The work of the Go master

Although neither advantage is significant, it's enough for a player like Bai Meng with her playing style.

"Next, if we drag it out to the endgame, which is the president's forte, we'll win, right?"

That should be the case, that's right.

In fact, this challenge rule is disadvantageous to Kiyonuma Yuzawa.

He distributed flyers containing chess scores to potential clients, who could then spend a whole week at home repeatedly practicing the scores, eventually figuring out the optimal solution dozens of moves further down the line.

Bai Meng has been working on this at home for the past week, making thorough preparations, and has finally figured out the optimal solution to this chess game.

She must have been working on the sheet music until very late at night.

"Speaking of which, this guy named Kiyonuma Ryouzawa is really something. Even with the game set up beforehand, he can still play so well. His skill level... must be at least professional level, right?" said Hirashiki.

"Yes, and he had just dealt with five people in a row, so he must be exhausted now. Yet he was still able to overtake and catch up with the club president. If we have to rank him... he might be at the level of a professional second or third dan."

Playing Go is indeed physically demanding. It's fine for casual games, but in major competitions, a single game can force a physically weak player to wear an oxygen mask.

Although there were seven challengers, number five forfeited and ran away, giving Bai Meng, as the sixth person to take on the challenge, a significant advantage.

However, this is not an advantage for nothing. As the last challenger, defeating Kiyosuma only yields 500 million, while defeating him as the first-place finisher would earn nearly 1000 million.

To be honest, although the amount of money spent at this store is huge, Ke Zhiguang really doesn't think the store's profits can reach such a high level. Customers can play games, but the total cost of a membership card is only 100,000.

The registration fee for the challenge is only 200,000.

If you factor in costs such as employee salaries and shop rent, it's absolutely a charity-style loss-making business.

Ke Zhiguang could only think of one conclusion—that Yu Chengqi was secretly funding the store.

The reason why Yu Chengqi sponsored this place is probably for the so-called "fortune".

The fortune here is an offering to him.

He is the monster.

The world of chess is truly a deep sea...

In any case, those are things for later; focusing on the present is what really matters.

Will Bai Meng be able to win this game?

If things proceed normally, she should be able to win, but will Kiyosuma Yuzawa really surrender so easily?

I have a bad feeling; I always feel that Bai Meng won't lose on the chessboard, but rather outside of it.

......

......

The countdown has begun, and both sides have entered "cliff mode," making a move every 15 seconds.

Bai Meng's heart was pounding, but fortunately the current situation was not complicated; only a few sensitive areas remained to be dealt with.

—I am currently leading by 2 points.

She quickly counted the number of eyes, repeating it several times.

Point counting is a compulsory course for every chess player. Only by knowing the current situation can one decide whether to play softly or aggressively.

Although winning big is satisfying, the real victory comes from just half a point.

The ability to close out a match by half a point is a must-learn skill for every player who excels at finishing the game.

Suddenly, Kiyonuma Yuzawa made his move, launching a calamity in a sensitive area.

As the countdown of 15 seconds began, Bai Meng blinked, unable to immediately assess the quality of the stolen material.

—Here, all we need to do is take a step back.

The advantage is 1 points remaining.

Move the pieces in the second sensitive area.

—We just need to make sure we can cover up the mistake here.

The final half-point advantage is unshakeable.

Tap, tap, tap, tap

The last official document has been collected.

"I won!" Bai Meng finally opened her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, she felt she had everything.

Whether it's the future or the present, friends, family, or even future lovers... it all seems so tangible, like fireworks and flowers blooming together.

However, Kukuku's laughter came from the other side, a sound that seemed to pierce her and brought her to an abrupt halt to her reverie.

"Do you really think you've won?" Kiyonuma Yuzawa's face was bathed in the orange-yellow firelight, his entire face a stark contrast of light and shadow.

"I won by half a point!" She slammed her hand on the table, revealing the same unyielding determination she showed when fighting for the washing machine.

She was very confident in her score, and she had also repeatedly reviewed the game instructions leaflet, which stipulated that Black should only give 6.5 points, not 5.5 points.

She played white in this game.

"Please count the points again. The one who won by half a point... is me."

Chapter Sixty-Seven Demonic Dragon

After recounting the count, Bai Meng froze.

It really is true... she lost by half a point!

The door to the game room was kicked open!

"President, what happened?"

"What exactly happened in that last moment?" the vice president and Heishi asked anxiously.

Ke Zhiguang walked into the game room with a frown on his face. Negative spiritual objects surrounded him like stars, making it almost impossible to walk without holding his nose.

"Bai Meng, this..." Ke Zhiguang was also at a loss for words.

"Cheating! You're the one who cheated!" Bai Meng pointed at Qing Numa and said, "You definitely moved my pieces when I wasn't looking!"

"Hey, if I were that good, I would have been performing magic tricks long ago. Why would I bother playing chess?" Kiyonuma Yuzawa chuckled darkly. "Miss Shiramu's friends should be able to corroborate this, right? The game record that was leaked outside just happens to show Miss Shiramu losing by half a point, right?"

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it is indeed the truth, and the final result... was indeed that she lost by half a point.

Bai Meng immediately rushed to the main hall and looked at the chess game recorded on the large chessboard. She found that it was indeed the game that had just been played, without any mistakes.

In the end, she lost by half a point, as decisively as iron.

"This... this can't be..." Her legs gradually lost their support, and she sat on the ground like a duck, staring blankly at the large chessboard.

Therefore, there can only be one conclusion: she selected the wrong item.

She actually made a mistake on her prized point. How could this happen?

"What a pity, Miss Bai Meng. You were so close to defeating me, but I didn't expect you to make a mistake in the final move, which caused you to make two slow moves at the last moment. If you had just seized even one of those two opportunities, you should have been able to turn the tide, right?" Kiyonuma Yuzawa took out a small fan and started to wave it vigorously.

"Hey, what's that?" Ke Zhiguang suddenly spoke up, pointing to a small incense jar.

"You... know about it?" Kiyonuma Yuzawa asked in surprise.

"Yi Mu Xiang, what a beautiful name."

"you!"

[Spiritual object: One-eyed incense]

[To create the illusion for the opponent that they have a one-point lead]

Kiyonuma Yuzawa had learned about Shiromu's chess skills beforehand, since she was quite famous and it wouldn't be difficult to obtain her chess records.

After gaining a certain lead, she would steadily finish the game, accurately controlling the victory between half a point and two and a half points. It was precisely because she knew this that Kiyonuma Yuzawa used the Ichimoku Kaori, giving her the illusion of a one-point lead, thus causing her to make a slow move in the crucial area.

"What else do you know?" Kiyonuma Yuzawa asked.

"Everything, everything, including your sacrifice of your fortune to Yu Chengqi."

With a loud thud, Kiyonuma Yuzawa slammed his hand on the chessboard, his eyes gleaming like nails as he viciously slammed his fist onto the opposite side of the board, facing Shizuka Hikaru.

The statement that one's fortune is sacrificed to the game is just speculation, but Kiyonuma Yuzawa's reaction has confirmed it.

No one heard their conversation.

The vice president and Heiji were comforting Bai Meng in the lobby, while the other employees were waiting outside the game room, just waiting for the boss's order to rush in and take her away. The other customers didn't react much; this kind of thing was commonplace in this store.

Ke Zhiguang glanced at Bai Meng in the lobby out of the corner of his eye and found that her symbolic spirit had also disappeared.

I think I understand now; these symbols represent fortune.

"Where has Bai Meng's fortune gone?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

Now that things had come to this, Kiyonuma Yuzawa no longer concealed his intentions, tacitly acknowledging that the other party knew everything, and pointed behind him with his thumb: "Can't you see? It's right behind me."

Behind him hung a large painting of a swamp dragon.

In that painting, all the symbolic spirits that had just been captured were held in the claws of the demonic dragon, which held a swan in its mouth, which should be Bai Meng's symbolic spirit.

[Symbolic Spirit/Spiritual Object: Lord of the Swamp]

[An ancient, monstrous dragon that feeds on other living beings and offers sacrifices to its more noble master.]

[A Third Eye: Seeing Through an Opponent's Strength at a Glance]

Strange things have appeared again.

Or rather, the Lord of the Swamp has finally revealed his true form.

I originally thought this thing was just a slime or a toad, but I never expected it to be a demonic dragon.

What surprised Ke Zhiguang even more was that symbolic objects and spiritual objects could actually be listed side by side?

Koji suddenly remembered Kiyonuma Yuzawa's past experiences and the character description card.

He was admitted to the academy at the age of 18, but failed to achieve a professional ranking by the age of 22, and thus withdrew from the world of Go.

In other words, his fortune... is symbolic of the spirit, having died.

But Oshiro Ki offered him a helping hand.