I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 119: Are Kings and Nobles Born to Rule?

The preliminary rounds had finally come to an end.

But passing the preliminaries was merely the starting point on the road to becoming a professional Go player. After the preliminaries came the main tournament, followed by the final stage.

Only by reaching the very end, winning all the way through, could one truly step into the professional world.

With the preliminaries concluded, the players had five days to rest before the intense and brutal main tournament began. Unlike the round-robin format of the preliminaries, the main tournament adopted a double-elimination system—losing twice meant elimination. This meant luck played a role—unless, of course, one was strong enough to render luck irrelevant.

At the same time, with the preliminaries wrapped up, the annual City High School Go League was about to begin once again.

"Old Yu, I've been skipping training these past few days, just studying game records and practicing non-stop in the activity room after school."

In his headphones, Zhou De's cocky voice rang out.

"Hugging the Buddha's feet at the last minute actually works—I feel like I've gotten terrifyingly strong!"

"Oh? So it turns out you're into feet?"

Yu Shao stared at his computer screen, moving the mouse while tapping away at the keyboard. He didn't forget to throw in a jab: "Disgusting!"

"Huh?"

Zhou De was stunned for a moment. After a long pause, he finally realized what Yu Shao meant and immediately fired back, "What? Since when does 'hugging Buddha’s feet' count as a foot fetish? And even if I did have one, what’s it to you?"

The two instantly launched into a fierce war of words, somehow going from the High School Go League to debating foot fetishes, only to circle back to the league again.

"Old Yu, do you know where this year's City High School Go League is being held?"

Zhou De suddenly lowered his voice, sounding mysterious.

But Yu Shao never called this kind of tone "mysterious"—he called it "sleazy."

"The venue?"

Yu Shao had no idea what Zhou De was getting at. "Why? Where is it?"

"At Guangzhou Affiliated High."

Zhou De answered, "The same school we fought for the championship against last year!"

Hearing this, Yu Shao's eyes flickered slightly.

"You think that guy, Su Yiming, will play again this year?"

Zhou De’s tone carried a hint of worry as he muttered, "This year, neither you nor Xu Zijin are in the lineup. With no tigers in the mountain, Zhong Yufei is gonna be acting like a king..."

"Can he really carry the team alone? He’s not that strong, you know! If he runs into Su Yiming, what are we supposed to do? Even I, the great 'Shen Yi of Jiangling,' feel a little pressure!"

Yu Shao thought for a moment before responding, "He probably won't play this year."

"Huh?"

Zhou De was clearly caught off guard, then suddenly sounded excited. "For real? How do you know?"

"Just a feeling."

In Yu Shao’s mind, memories of the match he played against Su Yiming in last year’s City High School Go League surfaced once again.

"I don’t know why he joined the high school league last year, but this year, I think it’s unlikely he’ll participate."

Hearing this, Zhou De sounded a little disappointed. "So you’re just guessing?"

"Believe it or not, up to you."

Yu Shao didn’t bother explaining further.

Truthfully, he had already figured it out long ago. The reason he agreed to play in the City High School Go League last year wasn’t just because the principal invited him—it was because deep down, he still wanted to play Go.

He still longed to hear the crisp, metallic sound of stones landing on the board.

But back then, his mindset was a little conflicted. On one hand, he felt that since he had been given a second chance at life, he should live differently. But deep down, he didn’t really want to change.

It just took him a while to realize that.

After finishing his game with Zhou De, Yu Shao shut down his computer and stepped out onto the balcony. He took a deep breath of fresh air, gazing out at the cityscape.

Two days left until the main tournament of the Go Promotion Tournament.

"Only by stepping into the professional world can I gradually patch up my weaknesses, elevate my strength to an entirely new level, and surpass my past self—until I reach the absolute peak!"

Last year, both the main tournament and finals of the Go Promotion Tournament were held in Jiangling, but this year, they were taking place in Xinan.

This year's tournament was named the Lanke Cup, named after the legend of a woodcutter who stumbled upon two immortals playing Go in the mountains. Entranced by the game, he watched without realizing how much time had passed. By the time he finally left, his axe had rotted away.

Xinan was the birthplace of this legend.

The next day, Yu Shao traveled alone to Xinan.

Originally, Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaomei had planned to close their shop for a day to accompany him, but he refused.

Although the main tournament wouldn’t start until tomorrow, the area around Xinan Grand Hotel, where the matches would take place, was already packed with cars.

Clearly, many players had arrived early to familiarize themselves with the venue and prepare. Compared to them, Yu Shao’s arrival the day before the tournament was actually considered late.

Stepping into the hotel lobby, Yu Shao approached the front desk and provided his tournament registration number.

"Alright, your room is on the twelfth floor, B103."

The receptionist checked her computer, then handed him a key card with a polite smile.

"Best of luck in your matches—I hope you secure your promotion!"

"Thank you."

Yu Shao accepted the key card and nodded.

During the Jiangling preliminaries, since the venue was close to home, he didn't need to stay in a hotel. But this time, with the tournament being held in Xinan, he’d be staying here throughout the competition.

After taking the elevator to the twelfth floor, Yu Shao swiped his key card and entered his room, setting down his luggage before heading out to grab dinner.

Just as he opened his door, the door of Room 104, next to his, opened at almost the exact same time.

A boy around his age stepped out.

Thick eyebrows, slightly wavy hair, and bright, spirited eyes. Spotting Yu Shao, he spoke up in a friendly tone, "Heading out for dinner? Wanna go together?"

So forward?

Yu Shao glanced at him, a little surprised. But he didn’t reject the offer.

"Sure."

"I'm Jiang Xiahua, what’s your name?"

"Yu Shao."

"Yu Shao? That’s a nice name. Feels like you’re taking advantage of people—anyone who calls you is basically calling you 'Young Master'!"

Jiang Xiahua couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm a dojo trainee from Lanke Dojo, apprenticed under Zhu Xinyuan, a 9-dan professional. You’re a dojo trainee too, right? How come I’ve never seen you before?"

"I'm not from a dojo," Yu Shao shook his head. "This is my first time competing in the Go Promotion Tournament, so it’s normal that you haven’t seen me before."

"Not from a dojo?"

Jiang Xiahua was clearly surprised. "Wait… so this is your first promotion attempt, and you already made it to the main tournament? Which province are you from?"

"Jiangling," Yu Shao replied, pressing the elevator button.

"Jiangling?"

Jiang Xiahua's eyes widened in shock. He had assumed Yu Shao was from one of those provinces with very few Go dojos.

"I remember Jiangling has several strong dojos with tons of dojo trainees. And you still managed to make it to the main tournament? Damn, you're that good?"

After all, the more dojos there were in an area, the more dojo trainees it produced. Since the main tournament had a limited number of spots, it was even harder for amateur players to break through.

"I got lucky. I was placed in Group E, and there were only two dojo trainees in the entire group."

Yu Shao stepped into the elevator and noticed Jiang Xiahua still standing at the door. "You coming?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Jiang Xiahua quickly followed him in, still shaking his head in disbelief. "Only two dojo trainees in your group? Damn, the other groups are screwed. I bet barely any amateurs will make it out."

"If someone can’t qualify just because their group had too many strong players, then even if they did make it, it’d be pointless," Yu Shao said calmly. "They’d just get eliminated a little later."

"I wouldn’t say that."

Jiang Xiahua shook his head knowingly, looking like a veteran of the promotion tournament. "In the Go Promotion Tournament, strength is important, but luck is too. Without luck, you might never get your promotion."

Yu Shao didn’t argue with that.

"But honestly, I don’t know if I should say your luck is good or bad this time."

Jiang Xiahua suddenly sighed. "This year, qualifying for professional status is way harder than in previous years."

"Why?" Yu Shao asked, puzzled.

"You amateur players might not know this," Jiang Xiahua explained, "but Zhuang Fei and Fang Haoxin are both aiming for professional status this year. And there are only six pro spots available—so with those two basically guaranteed a spot, the rest of us are fighting for just four."

"Zhuang Fei? Fang Haoxin?"

Yu Shao thought for a moment but didn’t recognize the names. "Who are they?"

"Zhuang Fei is the son of Zhuang Weisheng, a 10-dan professional. As for Fang Haoxin… his great-great-grandfather was Fang Xin. He showed insane Go talent from a young age, but when he was nine, he moved to Seoul to study Go. Now he’s back in China to earn his professional status."

Jiang Xiahua couldn't help but grumble, "We’ve even got second-generation Go prodigies now? Seriously, this is pissing me off."

Yu Shao was also a little surprised. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the names Zhuang Weisheng and Fang Xin.

One of them was a 10-dan champion who had dominated the title matches for twenty consecutive years and was still active in the Go world. The other was the only player in history to defeat Shen Yi—although that had been in a 10.5-komi handicap match, which made the victory a bit unfair.

"I don’t know much about Fang Haoxin, but Zhuang Fei was in my preliminary group, so I played against him," Jiang Xiahua said, his voice filled with frustration. "With that level of skill, the guy should’ve gone pro ages ago, but he just kept delaying it. Basically, he’s been sandbagging in amateur tournaments."

He didn’t say whether he won or lost, but Yu Shao had already figured it out.

Clearly, Jiang Xiahua lost that match.

"The most frustrating part?" Jiang Xiahua continued, getting more heated. "The internet is hyping up their match as some kind of battle across time—past versus present!"

He started ranting furiously, "Like, what the hell? It’s not Fang Xin versus Zhuang Weisheng, so why are people forcing this narrative? They’re making the rest of us look like side characters!"

"I'm so pissed! So, so pissed!"

Jiang Xiahua clenched his fists and declared fiercely, "If I face either of them in the main tournament, I’m taking them down! Are kings and nobles born to rule? Hell no! I’ll take their spots myself!"

But just as he reached the climax of his speech, he suddenly stopped.

It seemed like he remembered something mid-sentence.

In the end, he just let out a long sigh of frustration.

"Ugh…"