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

"However, the opponent is very strong, and their offensive awareness is very sharp!"

He hesitated for a moment, then gently clicked the mouse.

Three columns and twelve rows, jump.

On the other end of the computer, Ling quickly responded.

Twelve columns and seven rows, turn.

An eerie silence fell over the room for a short time.

After a long while, He Gu picked up the mouse again, hesitated for a long time, and then placed the white piece in the 17th column and 12th row.

“Ling completely ignored my attacks, acting as if she was sacrificing her own strength for the greater good.”

"I can't watch this movie, watching it will put me at a disadvantage. I can..."

"Yes, let's outspeed him!"

"Let me see your true colors, Ling."

At this moment, Ling, who was playing black, chose the bottom left corner of the computer screen without hesitation.

Three columns and three rows, three by three.

The computer screen emitted a faint blue light.

"This...this is!"

He Gu suddenly stood up from his chair, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"At this point... 33?"

Suddenly, Su Ran's image appeared in his mind.

He Gu gritted his teeth and began a counterattack against Ling.

Fifteen columns, sixteen rows, turn.

Fifteen columns, seventeen rows, a collision.

……

The sound of mouse clicks immediately became incessant.

"What's going on...?"

The more Gu Yue and Ling went down, the more shocked they became.

"Who is this guy...?"

A moment later, He Gu stared at the computer screen and swallowed hard.

"It's like when I played against SAI, back then, THESAI!"

"No... that move, the 3-3 point that defied the rules of Go, reminded me of Su Ran..."

The two sides then played dozens more moves.

Finally, Kazuya took a deep breath and clicked the "cast" button.

"That's enough, there's no need to continue..."

"That guy, Ling!"

"Who is he?"

……

A pop-up window appeared on the computer screen.

"I voted."

Zelda, the opponent, chose to resign.

Su Ran breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first time, apart from Sai, that he had played this game entirely according to his own ideas.

Ling is his new account, signifying a new beginning.

I never expected that my first time playing online against someone of my own skill level would result in such a formidable opponent.

Su Ran was somewhat moved. He could tell that his opponent was not weak, not only not weak, but even very strong, and had a fierce and aggressive playing style.

A moment later, a message box popped up on the computer screen.

"Who are you? You're a graduate student!"

Su Ran stared at the line of text, paused for a moment, then looked at the name Zelda and suddenly thought of something.

"Watani?"

Su Ran vaguely remembered that the first game she played under the name THESAI was against the ID Zelda.

Coincidentally, in the very first game of chess that I was planning to start over, I encountered Zelda again!

and!

If I remember correctly, in the Hikaru no Go anime, the user of the account Zelda is none other than my classmate from the insei—Yoshitaka Waya!

What a coincidence...

Looking at the message He Gu had sent her with a sigh, Su Ran thought for a moment and then replied playfully:

"you guess……"

After clicking send, Su Ran shut down her computer and prepared to go home.

To be honest, winters in Yingzhou are even colder than those in mainland China.

Su Ran, who was born in the south in her previous life, simply couldn't stand such cold weather.

That's why he spends less and less time in internet cafes. There's no way around it; playing chess is fun, but you have to stay alive first.

Meanwhile, on the other end, He Gu, upon seeing the message from Ling, lay in bed, tossing and turning with a belly full of questions.

"When did so many experts appear on the internet?"

“THESAI, SAI, Ling…and that mysterious Yuan and Yixing…”

"Without a doubt, Ling, who was able to beat me so easily, possesses the strength of a professional Go player..."

"Guess... judging from the tone of your voice, you're probably a child like me."

"Since they answered in Yingzhou script, they are most likely from Yingzhou..."

Could it be Su Ran-jun?

……

The next day, Sunday, Su Ran arrived at the chess academy.

"Hey, Su Ran, you're up so early."

Izumi arrived at the chess academy early and happened to see Su Ran at the entrance, so he greeted her.

Kazuya, who is inseparable from Isumi, yawned and greeted Su Ran: "Good morning, Su Ran-kun."

"Morning, Ikkaku, Watani."

Su Ran nodded slightly at them.

"By the way, Kazuya, what's wrong? Did you stay up all night yesterday?" Isumi looked at Kazuya with some curiosity.

He Gu nodded, looking aggrieved: "I lost an online chess game yesterday."

"Huh? Hahaha, as a student, you lost a game of Go online? Who was your opponent? A professional player? A high-ranking amateur? Thesai? Sai? How many points did you lose?"

Ijiao laughed so hard he bent over.

He Gu shook his head: "No, it was a guy who appeared for the first time. His name was Ling. He didn't have any numbers. I conceded defeat in the middle game."

"Mid-game?"

Izumi's expression turned serious: "Who is that? Ling?"

"it's me."

Then, Su Ran smiled and answered Yi Jiao's question.

"It's really you!"

Upon hearing this, He Gu pointed at Su Ran, looking like he was about to cry but had expected it: "I knew someone would suddenly go to San San's place, and you made me guess, sob sob sob, I guessed until midnight."

Su Ran shook her head: "Didn't you already guess that?"

"Indeed...no...I'm not entirely sure..."

Kazuya sighed, "You're too strong... Even though I saw your match yesterday, I knew it..."

Izumi was taken aback by their conversation: "You two met online beforehand?"

"yes……"

Kazuya nodded: "I guessed it was him a long time ago. I didn't expect that I was really no match for him."

Izumi shrugged: "Alright, let's go in. There's a new first-dan league today."

"Today?"

Su Ran was a little surprised.

"Yes, the time is set for this afternoon, and the place is the Chamber of Darkness."

He Gu didn't hold a grudge about yesterday's online match. He led Su Ran and Yi Jiao into the elevator, pressed the sixth floor, the floor for the students.

"Watani, it seems like the match is scheduled to be a match between Yao-senpai and Kuwabara-sensei, right?"

Inside the elevator, Isumi seemed uncertain and turned to ask Kazuya beside her.

Upon hearing this, Kazuya nodded: "Yes, Yasu-senpai must be making continuous progress."

"Those who pass the professional exam are constantly moving forward."

"Only we, the unsuccessful students, are stuck and unable to take another step forward."

He Gu's tone clearly betrayed his resentment.

"Hey, you're still young, why are you saying these things?" Isumi said with a smile, trying to comfort Kazuya.