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

In the face of three questions, Touya Kouhiro made no mention of his illness, instead focusing all his attention on the fight between Touya Akira and Su Ran.

"dad……"

Looking into his father's expectant eyes, Akira Touya pursed his lips and his eyes dimmed and darted away.

"Ugh……"

Seeing his son's state, Touya Kouyou knew the outcome without even thinking, and gently patted Touya Akira on the shoulder:

"Xiao Liang, you can go out first. I have something I want to talk to Ogata about alone."

Ok.

Touya nodded, glanced at his father reluctantly, and then backed away from the ward.

Squeak.

With the door closed, only Touya Kouhiro and Ogata Seiji remained in the ward, and the atmosphere became somewhat somber.

After a long silence, Touya Kouhiro finally spoke weakly:

"Ogata, I don't have much time left... I'm sure Dr. Toda has already told you that, hasn't he?"

Ogata Seiji lowered his eyes, and a slight moisture seemed to well up in his eyes hidden behind his glasses:

"Teacher... I haven't told Xiaoliang about this yet, so please don't worry."

That's good……

Kouhiro Touya nodded silently, pondered for a long time, and then suddenly asked:

"Ogata, do you...believe that gods exist in this world?"

Ok?

When his mentor suddenly asked him this question, Ogata Seiji was at a loss for words. Even though he was incredibly shrewd, he couldn't quite figure out Touya Kouhiro's intentions at this moment.

Fortunately, before he could ponder for too long, Touya Kouhiro sighed deeply and explained to himself:

"I have heard that in ancient Chinese legends, some people can see things that are unimaginable to ordinary people when they are on the verge of death."

“I didn’t really believe in these supernatural tales before, but this time…”

At this point, a hint of reminiscence seemed to flash in Touya Kouhiro's deep eyes. He paused for a long time before continuing:

“But during this coma, I really saw God… or rather, I had a dream about God.”

Before Ogata Seiji could even react with surprise, Touya Kouhiro waved his hand and continued:

"In my dream, a god named Yi Xing left me with some revelations, some revelations about... artificial intelligence!"

AI!?

Upon hearing these four words that had been frequently mentioned in his ears recently, Seiji Ogata's eyelids twitched involuntarily, and his heart tightened slightly.

In his memory, teachers have always been dismissive of artificial intelligence.

In previous Go lessons, whenever I mentioned artificial intelligence, my teacher would always say with a stern face, "Go has a soul, but computers don't... If a player with a soul is defeated by a machine without a soul, it only means that the player's skill is not up to par, and it certainly doesn't mean that computers are more intelligent than humans!"

That's right.

Previously, Kouyo Touya had always held artificial intelligence in contempt.

But today...

Looking closely at his teacher's face, Ogata Seiji was startled to discover that Touya Kouyo, who was usually as calm as a mountain, was now showing a deep fear in the depths of his eyes!

It was a tremor that came from the depths of the soul!

It was as if the teacher had recorded some incredibly terrifying things in his memory!

This feeling of helplessness and despair, even though the teacher hadn't explicitly stated it, had already spread deep into his heart!

"Ogata".

Just as Ogata Seiji was lost in thought, Touya Kouhiro spoke again:

"While I'm still alive and well, I feel it's necessary for me to tell you about that terrible future. You must remember it well..."

"If, I mean if."

"If one day, that terrible future really does seem to be coming, I hope you will find a way to stop it!"

Kouhiro Touya straightened his body with great effort, and in that instant, his eyes, as deep as the ocean, once again shone with the unwavering determination he displayed when playing Go.

"What I'm about to say, you can listen to as a story..."

"In the upcoming Tianyuan Battle, an artificial intelligence codenamed Yuan will challenge all human Go players."

"With its almost divine chess skills, all of humanity's top players have fallen to its hands."

"Yuan's victory fueled the ambitions of the organization that controlled him behind the scenes, and they began to vigorously develop artificial intelligence."

"Soon, artificial intelligence will take over all human jobs, including manufacturing, cutting-edge technology innovation, and the operation of human society."

"At that time, airplanes in the sky, cars on the ground, household appliances, and so on—all the tools that humans cannot do without—will be controlled by the central system of artificial intelligence."

"With the help of artificial intelligence, human technology is advancing rapidly, and all the wishes that were unthinkable before have been realized by artificial intelligence."

"Cancer is no longer incurable, energy is nearly inexhaustible, interstellar travel has become commonplace, and all complex problems can be solved by artificial intelligence as long as humans ask them."

"That should have been the best of times, until, until..."

At this point, Touya Kouhiro couldn't help but shudder; a lingering sense of unease flickered in his usually calm and collected eyes.

"Until one day, someone asked that question to artificial intelligence..."

"What should we do to... achieve immortality?"

This time, artificial intelligence fell silent.

Touya Kouhiro stared intently at Ogata Seiji, a chilling glint seemingly emanating from his dark pupils:

"Just when everyone thought that, faced with that shackle etched into human DNA that could never be broken, even artificial intelligence was powerless to overcome it..."

"The artificial intelligence, which had been silent for a whole month, has given its answer."

"The crisis first erupted in a village. In the dead of night, an ordinary man suddenly went mad and bit his family members to death."

“What’s terrifying is that just seconds later, those family members who had been bitten all over came back to life and started biting more people.”

"The first one, the second one, the thousandth one, the ten thousandth one..."

"That's right, just as you thought."

"Artificial intelligence, using it to control the global healthcare system, has modified the genes of billions of people worldwide within a month."

"An unprecedented crisis, one that no one could avoid... has erupted!"

“Ogata, do you remember what I used to tell you? Artificial intelligence… it has no soul.”

"As long as humans give it a command, it will do its best to complete it."

"When humanity's greed led us to seek immortality, we finally tasted the bitter fruit of our own actions..."

Snapped!

Listen to Touya Kouhiro recount the terrifying visions of the future, word by word.

Even though Ogata Seiji's mental fortitude far surpassed that of ordinary people, at this moment, he couldn't help but accidentally break the glasses he was wiping in his hand.

An extreme chill spread from his back. Even though the ward's heating was on full blast, Ogata Seiji's back was inevitably soaked with cold sweat!

"Teacher, you...you said all of this..."

Ogata Seiji swallowed hard, his mouth watering, and said incredulously, "Really? You witnessed it with your own eyes while you were unconscious?"

Kouhiro Touya did not answer, and silently turned his head to look out the window.

The clock struck twelve at just the right moment.

In the stillness of the night, the muffled tolling of the bells sounded like a death knell, a final lament to everyone.

"Yixing."

"It was Yi Xing, who called himself a god, who used some special means to let me witness all of this."

Touya Kouhiro's weak voice came again, but to Ogata Seiji, it was like thunder:

"He told me that there is only one person in this world who can save everything."

"In our way as chess players—"

"Suppress Yuan's arrogance before the ambitions of the manipulators behind artificial intelligence continue to expand."

"Then, humanity still has... a glimmer of hope."

"Who could that person be?"

Ignoring the already stunned and numb Ogata Seiji, Touya Kouhiro muttered to himself for a moment, then cast his worried gaze once again toward the distant horizon.

In the pitch-black night, only a few streetlights emitted a faint, almost invisible glow.

Thick fog rolled in from outside the window, and soon even the faintest glimmer of light...

It gradually went out.

……

Late at night, Su Ran dragged her tired body and slowly walked along a small road in the suburbs of Kyoto.

Tonight, he didn't bother Mr. Ikegami anymore, but chose to go home and get some rest.

In another week, the Battle of Tianyuan will begin.

During this period, he will once again challenge all the top players on the world Go network as Ling.

He could feel that deep within his soul, his extraordinary chess sense was gradually merging with his will.

In order to completely merge with this deep-seated spiritual stirring, he must constantly defeat one opponent after another in order to truly glimpse the realm of the Divine Hand.

Sitting in front of the computer.

Su Ran logged into her account with practiced ease and was just about to match herself with an opponent.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a prominent notice on the official homepage of the World Go Network—

[World Go Network presents you with a featured game: Online 9-dan player SAI is engaged in a peak match against rising star player YUAN. Would you like to join the OB (Online Player) ranks?]