The work of the Go master

Ke Zhiguang stared at the question mark in the entryway for a long time, lost in thought.

"Harushima, you're here so early?" Ke Zhiguang asked tentatively.

"Ahhh! I haven't even knocked yet, how did you know I was here?"

Sure enough.

This insight skill can also reveal objects through obstacles, just like having a map open in an FPS game.

The red question mark in the font undoubtedly serves as a reminder that this person is too strong, and Ke Zhiguang's first reaction is naturally Qingdaolu.

She stood outside the door for a long time, perhaps because she couldn't find the doorbell to ring.

Ke Zhiguang opened the door himself.

"Hello, sorry to bother you." Harujima Shika nodded rather awkwardly and took small steps into the house.

When visiting a classmate's house, especially when there are adults at the house, girls tend to be even more nervous.

"Don't be so formal, no one's home right now," Ke Zhiguang reminded him.

Harushima Kaoru was taken aback: "What? Nobody's home?"

She vaguely sensed some kind of suggestive dialogue.

"The two adults and the child in the family must have gone to visit their grandparents in the countryside. There's probably no one home these days." Ke Zhiguang placed the slippers in front of the other person.

Harushima Kashiwa was stunned: "What? Nobody's here at night either?"

The implication is even stronger!

"Yeah, it feels great, doesn't it?" Ke Zhiguang's lips curled into a devilish smile.

This kind of exhilarating feeling can only be experienced by students. It's like when you're in college, all your roommates leave one weekend, and you can happily dig out the clothes box hidden under your bed and then spend the whole day wearing women's clothes.

Of course, Ke Zhiguang had no interest in this, whether in his past life or now; he had only heard that some people often did it and made the connection.

Although Harushima Kaka holds the title of Queen of Women, she is ultimately just a minor and needs to be supervised by adults. She must be able to understand this feeling of exhilaration, right?

The deer on the island was taut, its head lowered, and it seemed to be emitting some... steam?

I don't quite understand. Perhaps for someone who has already achieved financial freedom, this kind of feeling is insignificant.

Ke Zhiguang also began to think about his future plans, planning when to move out and achieve true independence.

“By the way, Harushima, there’s actually something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Ke Zhiguang suddenly said.

"W-What's the problem?!"

Why have you been working at that Go club all this time?

This question should have been asked a long time ago.

In Chapter Three, do the two of them have any conflicts?

This question had been stuck in Ke Zhiguang's mind for a long time, but because it was too trivial, he never asked it.

Upon hearing this question, Harushima Shika's face darkened slightly, but she seemed less flustered. "Well... you could consider this part of my training," Harushima Shika said, somewhat displeased, puffing out one cheek.

"To be specific, after I took the title of princess, I faced some criticism," she continued.

What kind of criticism is it?

"They said I got this title because my opponents let me win."

The term "they" is vague, but we can guess what it means.

Its components include, but are not limited to, unscrupulous journalists, Go commentators, certain colleagues, and haters.

That seems to be all. I suggest packaging it up and uploading it to NGA.

Perhaps future side quests will involve punishing these people?

Although the mission panel is gone, the mission spirit itself is not wrong. It represents one of the things that Kezhiguang himself wanted to do. Its only mistake is that it is too noisy.

Ke Zhiguang listened attentively while brewing tea.

For the tea, use Shizuoka Gyokuro. Although most people probably don't like it, let's make a good impression first, and we can always order more if needed.

"So what did you do afterward? Did you quit in a fit of anger and take a job, causing the industry to lose an excellent female chess player, a strategic retreat?"

"Of course I would never do something so childish. The reason I came here to work is similar to what happened to you last night. I... challenged Stoneheart."

"Oh?" Ke Zhiguang put down the cup, his interest immediately piqued.

“I had heard of this amazing person before, and I challenged him to prove my strength. Naturally, I lost. After defeating me, he advised me to take a good rest and stay away from the arena. Then I came to work for Mr. Lin Ying... and then I met you.”

A perfect closed loop.

Harujima Shika continued to describe the scene to Keiji Hikaru.

The challenge was scheduled to take place on a full moon night. When she arrived at Youxuan Temple, she found that all the lights in the temple were off. Under the moonlight, there was no eeriness at all, but rather a sense of sacred emptiness.

As requested, she walked alone through layers of doors and corridors, climbed the steps, and arrived at the top floor of Yugenji Temple, a place from which one could overlook all of Tokyo.

Shi Xin sat upright in the center of the empty Japanese-style room, like a stone Buddha.

There wasn't a single light on in the entire room; the only source of light was the moon.

The abundant moonlight filled the entire room, as if some force had drawn the light in and transformed it into a liquid like water.

Either the stone heart is magical, or the house is magical.

Then, Shika Harujima suffered the same fate as Taketsukasa. Although she was given a two-piece handicap, she still suffered an indescribable Cthulhu tragedy.

"I am glad to have a female Go player as talented as you embark on this path. However, you have been too impetuous lately, too concerned about what others say, and you have distanced yourself from the world and from the way of Go. This is your most pressing task right now," Shi Xin commented.

Although Shi Xin's tone suggested that Qingdao Lu should retreat to the deep mountains and forests to live a life without electricity for a while.

She thought about it seriously and felt that it was still too difficult for a young girl like her.

So, as a second choice, I decided to work here and experience life.

"Although this place isn't exactly far removed from the world, it has still allowed me to relax quite a bit. At least it has shown me the troubles and joys of many ordinary people. There's more to this world than just chess and winning or losing," Harushima Shika concluded.

Although she initially found dealing with worldly people like regulars at the chess club annoying, she later came to understand the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, which ultimately proved helpful to her.

"I see. Shi Xin is Moonlight. If I were to compete against him in the future, to be fair, we should play chess on an airplane, flying close to the longitude line, maintaining a constant speed, and always keeping the local time at sunrise or sunset to ensure that both sides have balanced off-field buffs." Ke Zhiguang stroked his chin, seriously considering this matter, already immersing himself in the sunlight, although there was currently no reliable evidence to prove that he was blessed by the sun.

"What the hell are you thinking?! Can't you hear my brilliant life summary?!"

"Ahem, sorry."

Now, all the questions about Shireshima Deer have been answered, and for Ke Zhiguang, there is a small sense of happiness, like his obsessive-compulsive disorder has been satisfied.

It feels great to have everything explained.

For no apparent reason, Ke Zhiguang began to scrutinize the other party with curiosity, trying to figure out how the seemingly ferocious symbolic spirit, the [Dragon-Locking Pillar], could be connected to this girl.

The dragon has antlers on its head, which corresponds to the name "deer," so this is the first connection.

Harushima Kashima also happens to have twin tails, which correspond to dragon horns. Maybe if she changed to a single ponytail, the dragon would immediately turn into a unicorn.

However, there was one thing that Ke Zhiguang couldn't understand.

Why is this dragon locked to a pillar?

Does it have any metaphorical meaning?

Or, under what circumstances would a dragon break free of these chains and unleash its full power?

Is it possible to take this a step further and imagine that the real entity of the deer on the island isn't a dragon at all, but rather this pillar, with the dragon merely serving as a decoration?

"I have a feeling you're thinking about some weird question again..." Harushima Shika muttered.

"How could that be?" Ke Zhiguang spread his arms wide openly.

“But I do have a second question. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw you, you seemed to be wearing a high school uniform. What was that?” Ke Zhiguang suddenly remembered something and continued.

Harushima Shika's face immediately turned red: "W-because I wanted to experience life back then, so I got a high school uniform to wear. Was it really inappropriate?"

"I think it's great."

"Um... thank you."

They're quite cute.

After some preparation, the rest of the club members arrived.

Actually, it's just Shuicheng, Baimeng, the vice president, and Ping Shisheng, making a total of six people, sharing one game console.

"Miss Harushima, you've arrived so early." Bai Meng said, looking at Harushima Kaoru lying on the sofa, her voice unusually calm.

Her outfit today was quite formal, and judging by the size... it seems like it was lent to her by the vice president?

She herself dresses very simply in order to save money.

"My current place is nearby, so it's not a problem to arrive a little early, is it?" Harujima Kashiwa straightened up slightly, her gaze suddenly becoming aggressive.

Ke Zhiguang leaned closer to Shui Cheng in a low voice: "Do those two... have a conflict?"

"I'm not quite sure either," Shuicheng shook his head.

Regardless of all that, let's use [Insight] to check out the items on our fellow members first.

The key is Bai Meng. We've already farmed all the other teammates and know exactly what they drop, but we haven't fought Bai Meng yet.

Focus your attention on Bai Meng—

You can see the item list.

[Consumer Goods: Washing Machine Coupon x1]

Holy crap! It really does explode a washing machine. Helping her take that washing machine was the right choice! Even if it only explodes one picture.

But then again, the washing machine is currently useless to him.

[Consumer Goods: Rice Crackers × ∞]

Sure enough, this one can also be a hit.

[Special Item: Claw Machine Skill Scroll x1]

[Give you access to top-tier claw machine technology in the industry]

Ok?