I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 194: What the Hell Are These Two?!

As Su Yiming walked out of the playing room, it wasn’t just the referees who were stunned—the other players were just as shocked.

"What just happened?"

"Why is Su Yiming the one reporting the result?"

At Table 20, the thick-browed player furrowed his brows, feeling puzzled.

But in the next second, something clicked in his mind.

His pupils contracted sharply, and he quickly turned toward Table 3.

There, Dou Yiming was still sitting motionless, staring blankly at the board.

He looked like he had lost his soul, and anyone who saw him could immediately read the result from his face.

"Dou Yiming... actually lost?!"

It wasn’t that Dou Yiming couldn’t lose—this was the Yingjiao Cup, where young talents gathered. Losing was normal.

But if Dou Yiming lost, it should have been to another high-dan player, not to a 1-dan rookie!

Dou Yiming wasn’t some average player.

He might not be a once-in-a-century genius, but his actual strength was solidly at 6-dan level!

He had earned his promotion at twelve and, by seventeen, had already reached a 6-dan level.

This meant that even among top-tier young players, he was a rare talent.

Sure, he had a flamboyant personality, but his skill was undeniable.

And yet—

He had lost to Su Yiming?!

The moment that realization sank in, the thick-browed player wasn’t the only one shocked speechless.

Other players who recognized what had happened also froze in disbelief.

"Holy... holy shit!"

"What the hell is going on?! How did Dou Yiming lose?!"

"No way, is Su Yiming that strong? Did Dou Yiming blunder some massive mistake? Like... accidentally cutting off his own group?"

Some players couldn’t accept it at all.

They even paused their own matches, stood up, and rushed toward Table 3—

Just to confirm it with their own eyes.

One Yu Shao was already shocking enough.

Now, Su Yiming too?

"What the hell are these two?!"

—

Two Days Later

"Yu Shao, did you hear? Su Yiming actually beat Dou Yiming!"

Sitting at his desk, Yu Shao heard Wu Zhixuan’s voice suddenly blaring through his headphones.

She had just finished her Yingjiao Cup preliminary match yesterday and finally found out about Su Yiming’s victory.

Now, while playing an online game with Yu Shao, she couldn’t help but bring it up.

"I know."

Yu Shao casually responded while staring at his computer screen.

He moved his mouse, clicked the left button, and placed a move on the board.

"Aren’t you feeling the pressure?"

Wu Zhixuan sounded excited.

"People have been talking about how you beat Su Yiming in the Promotion Tournament, so now, your next match against him is going to get a ton of attention!"

"You're about to run out of time."

From the other end, Gao Fei—who had been quietly spectating—reminded her.

"Oh, crap!"

Wu Zhixuan snapped back to focus, hurriedly clicked her mouse, placed a move, and immediately resumed questioning.

"So? Feeling nervous now?"

"I’m looking forward to our rematch."

Yu Shao thought for a moment and answered.

"I asked him if he wanted to play an online game yesterday. He refused."

"Haha, of course he refused!"

Wu Zhixuan laughed.

"He’s obviously waiting for your next official match. There’s no way he’d play you online before then—it might mess with his mindset."

"After all, playing online is one thing, playing in a chess hall is another, and playing in an official tournament is something completely different!"

"That’s true."

Yu Shao agreed.

For example, in this very online game, his first few moves were too casual because he was chatting at the same time.

He had made a mistake and only realized it after the move was played.

If this were a real match, that kind of mistake would have been impossible.

Fortunately, Wu Zhixuan hadn’t noticed, or else he might actually lose this game.

Then, Wu Zhixuan, distracted by the conversation, made an even bigger blunder.

Unlike her, Yu Shao caught it immediately.

He moved his mouse, clicked, and placed his move.

"Ahhh! Why did you play there?! This is bad, really bad!"

Wu Zhixuan cried out through the headset.

"I messed up last move!"

"Want a takeback?" Yu Shao asked.

"No way! Who asks for takebacks in Go? If I lose, I lose!"

Wu Zhixuan huffed, placed her next move, then suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right! Xu Zi lost yesterday—did you hear?"

"Hmm?"

Yu Shao blinked.

That was news to him.

"Who did she lose to?"

"Ni Sheng'ang, 3-dan."

Wu Zhixuan’s voice was still full of energy.

"But even though she lost, I watched that game—she played really well!"

"I can’t afford to fall behind her!"

Yu Shao could already picture Wu Zhixuan on the other side of the screen, clenching her fists, hyping herself up.

"By the way, did you watch the final game of the Go Sage Title Match yesterday?"

Yu Shao placed a stone on the board as he asked.

"Of course! That was huge news!"

Wu Zhixuan sounded excited.

"I totally didn’t expect Zhang Dongchen to reverse sweep and pull off a 3-2 comeback! He actually defended his title three times in a row! The internet is saying that this is the start of Zhang Dongchen’s era!"

"I feel like both Zhang Dongchen and Jiang Changdong are insanely strong. So why do people keep saying that Zhuang Weisheng, 10-dan, is the only one carrying the entire Chinese Go scene?"

Yu Shao was confused.

Other than the first game, which he had watched as a recorder, he hadn’t followed the rest of the series until the final, decisive match.

When Zhang Dongchen successfully defended his title, Yu Shao had actually been caught off guard.

He still remembered Jiang Changdong’s remark after Game 1—“Young players shouldn’t be overconfident.”

And yet, in the end, Jiang Changdong didn’t take the title either.

"That’s kind of awkward."

But looking at it objectively, Yu Shao felt that both players were incredibly strong.

If this had been before the AI era in his past life, Zhang Dongchen and Jiang Changdong would have been absolute top-tier professionals.

So why did people act like Zhuang Weisheng was the only one holding the fort?

"Is international Go really that overwhelming?"

"It’s because of Ahn Hongseok, the Go Sage."

Wu Zhixuan sighed.

"He’s just... unbeatable."

Yu Shao frowned slightly.

He had seen this name several times before—Ahn Hongseok, supposedly the strongest player in the world.

But he had never looked into him in detail.

There were too many players to keep track of.

Yu Shao had enough trouble remembering all the domestic professionals, so when it came to foreign players, he mostly just memorized names.

"Wait, hold on—are you telling me you don’t know much about Ahn Hongseok?!"

Wu Zhixuan sounded completely shocked.

"Have you never followed international tournaments?!"

"Uh... not really."

Yu Shao coughed.

"Every time I see tournament headlines, they always say something like ‘Better luck next time!’ and I just lose interest."

"Besides, I haven’t been studying Go for that long, so I don’t really know much about the current pro scene."

Wu Zhixuan fell silent for a moment.

Then she awkwardly muttered—

"Yeah... that makes sense."

After a long pause, she continued.

"But still! We have Zhuang Weisheng, and he’s already amazing!"

"So, Ahn Hongseok is really that strong?"

Yu Shao was curious now.

"Of course!"

Wu Zhixuan’s voice lowered into a mysterious tone.

"Listen, I can explain exactly what Ahn Hongseok’s name represents... in just one sentence."

"One sentence?"

Yu Shao clicked his mouse and placed another move.

"Alright, let’s hear it."

Wu Zhixuan took a dramatic pause.

Then she spoke.

"When Ahn Hongseok first rose to fame as a young prodigy—"

She paused for effect.

"—people called him ‘Korea’s Shen Yi.’"

Yu Shao’s eyes widened.

"Shen Yi?"

He had heard this name hundreds of times.

He knew exactly what Shen Yi represented in the Go world.

"That strong?!"

*"Yep~" Wu Zhixuan dragged out the word for emphasis.

But then—

"Wait... why did you say ‘was called’?"*

Yu Shao thought about it.

"So, later on, people decided he wasn’t like Shen Yi?"

"Not exactly. But... kind of."

Wu Zhixuan continued.

"Eventually, people realized—Shen Yi is Shen Yi, and Ahn Hongseok is Ahn Hongseok."

"No one could replace Shen Yi."

"And no one could replace Ahn Hongseok either."

Yu Shao paused for a moment.

Then Wu Zhixuan dropped another bombshell.

"Ahn Hongseok currently holds 18 world titles."

Yu Shao’s hand froze on his mouse.

"Eighteen?!"

"And during all that time," Wu Zhixuan continued, "the only Chinese player who has ever beaten him in a best-of-five world championship final... was Zhuang Weisheng, who won 3-2."

"That’s why people say Zhuang Weisheng is the only one holding up Chinese Go right now."

"But that doesn’t mean Zhang Dongchen or Jiang Changdong aren’t strong."

"Even internationally, they’re considered top-tier players."

"But you know what people say? If you can beat Ahn Hongseok in one game, you’re already a world-class player."

"And if you can beat him in a multi-game series, you’re an absolute elite."

Yu Shao slowly absorbed her words.

Then Wu Zhixuan added one last thing.

"That’s why a lot of people say—"

"Unless Shen Yi himself were to be reborn, and somehow mastered all of modern AI-influenced strategies, no one can go 50-50 against Ahn Hongseok."

She sighed.

"I don’t know if that’s true, but it makes you think, right?"

Then, with a bit of admiration, she continued—

"If Ahn Hongseok had been born 180 years ago, imagine how incredible that would have been."

"If Shen Yi could have met an opponent like him, he would have been so, so happy."

"Maybe then, he wouldn’t have died in regret."

"As a Go player, I really want to see a match between them."

"And I’m sure every Go player has fantasized about it—even if it’s just one single game."

"That game would be legendary. It would be passed down for centuries. I wouldn’t even care who won—I just want to see it."

Then, she laughed softly.

"But of course, that’s just wishful thinking."

Her tone turned a little more serious.

"Lately, though, Ahn Hongseok has been competing less and less due to health issues."

"Some people worry that he might end up like Shen Yi—dying young because he had no worthy rivals left."

"But Ahn Hongseok himself said he has plenty of strong opponents."

"Like Zhuang Weisheng. And maybe... others."

Wu Zhixuan grinned.

"That’s why, Yu Shao, you need to keep working hard!"

"You have so much talent—maybe you’ll be the next Ahn Hongseok."

"Of course, I’m gonna get stronger too!"

Yu Shao smiled slightly.

"Right—the first-ever Female Go Sage."