The work of the Go master

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7 seconds.

As the guests gradually left, the Go room grew quiet as they continued practicing one problem after another.

The copy of "Advanced" in Shizuka's hand was gradually thinning, and her breathing became labored, as if she had just finished a 100-meter race.

When she increased the difficulty to 1K in one go, the turning point finally came!

Ke Zhiguang took more than 1 minute to solve the problem!

There were even incorrect solutions!

Okay, this is the normal time to do the questions. Giving only ten or twenty seconds before was really excessive.

Harujima Kaoru breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although in her opinion, Koji Hikaru was still acting very strangely, at least he had become much more normal.

If I had to say, there are indeed chess players with similar talent... right?

She wasn't really sure if someone with such Go talent existed; if they did, they could only be described as "someone loved by Go."

Just then, an elderly but elegant voice came from the side: "Harushima, it's time to go home now. Are you planning to stay here a little longer?"

The speaker was an elderly gentleman in a gray and white checkered suit, with a kind and friendly smile on his face, like a coffee shop owner in an artistic work.

"Manager, you can go home now. I still need to teach this person how to play chess." Harushima Kashiwa nodded politely.

"Oh, it's rare to see someone so enthusiastic about teaching others to play chess, especially a boy the same age. If it's not because he's so talented, then he must be very handsome, right?" the shop manager joked from the side. From his angle, he couldn't see Ke Zhiguang's face, only his profile as he was deep in thought.

"No, as for handsome... it's not that bad..." Harushima Shika quickly denied, but still subconsciously glanced at Koji Hikaru's face.

Although reluctantly, I have to admit that he's quite good-looking...

Pah! What am I thinking? I need to quickly deflate this person's arrogant attitude!

"Haha, for Go players, watching the expressions of masters playing a game is more exciting than girls watching their crush play basketball." The shop manager laughed heartily, muttering "Youth is so wonderful," as he walked away with his hands behind his back, flipping the "Open for Business" sign outside the door upside down to "Closed for the Holidays, Please Do Not Disturb."

It seemed to be hinting at something.

Harujima watched the shop manager leave speechlessly, and couldn't help but sigh wearily.

“It’s done,” Ke Zhiguang suddenly said, his furrowed brows relaxing as he looked thoughtful.

"So fast?" Harushima Kaoru was caught off guard. The previous few science questions had taken her more than a minute, but this question was back to taking only a dozen seconds.

Upon inspection, it became clear... he was right again.

The type of problem is "reverse boot removal," which is an extremely ingenious solution to a life-and-death situation in Go. It is a pattern that requires sacrificing at least a few stones to complete. In layman's terms, it is called a counter-kill, a technique that perfectly embodies the unique charm of Go.

The only downside is that it's very difficult to use in actual combat; if your skill level is low, you might never encounter it in your entire life.

Harujima Shika silently stared at the solution on the chessboard, her breathing becoming slightly heavier.

Even for someone who has been playing chess for a few months, this problem is not something that can be solved in a minute or two. It requires a person to fiddle with it back and forth in front of the chessboard for a long time, and they might even have to look up the answers at the back of the problem book because they really can't solve it.

As a result, he solved it so easily.

Ke Zhiguang looked at the chessboard, thoughtfully rubbing his chin, believing he had vaguely grasped the feel of Go.

Computational ability.

Memory ability.

Graphical skills.

There's also a kind of inexplicable inspiration, like knowing where a piece should be placed just by looking at the shape of the board—that's chess sense.

And most importantly, it's that familiar feeling when you pick up a piece.

It's like something that exists innately and a priori in one's memory, mind, and even engraved in one's soul.

It seems his memory wasn't lying; he really does have a talent for Go.

Playing Go is quite fun.

It's settled then, let's embark on the path of Go!

Harushima Kashi continued flipping through "Advanced," but closed it after only a few pages, accompanied by a weary sigh, as if she were conceding defeat.

That last question was the most difficult one yet.

The difficulty level is 1.

Seeing that Harushima Shiro had closed the "Advanced" book and remained silent for a long time, Ke Zhiguang relaxed his tense nerves and felt that the entire introductory course should be over.

"That's settled then, Harujima-kun. Thank you for your guidance. I'll come back another day."

That's what they say, but I probably won't come back next time, after all... if I do come back next time, I'll probably have to pay tuition.

Unfortunately, he is currently penniless unless someone is willing to pay a high price for the strange books under his bed.

What he needs to do now is buy a few proper Go instruction books and practice on his own.

"Wait a minute, can you tell me your purpose for learning Go?" Harushima Kazuya called out to Koji Hikaru, who was about to get up, her tone suddenly becoming much more serious.

She looked directly into Ke Zhiguang's eyes, as if trying to get an answer she hoped to hear.

Ke Zhiguang was at a loss for words and didn't quite understand why the other person had suddenly become so serious.

“Listen carefully, everything I’m about to say comes from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you will listen carefully,” said Harushima Shika.

"Your talent is outstanding, almost the most talented person I've ever seen in history, but... if you want to become a professional Go player, I'm sorry, you're a bit too old."

"A professional Go player? Age?" Ke Zhiguang was somewhat puzzled, not expecting the other party to offer such unexpected "advice" right off the bat.

"You look like you're already a high school student. To be honest, for someone who wants to become a professional Go player, it's too late to start learning from scratch at this age. Even if you're exceptionally talented, you'll likely only become a mediocre and unsuccessful professional Go player, never winning a championship and earning very little. In your middle and old age, you'll need to rely on running a Go club to make a living... and the location of the Go club won't be very good either."

The last sentence was a devastating blow.

As Harushima Kashima said, although Go is a mental sport, it is actually quite age-dependent. A normal, talented Go player starts learning Go at least before the age of ten and can only participate in the ranking tournament and become a professional Go player after several years of study.

It was only then that Ke Zhiguang realized that it was a bit late for him, a seventeen-year-old high school student, to start learning Go. Now, he was clamoring to learn Go, just like a twenty-seven-year-old young man shouting that he wanted to play professional e-sports.

"So, you don't want me to become a professional Go player?" Ke Zhiguang tried to ask. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had not revealed any intention to become a professional Go player. So why was the other party so sure that he wanted to go professional?

“I really don’t hope for it, after all… once you step into the black and white world of victory and defeat, there’s no turning back,” said Shika Harushima.

Once you step into the black-and-white world of victory and defeat, there's no turning back.

Before Ke Zhiguang pushed open the door to enter the Go room, this sentence echoed in his mind like a ghost, and now it appeared word for word in Qingdao Lu's advice.

"What if I absolutely have to take this path?" Ke Zhiguang asked in a low voice, a strange fighting spirit rising within him.

"Then let's do one last test to determine if you are qualified to embark on this path."

After speaking, Shizuka took a handful of black stones from the Go box next to Koji Mitsuaki and placed them one by one on the Go board.

All nine star positions were filled with black pieces, which shone under the light, making the entire chessboard shine like the universe.

Ke Zhiguang was taken aback at first, then he understood what the other party meant.

On the opposite side of the chessboard, Harushima Shika slowly opened her arms, poised to strike, and said, "Come on, front to front..."

She paused there, took a deep breath to gather her strength, and her chest rose slightly, preparing herself for a more powerful declaration.

"Go for it?" Ke Zhiguang noticed that the other person seemed to be stuck on their words, so he subconsciously helped to finish the sentence.

“Yes, face me head-on… no! You’re the one who should face me head-on! I mean beat me in a head-on fight! If you can beat me with a nine-stone handicap, it proves you have a bright future. If you can’t beat me, you’d better give up on it and just treat Go as a hobby.” Harushima Shika was about to nod when she suddenly realized something was wrong and retorted, blushing.

Honestly! The serious atmosphere we'd worked so hard to build up was completely ruined by this guy's one sentence!

Ke Zhiguang turned his head to the side and muttered under his breath, "To be honest, isn't this just attacking me head-on...?"

After some adjustments, the atmosphere became heavy again. Ke Zhiguang examined the nine stones on the board and said, "I understand what you mean. What you said does make some sense. If I were to rush into Go with such enthusiasm and recklessness, it wouldn't be good if I didn't achieve the desired results in the future. It would be better to start from now on, study diligently, and get into a good university in the future."

"That would be best." Harushima Shika nodded.

"Alright, I... accept your challenge." Ke Zhiguang sat back down at the chessboard, getting into the zone, his aura gradually settling down.

"Hmm, then let's begin—wait, shouldn't I be the one accepting your challenge? Why does it sound like you're the one doing the dirty work!"

In Go terminology, "下手" (xiàshǒu) refers to the weaker player or the player with a lower rank, while "上手" (shàngshǒu) refers to the player with a higher rank. Naturally, when it comes to challenges, the weaker player begs the stronger player to play a game.

"Don't worry about the details," Ke Zhiguang replied casually.

Harushima Deer could only endure being verbally taken advantage of once more.

Nine stones is the largest handicap in Go. As a newcomer who hasn't even played Go for two hours, Ke Zhiguang naturally doesn't need to worry about the face of being given a nine-stone handicap.

Ke Zhiguang had indeed considered casually removing three pieces to make it a six-piece handicap game, but upon closer examination, he still felt it was a bit risky.

Even without any written rules, this game of chess was indeed given a certain special significance, as it concerned his decision on whether to play or not.

This is not a meaning given by external forces, but a meaning given to him by his own heart.

Ultimately, nobody wants to lose at chess.

"Please guide me." As the game was about to begin, Harushima Shika bowed deeply to the player opposite her on the board, her two ponytails swaying in the breeze.

Her ponytail is quite long; if she swings it at high speed, it might just take off like a helicopter.

"Yes, please guide me." Ke Zhiguang subconsciously returned the greeting.

But when Shiori Shika raised her head, her demeanor changed.

His pupils suddenly hardened, as if they were protected by a layer of shield.

She deftly took out a chess piece, and a white light fell on the upper right corner of the chessboard, followed by a strong wind.

And so, the dragon appeared.

If you can't beat Chapter 5, save your game!

This is the background and consequences of the event.

This is why Ke Zhiguang saw a dragon pillar standing behind the girl in front of him.

From the perspective of RPG games, the game always starts by giving players an opening story to explain the background and how to play. In this story, which monsters the player should kill, which monsters they shouldn't kill, and even which monsters they should be killed by are all pre-recorded in the scale of fate.

The opponent before us now seems not to be someone to be defeated, or even someone to be fought.

Her dialog box should only have one option, "Study," but the game designers were unethical and secretly added a "Challenge" option. If you click it, a new player who is just at level 1 will immediately face a level 999 monster and then meet again at the respawn point.

Moreover, this game of chess seems to have entered the main storyline, the kind that can't be abandoned.

[Defeat Harishima Deer (0/1)]