I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 43: These Aren’t Talents—They’re Monsters!

By the end of his words, Wang Rui’s voice had grown weaker, his head lowered, unable to meet Chen Jiaming’s gaze.

Chen Jiaming had placed high hopes on him. After last year’s crushing defeat in the High School Go League, Wang Rui had spent an entire year honing his skills, determined to shine this year. Yet now, he was being asked to step down.

With a heart full of defiance, he had challenged his replacement.

But the match ended in disaster, leaving him utterly routed.

Watching Wang Rui’s dejected demeanor, Chen Jiaming fell silent.

As a teacher, he should have offered words of comfort at this moment, encouraging Wang Rui to pick himself up.

But having watched the game from start to finish, he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything.

From the first move to the last, Black had been utterly dominated. Every attack was effortlessly neutralized by White, while every defense crumbled under White’s relentless and overwhelming offense.

Chen Jiaming couldn’t fathom how a game so one-sided, where Black was strangled without even a glimmer of resistance, would affect Wang Rui’s spirit.

The gap revealed in this match was vast enough to crush hope.

Chen Jiaming knew Wang Rui had given it his all.

And yet, despite his best efforts, he was defeated so easily. Witnessing such an insurmountable disparity was what made it so devastating.

Because of this, Chen Jiaming couldn’t bring himself to utter empty platitudes like “Don’t be discouraged.”

“You played well,” he finally said after a long pause.

Wang Rui froze, looking up in surprise. Chen Jiaming was smiling at him.

“Maybe it wasn’t your very best game, but you played to your level,” Chen Jiaming said.

Shifting his gaze back to the board, he continued, “The end of one game is the beginning of the next. This isn’t everything, nor is it the final conclusion.”

“In every game, you don’t need to play perfectly; you just need to play the best you can at that moment.”

“And—”

Chen Jiaming turned back to Wang Rui, his smile deepening. “Even though you lost this match, and it was a crushing defeat, I saw something.”

“I saw your hard work and your progress. Your Go has improved tremendously over the past year. Your efforts haven’t been in vain, and that makes me proud.”

Hearing this, the emotions Wang Rui had been holding back finally broke free. Hot tears streamed down his face.

“Teacher…” Wang Rui choked out, his voice trembling.

“You’re too old to cry like this,” Chen Jiaming said with a helpless chuckle. “Alright, wipe those tears away. The game is over—let’s take a look at the other two matches.”

Nodding vigorously, Wang Rui wiped his face with his sleeve and stood up.

Chen Jiaming turned and walked over to Xu Zijin’s table.

Xu Zijin was playing Black.

A quick glance at the board was enough to astonish Chen Jiaming.

“Black has completely cut White in half at the center?”

It was immediately clear that Black had an overwhelming advantage. White’s stones were bisected and utterly constrained.

“White’s been forced into such a dire position?”

Chen Jiaming glanced at Xu Zijin, then studied the board more closely, examining the next five or six moves.

Xu Zijin played with speed and precision, while the boy sitting across from her grew increasingly sullen with each move.

“Even with such a strong position, Black hasn’t launched a reckless attack. If Black were to press aggressively, White likely wouldn’t hold out for long.”

“But instead, Black is using a slow, methodical approach—like cutting flesh with a dull knife. By trading stones and dismantling White’s influence piece by piece, Black leaves no room for White to counterattack. At this rate, even if White’s large dragon on the left survives, it will still likely lose the game.”

“What composure—and such remarkable board vision! This level of play doesn’t even feel like it’s coming from a female player!”

“From the morning’s simultaneous matches, I thought her strength lay in attacking. But judging by this game, she’s far more than just that!”

“She’s incredibly strong!”

Chen Jiaming couldn’t help but look up at Xu Zijin.

Xu Zijin kept her gaze lowered, focused entirely on the board. Her demeanor was cool and distant, radiating an air of calm concentration. She seemed completely unaware of Chen Jiaming’s presence.

“This level of skill…”

“Not just her, but that kid Yu Shao too. This year’s batch of freshmen is almost absurdly strong.”

The principal had mentioned to him before that Jiangling High School had “struck gold” this year.

But now, looking at these two, Chen Jiaming realized: this wasn’t striking gold—this was finding two monsters!

Having one prodigy appear would’ve been extraordinary, but having two at the same time? Unbelievable.

With their astonishing strength, which even made Chen Jiaming—a 5-dan amateur—sweat in awe, he couldn’t imagine how they could possibly lose this year’s High School Go League.

Chen Jiaming had been able to provide guidance to Wang Rui and the others. But faced with Yu Shao and Xu Zijin, he doubted whether he could even play on their level, let alone instruct them.

Beside him, Wang Rui also silently watched Xu Zijin’s game.

While he felt a sense of camaraderie in their shared struggles, Wang Rui also couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved.

At least it wasn’t just him who had been utterly crushed.

In this match, Wang Rui could sense the evident gap between himself and Xu Zijin. However, while the gap was substantial, it was still tangible—visible, even if difficult to bridge.

This was unlike his match against Yu Shao, where he felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of powerlessness and despair.

Clenching his fists, Wang Rui thought to himself:

“This is too much…”

“He didn’t even come from a Go dojo. How can someone be this strong?”

After a brief pause, Chen Jiaming walked to the last table, where Zhong Yufei was playing.

Like Xu Zijin, Zhong Yufei was playing as Black, with his opponent playing as White.

On the board, the black and white stones were fiercely entangled, locked in a heated battle. The game was incredibly close, with neither side gaining a clear upper hand. It seemed destined to be decided in the endgame.

Seeing the balanced state of this match, both Chen Jiaming and Wang Rui let out a quiet sigh of relief.

If this third game had been as one-sided as the first two, it would have been outright terrifying.

This kind of evenly matched, tightly contested game felt much more in line with what you’d expect from amateur high school players.

At that moment, Yu Shao returned to the activity room from the restroom.

Noticing that Chen Jiaming and Wang Rui were focused on Zhong Yufei’s match, he walked over to observe as well.

After patiently watching a few moves, Yu Shao couldn’t help but frown.

To be honest, it was a bit hard to watch.

Both players made mistakes—though not many, as their skill level was decent—but there were frequent moves that, while seemingly reasonable at first glance, held little value for the overall board.

Moreover, both Black and White occasionally played overly casual moves. These weren’t outright blunders, but they clearly missed opportunities to expand their advantage.

Although Wang Rui had his share of such issues, they were far more pronounced in this game.