The work of the Go master

And so, the competition proceeded smoothly, with each strong competitor advancing in turn.

"I'm back." After a day of competition, Ke Zhiguang returned home feeling relaxed.

"Welcome back. I'll cook today." Zero was fiddling with something behind the kitchen.

"Okay, goodbye." Ke Zhiguang politely stepped back, half of his body leaving the doorway... but he quickly came back in. The joke was just a casual gesture.

Logically, it should be Harushima Shika who appears behind the kitchen counter, but considering the competition has already started, it feels a bit strange that the two of them, who will soon meet on the field as opponents, are cooking and eating together like this...

So a few nights ago, Harushima Kashi rushed back to the women's dormitory to meet up with Hoshia and Hoshigami, successfully turning it into her temporary base, thus sounding the horn for a counterattack.

Speaking of which, recently, he and Harushima Kaoru have basically been living together. She spends most of her day in Koji Hikaru's house, and only goes back to her own room to lie down when she goes to sleep.

In about fifteen days, this title battle will be over, and this intriguing rivalry will be resolved. Then... maybe this relationship can even go a step further?

Sigh, it's quite a waste of money. These two of us actually rented two houses, so we have to cancel one of them.

Perhaps... we should just break through the wall and combine the two rooms into one big house?

Just as Ke Zhiguang was seriously considering the problem, the two Border Collies beside him came over as a welcome back to him.

"Yoshi yoshi, Kata, and... uh..." Ke Zhiguang hesitated as he touched the head of the second Border Collie, unsure whether he should call it by its name or not.

So why did I come up with the idea of ​​naming my Border Collie Alpha?

Ke Zhiguang glanced at Ling, seeking his opinion with his eyes.

It's one thing to share a name with a person, but to share a name with a dog... that's... kind of funny.

Zero helplessly shrugged, accepting the situation without any recourse. After all, it wasn't his name from this life, so he might as well accept it.

"Okay, Alpha, good boy/girl." Ke Zhiguang smiled and patted the dog's head.

But then he noticed something was wrong... Kata's stomach seemed a little swollen.

Could it be...?

Ke Zhiguang was stunned for a moment, then looked at Alpha with a horrified expression that seemed to say, "How the hell did you actually do it?"

Good grief, so you took care of all the naughty things while we weren't looking?

Holy crap! He's even faster than me!

Alpha shrank back in a wronged manner, but upon closer inspection... the dog wasn't wronged at all. It turned its head to the side and gave a sly grin to a place where others couldn't see it.

"Zero, if I'm not mistaken, my dog ​​seems to have... oops, my dog ​​seems to have... wait, that sounds weird, doesn't it?"

"Anyway, she got pregnant. I told you for her... Isn't this something to celebrate?" Zero said matter-of-factly, as if she had known this all along. "Maybe this is a good omen."

This... this interpretation doesn't seem to have any problems?

"But you, are you prepared to win?" Zero asked.

"I will do my best," Ke Zhiguang said. With his current strength, he was qualified to say the most pretentious things in the most plain words.

"Then we need to be extra careful, especially... especially careful of the power of girls sticking together. She's mobilizing everyone's strength right now." Zero tilted her head, a mischievous smile creeping onto her lips.

this......

Recently, Zero has been shuttling between Kojima and Harujima's teams, essentially acting as a double agent.

Ke Zhiguang roughly understood that their team was incredibly popular at the moment, and they were practically worthy of the song "Unbreakable Alliance".

"Then I guess I'll just have to believe they can surprise me," Ke Zhiguang said slowly, his gaze fixed on the distance outside the window.

That sounds like something out of a mysterious villain... kind of satisfying.

However, from a realistic perspective, Harushima Shika's current skill level is quite different from his previous level, which is an objective fact.

Although Ke Zhiguang had no intention of throwing the game, he did really want to see his opponent win.

Watching the other person swim upstream against the current, crossing the river, that scene must be quite beautiful.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the women's dormitory was also filled with high morale.

Their first task was to study the four games played by Keiji Hikaru and Yagami Kunikyo. The content of these four games was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, but it was also the best shortcut to improve their current combat strength.

The project to analyze the chess games has been underway for almost a month, but even so, there are still new things to be learned from these four games, making them like an inexhaustible treasure trove.

While they were intently studying the chess game, an analysis and report came from the next room.

"Report! We've identified another new change here!"

"We've also discovered some ingenious ways to conclude the story here!"

"And here, this is Ke Zhiguang's latest game record from today's match. Although he defeated his opponent very easily, I still came to take a look!"

The entire women's dormitory was mobilized, creating a fervent wave of enthusiasm.

They weren't doing it for any other reason than that they heard this game of chess was related to the confessions of two of the top male and female figures in the chess world, so their gossip spirits were ignited and they were full of energy.

Harujima Kashima lay intently in front of the chessboard, facing three chessboards at the same time, each one a complex and difficult maze.

Exhausted, she looked up at the window and saw a full moon hanging in the center of the night sky, captivating everyone's attention.

There's an old saying that people entrust their longing to the bright moon, and she seems to share that sentiment at this moment.

The game of chess is like a river that separates you and your loved ones; only by winning can you cross it.

"Just wait... I'll get through this soon..." With these thoughts in mind, Shiro slammed the chess piece onto the board with considerable force.

Time continued to move forward, the game progressed round after round, and the cherry blossoms on both sides of the road became more and more luxuriant, as if they could dye the pupils with a magnificent red glow and make the chess pieces touch the dew of spring.

"Ke Zhiguang is striding confidently toward the title of seven-time champion!"

"This is a trophy for Ke Zhiguang!"

"Someone asked Ke Zhiguang, 'I heard you're collecting game records of female Go players, is that true?' Ke Zhiguang: 'Yes.' The person then asked: 'How many records have you collected?' Ke Zhiguang: 'Three and a half harems.'"

"Damn it! How did those joke guys get in here again! I told you, this is a serious news program!"

In the penultimate round, Ke Zhiguang finally met his opponent... who turned out to be Xingjia.

"Long time no see, Mr. Hikaru." Hoshino nodded, her two ahoge (cowlicks) sticking up like antennae on Hikaru's face, essentially an underhanded attack.

But once she looked up, her expression tightened, a mixture of hostility and a smile.

"Although I know I will lose this round decisively, for Long'er's sake, I will force you to show more of your strength," she said.

Hmm... indeed, women sticking together is quite terrifying.

On the other side, Harushima Shikaya and the others encountered their opponent in this round, who was quite formidable—a bamboo sword forger.

He declared confidently, "Want to meet Ke Zhiguang in the finals? Unfortunately, it won't be that easy, because... I'm the one who's going to compete with him for the championship!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding media personnel all showed twitching expressions on their faces.

I have a feeling that this person might have some kind of misunderstanding.

After being choked for a while, Harushima Deer finally placed her chess piece—

"In this game, Shiori Shika 9-dan wins and advances to the next round!"

Bamboo Sword Forger slammed his fist into the cherry blossom-strewn soil, punch after punch: "Damn it! Why are women so hard to deal with!"

Seeing this person's baffling behavior, the entire media team and Harujima Kashima remained silent.

However, Shika Harushima knew very well that the reason she was able to defeat him was not because of the "bamboo sword can't beat a woman" trope, but more because of her strength.

Since defeating her father and breaking the chains, the power of her rising chess skills has flowed into her fingertips, and her original bottlenecks are being broken through one by one.

If they can maintain this momentum, they might actually be able to create a miracle!

As the sun rises and sets, and the days and months alternate, the number of people reaching the final summit gradually decreases.

On March 14th, the semi-finals ended, and the two people who qualified to step into the final stage were finally determined!

"I hereby announce that the two contestants of the Moon Sky Title Match, Koji Mitsuaki and Harujima Kashiwagi, please give them a round of applause and blessings!" Xia Fuying finally stepped onto the podium again and announced in a loud voice.

"What? Why offer them our blessings? Could it be...?" The astute reporters sensed this.

"No, I misspoke, it was a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue!" Xia Fuying quickly denied.

Rumors about who would win the right to confess their feelings had already been circulating within the chess world, and then, thanks to Xia Fuying's slip of the tongue, they were officially revealed to the outside world, and everyone vaguely knew something.

The hidden effects of fortune from behind the world quietly took hold, and golden-pink bubbles gathered, enveloping the beauty of the night.

On the night of the 15th, Harushima Kaoru stood on the rooftop of the girls' dormitory, gazing up at the huge full moon. The cool night wind brushed against her cheeks, and her two ponytails swung behind her head.

It's so quiet, so quiet that only the sound of the night wind and a heart beating fiercely, like a war drum slowly rising.

At this moment, she was holding the small brocade pouch that her father had given her before his death. The pouch had been opened, and the brilliant plan was written on a small piece of paper inside.

As expected, it was indeed a treacherous scheme worthy of Jiang Gan's wrath; you had to hold your nose to finish reading it.

However, it might actually work, producing strange effects in strange places, and even has a hint of underhanded tactics... But none of that matters. What matters is that she crosses to the other side in the most magnificent form, even if she has to swim across on her own hands and feet, she has to get it done!

"Girls, are you ready!" Harushima Deer called out as if she had made up her mind.

Not far behind her was a team that was already fully prepared, with all the elites of the women's dormitory expressing their willingness to serve her.

"Ready! We've got the clothes you wanted. We guarantee we can take down Ke Zhiguang before the battle even starts!" Xiong Ying gave a thumbs up.

"No, taking them down before the battle even starts is way beyond underhanded tactics..." Yingmei muttered, covering her face.

But Shizuka Harushima didn't care. Instead, she gave the order in the tone of a female general: "Alright, let's charge!"

Chapter Four has decided that if we lose this round, we'll say we were defeated by the opponent's beauty!

March 16th arrived as promised, with dawn breaking on the horizon.

Ke Zhiguang slept soundly that night. After waking up, he lay on the folding chair on the balcony, letting his brain awaken in the sunlight and air.

"Breakfast is ready," Zero's voice came from inside the house.

"Here you are." Ke Zhiguang got up and walked into the house, sitting down at the dining table.

It's about making breakfast, which is really just the most basic bread and hot milk that migrant workers make, very student-like, and doesn't seem like the setup of someone with a net worth of over 100 million.

However, the more ordinary the food, the more calmly I can face the upcoming matches... Well, actually, this is just the upper limit of zero.

"Are you ready? Not just in terms of pre-match tactics, but also in terms of mindset?"

“Even if I’m not fully prepared, it’s enough, because if I’m not well prepared, then the other side certainly won’t be prepared either… That’s called tactical confidence.” Ke Zhiguang nodded calmly.

The cozy little house still felt cozy, but even with such angelic care, Ke Zhiguang still thought a lot and daydreamed a lot last night... He only got a little sleep.