The work of the Go master

As he realized the difficulty of each question, Ke Zhiguang took a deep breath while looking out at the sunset.

The difficulty level of the two questions is 1K.

The difficulty level of the five questions is one level.

The three questions are at level 2 difficulty. The two questions are at level 3 difficulty.

There are two more questions with a difficulty level of five.

There are two more questions... The difficulty level is level seven.

It seems I've been given a script with hellish difficulty.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Solution to Dual Consequences

Ke Zhiguang stared at the question for a long time.

These questions look so familiar.

According to my past life memories, these sixteen questions were all created by a professional Go player named Liu Shixun, but his most famous deeds were not on the Go board, but outside of it.

It seems that one year, he came to China to participate in a competition, and that night he got into a fight with another very strong Japanese Go player at a local bar.

The person who was injured was taken to the hospital.

Then this person went through a period of depression, losing every battle, and it took a whole year to recover.

This person also compiled a book of very funny questions, which are the questions right here in front of us.

It consists entirely of four boards and four curves in the shape of fools. It looks strangely simple, but in reality it is very strange and complicated, full of ingenuity and mechanisms.

The fact that Liu Shixun could create countless variations from this simple, foolish shape is part of his charlatanism.

"Third section, do you know Liu Shixun?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Who is that?" Shang Xixing shook his head, and he could vaguely detect a hint of sarcasm in the title "Third Duan".

Just as Ke Zhiguang thought, the current worldview does not contain the chess player from the previous life that he remembered.

The question in front of us must have been written by someone else and is not widely circulated, otherwise the shop would not have been so confident in giving it to them.

The most urgent task now is to solve the problem.

"Shuicheng, you do this question." Ke Zhiguang picked up a pen and circled a few questions on the question sheet.

"Shall I do these questions?" asked Mizuki Yuzuki.

“Yes, division of labor is more efficient… Section 3, these questions are yours.” Ke Zhiguang drew a few more questions for Shang Xixing.

These questions are divided according to difficulty. The easiest questions are given to Shuicheng Xiyue, while the more difficult intermediate questions are given to Shang Xixingren.

"I'll do these." Ke Zhiguang circled the two most difficult questions, the seven-segment and five-segment questions, for himself.

Matsumoto Yukie doesn't need to do the problems because she seems to know absolutely nothing about Go. She simply watches Sho Nishiki solve the problems with a playful attitude. She's the kind of girl who was forcibly dragged into a team by a friend while playing games.

Shang Xixing also wisely refrained from objecting to Ke Zhiguang's sub-topic, and his momentum was effectively suppressed.

The manager looked at the situation with satisfaction. The team atmosphere among the elementary school students was good. Many other guests had already been given difficult problems, glanced at them, and stopped writing. They simply ate in silence. The only group still working hard was Ke Zhiguang's group.

However, the group's struggle was also very intense. The third-ranked girl was already scratching her head in frustration, and her girlfriend next to her gave her a mocking laugh, clearly an outsider. The other girl also looked particularly troubled.

Finally, there was that boy...

His eyes narrowed into a sharp line as he stared intently at the question, his pen tip moving back and forth across it in a simulated motion.

The manager casually strolled past the table, glancing at the questions he was currently facing, which happened to be the two most difficult ones.

—What bad luck! We're facing the two most difficult challenges right from the start.

The first question was alright; you could always get the result by repeatedly trying and calculating, which is a linear calculation ability. But the second question required some skill.

But soon, Ke Zhiguang put down his pen.

The manager was slightly taken aback.

Ke Zhiguang chose the first question. The correct answer to this question was 41 moves long. It was a seemingly simple but quite large life-and-death calculation problem.

Has he already figured it out?

One step is correct, two steps are correct, and the next step is also correct.

The jump clamp and the long jump are two crucial steps that are executed precisely, and many people get stuck on this calculation step.

But the boy made the right choice, and what followed was a natural and smooth breakthrough, with his spirits soaring high.

Before we knew it, we were at the 28th move, and the entire puzzle was densely packed with numbers.

29. Single break.

30. The strongest response is to squeeze in tight air.

The puzzle was solved by striking down, sticking the pieces together, and finally placing them on the three pieces at the top.

The second question follows immediately.

Two minutes passed, and Ke Zhiguang still hadn't started writing; they were at an impasse.

In his mind, the shape of the pieces kept twisting and turning, like a tree that kept growing, but there was no correct answer. The closest he came was when a piece blocked him, leaving him in a situation where one side was doomed to die on either side.

Demolish, start over—every option flashed through his mind.

The manager felt a little relieved. Although the essence of Go is calculation, some things can only be understood by humans through intuition. The so-called essential calculation is a metaphysical matter, which only gods can master.

The manager was about to step forward with a low laugh when he suddenly noticed a historical anecdote about Go from the Tang Dynasty pasted on the wall in front of him, used as decoration to enhance the restaurant's cultural atmosphere.

He suddenly couldn't walk anymore.

Which bastard posted this story here?

This anecdote is precisely the clue to solving this problem!

Just then, Ke Zhiguang, unable to think of an answer, looked up slightly to catch his breath and happened to see the historical anecdote posted on the wall not far away.

One move solves two problems.

Ke Zhiguang also knows this story. It dates back to the Tang Dynasty. A Japanese prince came to offer gifts and played chess. His opponent was Gu Shiyan, the top chess player of the late Tang Dynasty. This game is famous not only because it was the first high-level match in the history of Chinese and Japanese Go, but also because it is the first game in history to record a brilliant move.

On move 43, Gu Shiyan positioned himself between the two pieces on either side, taking a step similar to a sharp attack.

After the game, the Japanese prince immediately conceded defeat.

“One move solves two problems…” Ke Zhiguang repeated the term, then his gaze returned to the problem in front of him.

His pupils moved.

He received an inspiration that was almost divine.

Pick up the pen and start playing!

The key step: cleverly jump down one space!

It almost perfectly replicates the chess positions and brilliant moves from the classic story, capturing the essence of the game in an instant!

Problem solved.

The manager's expression twitched.

Is it even possible to have this kind of plot device, similar to a mystery novel? When the protagonist's reasoning is going poorly, he is suddenly enlightened by a word from a companion, or by a scene that is usually commonplace.

Can this be applied to Go?

"Quick, how much do you guys have left? I'm almost done writing here." Ke Zhiguang asked as he quickly wrote the last five-paragraph question, his pen flying across the page.

After finishing these two seven-segment problems, I suddenly felt that the previous five-segment problems became clear, and the calculations flowed like water.

"I've actually come up with a few problems here, and I'm almost done," Shang Xixing said excitedly, expressing his accomplishment in solving some problems.

"I'm almost there too. As long as you're willing to push the game to its most complex depths, it's actually quite easy." Mizuki Yuuki also felt that she had grasped the knack for solving this strange type of problem.

Indeed, the tricky part of Liu Shixun's questions is that they can be cleverly sealed off in places that seem impossible to block. Once you figure out the pattern, solving these questions is not difficult.

An uneasy commotion came from the elementary school student's desk next door: "Almost done! I've already done 14 questions!"

“We also have 14 questions!” another group of elementary school students retorted.

"We have 13!"

Shang Xixing said anxiously, "It seems like we're going to miss out. We can't even get third place?"

At this moment, Matsumoto Yukie, who had been just observing, suddenly stood up: "Although I don't know much about Go, it seems that I need to step in now."

"Xuehui, you want it?"

Matsumoto Yuki strode forward, swaying her hips as she unbuttoned her blouse and flung her hair, which had been tucked into her hat, away, instantly transforming into a sophisticated woman with a nightclub vibe.

"Hey little brother, I'm not very good at chess, can you teach me?" She came to the elementary school students' table and put her arm around one of the children's shoulders.

*Pfft*, a flirtatious wink shot out.

The elementary school students were frozen in place as the older woman's charm overwhelmed them; none of them had ever seen anything like it.

The manager was stunned again.

Can underhanded tactics be used like this?

“Sir, you’d better not do that.” The manager quickly stepped forward to stop the other person.

Shang Xixing was speechless. Although he admired Matsumoto Yukie's decisiveness and resourcefulness at the crucial moment, he felt like he had been cheated on.

Wait! Xuehui, don't do this!

"It's done."

After Ke Zhiguang finished speaking, he immediately took the questions that were supposed to be answered by Shang Xixing and helped him finish the remaining questions.

In the 8th minute, all 16 questions were completed, and the first paper was handed in!

The manager's face turned green, but he could only reluctantly glance at the questions to confirm they were completely correct. Then, forcing a smile, he announced to the guests, "It seems this group is the one eligible for the 50000 yuan voucher..."

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Moonlight Was So Eerie

At 8:30 p.m., the moonlight gradually deepened.

Dinner consisted of seafood hot pot, tempura, sushi, and expensive Wagyu beef, fulfilling Ke Zhiguang's expectation of eating all-you-can-eat non-staple foods. By the end of the meal, he still had several thousand yuan left in his hand.