The work of the Go master

"Well... there are many game records that I'm very satisfied with, such as winning the Women's Cup and the Princess title, but... there aren't any that are particularly satisfying," Harushima Shika replied after thinking for a moment.

If I had to say, the game against Ke Zhiguang in the New Star Cup had the potential to be the game I was most satisfied with. However, she made an epic blunder in that game, completely ruining the game record with a reverse wave.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why she angrily carried the chessboard to knock on Ke Zhiguang's door that night; there were always some regrets, and she especially wanted to make amends.

—Isn't it true that only when you face the opponent you most want to play against can you achieve the kind of satisfactory game record that you envision?

Inside the match room, Ke Zhiguang was giving a brief post-match interview.

Interviews are usually only conducted during matches that are particularly exciting.

It took fifty moves to fill all four corners. This is a famous game by the Japanese Go master. The live capture and exchange is a famous game by the medieval Go master. The combination of the two is enough to ignite praise and admiration from industry professionals.

If the fortune of a title is largely determined by the excitement of the match, then the fortune effect brought by this battle of champions should be beyond the heavens.

After the interview, Ke Zhiguang remained waiting in front of the chessboard. The next game was back against Xuan Yuzhi. That's how the round-robin tournament is played, until a champion is determined.

Bamboo swordsmith also came into the courtyard, breathing in the fresh air, and occasionally throwing some pebbles into the pond, as if trying to skip them.

At this moment, Ke Zhiguang noticed it.

The points on the bamboo sword forging body actually increased.

30→55!

Just because of that game of chess?

It's getting more and more mysterious.

Ke Zhiguang had a feeling that the specific formula for this score would appear after this battle of famous generals.

Not long after, Xuan Yuzhi finished his contemplation on life and sat back down at the chessboard.

He probably didn't watch the game he just played; he was focusing all his energy on adjusting his mood.

If he had actually watched this game, he would most likely have picked up the dagger hidden behind him and started slashing, saying something like, "You two bastards, you throw your knives when you're trying to kill me, but when you're fighting back, you play the art game?"

Ke Zhiguang added another sentence for him—"Are you guys playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) here?"

The game begins, the pieces are placed...

In the alternating round-robin format of left and right battles, a day quietly passed, the sunlight going from faint in the morning to strong at noon, then to fading at dusk, and finally falling into complete darkness.

At 8 p.m., today's matches finally came to an end.

Night begins.

Chapter 47 Seventeen Couples

As the deep night descended, moonlight peeked out from the horizon.

The entire courtyard was bathed in cool-toned silver light.

"Phew, it's finally over." The moment the camera stopped, Harushima Kashima collapsed onto the table as if all was gone.

"How was it? Was the commentary more tiring than you imagined?" Reiko asked with a smile.

"It's mainly because it's so boring, especially watching these people on the chessboard fighting each other. I always feel like I'm not as good as them..." Harushima Shika said, puffing out her cheeks.

This is a natural human feeling. From a professional perspective, it's called "the onlooker sees more of the game than the player"; from an even more professional perspective, it's like everyone in the comments section is worth 10,000 points.

Of course, that's a secondary reason for being bored. The main reason is... how come there's absolutely nothing to criticize about this person!

Originally, when Harushima Lu learned that she would be commentating on Ke Zhiguang's match today, she excitedly prepared notes with insulting lines overnight, planning to start criticizing Ke Zhiguang when he made an obvious mistake.

As it turned out, she couldn't see any obvious mistakes Ke Zhiguang had made for the time being. On the contrary, Zhu Daoduan and Xuan Yuzhi seemed to be feeding each other.

"Then I look forward to seeing Princess Harushima sitting on one side of the chessboard during the next final commentary, while Ko... cough cough, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Harujima Shika said, feeling that the other person's cough seemed to be covering something up.

On the other side, Ke Zhiguang also came out of the game room.

After a day of intense competition, playing nine games from morning till night, I felt utterly exhausted as I stood up from the chessboard, as if I had just emerged from a room with a hundred times the gravity.

The final score was: Ke Zhiguang 5 points, Zhudao Duan 3 points, and Xuan Yuzhi 2 points.

When the first place is 3 points ahead of the second place, the final round-robin tournament will be decided. If he continues at this pace, he should be able to sit in the banquet hall with the trophy before dinner tomorrow.

Ke Zhiguang glanced at the moonlight and confirmed that it would be another peaceful night with calm waters.

Before eating, I went back to my room to check the chessboard, but I didn't find anything. It seems that the bamboo sword forging has also been classified as a period, and I need to use a game of Go to get something.

It looks like this battle of famous generals will end with a huge harvest.

Walking through the corridors of the mansion, greeting everyone in the work group, we arrived at the designated dining room.

According to the rules, players participating in the final round-robin tournament can specify their lunch and dinner, as well as dessert.

This process also existed in the Japanese title tournaments of my previous life. When the game was closed at noon, the staff would serve the players the set meals they had requested. After eating, the game would continue in the afternoon.

At noon, Hyun Ok-ji specified buckwheat noodles, saying that it was his lucky dish. According to a previous interview, he ate buckwheat noodles for lunch when he won his first championship, and eating buckwheat noodles before every big battle has become his tradition.

When they faced off in the afternoon, Ke Zhiguang didn't find any buffs on the Black Warrior.

Bamboo Knife Forging chose not to eat, saying that hunger keeps the mind clear, a truly admirable point that has garnered praise from the media.

However, when Ke Zhiguang happened to pass by a corner, he discovered that Zhu Daoduan was secretly eating chocolate to replenish his energy. When Ke Zhiguang discovered this, he was so shocked that he quickly stuffed the whole piece of chocolate, along with the packaging, into his mouth and pretended that he hadn't eaten anything.

Well, that's human nature, it's understandable.

Ke Zhiguang decisively and openly chose the steak set meal, which looked the most expensive, and also ordered a high-sweetness fruit platter and cake for afternoon tea. The other two did not order anything.

Hmm... why do I always feel like I'm freeloading off other people's rice?

Upon arriving at the dining room and receiving today's set meal, Ke Zhiguang found a nearby table and sat down.

Not long after, Harujima Deer, with her half-asleep mouth agape, floated by carrying her plate.

"Good evening, Qingdao," Ke Zhiguang said.

"Stop talking, today was so boring." Harushima Kashiwa naturally sat down opposite him, and a plate was brought over.

On top of the small, delicate bowl of rice, there was a small, cartoon-style flag.

Besides the rice, her entire set meal was also colorful and the portions were small. On a small plate, there were two small reindeer-shaped cookies.

This... looks like a kids' meal, doesn't it?

Harushima Deer seemed to realize something was wrong, and quickly pulled the flag off and threw it into the trash can next to it.

"Ahem... The cook here is really something, she actually played a prank by sticking this thing in my rice. Let me make it clear, this isn't a kids' meal, I wouldn't order something only kids eat." Harushima Shika said seriously.

Well, since she specifically emphasized it, then it must be the kids' meal, since she ordered it herself.

To be fair, most of the kids' meals are quite delicious, and you don't have to worry about the portions being too large and wasting food, making them very suitable for girls.

The two chatted about the game while slowly eating. After the intense rapid chess battle, it was a sudden break.

"Well, congratulations! You've basically secured the title of Grandmaster." Harushima Shika suddenly said, then put a piece of cauliflower in his mouth and chewed it vigorously, pretending not to care.

Surprisingly, she took the initiative to celebrate.

To prevent a flood of "milk" (a term used to describe someone who is overly optimistic or pessimistic) on the board during tomorrow's game, Ke Zhiguang responded seriously: "We can't be that sure. They are both very strong. If they can get into form tonight, we'll be on equal footing tomorrow."

Based on the intensity of today's match, Duanzi's strength is indeed remarkable. The only pity is Xuan Yuzhi, whose strength seems to be sealed. His performance today can be described as a low point in his life.

But it's understandable; getting stabbed twice first thing in the morning would leave you dazed all day.

From Ke Zhiguang's perspective, the Black Knight does indeed have two swords stuck in his back, indicating that they are the "Blades of the Heart."

The effect was a decline in competitive performance, lasting for a week.

Of course, being attacked all morning caused him to have a mental breakdown and his performance to plummet. Strictly speaking, it's because he hadn't recovered yet, and it can't be said that his teammates used underhanded tactics to mess with him.

After hearing Ke Zhiguang's words, Qingdao Lu was suddenly startled, her chopsticks trembling: "What? You...you're actually being modest?"

"Well, it's just about pulling the flag to prevent milk."

"Tch, I knew it. How could someone like you be so humble and polite?" Harushima Shika snorted, then started chewing on the reindeer biscuit, a crunching sound coming from between her teeth.

Hmm... Considering that her name only contains the character for "deer," biting into a reindeer biscuit feels a bit strange.

Just when I thought this relaxed and leisurely post-war period could last a little longer.

The moonlight outside the window suddenly flickered and dimmed considerably.

The sound of a car engine came from the alley outside the courtyard and finally stopped at the gate.

Looking out the window, I discovered that most of the work group was already waiting at the courtyard gate, as if to welcome distinguished guests.

The car door opened, and a couple stepped out; they were the VIPs who had been welcomed.

"Who's that over there?" Ke Zhiguang asked Qingdao Lu. It was dark, and he couldn't see the other person very clearly.

But you could sense an unfriendly atmosphere emanating from these two people from afar.

Harushima Deer raised his head and looked in that direction.

“That’s… the Inoue couple.” Shika Harushima’s expression became complicated.

"The Inoue couple? They're Hoshino's parents?"

"Hmm, Inoue Masakado 9-dan and Inoue Marie 8-dan, the two are known as the 17-dan couple. They are the chief referee and host of this tournament. I didn't expect them to arrive so late," said Harushima Shika.

Ke Zhiguang, who has been in the industry for so long, naturally knew of the existence of the Seventeen Couple, but this was truly the first time he had met them.

After getting out of the car, the Inoue couple walked slowly into the house, surrounded by the crowd, and came into the light.

Inoue Masakado was wearing a gray-green suit and had a serious but not rigid expression.

Meanwhile, his wife, Marie, wore a kimono printed with cranes, her hair styled in a classic way, revealing her fair nape and forehead, and she had the same calm gaze as her husband.

She seems to be a martial arts-oriented wife. Her eighth-dan title was most likely earned through her own strength, not by simply taking advantage of her husband's name.

The combined aura of the two is truly extraordinary, deserving of the title of the strongest couple in the chess world.

The points they had were even more astonishing.

It's actually 0.

The lowest score in the past was 1, but these two have broken that lower limit.

It seems that negative numbers may appear in the future.

Soon, the two entered the house and disappeared from Ke Zhiguang's sight.