I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 96: How Long Has It Been Since I Last Lost?

The competition venue was emptying out, with people gradually leaving.

Yet, Su Yiming remained seated, still staring at the board, showing no intention of getting up.

Jin Xiao and the two other players from Guangzhou Affiliated High stood nearby, looking at him, hesitant to speak.

"How long has it been... since I last lost a game?"

Su Yiming gazed at the board, his mind seemingly drifting through time—returning to over a hundred years ago.

At that time, after reaching the pinnacle of his Go prowess at twenty-three, he had never lost another game, regardless of whether he played as Black or White.

But because of that, he also felt a profound loneliness, having no worthy opponents.

Seeking a challenge, he was the first to introduce the komi system, handicapping himself and playing against the strongest challengers of his era under various komi settings.

Time and again, he found himself in desperate situations—on the brink of defeat.

Whether it was a 4.5-point komi, or a 7.5-point komi—it was always the same result.

It was only when he played under a 10.5-point komi that he finally reached a losing position.

But just as he was about to concede, Fang Xin resigned first, telling him, "This wasn’t a fair match."

Afterward, they played another game under a 7.5-point komi, battling fiercely to the very last move of the endgame.

And still, Su Yiming emerged victorious.

If he disregarded that one 10.5-komi match, from the time he was 23 until his death at 33, he had gone ten entire years without losing a single game.

Now, over a hundred years later, he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of losing.

After all, the world of Go had evolved immensely over the past century.

But never did he expect that his first loss in over a hundred years would come in a city-level high school Go tournament.

Back then, he had longed for defeat—so much so that his obsession had even made him sick.

But now that this loss had finally come, his emotions were too complex to describe.

If it had been a hard-fought battle to the endgame, with both sides evenly matched until the very last move, he could have accepted it.

But this wasn’t like that.

From the very beginning, from the moment the game entered the opening, he had been at a disadvantage and never recovered.

Su Yiming lowered his gaze to the upper-left corner of the board.

That sequence of three stunning, unconventional opening moves left him in silence.

Meanwhile, in a Car Outside the Venue

He Yu sat in the driver’s seat, fastening his seatbelt.

On the short dash from the venue to the parking lot, he had tried to run quickly, but the heavy rain had drenched him completely.

With his hands resting on the steering wheel, He Yu prepared to start the engine.

But no matter how hard he tried, his mind kept replaying the game he had just witnessed.

The sounds of the stones striking the board still echoed in his ears.

In this state, he couldn’t even drive.

Eventually, He Yu let out a deep breath, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one up.

He remained silent, staring at the pouring rain outside.

Just then—

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

His phone rang.

He Yu glanced at the screen, then put it on speaker and answered the call.

Before he could even say a word, a voice on the other end fired off like a machine gun:

"He Yu, where the hell are you?! Weren’t we supposed to play mahjong tonight?! We’re missing a fourth player—hurry up!"

He Yu exhaled a puff of smoke. "Not going. I’ve got something else going on. Find someone else."

"The hell? What could be more important than mahjong? You’re usually the first one to agree! What, are you playing in a title match tonight? Or are you busy writing love letters to Xia Wen?"

Hearing He Yu cancel, the caller immediately turned up the heat, attacking He Yu’s greatest weakness.

Normally, He Yu would fire back instantly.

But this time—he didn’t say a word.

The voice on the other end fell silent in confusion.

"Wait, He Yu, say something. What happened?"

After a brief pause, He Yu finally spoke.

"I went to watch a city high school Go tournament today."

The caller was even more confused. "A city high school Go tournament?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, why would you waste your time on that? You may not be that strong, but you’re still a professional 5-dan player. Even a first-dan pro wouldn’t bother watching some high schoolers play."

"At first, I just came to confirm something."

He Yu exhaled another puff of smoke and muttered, "Before I knew it, it was already this late."

The caller was completely baffled.

"Wait, what were you trying to confirm? That they weren’t playing Five-in-a-Row instead?"

"No. You probably won’t believe me when I say this..."

He Yu’s eyes became distant as he spoke.

"In the game I just watched, a brand-new opening pattern was created."

The car fell into absolute silence.

For a long time, the caller didn’t say a word.

Finally, his voice came through, completely disbelieving:

"Are you messing with me?"

"You’re telling me that in a random city high school Go tournament, two amateur players created a brand-new Go opening? Not even a movie would dare write something that ridiculous!"

He Yu didn’t respond.

He just took another deep drag of his cigarette.

After a long pause, the caller finally asked, "Wait... you’re serious?"

"Dead serious."

He Yu replied firmly.

"And White's style of play, the way he built large-scale formations—it reminded me of Shen Yi."

There was another moment of silence.

Then the caller asked, "So... White was the one who played the new opening?"

"No. Black did."

He Yu shook his head. "White lost in the end."

"Huh?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

The caller sounded completely exasperated.

"You just said White’s play reminded you of Shen Yi—one of the greatest Go players of all time. And yet White still lost? What, are you telling me Black played like Zhuang Weisheng?!"

He Yu let out another puff of smoke, his expression turning contemplative.

"I had high praise for White’s play. But Black’s game..."

"It was... unsettling."

"The moment the opening sequence was completed, Black had already pulled far ahead."

"But that doesn’t mean White was weak. I can tell you this—if I were playing that game, whether I was Black or White... I would have lost too."

The other end of the call went completely silent.

The caller wanted to believe He Yu was joking—but there was no trace of humor in his voice.

Only seriousness.

And that was what made it so hard to believe.

"White lost on time," He Yu continued after a pause.

"So I keep wondering... If this hadn’t been a blitz game—if the one playing White had actually been Shen Yi—would he have won?"

"Shen Yi was an all-around player, but his greatest strength was his late-game prowess."

"Unless you entered the endgame with a 99% win rate, even a 90% lead wasn’t enough to guarantee victory against him."

But then—

He Yu replayed the game in his mind once more.

And suddenly, he shook his head.

"No... in that position... even if it had been Shen Yi playing White—he probably would’ve lost too."