The work of the Go master

"Yamata no Orochi?" Ke Zhiguang was stunned. It turned out that there were other dragon slayers besides himself.

Although he had indeed considered that Orochi might appear as a boss, he did not expect that it would be a boss that had already been defeated, and that it was defeated by another boss.

Is this the case of the dragon slayer becoming the dragon himself?

Speaking of which, compared to Ghidorah, this Yamata no Orochi has five more heads. Does that mean it's 8/3 stronger than Ghidorah? Surely we can't just simplistically pile on the numbers, right?

"The target we killed was that thing." Yagami Kunikyo pointed behind Koji Mitsuhiro.

There was an exquisite display case wall used for collectibles, similar to the entire dark wall in that record store, but this one was clearly more refined, with each item sealed behind glass.

But you can't sense any ghostly aura from this wall; it's as if all the demons have been exorcised.

The thing that Yagami Kunikyo was referring to was not inside the cabinet, but placed outside the cabinet, because it was too big.

A ferocious, enormous wooden sculpture of a snake, which happens to depict the Yamata no Orochi in a rage.

【Fujin Mother Goddess (Exhibition)】

The root of all evil

It turned out to be just an exhibit; Ke Zhiguang had thought that only he could get these things.

Judging from this, the entire wall of the cabinet must be covered with these kinds of display items.

The word "祸津" is also a native Japanese word, meaning something like disaster or calamity, so it is quite reasonable for the Yamata no Orochi to be given this name.

But it's actually called Mother Goddess, so it's a female dragon?

Combined with the description below that it is the source of all evil, it is easy to associate it with the mother goddess who gave birth to all things in the underworld.

If it's not that the god of quantum mechanics is deliberately playing on the "root of all evil" meme, then this explanation is probably correct.

"This wood carving was on that cruise ship at the time, and it was smuggled out as an antique. But the people who smuggled it obviously did not expect its evil nature. So, in the Pacific Ocean, a hurricane came and the waves capsized the entire cruise ship, pushing half of the people on board into the deep sea."

Ke Zhiguang interrupted and asked, "Then why was Yuechuan Longji on that ship?"

Faced with this seemingly simple question, Yagami Kunikyo thought for a long time before answering: "It can be understood as a coincidence, but it is also a kind of inevitability. Although he was only 15 years old at the time, he suffered from severe depression. Before boarding this ship, he spent all his money and then bought this one-way travel ticket. You can understand it as him going to seek death."

"Depression?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

That should have been 1974, an era that had little to do with depression. Even if someone did have it, they probably wouldn't know it, and even if they had money, it would be difficult to get tested.

"His background is complicated. He grew up in an orphanage and had a very withdrawn and eccentric personality, as well as a tendency to self-harm. However, his talent and ability in Go are undeniable. He started learning Go at the age of seven, achieved professional status at the age of ten, and reached the first peak of his Go skills at the age of fifteen, which is truly remarkable."

Fifteen years old may sound like a young boy who is still underage, but in terms of chess skills, it should indeed be the peak of his life.

Based on my past life's impressions, most Go players achieve their professional ranking between the ages of 10 and 13, and by the age of 15 or 16, they have already begun to win world championships.

The lowest recorded age for this stage is nine years old.

But this is the situation after the 21st century, and the involutionary competition is beyond imagination.

Moreover, the age at which a player achieves professional status largely determines the upper limit of their career. Players who achieve professional status between the ages of 9 and 12 generally have world championship titles. If a player has to wait until the age of 14 or 15 to achieve professional status, it basically means that their professional career will only be mediocre.

Age represents talent; the younger you are, the higher your talent tends to be.

However, the world hasn't reached that level of involution yet. The average age for achieving professional status is between 14 and 16, after which one can live a carefree life at the Go academy.

"Although he was so talented in Go, depressive tendencies accompanied him throughout his childhood and adolescence. When he was 14 or 15, his Go skills hit a bottleneck, and he suffered a major setback, becoming the biggest loser in the competition... runner-up. His condition worsened, to the point that he planned a one-way trip overseas. If it weren't for this extraordinary experience, his fate would most likely have been to find a beautiful coastline and jump off it. The Go world would have lost a genius, nothing more." Yagami Kunikyo recounted all of this without joy or sorrow, including the final "nothing more."

Indeed, given the current situation, this is simply a matter of course, and it is a choice that benefits all parties.

Just like the classic phrase, "If a certain historical figure died a year before launching an attack/rebellion, then he is a great historical figure," and so on.

Of course, Ke Zhiguang did not elaborate on this, but only played a little joke in his mind.

"But fate is so coincidental. On that ship, he encountered the Mother of Calamity. After he fell into the sea, he happened to touch the wooden carving of the Yamata no Orochi up close and began a life-or-death game in his consciousness. It is hard to explain whether he was playing with the will to live or with the determination to die. In any case, he won in the end and woke up on a Japanese beach in the western Pacific Ocean. His chess skills also broke through the bottleneck after that and reached a new level, taking the Dragon Throne for the first time."

"It was after this disaster that his depression was completely cured, and it turned into another kind of madness, a rational madness," Yagami Kunikyo said in a definitive tone.

"So what are the similarities between him and Saito in their obsession with the universe?" Koji asked.

Yagami Kunikyo shook his head: "I don't know about that. I only know that he saw something very beautiful in the sea and became obsessed with it. Sometimes he would buy a ticket to revisit the place, but he always returned disappointed. This Dragon Throne Battle is what he has been dreaming of. On that sea, he wants to replicate the great battle he fought back then and see the holy land in his heart again. I suppose he is also looking forward to an opponent as powerful as Orochi."

"Aren't you also expecting a hurricane or a tsunami, something like that?" Ke Zhiguang roughly understood something.

So this is where the foreshadowing of the tsunami came from.

Although it's unclear what its connection to the videotape is, at least if things go according to his plan, this is bound to happen.

"Probably. A tsunami will most likely occur, pushing everyone, including his own life, to the brink of death, all for the sake of seeing the sacred place in his heart again."

Ke Zhiguang said calmly, "Don't forget, you are also one of the people who pushed everyone to the brink of death. This Dragon Throne Battle can only be held in this place, and in the form of a team battle, because it has to be approved by you."

“Yes, I nodded as well, because he had to die... at least he had to give up his involvement in the game of Go, leave the Go world, and never touch Go again.” Yagami Kunikyo’s voice rose and fell for a moment, but quickly calmed down.

"Because of the loss of weapons?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

Yagami Kunikyo nodded in agreement: "This matter was the trigger and one of the main reasons, but the root cause is that Koshikawa Tatsumi seriously threatened the game's outcome, and I had to punish him."

"Is it a threat to the game's outcome?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"This is not something you should concern yourself with. Bringing it up here would only harm your luck in the game," Yagami Kunikyo shook his head.

After a while, he continued, "It was his request that the Dragon Throne Battle be held on a ship, while the team battle format was my request, especially the vice-general battle, which required women to participate."

"Sorry, I'm holding the King card," Ke Zhiguang said.

"Harushima Kashima is indeed a strong player among the younger generation of female Go players, but don't forget that she is only a princess. Above her, there is the Empress," said Yagami Kunikyo. "She was able to defeat her junior sister back then, which was certainly due to her strength. But if she had faced her junior sister when she was younger, she wouldn't have won so easily."

The term "junior sister" carries a lot of information.

At this moment, Yagami Kunikyo's emphasis on the young Kiko Seinoka may be an implication that he has some kind of ability to make people young again. His overly youthful face says it all. Who would have thought that someone with such a young face is actually 61 years old?

However, it still doesn't convey as much information as the term "junior sister".

"So far, only three rules for the Dragon Throne Battle have been announced: team battles, female vice-generals, and the importance of the main general battle. The specific rules have not yet been announced. Once they are announced, you will understand why I requested team battles and why I agreed to hold the event at sea as requested by Tatsumi Koshikawa. I am confident in doing so."

Yagami Kunikyo continued, "That's why I don't object to your bold decisions regarding teammate selection, because for non-captain/vice-captain members, all they need to do is win that one crucial game."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Nuclear Explosion Situation

"Is the most crucial game the final round?" Ke Zhiguang judged.

Yagami Kunikyo nodded.

"The games before this final match mainly use a scoring system, with a large number of points allocated to the vice-captain. As long as the vice-captain wins, the captain basically doesn't need to play. The final match is the death stage I prepared for Koshikawa Tatsumi... The outcome and time of the four games—vanguard, second vanguard, central force, and vice-captain—will directly affect the time of both sides in the final three-game match between the captains."

He continued to explain: "Ideally, in the final, we would have three hours and three one-minute countdowns, while Tatsumi Koshikawa would have no spare time and only three thirty-second countdowns."

This is... an unprecedented competition format! I never knew team competitions could be played like this.

But upon closer reflection, it does make sense. To ensure the sanctity of the final duel in the title match while also ensuring that the team can play a role in it, starting with the spare time for both sides is indeed a good entry point.

In every sense, this is a truly creative competition format. It seems that these old guys who are soaking in hot springs in Hokkaido still have pretty sharp minds.

“It’s unlikely that we’ll achieve the ideal outcome, but at least we can reduce his backup time to less than an hour. At that point, Saito will be tasked with delivering the final blow,” Yagami Kunikyo said solemnly. “These are the rules I’ve set, and they’re completely in my favor. Koshikawa Tatsumi has no choice but to accept them.”

This is the concession and compromise reached by both sides: the location is satisfied with Koshikawa Tatsumi's side, but the specific rules and competition format are satisfied with Yagami Kunikyo's side.

Ke Zhiguang suddenly realized that while he was happily doing his daily tasks and enjoying his wonderful life, there were undercurrents at play in the unseen heights.

"Is this advantage your reason for gathering everyone on that ship of death?" Ke Zhiguang still clung to this point.

While playing a game of this dark game can be quite exciting and tempting, there are simply too many factors at play, making it impossible to simply say that "ignoring the consequences of losing increases the chances of winning."

The ideal solution is to quickly call in reinforcements and use physical means to deal with Tatsumi Koshikawa.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to gamble everyone's lives to accompany him through this insane ritual." Yagami Kunikyo leaned back in his office chair behind his desk, sunlight streaming in from the window, casting a clear line between him and Keiji.

"What I'm risking is my own life and safety."

His voice was like a boulder landing; although he didn't raise the volume, it felt as if the surrounding scenery trembled.

"After the final begins, I will go to a small island in the Pacific Ocean. It is my private island with my villa. I will stay there alone until the Dragon Throne Battle is over. If Saito and the others lose, then the tsunami will engulf the place where I am. Of course, your cruise ship will also be hit by strong waves and may capsize, but don't worry, it has enough life-saving equipment and no one will be injured or killed."

"The ship has capsized, and there won't be any casualties? That's unrealistic, isn't it?" Ke Zhiguang asked calmly.

Yagami Kunikyo turned his chair around so that it faced the clear blue sky, and the light fell on the back of the office chair and in front of Keiji Hikaru.

"Do you know about the battle under nuclear explosion?" Yagami Kunikyo asked.

Ke Zhiguang shuddered, as if he had heard something extraordinary.

The "Nuclear Explosion" scenario is a meme that only those within the Go world understand.

If we were to rank all the Go games in history according to the excitement of the stories behind the game, then the game in which Akane Hoshitsu, who even killed someone, vomited blood would only rank second, and the first place would most likely never be surpassed.

Because this match was held under the influence of an atomic bomb.

This thing existed in the previous life; it was also known as the nuclear explosion scenario.

In July 1945, the six-game Honinbo tournament officially began.

At that time, the whole of Japan had been ravaged by B-29, but the people in the Go world still had great enthusiasm for organizing Go tournaments.

The location that group decided to hold the event was Hiroshima.

At that time, Hiroshima was already within the bombing range of the Allied forces, and the police strongly opposed them holding a chess tournament in Hiroshima.

But this group wouldn't listen to advice and resolutely set up the chessboard in Hiroshima, albeit in the suburbs.

On August 6, the second game of the best-of-six series began. Not long after the two players started playing, the little boy jumped off a parachute towards Hiroshima, creating a mushroom cloud and a dazzling white light.

The hurricane unleashed by the atomic bomb swept into the game room, overturning the chessboard, the players, and the referee, shattering all the windows and doors.

Then something intriguing happened... They straightened the chessboard, restored the game to its original state, and continued playing, their composure astounding.

They claimed they thought it was just a routine air raid, unaware that the city of Hiroshima was already gone.

Although the game itself was unremarkable in terms of content, with both sides playing peacefully and without any particularly exciting moments, the story behind the game was so fascinating that it is impossible for anyone to surpass it.

So, the talk about the Showa spirit of Tokyo being hit by a B-29 bomb but the office workers still going to work on time the next day can wait. Compared to playing chess under an atomic bomb, it's nothing.

Incidentally, this best-of-six match was finally tied 3-3 in November 1945, three months after the Imperial Voice was broadcast.

Since the match ended in a draw, the group continued with a tiebreaker until August 1946, nine months later, the first anniversary of the atomic bombing, when Iwamoto Kaoru defeated Hashimoto Utaro 2-0 to become the new Honinbo.

Even more remarkably, despite experiencing the nuclear explosion, neither of the participants was affected by the radiation and lived to the ripe old age of 97 and 94 respectively. Only the referee, Kensaku Segoe, was affected by the radiation, but he also lived to the age of 84.

Thinking about this, Koji suddenly realized that Saito's words made a lot of sense; playing Go really could ensure safety.

In this world, there is also the concept of a game played under nuclear explosion conditions.

However, it is mostly circulated as an urban legend, and is only occasionally mentioned in jokes with fellow Daoists.