I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 114: Who Is Yu Shao?

Jiangling Division, Group A.

Inside the competition room, the crisp sound of Go stones landing on the board echoed continuously, creating an atmosphere both tense and oppressive.

"...I lost."

A boy around fourteen years old stared at the board in front of him, then suddenly bowed his head deeply. His voice trembled slightly as he placed his stones down in surrender.

"Thank you for the game," Su Yiming bowed slightly as he spoke.

His opponent remained silent for a long time, head still lowered. After what felt like an eternity, he finally whispered weakly, "Thank you for the game..."

Su Yiming stood up and walked toward the referee’s table.

Seeing this, many people in the room revealed expressions of shock.

"He... won again?"

Su Yiming’s first-round opponent had been a dojo trainee on the path to becoming a professional player. At the time, everyone thought Su Yiming had drawn an incredibly bad lot, secretly relieved they hadn’t been the ones to face a dojo trainee in the first round.

But to everyone’s surprise, Su Yiming won.

Then, in the second round, his opponent turned out to be another dojo trainee. And this time... Su Yiming won even faster than before!

"Where did this Su Yiming even come from?"

Everyone's expressions grew serious. They could feel the heavy, invisible pressure settling over them.

The spots to advance to the main tournament were limited. And now, with this unexpected dark horse who had taken down two dojo trainees already, the competition was only going to get more intense.

Su Yiming soon left the hotel. Standing by the entrance, he let the late spring breeze wash over him.

"It's been almost a year now..."

He gazed at the bustling street, a flicker of complicated emotions in his eyes.

Even with a hundred years between them, the battles waged over the Go board were still as fierce and breathtaking as ever. His opponent just now hadn’t been particularly strong in his eyes, but even so, he could sense that unyielding fighting spirit.

For a brief moment, Su Yiming found himself lost in memories—memories of a rainy night, of a match played amidst the rolling thunder in the High School Go League over six months ago.

Even now, he could still recall every single move of that game with crystal clarity. The sound of stones hitting the board still echoed in his mind.

"He... will he participate in this year's Promotion Tournament?"

Su Yiming looked down at his right hand. Calluses had formed on his fingertips—evidence of the countless hours he had spent studying game records, practicing new opening patterns, and honing his skills.

Six days flew by.

The first five rounds of the Preliminary Tournament had come to an end.

Now, the competition had officially entered its most heated stage—the fiercest battles were about to begin.

At 9 AM, many participants had already arrived early at the competition room. Even with some time left before the matches started, the air was thick with tension.

At that moment, a staff member from the Go Association entered the room, carrying a roll of double-sided tape. One by one, he pinned three sheets of white paper onto the wall.

"The rankings are finally out!"

At this sight, the room fell silent for a split second. Then, as if realizing something, everyone instantly leaped to their feet and swarmed toward the ranking board.

By tradition, the rankings were only posted on the fifth day of the tournament. The purpose was to both motivate those who still had a chance to make it to the main event and to apply pressure on the top-ranking players by reminding them that their pursuers were catching up.

"First place: He Zhi’an, record: 5 wins, 0 losses."

"Second place: Yu Shao, record: 5 wins, 0 losses."

"Third place: Miao Xiaoxiao, record: 5 wins, 0 losses."

...

Seeing the ranking board, a young man in a flower-patterned T-shirt froze slightly. Then, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Qiao Anli... actually lost?!"

"Who’s Qiao Anli?" someone nearby asked, confused, turning to look at him.

"A dojo trainee from Langhong Dojo," the flower-patterned youth explained. "Our Group E got incredibly lucky this year—only two dojo trainees were placed in our group: He Zhi’an and Qiao Anli."

"Last year, he was one step away from making it to the finals, but he blundered in the middle game, throwing away a massive lead and losing in regret. He was considered one of the strongest candidates to go pro!"

He shook his head in disbelief. "And now, he’s already lost a game? Who did he lose to? He Zhi’an? Did they get unlucky and match up this early?"

"...No."

At that moment, a bespectacled young man shook his head. "I played against Qiao Anli in the second round. He didn’t face He Zhi’an."

"He... lost to someone named Yu Shao."

"Yu Shao?"

Everyone stiffened and immediately scanned the rankings again. There, in second place, was the name Yu Shao—undefeated, 5-0.

"Five wins, zero losses... and one of them was against Qiao Anli?!"

The flower-patterned youth’s expression froze. He couldn’t help but ask, "Who is Yu Shao? Does anyone know? If he’s not a dojo trainee, then he must be a famous amateur player, right?"

"Never heard of him..."

Everyone shook their heads. Among the numerous amateur Go players, not a single person recognized the name Yu Shao.

For a moment, an awkward silence filled the room.

After all, even though the Promotion Tournament had hundreds of participants each year, most of them were seasoned amateurs who had competed multiple times. Even if you didn’t personally know a player, chances were someone else would.

Take Zheng Qin, for example. He had never competed in the Promotion Tournament before, but because of his past achievements in the amateur circuit, and even winning the National College Go League, many people had already heard of him before the tournament even started.

But Yu Shao?

Not a single soul had ever heard that name before.

At that moment, an eighteen-year-old standing nearby fell into deep thought before finally speaking.

"Miao Xiaoxiao... I don’t know him."

"But..." His voice lowered slightly. "I played against him in the fourth round."

"He was the one who ended my three-game winning streak."

"Qin Xiaojun?"

The flower-patterned youth clearly recognized him. He immediately asked, "So? How strong is he? Is he really that good?"

Hearing this, the surrounding players also turned to look at Qin Xiaojun in anticipation.

Only now did they realize why this flower-patterned youth seemed so fixated on Yu Shao—he himself had also achieved a perfect 5-0 record, just like Yu Shao and Miao Xiaoxiao.

Qin Xiaojun fell silent.

"...Well? Say something!"

Miao Xiaoxiao grew anxious and couldn’t help but press for an answer.

The bespectacled young man also turned to look at Qin Xiaojun. Earlier, he had asked Qiao Anli a similar question, but Qiao Anli’s response had been vague—he had simply said, “You’ll understand once you play against Yu Shao yourself.”

Qin Xiaojun let out a sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to explain—it’s just that I don’t know how to describe it.”

"You don’t know how to describe it?"

Miao Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded. "Come on, it’s simple—he’s either strong or weak, isn’t he? Or are you saying he’s somehow both strong and weak at the same time?"

"He’s definitely strong—otherwise, he wouldn’t have won five matches in a row."

Qin Xiaojun sighed again before continuing, “His positional judgment is incredibly accurate, his midgame is borderline unbelievable, and his attacks are razor-sharp. I was completely outmatched.”

He hesitated for a moment before adding, “But his opening game is ridiculously bad. At some points, I honestly felt like he didn’t even know how to play Go.”

What kind of answer was that?

Everyone was stunned.

If his midgame was really that strong, then even if his opening was a bit weak, surely it wouldn’t be to the extent of being described as “ridiculously bad,” right?

Go openings were complex, sure, but the midgame was considered even more difficult!

"All I can say is... I don’t know his exact skill level," Qin Xiaojun finally admitted. "If you want to find out, you’ll just have to play him yourself."

The bespectacled young man froze.

That response... was almost identical to what Qiao Anli had told him.

He had been confused when Qiao Anli had given him such a vague answer. But now, he was beginning to understand.

The reason was simple—no one could tell.

Just then, someone suddenly noticed something and exclaimed, "Look at Table Eight’s nameplates—Yu Shao is playing against He Zhi’an today!"

At those words, everyone immediately turned their gazes toward Table Eight.

Sure enough, the nameplates on either side of the table read:

Yu Shao vs. He Zhi’an.

This was a matchup between two undefeated players, both at 5-0.

Which meant—one of their perfect streaks was about to end today.

Around 9:40 AM, as the match time drew closer, Yu Shao finally arrived at the competition room. Without hesitation, he walked straight toward Table Eight.

The moment he pulled out the chair and sat down, all eyes turned toward him.

In those gazes, there was shock, doubt, curiosity, wariness, and even a hint of unease.

"Why is everyone staring at me?"

Feeling the weight of so many eyes on him, Yu Shao was momentarily taken aback. He had no idea why he was suddenly drawing so much attention.

Soon, another player entered the room—a boy with a face full of acne.

He glanced at Yu Shao, his expression growing even more serious.

Clearly, he had already known that today, his opponent would be none other than Yu Shao—the very player who had taken down Qiao Anli in the first round.

Without a word, He Zhi’an walked over to Table Eight, pulled out his chair, and sat down across from Yu Shao. Then, he simply waited for the match to begin.

Not long after, several referees entered the competition room.

At their arrival, the crowd finally turned their attention away from Yu Shao and He Zhi’an. One by one, the players collected themselves, their focus shifting back to their own games.

The tension in the air thickened.

No one knew exactly who Yu Shao was or how strong he really was.

But right now, that didn’t matter.

The Promotion Tournament happened only once a year. The opportunity to become a professional Go player wasn’t something that came around often.

The only thing they could do was defeat their opponents—one after another—and keep climbing.

Until they finally stood at the peak of the professional Go world.

"The time is about right."

A referee glanced at his watch and announced, "Each player will have three hours. Once the overtime countdown begins, each move must be played within one minute. The komi is set at 7.5 points."

"Now—determine turn order."