Hikaru no Go: I taught you Go, and you made the Kisei cry?

Gradually, all the matches ended, and everyone nodded in acknowledgment, writing down their scores on the match schedule.

At 12:10, lunchtime, the village teacher gave a greeting and then left the chess room.

Isumi stretched and turned to ask Yoshitaka Wasani beside him, "Waitani, shall we go buy lunch?"

He Gu, who was deep in thought, was startled by the question and then stammered, "Ah, oh, okay..."

What are you thinking about?

Izumi was quite surprised and asked suspiciously, "You're not still thinking about that THESAI thing, are you?"

Upon hearing this, He Gu's expression shifted, and after a long pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Actually... I once played a game of Go online with THESAI..."

what! ?

Upon hearing this, Isumi was utterly shocked: "Really? You... you actually had the honor of playing against THESAI?"

That's right.

Kazuya nodded seriously and said, "About two months ago, the first game that THESAI account played online was against me..."

At this point, Wagaya paused, completely ignoring the shock in Isumi's eyes, and continued:

"Honestly, if Touya hadn't reminded me, I really wouldn't have thought that Su Ran and THESAI might be the same person, but..."

He swallowed hard, as if he couldn't believe his own words, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and said:

"But, now that Akira Touya has said that... thinking back on Su Ran's playing style..."

"It really is as sharp as THESAI!"

……

Hearing He Gu's evaluation, Isumi was shocked and involuntarily turned his gaze towards Su Ran.

He stared at Su Ran's figure for a long, long time before shaking his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about it: "Hey, Kazuya, stop overthinking..."

"Regardless of whether Su Ran is THESAI or not, he and Touya Akira are now formidable opponents that you and I must face."

"Instead of worrying about their identities, I'd better hurry up and eat something to replenish my energy. I might have to face them head-on this afternoon, and I don't want to lose the game because I haven't eaten enough..."

Upon hearing this, He Gu shook his head, forcing himself to forget about it.

"That's true... By the way, will those two guys be dining with us? Even geniuses need to eat, right?"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Akira Touya's position, wanting to ask this genius insei of the Go world if he wanted to go buy lunch together.

In the corner, Akira Touya was holding a Go book, busy with his own Go pieces and setting up the Go score, oblivious to everyone around him.

"Ugh... This is really annoying."

Seeing this, Kazuya's face fell. He disliked Akira Touya. Although Akira Touya always gave people the impression of being polite, Kazuya felt that this guy was arrogant.

"Issugu, he never intended to eat with us, did he?"

"After all, he's the son of a celebrity, so it's only natural that he works so hard that he forgets to eat and sleep."

Isumi chuckled awkwardly. Compared to Kazuya, he actually admired Toya Akira's attitude towards Go: "I wonder if Su Ran is also so aloof, but he seems quite easygoing."

At this moment, Su Ran closed the chess box, stood up from the ground, looked in the direction of Isumi and Kazuya, and smiled, "Um, would you mind going out for a meal together?"

Upon hearing this, both Isumi and Kazuya were taken aback, especially Kazuya, who seemed quite flattered and opened his mouth for a long time without knowing what to say.

It was Isumi who reacted quickly and immediately nodded in reply, "No problem, let's go together."

Seeing that Su Ran and Izumi had gone out for lunch, Mitani Yuki was so angry that he slammed the chess box shut.

"What's wrong, Mitani?"

The person next to him was startled by the sound from the chess box and turned to ask.

"Damn it... My older sister took such good care of him, and now she's just being ignored. Seriously, I haven't offended this guy, have I?"

Mitsuya's resentment continued to rise. She couldn't understand why Su Ran, who used to frequently come to her sister's place to use her internet during the summer vacation, had suddenly become distant from her.

"Could it be... because I haven't paid back the money I lost to Mr. Yue last time?"

"But it's only twenty Yingzhou coins, surely it's not so bad that we can't even be friends anymore?"

……

Su Ran, Yi Jiao, and He Gu left the chess academy together and headed towards the surrounding snack shops.

"Speaking of which, Su Ran-kun, you said you wanted to have lunch with us, which startled me. I thought you were like Touya, who doesn't take us Class One seriously at all."

On the way, He Gu sighed, "You seem to be easier to get along with."

"Is there?"

Su Ran had never had this feeling before, which made her somewhat puzzled.

"Don't you think so?" He Gu asked, somewhat surprised. "He seems polite, but he's actually cold..."

"Su Ran-kun is different, isn't he? Akira Touya must consider you a formidable rival, right?"

Isumi interrupted Kazuya with a smile, looking at Su Ran: "I'm looking forward to your match. It's sure to be a very exciting insei tournament, right? Just like a match between two professional Go players?"

Su Ran smiled and shook her head, saying, "As the top students in Class One of the Academy, don't you also possess the strength of professional Go players?"

That's one way of saying it...

Kazuya looked distressed: "But luck and skill are both indispensable. Isumi, do you still remember Yao-senpai?"

"of course."

Isumi nodded: "Yao-senpai, who only became a professional Go player last year, should have passed the assessment the year before last."

"Yeah yeah."

Beside him, Kazuya nodded with admiration: "It's a pity that Yao-senpai ran into Kurata, a fifth-dan, the year before last. Oh, that was too tragic."

"Kurata, fifth dan?"

Su Ran didn't quite remember the name, but it sounded vaguely familiar.

"Su Ran-kun, don't you know Cang Tian, ​​a 5-dan player? You rarely watch professional leagues?"

Seeing Su Ran's blank expression, He Gu explained, "Kurata Atsushi, who became a professional Go player two years ago, has made rapid progress and is now a 5-dan player. He should be appearing on TV frequently."

"Yes, they represent the younger generation."

Beside him, Izumi looked somewhat envious.

“Izumi is different now, he’s a seasoned veteran, almost eighteen years old, sir.”

Seeing this, Waya suddenly spoke up and mocked Isumi.

"Hey, don't tease me."

Isumi smiled and nudged Kazuya, clearly indicating that the two had a good relationship and often joked with each other.

"Speaking of which, it's fortunate that Senior Yao had a good attitude and withstood the pressure. After failing the year before last, he almost withdrew from the intern last year."

He Gu sighed, as if he had thought of something, and looked at Su Ran: "Su Ran-kun, you're planning to take the professional exam this year, right?"

Su Ran nodded and answered truthfully, "Yes, I plan to participate in the Young Lions competition this year."

"As expected, sigh..."

Both Waya and Isumi sighed at the same time.

"what happened?"

Looking at them, Su Ran was somewhat puzzled.

"Of course I'm nervous. You and Akira Touya are so strong, and there are only three spots available. This is terrible."

Upon hearing this, Su Ran chuckled and could only offer words of comfort: "Perhaps we can't make it?"

"Then we'll have even less chance of making it!"

Hearing Su Ran's words, He Gu sighed again. After a moment, he seemed to understand something and immediately perked up: "No, we haven't even played chess with you yet, how can we lose our momentum first!"

He Gu Huoran turned to look at Su Ran, clenching his fist: "That's right, I will beat you, absolutely!"

After a moment, He Gu lowered his head again.

"Still lacking confidence..."

Isumi patted Kazuya on the shoulder and comforted him, "What are you worried about? You won't be taking the high school entrance exam until next year. You're only in the second year of junior high. You just don't want to go to school, right? I should be the one worrying, shouldn't I?"

"That's true..."

Upon hearing this, He Gu nodded and looked at Su Ran: "Su Ran-kun, you're so eager to take the professional exam, you must be like me, with very poor academic performance, right?"

"Academic grades? Don't you like going to school?"

As Su Ran walked, she asked He Gu.

“I absolutely dislike it… I hate it the most…” Kazuya said with a pained expression, “Listening to the teacher’s lectures every day, all that chatter, it gives me a terrible headache.”

As He Gu was talking, he turned to look at Su Ran.

"What? Su Ran, are your grades really good?"

"It's alright..."

Su Ran nodded and answered truthfully, "The junior high school courses weren't too difficult for me."

Indeed, for Su Ran, who graduated from a junior high school in his previous life, these junior high school courses were relatively easy.

With a look of grief and indignation, Kazuya turned to Isumi and said, "Listen to this, Isumi, is this how a human being speaks?"

Isumi gave an awkward laugh: "Don't complain to me... I was just admitted to Waseda University through a special admission process. To be precise, I'm also in the category of academic high-achievers that you hate..."

you!

unacceptable!

Wagaya glared at Su Ran and Isumi, completely at a loss for words.

Isumi paused, as if remembering something: "By the way, Touya is also from Kaiou Middle School, right? His grades must be very good... Kaiou Middle School doesn't have any guaranteed admissions; everyone gets in through the entrance exams."

"Yes... is this the life of you geniuses...?"

After wallowing in self-pity for a while, He Gu finally had to admit, "We, as students of the academy, have always been called geniuses by outsiders, but how could they know that the most painful ones are like me, who happen to have some talent and can slightly covet that paradise, but are not qualified to enter."

"I lingered at the door, and could vaguely see the light coming from inside the hall, but I couldn't knock on the door. I sat down dejectedly, thinking that this was the greatest regret of my life."