The work of the Go master

With fluid movements, he took a piece from the chess box, and it landed crisply on the chessboard, followed by a faint beam of light.

The black stone squeezed into the small corner of the white stone in the lower left corner.

The countdown stopped.

Then Ke Zhiguang took the white light and proceeded.

Attack, stick to, turn around, attack again, extend, and finally break out of the encirclement.

The adorable, childlike little devil that was just moments ago has suddenly died.

【Correct answer! 】

"Is that all?" After finishing arranging the items, Ke Zhiguang looked up at the other person.

The girl hesitated for a moment: "Your first impression is that your fingertips are squeezed?"

"almost."

Although this question type is basic, as long as you have enough time and try a few times, even a beginner can eventually figure it out.

However, with only 10 seconds to answer, there is no time to think. Most people would grab a piece and immediately try to smash it into the left and right sides of the encirclement. In the end, they would die in the encirclement because their liberties would be destroyed early.

In short, this question was indeed slightly beyond the scope of the curriculum, and she was prepared to use it to discourage the other person.

"You have a good feel for Go. You've really never played Go before?" After a moment, the girl's voice turned somber as she stared at him with a suspicious look.

"Really, no." Ke Zhiguang responded naturally, speaking calmly.

The rain outside had intensified, and puddles slid down the eaves, making the sound of the rain quite annoying.

After a moment of silence, the girl responded: "Let's try a few more questions, if we have time."

As the girl spoke, she lifted the cloth painting in front of her, revealing her face, and looked directly into Ke Zhiguang's eyes.

She is indeed a very cute girl.

Its eyes are also great, like a baby tiger.

"Please let me slide tackle you," Ke Zhiguang couldn't help but say.

"Huh???"

"Nothing, cross out the previous sentence... Let's continue the lesson."

Chapter Three: Sunny Island Deer

The girl was about to ask a second question, but after thinking for a while, she couldn't think of a suitable one.

"Wait a moment, let me find some practice books." After saying that, the girl bent down and crawled under the counter to try to find some suitable Go practice books.

As she rummaged through the drawers, Ke Zhiguang's gaze inadvertently fell upon the duty roster for the day on the counter, and the person on duty today, the girl in front of him, was named... Harushima Kashi, three elegant Japanese kanji characters.

Qingdao is the surname, and Lu is the given name.

Although the Japanese have a long tradition of using animals as names, when naming girls, they mostly use animals like butterflies or birds, with less common ones being rabbits or cranes, all emphasizing a petite and cute appearance.

Even from a Japanese perspective, the character "鹿" (deer) alone would be considered extremely obscure.

Oh, no, there's a name for it called Shikamaru...

"found it."

Harushima Kashima successfully unearthed a bunch of Go problems and piled them all on the counter. The titles on the covers were mostly "Enlightenment" and "Elementary", with some "Intermediate" problems as well.

Based on his recollection, Ke Zhiguang roughly knew about the ranking system in Go. First, there was the well-known professional Go ranking system, from 1-dan to 9-dan, with higher numbers indicating greater skill, and these rankings could only be written in Chinese characters.

Amateur Go players can only reach a maximum rank of 8 dan, which can only be written in Arabic numerals. It is said that in Japan, amateur Go player ranks can be bought. A 6 dan costs 30 yen, a 7 dan costs 60 yen, and an 8 dan costs 100 million yen. Everything is clearly priced. Once the customer pays the money, they can get an amateur certificate issued by the Go Association. There are always some nouveau riche with spare money but no skill who like to buy such a rank certificate and display it in their living room to show off to their relatives and friends.

But below that are levels 18 to 1, which are beginner levels. These levels are also represented by Arabic numerals, with smaller numbers indicating stronger skill. There are no certificates to prove your level at this level; you can only rely on your own intuition.

The series is also abbreviated as K, ranging from 18K to 1K.

Ke Zhiguang picked up an introductory book and flipped through it briefly. As a novice who had only been playing Go for less than an hour, it should have been appropriate for him to read this book. However, after glancing at it, he felt that the answers to the questions were obvious at a glance.

That's pretty childish?

Early childhood education materials, with the highest level limited to 15K.

“No, this is too easy.” Harushima Lu flipped through “Enlightenment”, frowned and shook her head, then put down “Enlightenment” and picked up a book called “Elementary”, level 14K-9K.

"Simplicity is good..." Ke Zhiguang muttered.

"This still won't work, it's still too easy!" Harushima Kashima continued to change books, switching from "Beginner" to "Intermediate".

Harujima Kaoru flipped through the intermediate textbook with burning eyes, glancing at Ke Zhiguang as she looked at the questions, with a hint of anticipation.

It was as if he was determined to find a difficult problem and eliminate this self-proclaimed promising young man.

The previous question had relatively few sub-questions and not many options, so maybe this person just guessed correctly?

Now she needs to find a problem with more subtotals and a more complex one... at least it has to look very complicated to eliminate any element of luck.

Faced with this overwhelming fighting spirit, Ke Zhiguang helplessly pinched the Tianying acupoint on his eyebrow.

To be honest, he really just wanted to get started here; he didn't expect to encounter such an exciting plot.

"Found it, the second question," Harujima Shika suddenly said, with a hint of surprise.

That's it! Let's take down this kid in one fell swoop!

Just like the first question, Ke Zhiguang closed his eyes and waited for Qingdao Lu to finish arranging the question, but this time he had 20 seconds to solve the problem.

Opening my eyes, the puzzle was in the upper right corner, with a significant increase in the number of pieces. Black and white pieces were intertwined, a puzzle that would likely be a headache for any beginner who had been learning chess for less than an hour.

"Blackie, escape the four on the right."

The deer on the island didn't give many hints before the twenty-second countdown began.

The pupils contract.

My breathing tightened as well.

Time seemed to stretch out in Ke Zhiguang's senses, and the clues that the Sun Island deer hadn't given were quickly discerned.

It's very clear.

There was no complicated feeling at all.

If Black wants to escape the four stones on the right, it can only capture the four white stones that divide Black's stones, forming a tiger's mouth shape.

Falling backwards.

Rolling around.

Tight air.

With each move, a virtual chess piece of light and shadow falls on the chessboard, clearly distinguishing between the real and the virtual, and between black and white.

Finally, the calculation is complete.

Next, all we need to do is make these phantoms real.

[Difficulty: 6K]

"20, 19, 18..."

Three seconds later, Ke Zhiguang's eyes flickered, and he quickly placed a piece.

First, send a piece into the white's tiger's mouth, forcing it to capture it. Then, slap the white's curved three-stone formation, turning four stones into six, and then roll it up!

Continue to tighten the liberties, playing along the outer edge of the black stones, forever reducing the white stones' liberties to two, ensuring that the black stones on the right have three liberties more than the opponent's one.

Finally, the special effect for this problem—a slightly ferocious-looking demon—explodes from the inside and dies, splattering black blood across the entire chessboard, but quickly disappears.

"Is that all?" Ke Zhiguang asked calmly.

Harushima Deer's expression began to change, becoming somewhat subtle and surprised.

His lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't, like he had accidentally eaten a large piece of ginger.

Can this be called talent?

You're telling me this could be a talent?

If this can be called talent, then any musically talented cat in the world could be as proficient as Tom in playing all instruments from violin to accordion to piano!

Harujima Shika shook her head, calmed down a bit, and began to carefully recall Keiji's every move from an hour ago until now.

His focused expression as he listened attentively to the introductory Go lesson was enough to tell that it was truly his first time playing Go; it was undeniable that he was listening intently, dedicated to absorbing every inch of new knowledge.

Moreover, the look in his eyes when he was solving problems was genuinely serious; it wasn't the kind of pretense of ignorance that comes from knowing something when you're actually a master.

"Again!" Harushima Shika coldly snorted, threw aside "Intermediate" and slammed an "Advanced" book in front of him, his aura rising even higher.

this.....

The atmosphere seemed to be taking a strange turn.

Ke Zhiguang casually picked up the intermediate level textbook that Qingdaolu had just used and happened to see the second question she had just asked.

This question is located on the last page and is probably one of the most difficult questions in the entire book. It is marked with 6K.

Seemingly out of nowhere, he solved a problem that shouldn't have been within his skill level.

What should I do? Should I change my story and say that I actually studied Go for a while, in order to soothe the other person's shocked and hurt feelings?

"Question 3, continue!"

Fast forward to Chapter 4, now to the 19x19 chessboard.

Another question has passed.

[5K]

8 seconds.

Another question has passed.

[4K]

9 seconds left

Another question has passed.