The work of the Go master

Although he had mentally shed his student identity, he still retained some ingrained thoughts and always felt that he should return to school when the vacation ended.

My troubles have multiplied again: dealing with the school, renting cheap housing, and reporting to Saito's place.

Daily life involves three lines of work.

It makes one nostalgic for the heroic spirit of heading to the Black Market a few days ago: first, get the clothes, then chop down Inoue, then settle things with Harushima Shika to get the equipment, and finally, defeat the Holy Grail War in one night.

Hopefully, it will be the same this time.

"Never mind, let's do some practice problems to calm our nerves first." Ke Zhiguang simply cleared his mind and proceeded step by step.

......

......

"Ke came again today."

Matsunaga was watering flowerpots at the entrance of the apartment. Although she was just a dormitory manager, she looked more like the mistress of a mansion.

"Let's do some practice problems to relieve some boredom." Ke Zhiguang stood in front of the "Daily Practice" notice board again.

The style of the game changed today; it became a problem of opening moves. Both black and white only played a few peaceful moves, about 30 in total. This kind of problem is not his forte.

If I learn a few moves from Saito next, it will most likely focus on the opening and endgame, which are the easiest to teach and learn in Go.

Upon closer inspection, it really is two tricks.

"Please speed things up, since you only have 15 minutes to solve the problem," Matsunade Tingko said.

"Are all the people living there solving problems within this time limit?"

"Of course, whenever someone stands in front of the notice board thinking about a problem, I secretly time it. If someone tries to write down the game and secretly sets up the pieces in the room, they will be considered to have failed to solve the problem."

"This is really tough. Do people come up with these kinds of problems every day?"

"No, not at all. People don't have much time to linger here. Most people just glance at it and move on. Only a few people stay and patiently solve the problems, like... Yasuhiro Yamaoka."

"Who is that? Is he also one of the Four Heavenly Kings of this temple?"

"Yes, he is an extremely serious and hardworking student. He is meticulous in many things. He was very angry yesterday after you broke his streak of doing problems. He even asked me for your name."

Ok?

Ke Zhiguang seemed to sense that a fight was about to break out.

Fight!Fight!

"Does that mean if I go and provoke... oops, challenge him now, I'll probably be able to win?" Ke Zhiguang almost blurted out his true thoughts, then immediately changed his mind.

"That's not easy. Students at the academy level are actually quite proud and don't easily play against those below their level unless they give a handicap."

That makes sense. In ancient Japanese Go, the concept of "game order" was highly valued. Some players valued face and would insist on playing even if they knew they were weaker than their opponents.

Sometimes, the party being challenged will desperately protect their status and face, forcibly letting the other party go first.

As for those below the same level... that's probably just Yamaoka's opinion.

"Didn't you tell him that I'm Saito 9-dan's disciple?"

"Of course I told him, but he didn't believe me. He said that Saito 9-dan never accepts disciples and insisted that I was here to swindle people."

"this......"

I've caught wind of another "pretending to be weak to take advantage" plot.

But honestly, this person just doesn't believe it, and there's nothing I can do about it.

After chatting for half a minute, Ke Zhiguang continued to focus on solving the problem.

Not long after, a handsome and tall man came out of the apartment.

They also wear glasses; according to statistics, more than 50% of the new generation of young professional chess players wear glasses.

He is Yasuhiro Yamaoka.

When he arrived at the front yard of the apartment, he saw Ke Zhiguang studying a problem in front of the notice board, and he stopped in his tracks.

— Unfamiliar faces I've never seen before.

At this time of day, most people are still diligently resting at the chess academy. Besides me, the only other person with the leisure to solve problems here is…

Yasuhiro Yamaoka looked at Matsunaga Teiko with a questioning gaze.

Matsunaga nodded with a smile.

—It really was him.

Yasuhiro Yamaoka was now certain that this person was Ke Zhiguang, the one who broke his streak of solving problems yesterday.

He quickly went to the notice board, hoping to be the first to answer the question.

The problem is exactly the kind of layout he's good at, so he should be able to solve it quickly.

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

Just as the answer was about to come to him, Ke Zhiguang took the first step and wrote it down.

--Um?

With two quick slaps, he wrote more than a dozen moves on the chessboard.

"Miss Song Ning, is this alright?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Yes, that's right. The answer to the question is correct. There isn't just one correct answer to this kind of question. As long as you write down a reasonably satisfactory answer, that's fine."

How long did it take me?

"The total time is 14 minutes and 53 seconds."

Just barely passed the mark.

However, this precise timing... it makes me want to cry, doesn't it?

"I'll be going now, I'll come back tomorrow."

"Bon Voyage."

After stepping out of the apartment courtyard, Ke Zhiguang inexplicably glanced back.

Suddenly, I noticed a peer with a very artistic appearance staring intently at me.

Who is he?

I was so engrossed in solving the problem that I didn't even notice there was someone standing next to me.

As he wondered what was going on, Ke Zhiguang saw the other party's orange warning.

this.....

Is this also one of the Heavenly Kings?

After exchanging glances, the other person turned and went back into the apartment.

Ke Zhiguang stood still for a moment, unsure whether he should rush up and pat someone on the back to indicate that he wanted to play a game.

Matsunaga Teiko shrugged and spread her hands at the door, as if to say that you missed a good opportunity to challenge.

Well, let's leave it at that for now.

If he comes often enough, there will always be opportunities.

It's still quite early, not even 10 a.m. It's too early to find a chess club to play against multiple opponents; these seasoned chess players usually don't show up until after noon.

Right now, the best place to go is Saito's place. Although he said to go after Golden Week, he added a note when he gave me the address that I could come anytime.

......

......

In an elegantly styled study, Saito sat cross-legged on a small tea table in the center, on which were set up expensive tea sets.

He was fully absorbed in the tea-making process.

Pour the tea into the cup carefully, the movements are very particular, it is easy to spill the tea, but the key is not to spill the tea.

But suddenly, there was a knock on the door: "Is that Saito 9-dan? I've come to learn a few moves."

Saito's hand trembled as the sound interrupted him.

The tea spilled.

--this?

Saito's eyes widened, and he froze.

Chapter Fifteen Miracle

"You're here pretty early, kid." Saito Yu said, gritting his teeth as he stared at Keiji Mitsuaki after opening the door.

Ok?

what's the situation?

Why does he look so unhappy?

The back of his hand showed bulging veins, as if he wanted to punch someone.

Well, the old man's veins are indeed quite prominent, so I won't worry about that.

"I might have to move out soon, to Peach Blossom Studio, and squeeze in with a group of students and even professional Go players. With my current strength, I might be able to beat them, but I'm still a long way from crushing them, so I want to improve my strength as quickly as possible." After entering the room, Ke Zhiguang's eyes swept across the entire room.

"You've moved into Peach Blossom Studio?"

"We're still planning to move. The room number is 336. Teacher, have you heard of this room number?"

Saito paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's a very famous room. I used to live in 335 for a long time. Naosaka lived in 334, and Lin Ying lived in 333. Later, that guy Cang Yu moved in and lived in 332, but he didn't achieve anything."

"So, who lived in 336 back then...?"

"Harushima Isshin."

Upon hearing the name, Ke Zhiguang tensed up, feeling that this person should be wielding a samurai sword.