I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 288: Su Yiming Is Different from Shen Yi

“Did you win or lose this round of the National Master Tournament?”

The day after the National Master Tournament ended, Yu Shao returned to school. As soon as he walked into the classroom and sat down, Zhou De leaned over with curiosity written all over his face.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Yu Shao glanced at Zhou De and said, “I won again.”

“What are you thinking, bro? I was hoping you’d win!”

Zhou De acted like he had been wrongly accused. He slapped the desk and said indignantly, “How could I want you to lose? You winning makes me happy!”

“My score in the National Master Tournament is already pretty high. If I keep playing for a bit longer, I’ll make it into the main tournament,” Yu Shao said calmly.

“You’re really a b*stard.”

Zhou De couldn’t help but curse under his breath when he heard that.

Yu Shao shot him a sideways glance. “So you’re done pretending, huh?”

Zhou De finally dropped all pretense and exposed the dark, twisted thoughts in his heart—like a worm writhing in the gutter. He bared his teeth and said, “But you’re winning a bit too much!”

Right then, the whole classroom suddenly fell silent.

“Li Kang’s here!”

Zhou De immediately picked up on the shift in atmosphere and snapped to attention, looking toward the podium. But when he didn’t see Li Kang anywhere, his expression turned puzzled.

Li Kang’s not here?

There were only two things that could instantly silence Class 7. One was Li Kang’s arrival. The other was...

Zhou De turned to glance out the hallway window. There, standing outside, was a fair-skinned girl with an elegant aura, looking into the classroom in their direction.

Aside from Li Kang, the only other person who could make Class 7 go completely silent was—Xu Zijin passing by.

Even Yu Shao was slightly surprised to see her. When he noticed she was looking at him, he knew she had something to say and stood up.

Under the envious stares of his male classmates, Yu Shao walked out of the classroom and into the hallway, stopping in front of Xu Zijin.

“You’re back at school?” Yu Shao asked, a bit curious.

“There haven’t been any matches these past couple of days, so I thought I’d come back and check in.”

Xu Zijin tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and said, “I played a game against Le Haoqiang in the China-Japan-Korea Team Tournament selection. I wanted to review it with you.”

“You played against Le Haoqiang?”

Yu Shao paused for a moment. He knew Xu Zijin had signed up for the selection tournament, but he hadn’t expected her to face Le Haoqiang. Instinctively, he asked, “Who won?”

“I lost.”

Her tone was calm.

“I don’t mind going over the game,” Yu Shao said, slightly puzzled. “But what about 9-dan Chang Yan?”

“Master went to Japan to compete in the King’s Cup. She won’t be in the country for a while,” Xu Zijin explained.

“Alright, then let’s do it now. Want to go over it in the activity room?” Yu Shao thought for a moment. “No one should be there right now.”

Whether he went to class or not didn’t really matter at this point. Spending time reviewing a game with Xu Zijin today was a perfectly good reason to skip.

“Okay.”

Xu Zijin nodded lightly.

The two of them left the hallway and headed for the activity room. They entered, found a Go table, and sat across from each other.

“In this game, I played black, and Le Haoqiang played white.”

Xu Zijin picked up the stones and began placing them on the board, move by move, recreating her match with Le Haoqiang.

Yu Shao watched the progression of the game, and as he did, a flicker of surprise surfaced in his eyes.

The game had started with a Double Star Point vs. Star-Komodoki opening. Xu Zijin invaded at the 3-3 point, and Le Haoqiang responded with the Double Hane variation.

He had played a few games with Xu Zijin online recently, but her skill in this match was clearly much sharper than when she played him. She had even forced Le Haoqiang into a desperate situation for a time.

But in the end, the difference in skill was still apparent. After falling behind in the midgame, Xu Zijin tried hard to catch up, but Le Haoqiang held the advantage and kept control.

After the endgame, Xu Zijin lost by five points playing black. Even so, it hadn’t been an easy win for Le Haoqiang—he probably broke a cold sweat too.

After laying out the full game, Xu Zijin looked up at Yu Shao.

“You actually played pretty well.”

Yu Shao didn’t dive into the review right away. Instead, he paused for a moment and asked, “But why can’t you play at this level when you’re up against me?”

Xu Zijin fell silent.

After a moment, she finally spoke.

“I... I get scared.”

“Scared?”

Yu Shao blinked in surprise.

“I used to be clueless and weak, but now I can gradually start to understand your every move.”

Xu Zijin lowered her gaze to the board and said, “I try really hard to play well, but when I’m facing you, I still hesitate. I’m afraid you’ll make a strong move, and that makes me lose focus.”

Yu Shao didn’t know what to say to that.

Xu Zijin stared at the board without speaking.

After a while, Yu Shao pulled his gaze away from the board, looked at her seriously, and said, “Reviewing this game can wait. Let’s play another round.”

Xu Zijin looked at him, bit her lip, and finally nodded.

They quickly cleared the board and returned the stones to their bowls. After a quick guessing game, Yu Shao got black and Xu Zijin white.

Without hesitation, Yu Shao picked up a stone and slammed down the first move.

Clack!

Seventeenth column, seventeenth row—3-3 point!

Xu Zijin thought for a moment, then placed her stone.

Fourth column, fourth row—Star Point!

“See your opponent’s every move clearly and push forward with everything you’ve got!”

As Yu Shao stared at the board, memories of countless games from his previous life against the Go AI surfaced in his mind. He reached into the bowl and quickly played his next move.

“This... is how I do it!”

…

At the Southern Go Association, one of the match rooms was currently hosting a Go Master Title Match preliminary.

Table Eighteen was completely surrounded, with the crowd intently focused on the game taking place.

At the table, Su Yiming sat in deep concentration, eyes fixed on the board. After a moment, he reached out, picked up a stone, and gently placed it down.

Tap!

Seventh column, thirteenth row—Cut!

Across from him sat a man in his mid-forties, hair already speckled with gray.

The man’s expression was tense. When Su Yiming made that move, he contemplated it for a long while, then finally looked up at Su Yiming and swiftly placed his own move.

Tap!

Seventh column, sixth row—Dig!

“Yin Qisheng, 9-dan, going for a dig here—what a ruthless move!”

“If White tries to press Black with a diagonal, Black might have a strong extending move… I wonder how Su Yiming will respond?”

“In the Hero’s Pride Cup finals, his game against Yu Shao really had the flair of Shen Yi—but was that just a one-time performance from being in peak form?”

“Yin Qisheng’s been playing Go for decades… still, age and experience might count more in this case.”

Everyone watching had their own thoughts as they analyzed the board.

Clack!

Soon after, Su Yiming reached into the bowl again, and the clatter of stones echoed as they bumped together.

In the next second, his right hand grasped a stone and swiftly placed it on the board.

Tap!

Fifth column, twelfth row—Jump!

Everyone around froze.

“This…”

In the next moment, expressions across the room changed dramatically. Some even felt chills run down their spines as they stared at the board in disbelief.

“That move?!”

The surrounding black stones formed an intimidating formation, tightly knit and well-supported. For White to dive into that structure—was practically a death sentence!

And yet…

Upon seeing the move, Yin Qisheng’s ears flushed red, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles began to crack.

The onlookers were all stunned into silence.

“If Black jumps and tries to kill the white stone, White will likely just sacrifice it. With Black already having a local advantage, wasting so many moves to kill one white stone isn’t worth it.”

“But if Black ignores it and lets White live too easily, that’s unacceptable too!”

“This jump looks like suicide—but it carries the potential to turn the entire game upside down. With this one move, Black’s massive territory is no longer an asset but a liability, unable to contest White’s presence!”

Some who had mentally placed themselves in Black’s position now had beads of sweat breaking out on their foreheads.

“Unthinkable…”

“There’s just no clear way to respond to White’s move!”

One stone changed everything. The whole board was suddenly in flux!

Only after a long while did Yin Qisheng finally pick up a black stone and quickly place it on the board.

Su Yiming remained completely focused. In no time, he followed with another move.

Tap!

Tap!

Tap!

Black and White began to fall in quick succession. As the game progressed, Yin Qisheng’s expression turned darker, his disbelief growing with every turn.

The room had gone utterly silent. Everyone was now completely absorbed in the intense life-and-death struggle on the board, a tension so sharp it felt like the sky was collapsing.

Seconds stretched into minutes.

And finally—

No one knew how much time had passed, but two black stones dropped onto the board.

Yin Qisheng—resigned midgame.

“White… wins.”

Even though the match had ended, everyone continued staring blankly at the board, unable to process what they’d just seen.

“So strong…”

“Ever since that one jump, the gap just kept growing. In the end, the outcome was clear. Black had no way to turn it around—he had no choice but to resign…”

Su Yiming bowed politely to Yin Qisheng and, after collecting the stones, stood up and left the room under the gaze of everyone present.

They watched his back disappear into the hallway, and even after he was gone, they instinctively looked back at the board.

Though now cleared of stones, as if nothing had happened—they could still see it. Still see that ferocious, complex struggle. Still see that one white jump crashing down, changing the entire landscape, and shattering the black formation.

After a long time, everyone finally pulled their eyes away and looked toward Yin Qisheng.

He sat quietly at the table, eyes closed, his expression unreadable. But someone sharp-eyed noticed—

his fists were still clenched.

Tightly.

Eventually, the crowd—still full of mixed emotions—began to slowly leave the match room.

As many people walked away from the match room, Su Yiming’s game kept replaying in their minds. Then, they recalled Yu Shao’s earlier match—and suddenly, their feelings grew even more complicated.

A slender man in his early thirties, dressed in a suit, left the match room with a mind full of thoughts and made his way toward the Go Association cafeteria.

At that moment, Fang Haoxin happened to be walking out of the cafeteria, having just finished his meal.

When he spotted the man, Fang Haoxin quickly greeted him politely, “Master Hong Leju, 9-dan.”

Hong Leju gave a distracted nod. But after taking a few steps into the cafeteria, something seemed to occur to him, and he turned to glance at Fang Haoxin’s retreating figure.

In the end, he said nothing. After picking up his meal, he found a quiet corner to sit alone and eat.

As he was eating, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.

“Master Hong, what’s up? You look totally lost in thought.”

A burly man in his thirties with a shaved head walked over with his own tray, grinning as he sat down beside him.

Snapping back to reality, Hong Leju looked over at the man and said, “Looks like you won your Meijin Title Match again today, Master Lu Bo?”

“Barely! Master Li Jun gave me a hell of a time. We fought all the way to the endgame, and I scraped by with a one-and-a-half point win. I haven’t won a title in two years—I think it’s about time I finally take one.”

Lu Bo laughed and shoveled in a few big bites of food, then paused as if remembering something. Curiously, he asked, “You didn’t have a match today, right? What brings you to the Go Association?”

“I went to watch Su Yiming’s game against Master Yin Qisheng,” Hong Leju replied. “He might make it into the main bracket of the Go Master Title Match. If he does, he could be my opponent. I needed to get a read on his playstyle.”

Hearing that, Lu Bo froze mid-bite and asked, “So… who won the game?”

“Su Yiming,” said Hong Leju.

“He won, huh?”

Lu Bo didn’t seem too surprised. He clicked his tongue and said, “These two newcomers this year are scary. Good thing I’m playing in the Meijin. Otherwise, I’d be feeling the pressure too.”

Then he couldn’t help asking, “So what did you think of his game against Master Yin?”

Hong Leju was quiet for a moment before answering, “With one move, the originally balanced game flipped completely. Master Yin tried to catch up, but the gap only grew wider.”

“Really?” Lu Bo popped a chunk of braised pork into his mouth and asked while chewing, “So that move—was it the decisive one? Did you see it coming?”

“No.”

Hong Leju paused again, then said, “Not just me. Master Min Ze, and even Le Zhixuan, 8-dan, didn’t see it.”

Hearing that, Lu Bo stopped chewing mid-bite and stared at Hong Leju.

Hong Leju lowered his head slightly, as if the memory of the game resurfaced in his mind and left him somewhat embarrassed. “That move... aside from him, no one else might’ve seen it.”

Lu Bo was stunned.

“Master Yin must be feeling gutted,” Hong Leju continued slowly. “Fifteen years ago, he achieved a three-peat in the Go Master Title Match. This year, he was hoping to give it one last shot. But to lose in the preliminaries to Su Yiming…”

“I bet he’s still sitting at the board, refusing to leave.”

Lu Bo sighed, clearly feeling conflicted too.

“Su Yiming… A player whose style mirrors Shen Yi, huh…”

Lu Bo finally exhaled and said, “To be like Shen Yi, that’s seriously impressive. He must’ve studied Shen Yi’s game records a ton, right?”

“No.”

At that moment, Hong Leju suddenly said, “He’s different.”

“Different?”

Lu Bo was surprised. He looked at Hong Leju and asked, “What do you mean? That center-focused, large-framework strategy, the relentless fighting style—it’s just like Shen Yi’s, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. But he… seems to have something Shen Yi didn’t.”

Hong Leju replied, “And I don’t just mean modern josekis.”

“Well, of course he doesn’t. He’s not Shen Yi,” Lu Bo said, a bit confused.

“...True enough.”

Hong Leju nodded, finally picking up his chopsticks and starting to eat.

“By the way, the China-Japan-Korea Team Tournament selection is about to wrap up,” he added mid-bite.

“He’s almost guaranteed to make the team, which means… he’ll probably play a match against Yu Shao.”

“That game might not be part of the main tournament, but it will decide who becomes the main player.”

“I want to know who wins that game.”

He picked up a piece of braised pork and added, “Or rather—I want to see it with my own eyes.”

Lu Bo’s chopsticks froze in the air. After a long pause, he finally said slowly, “If I don’t have a match that day… I’ll go watch it too.”