I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 56: I... Am Far From Enough

The competition venue was set in a conference room on the third floor. Close to 8:30 AM, under the lead of Chen Jiaming, Yu Shao, Xu Zijin, Zhong Yufei, and Zhou De made their way to the event location.

The conference room was already packed with people, bustling with noise. In the center of the room, Go tables were neatly arranged, with many players engaged in games for warm-ups. The sound of stones being placed echoed continuously.

“Mr. Wang, long time no see! Judging by your spirit, you must be brimming with confidence about achieving great results in the league this year.”

“Hahaha, with South China Third High around, who can say they’re fully confident? But these brats have made great progress this year. I’m hoping we can at least make it to the third round.”

Many familiar faces were catching up with one another after a long time apart.

In the corner of the conference room by the window, the Go coach of Guangzhou Affiliated High School was also encouraging his school’s players.

“This year, our school has a strong chance of winning. Even if we face South China Third High, we can still put up a fight.”

The Go coach of Guangzhou Affiliated, whose last name was Jin, spoke in a low voice. “While South China Third High has two players who trained at a dojo, their third player’s strength isn’t particularly impressive.”

“So as long as we can defeat him, with the two-out-of-three rule, we can still secure victory!”

“Our school has never performed well in the High School Go League. This year is our best chance—maybe even to win the championship. Everyone, give it your all!”

After finishing his pep talk, Coach Jin noticed a boy fiddling curiously with a timer. He froze for a moment and asked, “Su Yiming, why are you playing with the timer?”

“Timer?” Su Yiming looked puzzled, immediately setting the timer down. “Teacher, is this for timing? Does it time the entire game?”

“You don’t know?” Coach Jin was a little speechless. Although Su Yiming’s Go skills were exceptional, his ignorance of some basic Go concepts often left the coach incredulous.

How could someone capable of such brilliant gameplay not know what a timer was for?

“No idea.” Su Yiming’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as he stared at the timer. “Does it start counting down at the beginning of a match, requiring both sides to finish within a set time?”

“Not the whole game’s time—it’s the total time each side can use,” Coach Jin patiently explained. “This device is called a Go timer, or a chess clock.

“Whether it’s an amateur game or a professional match, a timer is always used to limit how long players can think. This prevents anyone from pondering one move for an entire day.”

Su Yiming seemed to have a realization. “Oh, so it’s like online Go?”

“Yes, just like online Go.” Coach Jin glanced at Su Yiming with mild surprise and nodded. “You see the two buttons on the timer? After every move, you need to press one of them. For instance, if your allotted time is one hour and you use it all, you’ll enter overtime. If the overtime is twenty seconds, you must make your move within that period, or you’ll lose by default.”

After a pause, Coach Jin continued, “There’s another timing method, which you mentioned—it’s called the absolute system. Each side gets a fixed amount of time, and if it’s used up, you lose immediately. There’s no overtime in this format.”

“So, in official Go matches, it’s not just about competing in skill but also testing the players’ time management strategies. For example, some players try to save their time for the midgame, as the battles there tend to be more complex and require intensive calculation. Others might reserve time for the late game, aiming to exploit mistakes if their opponent enters overtime. Catching such errors can turn the tide in their favor.”

After this explanation, Coach Jin added thoughtfully, “Now that you mention it, I should talk to the principal about buying some timers for the school.”

Hearing this, Su Yiming stared at the timer, nodding thoughtfully.

“With time constraints in Go now, it feels a bit unfamiliar, but... it’s actually quite interesting. Choosing to participate in Go tournaments was the right call.”

A faint smile appeared on Su Yiming’s face.

“These past hundred years... this world has given me so many surprises.”

“Back then, I never could have imagined humans landing on the moon, or playing Go across mountains and rivers through little boxes called computers.”

Even after all this time, Su Yiming still found himself marveling at the changes in this world.

At this moment, Chen Jiaming finally arrived at the competition venue, leading Yu Shao and the others inside.

“Mr. Chen Jiaming is here.”

“Jiangling High School is finally here. As the host school, they’re cutting it a bit close, huh?”

“Although Jiangling High hasn’t had the best results in previous years, this year they’re on home turf. That home-field advantage isn’t something to underestimate.”

As Chen Jiaming led Jiangling High School’s participants into the competition venue, numerous gazes turned toward him. A few familiar faces greeted him warmly.

Even Su Yiming glanced curiously toward the door.

At the same time, Yu Shao looked toward the venue entrance, and their gazes briefly met in midair.

Su Yiming retracted his gaze and gave Yu Shao a subtle nod.

Yu Shao, momentarily startled, quickly recovered and nodded back in acknowledgment.

“Yu Shao.”

A familiar voice suddenly rang in Yu Shao’s ears.

He turned to see Zheng Qin standing at the doorway, flanked by two young men with puzzled expressions. Zheng Qin was smiling as he looked at him.

Yu Shao couldn’t hide his surprise. What was Zheng Qin doing here?

“You actually came,” Zheng Qin said with a smile. “I was just taking a chance that you might join this competition, but I didn’t expect to really run into you. I thought this kind of tournament wasn’t your thing.”

“The principal asked me to participate,” Yu Shao explained briefly before asking in confusion, “Why are you here?”

“I was invited,” Zheng Qin replied, still smiling. “I graduated from South China Affiliated High School and later won the National University Team Go Championship, so I was asked to come.”

Hearing this, Xu Zijin remained composed, but Zhong Yufei and Zhou De’s eyes widened in shock. Even Chen Jiaming reflexively adjusted his glasses and gave Zheng Qin a surprised glance.

The title of National University Team Go Champion carried a weight far beyond that of the High School Go League. The two competitions weren’t even in the same league.

After all, the National University Team Go Championship was a top-tier event. While professional players weren’t allowed to participate, winning at that level still required at least amateur Seventh Dan—sometimes even Eighth Dan—skills.

It’s worth noting that some amateur Seventh Dan players were capable of challenging professionals.

“I wasn’t planning on coming,” Zheng Qin continued, his smile fading. “But when I thought about the possibility of seeing you here, I agreed.”

Zheng Qin’s expression turned serious as he looked steadily at Yu Shao.

“I’ve already passed the preliminary and semi-final rounds of this year’s Go Promotion Tournament. As long as I pass next month’s finals, the month after that, I’ll officially become a professional Go player.”

At this, even Xu Zijin glanced at Zheng Qin, while Zhou De and Zhong Yufei were so stunned their jaws nearly dropped.

A soon-to-be professional player?

“Even though I made it through the preliminaries and semi-finals with a flawless record…” Zheng Qin paused for a moment before continuing, “When I think about those two games, I still feel like I… am far from enough.”

He exhaled deeply and fixed his gaze on Yu Shao.

“I’ll wait for you.”

Those words left the two young men behind Zheng Qin completely dumbfounded. They exchanged bewildered glances, utterly speechless.