I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 246: The Final Day

Hearing Yu Shao’s words, Ma Zhengyu didn’t think too much of it.

Both the first and final players in the lineup were important. Tactically speaking, having Yu Shao go first or anchor had its own pros and cons.

Since Yu Shao felt that anchoring carried too much pressure, starting the lineup was fine too. On the contrary, forcing him to anchor and risking a performance collapse from pressure would be counterproductive.

Soon, Ma Zhengyu nodded and said, “Alright then. You’ll lead off, and Su Yiming will be the anchor.”

Then he turned to Su Yiming and asked, “Su Yiming, 2-dan, are you okay with that?”

Su Yiming looked at Yu Shao, gave a light nod, and said, “No problem.”

“Good. Then it’s settled for now. I won’t disturb you further. Rest well over the next few days. I look forward to seeing your outstanding performances in the Battle.”

Seeing Su Yiming agree, Ma Zhengyu gave another nod, said no more, and turned to leave the review room.

Everyone watched him go. Thinking of the fast-approaching Battle for the Slot, no one felt like playing anymore. The atmosphere turned a few shades heavier.

“Let’s keep studying our opponents’ game records. With the battle so close, that’s more important now.”

Gu Chuan spoke calmly, “Aside from Zeng Jun, Wan Jing, Lu Yihong, and Ma Jie are all serious threats.”

Everyone silently nodded and quickly gathered around another Go board, continuing their analysis.

“Wan Jing’s style is solid and balanced. He maintains a good harmony between territory and influence and pressures his opponents with a smooth hand. But his weakness lies in the endgame, which can be rough. We might aim to drag him into a fine-point game and extend the match to the endgame phase.”

“Lu Yihong is tricky. His style is well-rounded—opening, midgame, endgame—he’s good across the board. We’d need to use unorthodox tactics to pull him into a fierce battle if we want to find an edge.”

“Ma Jie plays with aggression. His momentum is overwhelming. He thrives in chaos, has deep reading, and even his endgame is sharp. Once he gets a lead, he wraps things up cleanly. Honestly, I’ve got no idea how to deal with him...”

The more they analyzed, the grimmer their expressions became. Besides Zeng Jun, the others were clearly just as dangerous. In their games, you could see flashes of raw genius everywhere.

And beyond those four, none of the others were pushovers either. Every one of them had played games that even their future opponents couldn’t help but admire.

This upcoming battle... was bound to be a bloodbath.

—

Meanwhile, at the New York Go Academy—

A group of players gathered around a Go board, faces just as serious. The air was thick with tension.

“Zeng Jun and the others are flying out to China tonight.”

A blond-haired, blue-eyed young man stared at the board—the same board they had reviewed countless times, the Hero’s Pride Cup finals—and finally broke the silence. “As much as I hate to admit it, we might be in trouble in the first round of the Battle.”

“There’s just too little data on Yu Shao and Su Yiming. Aside from a few games from the Hero’s Pride Cup, there’s nothing...”

Another person chimed in, “I asked a friend at the Southern Go Association to help collect some of their preliminary round records, but he refused.”

“Is he an idiot?”

Someone couldn’t help but scoff. “He’s in the Battle too. You think he’d help us gather their game records? Would you do that if the roles were reversed? What a dumb move.”

The person who’d asked had no rebuttal. He just kept staring at the board in silence.

The room was filled with a strange tension.

Faced with such a breathtakingly fierce game, unless you were absolutely sure of winning, who would do something so obviously pointless and get rejected anyway?

“Isn’t this kind of defeatist? Just one game and we’re already spooked?”

Finally, a long-haired youth pulled his eyes from the board, glanced at the others, and said, “Don’t forget—we’ve got Ma Jie, Lu Yihong, and Zeng Jun.”

Everyone paused at his words. Their expressions eased a bit, and the mood lightened.

Someone even joked, “Careful not to leave out Fang Jing. He’ll want to fight you if he hears this!”

“Fang Jing is a bit behind those three. His endgame is too rough. If the game’s close going into the endgame, he’s likely to lose. His weakness is pretty obvious,” the long-haired youth shook his head.

“Wow, speaking like you’re Wan Jing’s rival or something?”

Another player teased him. “Didn’t you only win three out of ten games against him recently?”

The long-haired youth’s expression twitched. “Don’t bring that up. And I did say his endgame was the issue. I didn’t say his opening and midgame were bad, did I? And I won all three of those games that reached the endgame, didn’t I?”

“Hahaha…”

The room burst into laughter, but before long, the mood fell quiet again—no one really knew why.

The American Go Academy had delayed launching the Battle for the Slot, waiting until they were certain they could win at least one round before making their move.

Now that the younger generation—Zeng Jun and the others—had made a name for themselves, they finally initiated the challenge.

They thought they had a solid shot in Round 1… but Yu Shao and Su Yiming had completely upended their expectations.

Sure, they had Zeng Jun, Lu Yihong, and Ma Jie, all great players—but could they really win?

And what about Qin Lang, Che Wenyu, and Le Haoqiang? They weren’t weak either...

Now, none of them could say with confidence that they’d win this round.

—

Time flew by—two more days passed in a blink.

Now, only one day remained before the Battle for the Slot.

Online discussion was reaching a fever pitch. Everywhere—from Tieba, to Weibo, to short video platforms—was buzzing about the Battle.

The term “Battle for the Slot” had been sitting firmly at the top of every trending list and news headline for three days straight—untouchable.

It wasn’t just Go players anymore—even people who didn’t understand Go at all were captivated by the buzz. The words “Battle for the Slot” had gripped the entire internet.

The ten players set to play in Round 1—Yu Shao, Su Yiming, Qin Lang... —had become household names, sparking widespread discussion.

The entire nation was watching.

In these past few days, no one in the Southern Go Association’s review room had played a single game. They’d spent all their time dissecting the opponents’ game records, analyzing move after move.

“This big jump by Ma Jie...”

Che Wenyu looked at the board, his expression heavy. “Incredibly instinctive.”

“And this two-space extension over here—also very well thought-out. Aggressive, too. Even when white goes for a sacrificial attack, black kills back even harder.”

Zhou Wei studied the board, his expression just as serious. “Even with multiple cutting points in his formation, he leveraged initiative to cleanly slay white’s large dragon.”

In this stretch of time, they’d broken down game after game from the opposing ten. The most studied were Zeng Jun, Lu Yihong, Ma Jie, and Wan Jing.

Yu Shao stood quietly among the crowd, listening to the discussions, eyes on the board.

“I heard the American team arrived in Jiangling two days ago. They’re staying at the Jiangling Grand Hotel, probably done adjusting to the time zone.”

Suddenly, Le Haoqiang took a deep breath and said, “Tomorrow’s the day.”

No one responded.

The room fell into a deeper silence.

“Let’s keep analyzing.”

Qin Lang frowned slightly and broke the stillness. He pointed to the board. “I think cutting here is best.”

“Cut?”

Everyone snapped out of their thoughts and reached out to move the stones, diving back into the review.

Not long after—click—the door to the review room swung open.

Everyone turned to look.

Ma Zhengyu, dressed sharply, strode in.

His eyes swept across the room, finally settling on Yu Shao. “Tomorrow’s the match. You’re leading off, so head home early today and get some good rest.”

“Okay.”

Yu Shao nodded, unsurprised.

Ma Zhengyu nodded back, then looked at the others. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on you. I’m not saying you have to win. But—”

His voice deepened.

“You have to play with the mindset that you WILL win.”

Hearing this, everyone nodded silently.

Then, Ma Zhengyu turned back to Yu Shao, took a deep breath, and said, slightly worried, “Yu Shao, seriously—don’t feel pressured.”

Ever since Yu Shao said anchoring would be too stressful, Ma Zhengyu had been worried. He’d barely slept for the past two nights.

Yu Shao’s performance in the Hero’s Pride Cup wasn’t just “brilliant”—it was terrifying. Even Jiang Changdong had called in to ask for his game records from the preliminaries.

The whole internet had high hopes for Yu Shao to deliver another stunning performance in the Battle.

But then, Ma Zhengyu remembered—Yu Shao had just earned his professional qualification!

He hadn’t even played in many official matches yet. Now he was being thrown into the most high-pressure event possible, carrying national expectations. For a newcomer, that weight was enormous.

There were way too many stories of people cracking under pressure—even top-tier pros. And this event was especially intense.

Yu Shao blinked, then shook his head and chuckled. “It’s fine. I’m in a good place mentally. As long as I don’t have to anchor, I’ve got no pressure.”

“Nice!”

Qi Lanyu clapped Ma Jie on the shoulder and said, “Can’t wait to see what he brings to the Battle!”