The work of the Go master

The trophy is something like a seal, but instead of a dragon or any other creature, it's a thick chessboard with two people dressed in ancient costumes playing a game in front of it... It's like a large figurine, with an indescribable sense of absurdity.

The trophy accompanied Ke Zhiguang as he slowly descended in the elevator, watching the city skyline gradually roll over his head.

Everything is quiet, becoming a little poem, written with the night, with Christmas, with songs... and of course, with memories.

Although he has already relived the past many times, Ke Zhiguang still wants to continue reminiscing. He never gets tired of reminiscing and can always find something interesting in his past memories.

A year and a half ago, a traveler from the future, or rather, from another world, arrived in this place. Starting as a chess piece and with the very first calculation, he began a long and legendary journey...

As the elevator reached the bottom, Ke Zhiguang strolled out, intending to wander aimlessly through the snowy Christmas night, when a familiar voice came from directly ahead:

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You've already won the Imperial Chess Championship, why are you walking like an old man?"

Harushima Deer appeared in front of the gate, and Yukikaze walked behind her, bringing with it wisps of white mist and lifting her two swallowtail-like ponytails.

She stood under the streetlamp, snowflakes falling on her eyelashes like church lights, a thin layer of snow covering her shoulders, proof that she had been waiting there for quite some time.

Ke Zhiguang paused on the steps for a moment, his eyes reflecting the other person's figure, and something stirred within him.

"Did we win?" Ke Zhiguang shrugged and smiled.

"Of course, if I lost, why would I have the time to come here and wait for you?" Harujima Kashima said matter-of-factly.

"What about the others?" Ke Zhiguang asked as he walked, gradually getting closer to the other person.

"A resounding victory! Who do you think we are?" Harushima Shika proudly puffed out her chest, as if she had led a group of underlings to victory in the guise of a Valkyrie.

However, upon closer reflection, it seems to be true. For two whole months, Ke Zhiguang did not show up at the Go Academy, and his position as leader had clearly been usurped by Qingdao Lu.

It seems that Humphrey's main job, besides his daily official duties, was to madly sideline Jim Hack.

"Don't be fooled by how late it is, everyone's waiting for you. The seats are already reserved... Of course, you're paying! The prize money is 240 million yen!" Harushima Shika held up his hands, making a two and a four, which was the total prize money for the champion of the castle chess tournament.

"I like you."

"Okay, then hurry up... wait! What did you just say!"

Harujima Kashima originally wanted to hurry over to the banquet, but she was momentarily distracted and couldn't hear clearly. She was convinced that the other person had just said something outrageous, and her little shoulder twitched.

"I like you, is that okay?" Ke Zhiguang gazed calmly at the other person.

Vehicles drove past on the road behind him, pressing the snow into unique patterns. The fleeting headlights acted like a shutter, capturing this line of dialogue frozen in time.

Their gazes met under the streetlights in the snowy night; one was as calm as a lake, while the other's heart was pounding and steam was rising from her head.

Although they had already indirectly learned of each other's feelings through Yixin, which was a roundabout way of confessing their love, after returning home, they were busy preparing for the battle and were separated for a while. They didn't pay much attention to anything and maintained a tacit understanding.

However, just the moment he saw the deer on the island, a certain indescribable flutter quietly arose in Ke Zhiguang's heart.

Since the emotions have already reached this point, there's no need to hold back anymore, right?

"I...I..." Harushima Kashima's face flushed, her eyes darting around like mosquito coils, and she could barely string together a sentence! This happiness came too suddenly! Hey!

After hesitating for a moment, as if gathering her courage, she flicked her index finger at Ke Zhiguang: "Stop! Stop! It's too early!"

"Too early?" Ke Zhiguang was taken aback. "It's okay, we can postpone it for tonight. I have a detached villa in Hokkaido, which will be more convenient when we go there later."

"A detached villa in Hokkaido?!" Shinobu Harushima was shocked. Just thinking about what might happen there made her legs twitch inwards.

Ke Zhiguang sighed: "Okay, so what you really mean is that there's still a game of chess between us that we haven't played yet, and we have to wait until that game is over before we can confess our feelings to each other."

Harushima Kashiwa was still dazed for a while before she came to her senses: "...that's pretty much it. Of course, it's not that crucial, and it's not impossible to get it done sooner..."

After a struggle and some incoherent rambling, she finally calmed herself and nodded resolutely: "That's right, the loser must accept the winner's confession! That's roughly... what it means..."

As she spoke, her voice softened again.

“It’s a deal,” Ke Zhiguang nodded.

Indeed, this was the perfect ending for their relationship. The story's end should, of course, be a curtain call from its beginning, so that it can form a perfect circle.

Soon, the two figures disappeared at the end of the street, heading towards the venue of today's banquet.

The peaceful night lasted until dawn.

The next day, as dawn broke in the gray, the golden rays of the sunrise were set against the coastline of the Pacific Ocean.

This is the first time in a long time that the sunlight has been so intense; at the end of darkness, after sunrise, it is more beautiful than a rainbow after the rain.

Yagami Kunikyo stood alone atop the Tokyo Tower for a long time, watching the sky gradually brighten.

It felt like going back to the past, when he was a child in a small coastal town, and he loved to sit on the coastline and watch the sunrise, imagining what the skyscrapers on the other side of the Pacific Ocean looked like.

The sound came from the iron ladder; someone was coming up.

He was also pushing a wheelchair.

"Kunikyo, it's been a long time." Hanno Ken came to Kunikyo's side and watched the sunrise with him.

Chapter Fifty-Six Christmas Gifts

As dawn broke through the east like a tidal wave, an unprecedented winter warmth enveloped the top of Tokyo Tower, and the sky was a pure blue.

Yagami Kunikyo stiffly turned his head to look at Hanno Ken, and... Ishiko, who was pushing Hanno Ken's wheelchair behind him.

"Hanno-sensei, how have you been?" Yagami Kunikyo said.

"I wouldn't say I'm fine. My health is getting worse and worse, just like yours now." Hanno Xuan coughed.

Indeed, as Hannoken said, Yagami Kunikyo now appears to be on the verge of collapse.

The moment the unique youthful energy of the Imperial Chess was lost, its backlash began.

His appearance aged rapidly, and his hair turned ashen white, as if he had traveled decades in a single night.

He reverted to his original self, a sixty-year-old man... no, even older than that. He knew very well that his life was nearing its end.

But his gaze into the distance seemed to have a final burst of energy, making him appear incredibly young.

"I suppose I have disappointed you," said Yagami Kunikyo.

“How could that be? You’ve always been my proud student. You performed exceptionally well in this five-game match,” Hanno Ken said.

"No, I mean, my recent actions of consuming the Wood of Chess Fate have disappointed you, haven't they?" Yagami Kunikyo's voice was completely flat, revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

"Who knows?" Hanno Ken propped his head up with his hand, facing east with the other person. As time went by, the light shining on Tokyo Tower continued to move downwards, gradually covering the entire city skyline.

“Sometimes, I wonder if I made a mistake from the beginning,” Hanno Ken said. “After I completed my mission, as a gift from the gods, I received the seed of Go luck, which I can choose to plant or not plant.”

"So it's possible to choose not to plant it?" Yagami Kunikyo asked.

"Of course it is. If I hadn't planted it, Go would just be ordinary Go, and it wouldn't be linked to fortune. But I thought it would be more interesting, so I planted it... As it turns out, it was the right choice. Countless outstanding players have emerged since then, contributing many games that can be recorded in history." Hanno Ken shrugged and laughed. "However, things later developed in a way that was beyond my expectations, and it also brought a lot of misfortune."

"Am I one of the misfortunes you mentioned, Mr. Hanno?"

"Haha, this is a difficult question for me to answer, but one thing is certain: I am very grateful to you. Without you, there would never be such a grand occasion in the Go world today, there would never have been the extravagance of setting aside 4 billion yen as the total prize pool for the entire series, and there would never have been the possibility of moving the final battle to the very top of Tokyo Tower." Hanno Ken's smile was as cheerful as ever.

Yagami Kunikyo gave a silent, bitter smile.

"In the end, my role was still only in terms of pomp and circumstance and money." There was a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.

“No, there’s also your legacy of passing on the way of Go,” Hanno Ken said. “Because of your example and your advice and guidance to Go players, we have so many excellent Go players.”

After a long while, Yagami Kunikyo's bitter smile finally turned into a genuine chuckle: "To hear such high praise from you at the last moment of my life, should I say that it is the final blessing from the gods?"

"No, this is a blessing for me. I am so glad to have had such a heart-to-heart talk with you in these last moments... Go in peace, a beautiful world awaits you."

The moment those words were spoken, dawn seemed to rise to its highest point, a white sun rising from the sea, sunlight lapping against the faces of the two old men like waves. Their eyes held stories of hardship, they were like master and apprentice, yet also like father and son.

He had thought death was a terrible and lonely thing, but Yagami Kunikyo was surprisingly at ease at this moment. Memories flashed by like a revolving lantern, warm and gentle. A pair of tender and delicate hands held his, and he became younger. In this way, he was led by the other person to the end of the light.

It was as if she was still by his side.

"That place is truly a beautiful world." These were the last words of Yagami Kunikyo, uttered with a smile as he closed his eyes.

His life came to an end, he died peacefully in his sleep, his legendary life came to a close, and a chess master officially retired from the stage. Few people can leave this world as cleanly as he did.

Before this game even began, he had staked all his wealth on the gambling table and exhausted all his connections to secure the rights to host the event. From the very beginning, he was prepared for a one-way trip. This battle would either lead to ascension or, like now, permanent closure of his eyes.

The hymns of mourning for the deceased echoed above Tokyo Tower, recited by Ishiko Shima, each syllable bathed in golden sunlight.

"Regarding the capital of the Night God Kingdom, there is still one thing I don't understand." When facing Ban Yexuan, Shi Xin changed his self-reference to "student".

He asked, "Why is Yagami Kunikyo so obsessed with his fascination and longing for the future?"

"Oh... that's his childlike side, wanting to see the world more."

"Look at this world?" Shi Xin asked, puzzled.

"Curiousness about the world is one of the most primal human interests. He has had this interest since childhood, which is also one of the driving forces behind his continuous progress. From seaside towns to big cities like Tokyo, and then to various countries around the world, as well as forests, deserts, mountains, and oceans, he has always maintained this interest. After seeing all of these, he will naturally yearn for the future world."

"What will the world be like in the future?" Shi Xin asked, gazing at the sky.

"I don't know, but it should be very beautiful. As for the details, Ke Zhiguang should know more."

"So the topic eventually came back to Ke Zhiguang?" Shi Xin seemed to have expected this.

"After all, you still have a few games to settle with Ke Zhiguang, don't you?"

Hearing what Hannoken said, Shi Xin remained silent.

"Of course, these are minor issues. The important thing is... Shi Xin, are you interested in seeing this world? It's quite amazing." Hanno Ken's voice rose like smoke, making Shi Xin examine the distance more intently.

“I…I will,” Shi Xin nodded in reply.

......

......

On the other side of the city, at Ke Zhiguang's home.

I slept for a very long time, like having a long dream. When I woke up, I couldn't distinguish between the dream and reality for a while.

Even though last night was the cusp of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, all entertainment facilities were shut down due to Tokyo's recent double whammy of blizzards and power outages. After a late-night feast, the group quickly parted ways—what a joke.

It seems that Xingjia took the lead and suggested that we go to Mr. Guang's house to play. The rest of the troublemakers followed suit and cheered wildly. As a result, it really happened. A large group of people poured into Ke Zhiguang's house and split into a mahjong group and a game machine group.

The sounds of mahjong tiles being rubbed and the controller being rubbed continued until dawn, when everyone finally went to sleep. Harushima Shika led the girls' group back to her room, leaving only a group of Nan characters on her side.

It was an unusual yet down-to-earth day.

Despite the accolades like the Imperial Chess Championship, yesterday turned out to be just like the end of a regular final exam, with students playing wildly all night... As for how well or poorly they did on the exams, nobody cares.

I've forgotten which inspirational book it was from, but the original quote was, "Once this game is over, you can go home."

The end of this game is far more important than winning it... or something like that?