I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 99: A Sigh from Within the Hall

"I'm serious, Dad."

Yu Shao looked straight at his father, his expression unwavering.

If he wanted to become a professional Go player in this life, the first hurdle he had to overcome was his parents. Over the past couple of days, he had been thinking about how to bring this up.

Now that the City High School Go League's prize money and certificates had been distributed, it was the perfect time to talk to Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaomei about it.

"Xiao Shao, maybe you do have some talent in Go, but becoming a professional player isn’t that simple."

Yu Dongming shook his head, feeling that his son was underestimating how difficult the path was. "Look at all the professional players—every single one of them trained in dojos from a young age before eventually making it to the pro scene."

"You’re already sixteen, and now you suddenly want to go pro? It’s too late. Some players were already professionals at sixteen."

"And those players probably had even more talent than you and started way earlier, yet many of them still couldn’t become pros."

Yu Dongming paused, then continued, "A while ago, a former dojo trainee came to our hotpot restaurant. He was eighteen, and I overheard him talking to his friends."

"He started learning Go at ten, which was considered late. But even after eight years of training, he still couldn’t earn his pro license, so he eventually gave up."

"I remember what he said: The most painful thing is when you have just enough talent to glimpse the halls of the geniuses, but not enough to enter."

"You stand outside the doors, catching glimpses of the light shining from within, but you can’t knock them open. Eventually, you slump down in despair, thinking this is the greatest regret of your life."

"And just when you resign yourself to this fate... you hear a sigh from within the hall: ‘I’m still too weak.’"

Yu Dongming chuckled and shook his head. "Now do you understand how hard it is to go pro?"

"Professional players might look glamorous, but they endure hardships most people can’t imagine. They put in efforts that ordinary people could never match. If you want to treat Go as a hobby, I fully support that."

"But going professional at this stage? It’s too late."

Yu Shao listened patiently, then shook his head. "Dad, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not saying I want to learn Go from scratch and go pro—I’m saying I can go pro. My teacher said I should be able to."

"You’re even lying now? Which teacher? Tell me, I’ll call and ask!"

Yu Dongming didn’t believe him at all.

Not that it was his fault. In his eyes, the fact that his son had somehow self-taught himself Go was already shocking enough. And now Yu Shao was claiming he was ready to challenge the professional circuit?

That sounded way too absurd.

"Chen Jiaming, Mr. Chen," Yu Shao answered without hesitation.

Chen Jiaming had never explicitly said Yu Shao could become a professional player, but Yu Shao was sure that if his father called to ask, Chen Jiaming wouldn’t deny the possibility.

"Mr. Chen?"

Cai Xiaomei looked skeptical. "I know all your subject teachers. How come I’ve never heard of this Mr. Chen?"

"Mr. Chen teaches the second-year students. He was the one who took us to the City High School Go League," Yu Shao explained. "We won the championship."

As he spoke, he picked up the prize money and certificate from the table and handed them to his parents. "One of the players we beat used to be a dojo trainee."

Of course, in the finals, Su Yiming was far stronger than that former trainee, but Yu Shao knew that in convincing his parents, the term dojo trainee carried a lot more weight than Su Yiming.

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaomei heard dojo trainees, their expressions changed, disbelief flashing across their faces.

Yu Dongming first glanced at the certificate, then tore open the envelope and checked the money inside. His frown deepened.

"You really beat a former dojo trainee?"

Even with the evidence in his hands, he still found it hard to believe.

After all, it was already incredible that Yu Shao had secretly taught himself Go well enough to enter a citywide tournament.

If Yu Shao simply claimed he had talent, he might believe that. After all, what parent wouldn’t think their child was smart?

But now Yu Shao was saying that with just self-study, he had beaten a former dojo trainee? That he had professional potential?

That sounded straight-up like a scam.

Even if someone was talented, there was no way they could be that talented!

Was his son some kind of monster?

"Yeah."

Yu Shao nodded, fully aware that this was hard for his father to accept. "If you don’t believe me, you can call the principal and ask."

Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaomei exchanged glances.

They knew their son well enough to realize that if he were lying, he definitely wouldn’t be so quick to suggest calling the principal.

Could this really be true?

But how was that possible?!

"Old Yu, as far as I know, professional players make a lot of money. And if you go pro, you get a direct recommendation to top universities," Cai Xiaomei whispered.

"You think I don’t know that?"

Yu Dongming shot his wife a look.

Professional players weren’t just well-paid—they had high status. Famous Go players had more endorsement deals than they could count. Everyone knew this.

In this world, Go wasn’t just a niche game. It had an enormous global influence, making it the only truly international board game. No other mind sport could compare.

Yu Dongming hesitated for a moment, then picked up his phone. But in the end, he didn’t call the principal.

Instead, he sat down next to Yu Shao and said, "Son, you really beat a former dojo trainee?"

"Dad, how many times are you gonna ask?"

Yu Shao sighed. "Yes, I won."

"But that was just a former dojo trainee," Yu Dongming argued. "If he quit trying to go pro, doesn’t that mean he wasn’t strong enough?"

Yu Shao fell silent for a moment.

He couldn’t deny it.

If a player was strong enough, they typically wouldn’t give up on going pro and return to school. That had been true in his past life, and it was even more true in this one.

"Also, Mr. Chen—he’s not a professional Go coach, right?" Yu Dongming continued. "Even if he thinks you have potential, his judgment might not be accurate."

"Dad, but—"

Yu Shao started to argue, but Yu Dongming raised a hand to cut him off.

"No need to say more, and I won’t call the principal," he said.

After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Your mother and I don’t understand Go at all, but I know a retired professional player."

"He used to be a 1-dan pro and now runs a Go training center downtown, specializing in teaching young players. Back when I wanted you to learn Go, that’s where I planned to send you."

"This weekend, we’ll take you there, and you’ll play a match against him. Let’s see what he thinks about your chances of going pro."

"Does that sound fair?"