I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 54: I Like It

When Yu Shao got home, he went straight to his bedroom, put down his backpack, and pulled out his homework notebook to start on his assignments.

Not long after, he finished his work and was about to watch some TV when Xu Zijin’s mention of the incomplete game record from earlier came to mind.

“Yang Shirong and Gong Sheng, huh…”

Abandoning his plan to watch TV, Yu Shao opened his computer and typed their names into a search engine. Hitting "enter," he quickly found information about them. At the top of the results was none other than the incomplete game record between Yang Shirong and Gong Sheng.

He scrolled down, clicked on the record, and began studying it move by move. Before long, he had finished analyzing the entire incomplete record.

After reviewing it, Yu Shao understood why the game record had become so famous.

“Right from the opening, both players steered the game into a life-or-death battle, culminating in mutual, relentless attacks and a chaotic melee.”

“Moreover, their calculations were incredibly precise. Every move was sharp and intricate, with profound meaning behind it. Even modern players in this world would find it quite enlightening.”

However, as exciting as the game’s attacking sequences were, Yu Shao remained calm throughout.

After all, he had watched numerous matches between top-tier Go AIs in his past life. Those games were so mind-bendingly complex that even a Ninth Dan professional would struggle to fully comprehend them without software assistance.

“So… the white stones won in the end, right?”

With that in mind, Yu Shao began searching online for more records of games played by the two players.

After thoroughly studying all the records he could find, Yu Shao grabbed some paper and a pen. Starting from the final move of the incomplete record, he attempted to reconstruct the game’s continuation based on his understanding of their playstyles.

After a long time, Yu Shao let out a deep breath and gently set down his pen, feeling quite satisfied as he gazed at the finished game record in front of him.

“While I can’t know exactly how they finished this game, if both played perfectly, it probably would’ve looked something like this.”

The next day after school, Yu Shao and Zhou De headed back to the activity room.

They arrived earlier than usual, and neither Xu Zijin nor Zhong Yufei had arrived yet. Each of them picked a Go table and started studying game records on their own.

Not long after, Zhong Yufei showed up with his backpack, becoming the third person in the room.

“Hey, Zhong, let’s play a game!” Zhou De immediately challenged him. “I’ve discovered my signature opening—the Three-Star Opening. Watch me crush you!”

Zhou De and Zhong Yufei had grown familiar with each other recently, so Zhou De had taken to calling him "Old Zhong." Yu Shao had jokingly lamented that it was a shame Zhong Yufei’s surname wasn’t Gong; otherwise, he would’ve loved to see what Zhou De would call him then.

“You rotten amateur, stop polluting my database. I’m not playing with you.”

Zhong Yufei refused flatly. “The tournament is less than two weeks away, and I need to focus on studying game records.”

“You’re scared.” Zhou De smirked with the expression of someone who had figured it all out.

Zhong Yufei rolled his eyes. “Scared of you? I could destroy you even with a nine-stone handicap.”

“You’re scared,” Zhou De pressed on.

“Ridiculous. Do you even realize how bad you are?”

“Scared, scared, scared.”

“Fine, let’s play!”

Eventually, Zhong Yufei succumbed to Zhou De’s taunting and stormed over, ready to settle the score.

Not long after, Xu Zijin finally arrived at the activity room as well.

As usual, she quietly chose an empty table, took out a Go book from her backpack, and prepared to study game records.

Yu Shao thought for a moment, then pulled out the game record he had reconstructed the night before and walked over to Xu Zijin.

He handed the paper to her.

Xu Zijin blinked in surprise and looked up at him. Her amber-like eyes glimmered with confusion.

“Take a look. It’s for you,” Yu Shao said with a smile, offering no further explanation.

Xu Zijin accepted the paper, her expression puzzled as she lowered her gaze to the game record.

The moment she glanced at it, she froze.

“You wanted to know how that incomplete game might have ended, right?” Yu Shao explained. “I studied their playstyles and tried to extrapolate the rest. Of course, it’s not their actual moves, but… I think it’s fairly reasonable.”

“For instance, Yang Shirong had a keen sense for large-scale plays and excelled at leveraging thickness, while Gong Sheng’s aggressive style showed deep understanding of attacks. But he was overly intense, lacking precision, and his moves were often thin…”

Xu Zijin stared at the record, speechless.

In that moment, the emotions she had been suppressing over the past ten days surged uncontrollably to the surface. A mix of sorrow, grievance, and an indescribable sense of being touched washed over her.

Seeing her silence, Yu Shao began to worry. Had he messed up?

Could it be that Xu Zijin saw the incomplete record as a “Venus de Milo”—beautiful because of its imperfection—and now his attempt to complete it had ruined the charm?

“Th-thank you…” Xu Zijin finally whispered.

At that moment, Xu Zijin suddenly spoke, though her voice was faint: “I…”

She hesitated briefly before finally saying, “I really like it.”

“I… I concede!”

A young man, around nineteen or twenty, was drenched in sweat as he stared at the Go board in front of him. Reluctantly, he lowered his head and admitted defeat.

“Thank you for the game.”

Zheng Qin nodded at him, quickly tidied up the Go pieces, stood up, and walked out of the designated competition room.

Inside the room, the other players silently watched Zheng Qin leave. Only after he was gone did they turn their focus back to their own games.

“That guy… won again. He’s already advanced to the finals.”

“With the limited number of professional spots available in each region every year, his strength makes it likely that one of this year’s spots is as good as his already…”

The oppressive tension in the room only deepened after Zheng Qin’s victory, leaving everyone almost breathless.

After leaving the venue for the regional promotion tournament’s semi-finals, Zheng Qin was about to hail a cab home when his phone rang.

Seeing the caller ID, he raised an eyebrow and answered, “Hello?”

“Zheng, how’d it go? Did you make it past the semi-finals?” came a male voice on the other end.

“Of course I did. Don’t you know my strength by now?” Zheng Qin chuckled as he walked. “Why the sudden call?”

“I’m the university team champion, remember? I got invited to this year’s High School Go League as a guest. Haha!”

The voice on the other end was cheerful. “Now I get to show off in front of the younger students. Isn’t this what they call a triumphant return?”

“Is your title even legitimate? Where do you get the nerve?” Zheng Qin rolled his eyes.

“Legitimate! I even won a game in the tournament, okay? You can’t deny my contributions to the team’s victory!” The caller protested loudly.

“Sure, sure.”

Zheng Qin pulled the phone slightly away from his ear to avoid the volume, then casually asked, “So, you called just to tell me this?”

“Yeah, just letting you know. I figured you wouldn’t go anyway, not with the finals of the promotion tournament coming up. You’ll probably spend all your time studying the game records of potential opponents, right?”

“Even without the finals, I wouldn’t go.”

Zheng Qin laughed. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, pausing mid-step. “By the way, is Jiangling High School competing?”

“Yeah, this year’s venue is actually at Jiangling High School. Why?”

The caller sounded puzzled.

Zheng Qin remained silent for a moment, then asked, “Do you know the participant list? Is there someone named Yu Shao from Jiangling High School?”

“How would I know who’s competing?”

The caller sounded exasperated. “What’s with the sudden interest?”

After another brief silence, Zheng Qin replied, “I’ll be there on the day of the competition.”