"They expect to give us some challenging questions. Are you really confident?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Don't worry, I used to be an amateur 3-dan player, I guarantee I can carry you to victory." Shang Xixing laughed heartily and confidently.

That word was used well back then.

It's probably the kind of person who learned chess for a few years in elementary school, but then stopped playing it after entering middle school.

This is like Akio Shoichi boasting at home that he almost became a graduate student.

Ke Zhiguang still gave the other person a thumbs up, casting a look of mutual trust between men. "Very good. The moment I saw your girlfriend... ptooey! The moment I learned about your chess skills, I knew I was going to stick with you."

"Very good, that's the kind of self-awareness you have—wait! What was that sentence you said before you spat? It sounded rather dangerous."

No, you must have misheard.

"Is that so?" Shang Xixing scratched his head.

The waiter overheard the conversation at Ke Zhiguang's table and quietly approached the manager, whispering, "They say there's a 3-dan Go player at this table, and the other two, a boy and a girl, are wearing Yunjing Middle School uniforms. If I remember correctly, their Go club is very strong."

The manager responded dismissively: "The national high school Go league is coming up soon. All the talented students have gone to training camps. The students who still have time to come here for meals are at most amateur first or second dan. Moreover, I can tell who has high Go skills and who is just talking big."

As a manager who organizes similar events year after year, he considers himself quite good at judging people. Sometimes, he can tell a person's chess skill level just by looking at their words and actions. If he finds out that there is a really good player, he will politely go up to them and ask them not to participate in the game. And the other party, out of respect and modesty for the player, will most likely agree.

This person who claims to be an amateur third dan seems unreliable. The other few groups of ordinary guests are also standard mediocre players, the kind who are suitable to play some leisurely games in the Go room.

The only thing that made the manager feel uneasy was the male student who was the first to stand up and ask a question. When he stood up to ask the question, he seemed to be asking it with a sense of certainty.

"Just to be on the safe side, give them that set of questions to do," the manager whispered to his subordinate.

"Yes, I understand, that set of questions." The subordinate bowed.

Not long after, the questions were presented.

Four A4 sheets of paper contain different questions, a total of sixteen questions. Use a pencil to mark the order of solving the questions on the sheet, and of course, also mark the best response from the opponent. You can use an eraser to make corrections.

Time limit: 10 minutes.

"What? The questions are so easy. They're like the fourth section of a poem, and the fourth section of a song. It's too childish!" Shang Xixing thought it was super easy when he first saw the questions.

The problem requires that black kills white first.

The black pieces are partially contained within the four white pieces, with scattered black and white pieces supporting each other around them.

However, the shapes of the white pieces are all flat four-sided pieces and curved four-sided pieces.

These are common bad shapes in Go. Just from the name, you can tell they are not good shapes; they are quite ugly. Some professional Go players would rather resign than play in such a shape.

Each question on these four sheets of paper basically involves eating this shape, which seems incredibly easy.

"I'm sorry, but I'll accept the 5 yuan." He picked up a pen and started answering a question nearby.

The manager chuckled to himself: "Foolish."

As if responding to this foolish remark from afar, Shang Xixing's pencil suddenly froze in place.

I think I made a mistake in one step, so I picked up the eraser and corrected it.

But after a few strokes, I felt something was wrong.

Revise again, make the same mistake again...

His expression froze slightly, as if he had seen an indescribable phenomenon such as an octopus head.

What the hell is this thing?

Judging from the shape of the stones, it should be easy for Black to seal off White, but it seems that White always manages to break out of the encirclement. In the end, Black needs to use a flying seal to cover White.

But as he continued calculating, he realized that the calculation process was somewhat complicated, and it didn't seem like the kind of problem that could be solved in a few glances.

Indescribable.

Hard to understand.

"Is there something wrong with this question?" Shang Xixing muttered under his breath, standing up to look down at the questions from the elementary school students next door. The difference in difficulty was immediately apparent.

The tables of these elementary school students were covered with normal life-and-death problems, which were much easier. With Shang Xixing's current chess skills, he could tell at a glance where the first move should be made.

"The question itself isn't wrong, it's just a bit difficult. Your question is exactly at level three difficulty," Ke Zhiguang said calmly from the side, his gaze also fixed on the question in front of him.

"Three segments? How did you figure that out?" Shang Xixing was taken aback.

"That's not important. Xingren, you can start your amateur three-part performance now."

"This... cough cough, I need to think about it for a while, I need to think about it for a while." Shang Xixing seemed to choke and dared not say more.

With the added benefit of the cheat code, Kezhiguang can clearly see the difficulty of each question.