I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 178: What He’s Playing Feels Far From Go

“What is he even playing?”

“How can he tenuki here?”

Earlier, even though the Large Knight’s Enclosure and the Diagonal move had seemed odd, Wang Yao had at least understood their intentions—even if they weren’t optimal, he could justify them, giving them a score of 60 or 70 out of 100.

But this tenuki?

It was beyond his comprehension.

After thinking for ten whole minutes, Wang Yao finally lowered his right hand from his lips, reached into the Go bowl, and placed a move.

Yu Shao responded immediately.

Click. Click. Click…

The sound of stones landing filled the silent room.

Until finally—

“I…”

Wang Yao stared blankly at the board.

A long silence followed before he finally bowed his head and spoke with difficulty.

“I lost…”

Yu Shao lowered his head slightly.

“Thank you for the game.”

Wang Yao’s dazed gaze remained fixed on the board.

After a moment, he seemed to regain his senses and responded in kind.

“…Thank you for the game.”

As Yu Shao reached out to clear the board, Wang Yao suddenly spoke up.

“Leave it. I’ll clean it up later.”

Yu Shao was momentarily surprised but nodded, then turned and walked toward the referee.

After reporting his match result, he exited the playing room.

But even after Yu Shao had left, Wang Yao remained seated, staring blankly at the board.

“I lost…”

Du Shuang clenched his teeth, staring at the board.

Facing him, a boy two years younger than him, Bai He, sat with a fair complexion and messy hair.

Seeing Du Shuang resign, Bai He let out a long breath, wiping sweat from his forehead before bowing.

“Thank you for the game.”

After packing up the stones, Bai He stood up and walked to the referee to report his result.

Meanwhile, Du Shuang slumped forward, pressing his palms against the table to support himself as he slowly got up, looking utterly drained.

This match had exhausted him.

And yet, even after giving his all, he still lost.

“Was choosing the path of a professional Go player a mistake?”

As Du Shuang walked toward the cafeteria, he stared at his calloused right hand, his mind drifting.

“Even if my talent is lacking, the fact that I became a pro proves that I’m better than most.”

“I’ve put in so much effort, spent countless nights studying game records…”

“So why?”

“Why am I still not getting the results I want?”

His right hand clenched into a tight fist.

Frustration, resentment—and yet, there was nothing he could do about it.

With each defeat, his passion for Go felt as if it were slowly being eroded away.

Especially as newcomers kept appearing—younger than him, less experienced, yet still surpassing him.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t catch up.

“If I can’t win, why am I even playing?”

A deep sense of uncertainty filled him.

At that moment, Du Shuang passed by the playing room where the National Master preliminaries were being held.

He paused.

Glancing inside, he saw that some matches were still ongoing, while others had already ended—many tables were completely empty.

But at Table 10, someone was still sitting there.

Wang Yao.

Alone.

Staring blankly at the board.

Du Shuang frowned slightly.

After a moment of hesitation, he stepped inside and approached Wang Yao’s table.

As he looked at the board, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“The game is already over… Black won.”

Seeing the final position, Du Shuang’s brow furrowed.

He had assumed Wang Yao was still in the middle of his game.

Maybe Yu Shao had stepped out for a break.

But no—the match had already ended.

And yet, Wang Yao was still here, completely lost in thought.

Seeing this, Du Shuang couldn’t help but smirk.

“Didn’t he say he didn’t care about winning or losing?”

“Wang Yao.”

He patted Wang Yao’s shoulder and spoke softly.

“Come on, let’s grab some food.”

Wang Yao snapped out of his daze, finally pulling his gaze away from the board to look at Du Shuang.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Du Shuang offered a light-hearted reassurance.

“You lost. So what? It’s not the end of the world.”

Wang Yao hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

He quickly packed up the stones, stood up, and followed Du Shuang out of the playing room, heading toward the cafeteria.

“Losing sucks, doesn’t it?”

As they walked, Du Shuang couldn’t help but tease him.

“I thought you didn’t care about winning or losing.”

"I don’t care about winning or losing."

After a brief silence, Wang Yao shook his head, denying it.

"I was already prepared to lose. After all, if you never lose, how can you ever improve?"

“But the way you looked just now didn’t seem like someone who didn’t care about losing.”

Du Shuang smirked. "But you had a point earlier—losing a game does help you learn a lot. So, what did you learn from this match?"

"Nothing."

Wang Yao shook his head.

"I didn’t learn a single thing."

Du Shuang frowned. "That can’t be right. Even if you didn’t learn a new technique, you should have at least realized something about your own weaknesses, right?"

Wang Yao hesitated, then spoke in an odd tone.

"To be honest, while playing this game, I felt—at one point—I was absolutely certain I couldn’t lose."

"Because… what he was playing felt far from Go."

Du Shuang’s brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I don’t know, and that’s exactly the problem."

Wang Yao sighed. "I misread the position in the midgame and made a blunder. After he seized the flaw, I was completely overwhelmed, unable to fight back."

"But what I still can’t figure out is—"

Wang Yao fell silent for a long moment before finally finishing his thought.

"—whether I lost simply because of that blunder… or if that was only part of it."

Another round of the National Master Tournament preliminaries.

Yu Shao studied the board, then reached into the Go bowl, picked up a stone, and placed it.

Click!

Throw-in, Column 14, Row 10!

"This is completely different from what I expected!"

Across from him, his opponent’s expression changed, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"I reinforced my lower side properly after his 3-3 invasion. And yet, he still broke through my defense and weakened my influence!"

His hand trembled slightly as he reached into the Go bowl and placed his move.

Click!

Jump, Column 8, Row 18!

Yu Shao remained calm, his gaze locked onto the board.

A moment later, he picked up another stone and placed it instantly.

Click!

Clamp, Column 7, Row 12!

The fight exploded.

Black and White began rapidly exchanging moves, the intensity growing with each passing second.

The further they played, the paler the young man’s face became.

The sweat that had begun as a light sheen formed into droplets, slowly rolling down his skin.

"Whenever I hope he follows my expectations, he plays completely unpredictably."

"But strangely, in the moments when I desperately need him not to follow my predictions… he plays exactly as I feared!"

He gritted his teeth, reaching for another stone.

The moment he placed it—Yu Shao immediately responded.

And that move was the one place he absolutely didn’t want Yu Shao to play.

His last illusion of hope was shattered.

"His precision is terrifying!"

His teeth nearly cracked under the force of his jaw clenching.

His right hand dove into the Go bowl, snatched a stone, and slammed it onto the board.

Yu Shao followed up immediately.

Click!

Press, Column 5, Row 10!

The crisp sound of the stone landing was sharp as metal striking metal.

"No… no mistakes at all!"

It was the last move the young man wanted to see.

His left hand had clenched into such a tight fist that his knuckles cracked.

He played another move.

Bang!

Atari, Column 18, Row 13!

As soon as he placed his move, the sound of stones colliding in the Go bowl echoed again.

A moment later, Yu Shao picked up a White stone and placed it without hesitation.

Click!

Turn, Column 8, Row 6!

The young man froze.

"A change in variation?!"

For a split second, his eyes lit up.

It was as if he had been trapped in a pitch-black cave, crawling forward endlessly—only to finally catch a glimpse of light.

But then—

"Wait…"

As he calculated the variation, his pupils contracted.

He swallowed hard, his entire body tensing.

"If I attach, he hane’s, I cut, he jumps… then the final result is—"

"My entire Black group gets scattered?!"

"No… it's worse than that."

His vision blurred as realization sank in.

At this moment—he would rather Yu Shao had played in the one spot he originally dreaded.

His lips parted slightly, as if to say something—but he said nothing.

His right hand hovered over the Go bowl, reaching for a stone.

But in the end—he never picked one up.

Finally, he lowered his head and spoke in a quiet, strained voice.

"I… I resign."

Yu Shao blinked.

He’s resigning already?

Black was definitely in a bad position, but there was still room to fight.

If Yu Shao were playing Black, he absolutely wouldn’t resign yet.

But since his opponent had already conceded, there was nothing more to say.

After they exchanged bows, Yu Shao helped clear the board and stood up.

His gaze flicked toward the referee standing nearby.

It was the same tall referee from his first National Master Tournament match.

Noticing Yu Shao’s gaze, the referee nodded slightly, indicating he had acknowledged the result.

Only then did Yu Shao turn and leave the playing room.

The referee watched the young man still seated at the table, seemingly trying to collect himself.

His expression was complicated.

"Under normal circumstances, no one would resign from that position."

But after watching the match, he found it difficult to blame the young man for resigning so early.

"After seeing that Turn move… Qiu Kaizhi's will to fight was completely shattered."

"That one move instantly revitalized White’s entire position."

"What was originally a dying White group suddenly came to life—
—and at the same time, it completely disrupted Black’s formation."

Inside the playing room, other competitors—**some still in matches, some already finished—**began taking notice of Yu Shao as he left.

A sense of pressure quietly filled the room.

"It’s not uncommon for brand-new 1-dan players to lose six or seven games in a row—hell, even a ten-game losing streak isn’t rare."

"But he’s already on a three-game winning streak."

"And now, Qiu Kaizhi, a 2-dan player who’s been playing incredibly well lately, has fallen to him too."

"...Just how strong is he?"