The work of the Go master

The Demon Dragon was once invincible, but it had a fatal flaw: its chess strength was permanently fixed, unable to improve or regress, which gave later generations the opportunity to surpass it.

The first disappearance of the demonic dragon dates back to the Warring States period, when the monk Rihai subdued and sealed it, storing it in the attic of Jiguang Temple.

The monk Rihai was the top player of the Sengoku period. He gave Oda Nobunaga a five-stone handicap, then beat Nobunaga badly, earning him the title of "Meijin" from Nobunaga. Later, he was even taken as a teacher by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, demonstrating his exceptional skill.

Speaking of which, Oda Nobunaga was also a veteran Go player. He was watching a Go game on the day of the Honnoji incident. The game was between Nikkai and another master, Shikashio Toshikazu. It was a very exciting game that ended in a triple ko and was judged to be a draw.

Then Oda Nobunaga was defeated by Akechi Mitsuhide, and to this day there is still a saying in the Japanese Go world that "three kos are unlucky".

Although the description of the demonic dragon in the notes was frightening, Ke Zhiguang didn't think it was anything special.

The strength of the demon dragon was fixed. At that time, it might have been difficult to defeat, requiring the strongest player at the time. However, as Go has developed to the present day, the overall strength of players has far exceeded that of the past. A professional third dan would be enough to defeat it.

Although in the tradition of fantasy, the most ancient beings are often the strongest, unfortunately, the essence of chess-playing is science fiction, where the strength increases as you progress. For example, he is currently dealing with quantum mechanics.

Take that monk, for example; he too will one day be surpassed by someone.

Continue reading the notebook; the story continues.

Later, the Westerners' black ships arrived, and Japanese Go fell silent for a time. Jikko-ji Temple was busy selling off its ancestral property to survive, and the painting of the demonic dragon was lost and its whereabouts remain unknown.

But this notebook describes its whereabouts in great detail, as if it were a ghost following it and witnessing the whole process.

It flowed from Japan to overseas, from North America to Europe, but it seemed to be cursed, and everyone who bought it encountered some unfortunate changes.

Finally, it was bought by a Japanese person at an auction and returned to Japan in the 20s.

It happened to be during the Taisho era.

The notebook did not record the buyer's name, but the buyer brought the painting of the demon dragon to that Dazheng Street. At that time, it was just an ordinary underground street, the kind of ordinary street where prostitution was conducted. Fallen girls waved to passersby from the wooden railings on both sides of the street.

The demonic dragon has revived here, reaping the fortunes of passing travelers.

But later, Japan was ravaged by the United States, and the shops here were closed, so the demon dragon was sealed away here.

It wasn't until more than a decade ago that Yu Chengqi discovered it and selected suitable young men to become its sacrifices.

Now, the demon dragon is finally dead.

That concludes the task recap.

After reviewing the mission, Ke Zhiguang remained calm. Although the story was exciting and had a strong sense of history, what did that have to do with me being a heartless, everyday monster?

The important Golden Week holiday is coming up, and no one should try to interrupt this wonderful time.

Along with the [Mission Review Notes], there is also a chess manual on a flyer, which was found by Tian Kezhiguang at Bai Meng's house.

[Special Item: Demon Compendium]

The chances of the opponent accepting the challenge increase by 30%.

Oh, I see. It's something like a challenge ticket.

According to the task notes, Zezi would go out every night with a large stack of flyers, looking for potential challengers, and secretly slipping the flyers and challenge rules into other people's homes.

This needs to be done very carefully, otherwise you might end up in jail. It sounds rather comical.

Although there were still some unanswered questions in the notes, Ke Zhiguang didn't care much. As long as he eliminated enough people and their levels were high enough, all the secrets would eventually be revealed.

Life is what he wants to pursue; as for solving mysteries, he can just wait and see, they will come one after another.

Just as he was about to finish, Ke Zhiguang suddenly noticed that there was still item six on the chessboard.

[Spiritual Object: Swan Guardian]

It turned out to be a reward item for completing a mission.

Chapter Two: Is this the thrill of peeping into treasure chests?

Ke Zhiguang was somewhat surprised. He originally thought that after removing the task panel, the task rewards would also be gone, but he didn't expect it to be so dedicated and still deliver the task rewards.

The Swan Guardian is shaped like a white metal swan medal, resembling an air force emblem, both handsome and elegant.

This is the reward for purifying the Corpse Falcon.

Ke Zhiguang couldn't wait to test its effects.

Luck +10

Strength +10

[Health +10]

[Focus +10]

[Maximum Spirit +10]

【Patience +10】

[Cold Resistance +10]

[Unaffected by low-level spiritual entities]

[Never become nearsighted]

[Message: The wings of the white swan protect you]

A row of impressive attributes was displayed, pleasing to the eye, with layers of auras stacked around the user, and buffs fully stacked.

What surprised him most was the +10 cold resistance, which is an ability that countless people dream of!

Especially in a region like Japan with its relatively high latitude, every winter is like a nightmare. It can take half an hour to get out of bed. Having developed cold resistance makes it at least a little easier.

But what's with this +10 strength?

This thing can even hit people?

Ke Zhiguang pinched his muscles and felt that they had indeed become a bit harder.

Who knows, maybe we'll really need to use force to threaten our opponents and force them to sit on the chessboard and play chess with us?

Ke Zhiguang examined the beautiful medal again, then pinned it to his chest.

Surrounded by its large wings, it felt quite warm, and my mind became clearer. I could even vaguely see the azure sky that only swans could see.

Ke Zhiguang looked at himself in the mirror and felt that he looked quite good. Maybe when he completed a lot of missions, he could wear medals all over his chest during the competition, which would be a visually devastating blow to his opponents.

This is the blessing Bai Meng gave him... I think that's a fair interpretation?

That concludes the task recap.

The next step, of course, is to quickly try out the newly acquired skill, [Insight].

Ke Zhiguang looked out the window at the Go room across the street.

Although they were far away, they could indeed see some customers with chat boxes floating around them, displaying items that could be obtained.

[Consumer Goods: Barbecue Flavored Potato Chips × 00]

[Consumable item: KFC coupon x 00]

[Spiritual item: Copper ring x1]

[Spiritual item: 1 broken bracelet]

Such as these.

×00 likely means that it can be repeatedly obtained from these people.

×1 means that it can only be retrieved once.

I see, that's easy to understand.

He also saw an old acquaintance, Yoshida, whose item displayed as [Treasure Map x1], which he had already obtained.

There's also the White-tailed Fox, whose items are: [Shizuoka Gyokuro x3], [Amulet x1], [Treasure Map x1], and [White Fox Doll x1].

The last three Kojiki have already been revealed, and Shizuoka Gyokuro can be obtained twice more, so I need to find an opportunity to farm it.

With this skill, things have become much more convenient. I no longer need to remember people's names; I can just use items as code names.

It can also tell who plays Go and who doesn't, making it easier to accurately find opponents.

Those who don't play Go can't show anything, of course.

Suddenly, someone entered Ke Zhiguang's field of vision, and his item display was [???]?

Ke Zhiguang stared intently at the person.

It turned out to be store manager Lin Ying.

Ke Zhiguang had heard guests talk about his chess skills. He was said to be an amateur champion who had swept many amateur tournaments. Even if he were to go head-to-head with Ze Zi, he probably wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Hmm... Come to think of it, he's the only one within a few miles who hasn't used it.

Ke Zhiguang certainly didn't think that Shopkeeper Lin Ying was stronger than him. After all, he had defeated Ze Zi twice, and had fought a passionate battle with a professional seventh-dan bamboo swordsman in the second half of the game.

My victory over Taketoto last night was probably related to my current explosive form. That's how sports are; there are always one or two periods when you feel invincible, and in fact, you are indeed invincible.

Winning just one game against him isn't enough to discover your true limits.

On paper, he might be an amateur 7-dan, but in terms of actual skill, he could be several dans above professional level.

But no matter what, beating store manager Lin Ying should be a piece of cake.

As for the string of question marks he displayed, Ke Zhiguang could only conclude that one could see right through an opponent's weaknesses only when the opponent's skill level was significantly lower than one's own.

Clearly, store manager Lin Ying was not that far behind him.

But that's okay too. I'll find some time to beat him up, pry open the treasure chest myself, and see what's inside.

Ke Zhiguang glanced at the time; it was almost 1 p.m. His friends would be arriving soon, and he needed to prepare the game console and cartridges in advance.

After looking around the house, I found that Uncle Qiu and Xun were not there; they had probably gone to visit relatives.

The feeling of being home alone is incredibly pleasant.

But my gaze fell on the entryway of my home by chance, and something was revealed there.

Items can be obtained [???]

Ok?

It wasn't just a question mark, it was a deep red one, as if it were a warning that shouldn't be easily challenged, whereas the store manager's question mark earlier was only green.

this.....