The work of the Go master

After dinner, Ke Zhiguang and Shui Chengxi said goodbye to the lively couple.

Although they were a bunch of clowns, Ke Zhiguang was still quite happy to get to know them, as they were among the few friends he had made since coming here.

"Let's talk again next time, Hikaru-kun. I'll treat you to such a nice meal again!" The half-drunk Shang Xixingren was helped away by Matsumoto Yukie.

After watching the two leave, Ke Zhiguang's interest cooled down.

Being suddenly called Hikaru-kun feels a little strange, but when I think about it, the main character in Hikaru no Go only has one name: Hikaru Shindo.

So that's how it is. These days, the protagonist of a shogi anime must have the character "光" (hikari) in their name, just like how the protagonists of Yu-Gi-Oh! must all have the surname "Yu".

"Next, could you accompany me to one more place? It's a bookstore, within walking distance," Ke Zhiguang said.

Do you want to buy a book?

"That's it."

"Let's go then."

The two walked through the streets of Tokyo at night.

Tokyo at night has a special magic. The tiny spaces where every inch of land is precious, the dense billboards, and the restless, active energy in the air are like bubbles floating on the streets, scattering colorful lights from all around.

There really are people waving banknotes on the roadside to stop cars, as if they have so much money they can never spend it all. It seems that the descriptions of the Japanese bubble economy era on marketing accounts are not entirely untrue.

The arcade was filled with exciting sounds; in a few years, bubble socks might become popular too.

What a modern world!

Unconsciously, she seemed to have entered a somewhat gray area. There seemed to be more madams dressed in shiny dresses around, and people with punk hairstyles standing on the street in front of the shops as special talent scouts, which made Mizuki Yuuki feel uneasy.

"If you want to buy books, why don't we go somewhere else?" Mizuki Yuzuki whispered.

"It's alright, we've arrived." Ke Zhiguang replied calmly.

To be honest, this is a game of Go, and even if there is real danger, it will most likely be resolved by playing Go in the end.

For example, you might be cornered by a group of thugs in an alley. The leader of the thugs walks up with a sly grin and pulls out a chessboard from somewhere, saying, "Let's play a fast-paced game of chess."

Hmm, this script is pretty good. Why don't we go into an alley now and trigger an event?

Just kidding...

Arriving at the designated bookstore, it was a small bookstore with a very normal selection of books... wait, there seemed to be another layer inside, with a soft pink glow shining through the thick, warm curtains.

Unfortunately, the location indicated by the treasure map was not behind the noren, otherwise Koji would have had a good reason to lift the noren and check what was inside. What a pity and what an infuriating situation.

Arriving at the specific coordinates indicated by the treasure map, I picked up the book, and sure enough, it was another book related to Go.

"Muramasa Demon Sword"

The name Muramasa is quite familiar to most people, as it often appears in various literary and artistic works as a demonic weapon.

However, in Go, this is one of the three major opening moves, the Muramasa Demon Blade.

The variations of the Muramasa Demon Blade are extremely complex, full of deceptive moves, with each move containing hidden dangers and tricks. Sometimes the opponent collapses while playing, and sometimes you collapse yourself. The most complex variations can fill nearly a quarter of the chessboard. It is this double-edged sword-like lethality that gave this fixed pattern such a name full of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur).

However, judging from the cover of this book, it doesn't look like a Go explanation book; it seems to be just a simple swordsman novel.

"Is this the book you want to buy?" asked Mizuki Yuzuki.

“This is it,” Ke Zhiguang said. Because the book was wrapped in plastic, it was impossible to check on the spot whether the treasure indicated by the treasure map was inside.

When I went to pay at the counter, I asked about the book's contents. The general summary was that it was about a demon-slaying swordsman in the Edo period who wielded a sword in one hand and a chessboard in the other, practicing both martial arts and literature and roaming the martial arts world. The specific process was that he would first play chess with his opponent, and after winning the game, he could force out the demon possessing his opponent, and then draw his sword to slay the demon. The concept seemed quite interesting.

In short, it's still related to Go.

"But, the ending is a tragedy. The protagonist's final opponent is his beloved heroine, whose chess skills are far superior to his. He simply cannot defeat her. In the end, the heroine regains a sliver of her consciousness and makes a wrong move, which enrages the demon possessing her. The demon kills the heroine, and the protagonist kills the demon. In the end, the protagonist stops playing chess and stops wielding his sword. Sigh..." The shop assistant spoke with deep emotion, seemingly very fond of the book.

The clerk immediately said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I've given away the spoiler. I apologize."

"It's alright, thank you for clearing the mines," Ke Zhiguang said.

And so I walked out of the bookstore with the book in my arms.

Actually, I haven't finished reading the previous book, "Celebrities," yet now I've inexplicably read another novel.

If I had to say something, "Celebrity" also ended tragically, and Shuya didn't win the battle of retirement.

The nameless chess manual and the two novels related to Go seemed to be hinting at something to me.

Ke Zhiguang suddenly felt a ringing in his ears and his steps swayed slightly.

"Are you alright, Hikaru?" Mizuki Yuuki had gotten used to being addressed as such.

"It's nothing, just doing a couple of moonwalks."

After regaining his balance, Ke Zhiguang adjusted his non-existent glasses and his gaze suddenly fell on the end of the street ahead.

He saw... Yoshida.

At the end of the street, amidst the flowing crowds, Yoshida stood silently at the entrance to an underground shopping street, his posture appearing particularly stiff and mechanical.

The plague rat had appeared directly on his shoulder, and it was a size larger than the last time I saw it. Its appearance had become even more ferocious and ugly, and some of its limbs had already decayed into a skeleton.

The tail of the "Plague Rat" was wrapped around Yoshida's neck like a noose, tightening little by little.

[Plague Rat] seemed to realize the presence of others' gazes, turned its head, glanced at Ke Zhiguang from afar, and revealed a fierce aura.

this.....?

Ke Zhiguang was so intimidated that he stood there, his shoulders trembling.

What was that thing he saw?

Logically, he can only see the symbolic spirit of the chess player when he is in the middle of a game, but at this moment Yoshida is obviously not involved in the game at all. There is no chessboard within dozens of meters, but his symbolic spirit still appears.

It still looked like it wanted to strangle its master.

Yoshida took a step forward and entered the underground shopping mall.

The "Plague Rat" perched on his shoulder also disappeared from Ke Zhiguang's sight.

"Hikari, what's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing, let's go." Ke Zhiguang shook his head and let out a long breath towards the night sky.

The first time I noticed, the bright moon in the night sky was exceptionally eerie; in places where the moonlight couldn't reach, it seemed as if a hundred ghosts were roaming the night.

......

......

At 10 p.m., Hei Qing Cuisine was nearing closing time, and the manager was doing the final cleanup.

"A whiskey, please." A mature but dignified voice came from behind the counter.

He was an elderly man wearing a gray trench coat, with flowing gray hair, a cigar in his mouth, and a graceful demeanor that seemed almost excessive.

"Good evening, Saito 9-dan." The manager nodded respectfully to the elderly man. "Still working so late?"

"Yes, the national high school league is about to start, so I've been quite busy lately," the old man said, exhaling smoke rings.

"Speaking of high school students, this afternoon one of them solved the problems you gave me, and quite easily at that," the manager said with a wry smile.

"Oh? A high school student? That's quite unexpected. Actually, we in the world of Go generally look down on high school students. We all think that the younger they are, the better they are. It's really disheartening to have a mere high school student solve a problem." The old man smiled slowly, his spirits remarkably strong.

"That's what I thought at first too. I figured that all the good high school students these days go to training camps, so the students who hang around our shop after school shouldn't be that strong. But he gives off a very different vibe."

"Why don't you describe it?" Saito Kyudan said, shaking the ice cubes in his glass.

"He gave me the feeling that he had played Go for a long time, as if he had played thousands or even tens of thousands of games. The way he focused on thinking... was simply intimidating."

After listening, Saito 9-dan was quiet for a while before laughing out loud: "Since you've given him such an evaluation, he must be very strong. But speaking of which, Go is really cruel. I've heard a saying that if someone invests more than 10000 hours in a field, they can become a master in that field, but that may not work in Go."

“Yes, the difference in talent separates many people.” The manager continued, following Saito 9-dan’s line of thought. He thought that what Mr. Saito meant was that even though the boy had studied Go for a long time, he could only be a high school student now, not a professional Go player. This was the cruel reality of talent.

"No, no, no, what I mean by cruel is even crueler. You have to think of it this way: most of those who aspire to become professional Go players from a young age start learning Go at the age of 7. Assuming they only spend an average of 8 hours a day on Go, by the time they are 11 years old, they have already accumulated 10000 hours. But in reality, when they actually participate in the ranking tournament, they are a group of monster kids who have worked hard for nearly 20000 hours."

"Talent is something that, in reality, most people don't even need to work hard enough to reach the point where they need to compete on talent." Saito Kyudan took a swig of strong whiskey, his posture bold, but not a drop spilled.

After listening to Saito Kyudan's words, the manager hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

“Sorry, I’ve gone off on a tangent.” Saito smiled, his mustache twitching. “So, which high school student are you talking about?”

"He's from Yunjing High School; he's wearing the Yunjing High School uniform."

“Oh. That’s quite a coincidence. I’m going there in a few days for the league, and I might run into that high school student you mentioned,” Saito 9-dan said.

Is Chapter Twenty-Four really this exciting? (Please add to your favorites and recommend!)

On Friday morning, Harushima Deer lay on the counter, peering through a window of the neighboring apartment building with his newly bought binoculars.

Through the window, all you can see is a bare wall.

I turned the telescope around and placed it over the few pieces of clothing hanging on the balcony.

This also includes things like boxer briefs.

Wow! That's so exciting!

Harushima Deer's twin tails trembled, and she excitedly covered her nose as if to stop the blood from flowing out.

Judging from the family's age composition alone, it should consist of an adult male, a high school student, and a primary school student.

Huh?

Does this family have no women?

Harujima didn't think much about it and continued to observe the balcony.

—Oh, oh, oh, so he always wears gray.....

......

Wait a minute! What am I doing? This is perverted behavior!

Realizing how terrible her behavior was, Harushima Deer was so frightened that she quickly let go of the binoculars and almost wanted to bang her head against a telephone pole.

Two days ago, I inexplicably spent so much time spying on someone else's house from downstairs.

Yesterday, almost out of control, I bought a pair of binoculars at the store.

This morning, I found myself instinctively picking up binoculars to spy on the neighbors next door.

Harujima Kashima felt that if things continued like this, something even more terrible would happen in a few days.