The work of the Go master

Harujima Kashima's nerves relaxed as she surveyed the current situation. In terms of territory, she was ahead of Kojiro. In terms of strength, her dragon was the only lone piece, while Kojiro also had two isolated pieces on the top.

He may still have a slight advantage, but for players of the same level, this advantage might only amount to a half-point victory in the final round.

If this process continues, victory should be in her hands.

Or rather, given her opponent's current skill level, she can win, and win easily.

The rain outside the window finally stopped, and there was no sign of it starting to rain again.

After five minutes of silence, Ke Zhiguang loosened his arms and his breathing became easier, instantly breaking free from the tense atmosphere.

"Just play it again next time," Ke Zhiguang said casually.

"Phew—, is this really the result?" Although Shiori Shika was prepared, she couldn't help but choke on her words, and her state of mind in the game instantly collapsed.

"It's already 8:30. By the way, what time did we start downloading?" Ke Zhiguang said.

"Around 6:30," said Harushima Shika, looking at the darkness outside. That's how it is when you're playing chess; before you know it, it's dark, and you don't even notice that it's been raining outside.

She continued, "Don't you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

“With your incomprehensible rate of progress, if you hadn’t lost today and had maintained your five-in-a-row advantage for a month, you should have been able to defeat me,” Harushima Shika said, looking into the other’s eyes, while Koji Hikaru’s gaze was fixed on the street scene outside the window.

As if reminded of something important, Ke Zhiguang suddenly realized and slapped his thigh: "Oh right, why didn't you remind me sooner that I could do this?"

"Do I really need to remind you?!" Harushima Kashiwa's blood pressure was rising.

Actually, the best scenario for Ke Zhiguang in this game was to immediately play the ko after the ko, which would satisfy his sudden urge to play and maintain a two-piece advantage, making the rest of the game much easier.

"I might regret it, but I won't go back on my word," Ke Zhiguang blurted out, though he wasn't entirely sure if his answer was correct.

"What...does that mean?" Harujima Shika asked, puzzled.

Ke Zhiguang thought for a moment and explained, "If I regret playing this game today, then if I had to make the choice again right now, I would probably still play this game. In the end, I would still choose the option that makes me regret it."

After explaining a few points, Ke Zhiguang's inspiration flowed naturally, and his vague ideas suddenly became clear.

"Once a move is made, there's no going back; that's probably what it means," Ke Zhiguang said with a Zen-like air about the way of chess.

The saying "once a move is made, there is no going back" means that one should not take back a move, nor should one regret it.

Ultimately, it wasn't a matter of remorse; he was simply acting on his instinct for battle. For that reason alone, he had every right to reward himself with a good meal for acting in accordance with his conscience.

The rest is up to me in ten days or so.

"Shall we call it a day?" Harushima Shika asked.

"That's all for now. There's one more thing. I'll be participating in this National High School League. Are you interested in coming to watch?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

Reminded by this, Harushima Kashima remembered that there seemed to be such a competition recently.

"I'll probably come if I have time," Harushima Shika nodded.

"That's good, goodbye." Ke Zhiguang waved and left.

After sitting for a while, Shirashima Kagami also started cleaning the Go room, as if he were closing early for the day.

If her first game with him was primarily about giving guidance, then today she was giving it her all.

—He must know my chess skills by now, right?

—Wait a minute, he'll probably be at home flipping through that book, "Between Black and White," and then suddenly realize who he's playing chess with.

In this way, everything will continue to unfold according to Harushima Deer's script. Perhaps the next morning, he will come to offer more milk with a reverent attitude.

One thing I have to admit is that this strange milk tastes pretty good, and after drinking it, I feel a surge of energy within me.

That's right, the main reason is because the milk tastes good, so we hope he can come here more often.

Yes, this is the script.

The deer on the island lowered its head and chuckled, a dreamlike backdrop forming behind it.

But when he looked down, he found that the copy of "Between Black and White" was still lying on the sofa, and he hadn't taken it with him.

"Damn it, don't go! Come back and take the magazine with you!" Harushima Kashima was immediately on the verge of losing her composure.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Mysterious Pagoda Temple (Dads, please vote and add to your favorites!)

The Saturday sun was exceptionally bright and pleasant.

Because it's Saturday, the day people look forward to the most, the sunshine is even brighter and more comfortable.

Ke Zhiguang woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. The first thing he did upon waking was still to draw back the curtains to check the goods and see what he had gained the previous day. This had become a habit for him in the past few days, much like how online novelists check the data backend as soon as they wake up.

Item 1: [Consumer Good: Shizuoka Gyokuro]

[This is very expensive tea, although young people don't really like it.]

A bag of unlabeled tea was placed on the chessboard, its contents barely enough for three cups.

Gyokuro tea, produced in Shizuoka Prefecture, is a famous Japanese tea and is very expensive. Of course, this is out of reach for Ke Zhiguang. For him, it would be better to give him a bottle of cola than expensive tea.

Perhaps the only option is to force it on Akio Masakazu.

Yesterday, when I played against [White-tailed Fox], I saw that he kept his teacup in his hand, so I guessed that he was going to lose a tea leaf. I just didn't expect him to lose such an expensive brand.

Item Two: [Spiritual Item: Amulet]

[Items that increase luck will increase your opponent's chance of making a mistake by 10% on the chessboard, and will also trigger probability events outside the chessboard.]

[Note: This item is unique and cannot be combined with other items.]

Something interesting has appeared again.

This amulet is a common Japanese amulet, with the four Chinese characters "一帆风顺" (meaning "smooth sailing") written on it.

"Making a ladle" is also a Go term, meaning to make a basic mistake, such as not noticing a very simple local move. A more outrageous example of making a ladle is when the opponent makes a move to capture a piece of meat and you don't see it, and the next second, it gets completely wiped out.

If I had to say, this wouldn't really be considered an item that affects the balance of the competition. The spoon-throwing thing is basically a matter of luck; if you happen to get it, you've hit the jackpot. And the champion doesn't necessarily have to have solid skills.

Interestingly, the item emphasizes that events can be triggered even outside the chessboard, and I'm curious to see what those events will be.

Item 3, [Special Item: Treasure Map]

"Phew, here we go again."

This is the third treasure map. The first two were unnamed chess manuals, and the third one should also be one.

But the location indicated by this treasure map is actually... Yugen-ji Temple?

Ke Zhiguang pondered the place name for a moment.

On Monday, a place name card was revealed, also pointing to Yugenji Temple, saying that the place has the ability to exorcise plagues and evil spirits.

He also emphasized the need to be careful of the monk.

Item 4: [Sacrificial Offering: White Fox Doll]

A new type emerged: sacrificial offerings.

This is a white fox plush toy about the size of a phone charm, and the art style is very cute.

Based on my experience with looting items over the past few days, the items can be roughly divided into four categories.

One category is consumer goods, which mainly include various coupons, milk, potato chips, Famicom game cartridges, and even Gundam models.

The second category involves using items, currently only match tickets and event trigger tickets.

The third category consists of special items, including treasure maps, Go textbooks, and instruction cards.

The fourth category is spiritual objects, which can be understood as equipment that can be carried on one's person.

This sacrificial offering is the fifth category, a new category.

[Throwing it into the offering box at Yugenji Temple will ward off evil spirits and plagues.]

Oh?

Yugenji Temple reappears.

Offering boxes are probably like those donation boxes in temples, used to make a little extra money.

Side Quest: Eradicate the Plague of Basket Rats

[Reward: Custom Suit Voucher]

Just then, the golden finger smacked.

After a few seconds of blank thought, Ke Zhiguang looked at the white fox doll he was holding in his hand.

—Does this mean that if you throw this doll into the offering box at Yugenji Temple, the [Plague Rat] effect on Yoshida will disappear?

All the clues pointed to Youxuan Temple, which inadvertently shrouded the place in a thick fog of mystery.

To this day, the main mission planned by this cheat system remains unchanged: to defeat Harushima Deer.

Side quests are few and far between; they basically just instruct him to fight every enemy he can, from the club to the Go room, pushing his way through.

Even without mission instructions, Ke Zhiguang would follow his own plan and take them down one by one, so he never really cared about the mission board.

Moreover, these side quests don't list rewards, making them even less noticeable.

But at this moment, the side quest suddenly offered a reward, which aroused Ke Zhiguang's curiosity.

Custom-made suit roll...

It looks pretty good. He happened to be out for dinner on Monday and was thinking about needing a formal suit, and it just happened to be delivered to his door. As expected, he is the best in the current timeline.

Just as Ke Zhiguang was about to leave, Qiu Sheng called out to him from behind: "Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"Youxuan Temple, Uncle Qiu, would you be interested in going to pay your respects?" Ke Zhiguang asked as he put on his shoes in the entryway.

"Yugenji Temple? You, a handsome young man in the prime of your life, are rushing to a place like this so early in the morning. Do you think you live in the Nara period?" Akio Masakazu's drowsiness vanished, and he looked at the other person with great astonishment.

Recently, his impression of Kezhiguang has been updated by an average of 500 megabytes every two days, and just now it was updated by 2 gigabytes.

"I heard that the blessing there is very effective for chess players, so I've decided to give it a try," Ke Zhiguang said, making up a story without batting an eye.

Qiu Sheng was taken aback for a moment, but quickly smiled.

When Qiu Shengzheng first heard that Ke Zhiguang was going to embark on the path of Go, he took it as a joke. But for the next few days, and even now, his mind has been completely focused on the Go board, which surprised Qiu Shengzheng.

Qiu Sheng could hear the sound of chess pieces being placed on the board in the dead of night, crisp and clear like the sound of rain. The sound of rain naturally has the magic of calming the mind and helping people fall asleep.