The work of the Go master

"As you can probably tell from his name, he is Princess Qingdao's father and the holder of the Eternal Moon Sky. Although he only lived in that room for three short years, he left a deep impression on me. But I later heard that the room seemed to have bad luck, and all the chess players who stayed there had bad luck."

Ke Zhiguang suddenly felt that the task had become more complicated.

The conditions for solving this task should not include bringing up such old news, right?

"Could you explain in detail what fortune is?" Ke Zhiguang keenly caught this key word.

When fighting against Ze Zi, Ke Zhiguang paid close attention to this word.

Although Zezi can sense other players' skill level and luck, and plunder the luck of those who lose, it seems that he only stays at the level of perception, rather than seeing.

Fortune, symbolizing the spirit, cannot be directly equated with luck.

I thought the mission review card would explain everything, but it doesn't mention it at all.

“Luck… I don’t know exactly what it is, but it definitely exists, and it’s attached to Go, there’s no doubt about that.” Saito said as if looking into the distance, “First of all, I have to admit that playing Go really changed my destiny. In our time, for poor kids like us, the only way to get ahead was to go to military school, but we all know the consequences of going to military school now, so I’m very glad that I chose the path of Go back then… The person who led me onto this path was Mr. Hanno.”

Koji Mitsuko said, "You said that the Buddha and the God in the way of Go each have their own meaning. The Buddha is of course Ishishin, and the God should be Hanno-sensei."

“Yes, I once said that God cannot be surpassed, and Buddha is best not to be surpassed. These two surpassings do not refer to the same concept of surpassing,” Saito explained.

"The saying 'God cannot be surpassed' does not refer to his chess skills, but rather to his status and life realm. In terms of chess skills alone, I can still play against him with equal moves and wins and losses. After all, he is nearly a hundred years old, and his thinking ability has certainly declined a lot... As for the saying 'It is best not to surpass Shi Xin,' it refers to his method of cultivation, which we should not imitate."

"Could you... be more specific?"

"Don't be fooled by his current unparalleled skill in Go. He's only 30 years old. Can you imagine that someone so young has given up everything in life for the sake of Go? He almost never leaves Yugenji Temple, stays away from all worldly affairs and pleasures, and truly treats Go as a religion to dedicate himself to. Can you do that?"

“I definitely can’t, I surrender.” Ke Zhiguang gave a symbolic Gallic salute.

"Shi Xin's chess skills are not insurmountable. Although he can give me a two-stone handicap, I can still win against him. In my eyes, only a true god can give me a two-stone handicap and still leave me with no chance of winning. But since Shi Xin has not done that, it proves that he can indeed be surpassed."

Ke Zhiguang continued, "However, to surpass his chess skills, one must emulate his lifestyle and dedicate all one's time to chess... In the end, the one who surpasses his chess skills can only become another Shi Xin, another sacrifice to the way of chess."

"Yes, that's why it's best not to surpass him, if you still have any attachment to the world."

After a conversation, their spiritual realm was elevated without them even realizing it. In an instant, they went from an office building in the bustling city to a misty, ethereal mountain peak, facing the endless, unreachable stars.

The height is not cold.

"Let's get back to the specifics of your fortune after all this talk," Saito said, taking a sip of his freshly brewed tea to ease the tension.

"Go changed my destiny. It not only saved my life, but also allowed me to maintain inner peace during the craziest times. But this is just a change of destiny in a general sense. Anyone can feel it as long as they are on the right path. But I truly felt the existence of such a thing as luck when I won the Dragon Throne title for the first time."

"The Dragon Throne?"

"What, you don't recognize the Dragon Throne, one of the three great titles?" Saito smiled smugly, and if he didn't recognize it, he picked up the magazine over there and flipped through it a couple of times.

Saito pointed to a magazine in a pile of books nearby; it looked quite old.

As expected, Saito was straightforward and never beat around the bush when it came to showing off.

If it were Harujima Kashima, she would probably be like Tsunade, subtly and reservedly hinting to him to get the book.

The day before yesterday, store manager Lin Ying had already told Ke Zhiguang about Qingdao Lu's series of mysterious actions that day, all in order to hand over the magazine that published her interview to him.

Afterwards, the store manager gave both magazines to Ke Zhiguang; one contained the interview, and the other the cover.

Ke Zhiguang was certainly aware of the title "Dragon Throne," which placed him on par with Yu Chengqi and Yue Tian.

Out of consideration for the elderly, Ke Zhiguang opened the old magazine, which turned out to be ten years old.

"The Eternal Dragon Throne Title Achieved—Saito Sando!"

"Oh, that's amazing, that's incredible!" Ke Zhiguang exclaimed, feigning shock.

He already knew Saito's identity. The reason he was slightly surprised when he heard "Dragon Throne" was simply because he felt that the title had come out too early. It should have been revealed after Saito finished talking about the minor championships.

Saito choked.

"Why do I always feel like you have this weird, sarcastic tone? You didn't know all along that I was the Eternal Dragon Throne, and your shocked reaction was just an act, did you?" Saito glared at Koji Mitsuhiro.

"No, I really didn't know you were so amazing."

Saito calmed down after drinking tea: "After I first received the Dragon Throne title, something miraculous happened... That very night, my seriously ill mother miraculously recovered."

Chapter Sixteen: So getting married can actually improve your luck?

"My original plan was to use the prize money from the Dragon Throne title to treat my mother, but to my surprise, her illness was cured the very night I received the title. It was a miracle."

Koji Mitsuhiro could understand the amazement and relief in Saito's words.

"This was the first time that fortune had been presented to me in such a clear and concrete way. Every time I received the title of Dragon Throne after that, similar good fortune would come to me, and it was often accompanied by miracles. Not long after I obtained the Eternal Dragon Throne, my granddaughter was born safely. Before that, the doctors said that my daughter-in-law might have a difficult childbirth."

He added, "Furthermore, every time I receive the Dragon Throne title, I dream about the universe that night."

"So sci-fi?"

"That's how sci-fi it is." Saito finally got influenced by Koji Hikaru's style and started using some of the vocabulary of young people.

“Those nights, my whole spirit wandered in the universe. I saw the magnificent sights that countless people dream of. It was truly beautiful.” Saito gazed wistfully at the sky outside the window.

Koji also looked out the window, imagining what Saito had seen.

Forget it, no need to think about it. We'll know once we get it.

Whether it's science fiction or fantasy, we'll know at a glance when the time comes.

"But the first time I heard the word 'fortune' was from Yu Chengqi's mouth... His original words were that everyone has their own fortune, but only those who enter the path of chess can come into contact with these things. Those who are strong in chess can enter the path of immortality, and the fortune surrounding them will be inexhaustible. But some people fall into the mortal world, or even the demonic path, and have no fortune for their entire lives."

"Are there any people in the Imperial City who have absolutely no connection with Go, such as many famous historical figures?"

He said everything is preordained.

"Okay, that iconic line, old liar."

"He has said many similar things, such as that every championship title has its own fortune, some places have their own fortune, some items have their own fortune... I can really feel this last one. Some objects are born lucky, while others are born unlucky. I like to wear a scarf that my wife knitted for me during competitions. I think it can bring me good luck. Once, I forgot which competition it was, and I forgot to wear it. As a result, I accidentally hit a big spoon and was eliminated in frustration."

"However, Yu Chengqi also said that people are also a kind of fortune."

“I understand that too. I’ve personally experienced it firsthand in Kiyonuma Yuzawa.”

“I also know about Kiyonuma. It seems he can take away the loser’s luck and hand it over to Oshiro, but that’s not what I’m talking about… I’m talking about marriage.”

"Huh? Getting married?" Ke Zhiguang suddenly felt the tone of the conversation had changed.

"The simplest and most direct approach is marriage, especially for female Go players. They are a kind of fortune in themselves. If a man can marry one of them, he will rise rapidly in his career. But the prerequisite is that the woman's Go skills are excellent and her rank is high enough. As far as I know, some people have indeed successfully married excellent female Go players and suddenly achieved success in their careers soon after... It's not a hard and fast cause and effect relationship. Maybe it's just that with a gentle, virtuous, and skilled Go player managing the household and the bedroom, the man can devote himself wholeheartedly to his work?" Saito smiled suavely, like a master of romance.

Ke Zhiguang understood.

This sounds like it's objectifying women.

No, this needs a strong crackdown! Liberate women's rights!

"The same applies to men. If a man marries into a woman's family, the woman's career will also flourish. This is the power of fortune, a very mysterious cause-and-effect relationship."

Ok.

Male dominance also needs liberation!

"What if two male and female chess players marry each other?" Ke Zhiguang asked curiously.

"Then let's see which side has stronger chess skills; that side will have better luck."

"Did Yu Chengqi reveal this as well?" Ke Zhiguang thought to himself, "Damn it, how does Yu Chengqi know such private matters?"

"Don't make that weird face. It really was him who revealed this. He seems to know everything... including the fact that there's such a thing as luck in Go. Otherwise, where do you think our high prize money, match fees, and salaries come from?"

"So... how many people know about the concept of fortune in Go?"

"Of course, very few people can be certain of its existence, while others regard it as a legend that is neither believable nor unbelievable."

"I think it's more like a marketing ploy by an unscrupulous educational institution to lure parents into sending their children to learn chess."

"That's true..."

After their conversation, Ke Zhiguang suddenly felt that the world had become much clearer.

In reality, it was still the familiar world he knew, and there was no high-ranking leader of 100 people gathered together to discuss the fortune and harvest of the coming year as he had expected.

There was no group of men with machine guns guarding the cell at the bottom of the chess academy to prevent any highly skilled criminals from escaping.

There is no containment facility similar to the SCP Foundation to house one dangerous spiritual object after another.

Even someone of Saito's stature didn't know, so it seems that only a small group of people really knew and were secretly using this secret to make a profit.

If only one person knows this secret, it certainly cannot form a chain of interests. But if too many people know it, it won't work either, because there will be more people sharing the pie.

"So you let me know all this because you think I'm tight-lipped?"

"Anyway, no one will believe you if you tell them."

That's true. The main problem is that nobody will believe it if you tell them about it, unless you show them a title or championship on the spot, and the miracle associated with the title or championship must be conspicuous enough, not the kind that others can't see.

Thinking about it that way, the conditions are indeed quite harsh.

"By the way, I was hanging out with Kiyonuma Yuzawa back then, mainly because I borrowed some money from him. He offered me very favorable terms, saying I only needed to pay back half. People like him like to make trivial but disgusting requests to 'upright' people like us. His request was that I be his friend for a week, take him everywhere I go, and treat him like a friend."

"Yeah, that's really disgusting, and it fits his persona perfectly... By the way, what's he doing now?"

"I don't know. I heard he was sent back to Hokkaido and is working in an electronics factory, I think," Saito said uncertainly.

this.....

Well, it's still a pretty good ending. At least they've gotten back on the right path and won't have to suffer the fate of only having a few years left to live because of the demonic dragon.

"After all this fancy talk, let's get down to business," Saito's tone suddenly softened.

Ke Zhiguang returned the same expression, a provocation before the fight, like the staring contest between boxers in a ring match.

There's one thing I forgot to mention.

The warning color displayed on Saito was purple, a level higher than red.

But I don't know why it's a period.

【…】 (purple), this kind.

Chapter Seventeen: Wind, Fire, Mountain, and Forest

A chilling purple light enveloped Saito.

The item display section was just a period.

This color-rating system reminded Ke Zhiguang of playing Dynasty Warriors, back when he was playing the game at some point in the series. The difficulty levels ranged from easy, medium, hard, to high, and the colors were green, yellow, orange, and red.