My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 560 - 362 Demon Hunter

Chapter 560: Chapter 362 Demon Hunter

"Ding!"

As he was pondering how to become a spendthrift and go bankrupt in the process, a sudden notification sound came from his phone.

"Hmm?" Brother Biao’s eyes lit up as he saw the message.

"What’s up, Brother Biao?"

"We’ve got work!"

...

Country Hua Chess Society.

"Mr. Kong, good morning!"

"Morning!"

"Mr. Kong, good luck for the game tomorrow."

"Hehe, thank you!"

"Elder Yang, are you free today to have a game?"

"Sure, I’m training the rookies right now, I’ll come over later."

"Great! I’ll wait for you."

Carrying a cup of goji berry tea, the middle-aged man known as Mr. Kong took his usual seat and opened the Xinlang Go platform to pass the time.

"Attention all in the professional area!"

"Amateur sixth dan level, looking for a well-matched opponent!"

"Beginner seeking guidance."

"Dugu Qiubai, seeking a fast internet connection, giving away 2 stones!"

"Haha, won five games in a row, advanced a rank!"

"There’s a professional match streaming this afternoon, anyone want to watch together?"

"Not watching, both players are rookies, quite limited, Master Kong Jie’s ninth dan match is scheduled for tomorrow, already booked!"

"Kong Jie? His Ben-Gui style is too textbook; facing Lee Shifo’s stormy Zombie Flow style tomorrow, it looks doubtful for him."

"Lee Shifo from South Peninsula? That guy is indeed too strong, if I remember correctly, Master Kong has lost to Lee Shifo nine times in a row, right?"

"Master Kong Jie, indeed, isn’t what he used to be."

"Yeah, youth has its advantages, after all, he’s getting older."

Kong Jie’s mouth twitched, he had come here to relax before the match, but encountered a critical hit right off the bat...

Staring at the one who had mentioned his age.

Just as he thought about issuing a challenge to show them that old ginger is still spicy, his Tencent friend list started buzzing with alerts.

He casually opened it, it was his old friend Elder Hu.

When they were younger, the two often played Go together.

Latter went off to join the chess society, and the other took to a government career, though their lives diverged, they maintained contact as Go friends.

He looked at the message, which contained a link...

"Account hacked?"

"No... open it for a surprise, remember to choose ’fifty-fifty mode’!"

Kong Jie scratched his head in confusion.

What’s ’fifty-fifty mode’?

With a flicker of curiosity, he clicked on the link, and the screen displayed a Go platform called "Star Array."

"Go AI?"

Kong Jie was no stranger to playing Go with robots.

However, compared to the emotionless AI style of play, he still preferred sparring with professional players of equal level.

After all, the machine’s method of play left little for humans to learn; the computational capacities weren’t on the same level, and blindly trying to imitate could perhaps not even defeat a sixth or seventh dan player.

But since it was something sent by an old friend, he approached it with an indifferent attitude, casually registered an account, and clicked to join.

"This startup screen is quite impressive... ’fifty-fifty mode’? Is this the surprise Elder Hu was talking about?"

Kong Jie entered it.

Playing black, Kong Jie took a sip of tea, and began making his moves with the mouse.

Five moves.

Ten moves.

Thirty moves.

At first, he didn’t notice anything.

A very normal opening, a very typical set of moves, nothing new or distinctive, even somewhat boring since both were just following standard patterns that didn’t give an advantage to either side.

But as the game progressed, Kong Jie felt something was off.

"This black piece... seems to be mimicking my style of play..."

Known for a holistic view and balancing capabilities, the Ben-Gui style—a step-by-step conservative strategy—has always been Kong Jie’s distinctive personal style.

Thus, online, Master Kong Jie is also referred to as "Kong Ben-Gui."

However, Kong Jie suddenly realized that in his strongest game style, he was actually at a disadvantage!

The game started normally, but after the fiftieth move, the opponent, through a slightly accumulated advantage, had completely put him at a disadvantage!

He was cautious with every move he made, yet his opponent relentlessly pressured him...

Kong Jie immediately started to take it seriously.

However... it was to no avail.

After the mid-game, the gap between them was already clear, and Kong Jie reluctantly resigned.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t continue, but he knew that his chances of winning this game were too slim.

[To surpass others, you must first surpass yourself.]

Seeing this line appear on his screen after he resigned, Kong Jie reflected deeply.

As a top professional player, Kong Jie was definitely far more sensitive to the game of Go than Mr. Hu.

He was somewhat eager to start the second game.

The result was still a rapid defeat by his opponent’s accumulated advantage after the mid-game.

But Kong Jie’s expression became more solemn.

How should I put it, judging from the "speed" of the play, the opponent should be a robot.

However, judging from the "warmth" of the play, the opponent gave him a "human" and bizarre feeling.

This "human" had a more comprehensive understanding of the game than him and a more impregnable "cautious advancement."

It was as if the opponent was also a chess player, and one whose expertise in "orthodox flow" was no less than his own...

A stronger version of himself?

[Did you see? The greatest enemy in life is not others, but precisely yourself...]

This phrase seemed like a commentary to his current state.

Yes, how long have I been stuck in my own bottleneck?

However, at this moment, he suddenly saw hope for breaking through the bottleneck...

In the third game, he set aside his pride and seriously pondered every move made by his opponent.

The so-called "fifty-fifty," is not actually a 50% win rate against anyone.

In Zero’s settings, the player is bound to lose the first two games.

Only after breaking through one’s own previous limits and learning from defeats to advance one’s skill, do you stand a chance to win.

And with each game you win, "Star Array V5" slightly increases the difficulty, keeping you in an ideal learning state of constant pursuit.

Relatively speaking, players below the professional rank, wanting to improve, might only need a trick or a set pattern.

So these people just need to recognize their weak points and learn from them, often feeling that they have progressed significantly in a short time.

This gives them the motivation to continue playing.

But for higher-ranked professional players, the stimulation from winning or losing is not that great anymore, and to advance further, they must truly break through themselves!

It’s like moving from zero to a sixty pass mark; if you are determined and willing to think, it’s basically not difficult.

But moving from ninety to a perfect score, every single point in that range requires many times more effort!

"Elder Kong, here I am, you see we..."

"Get out!"

"Huh?"

"I said get out."

"Weren’t you the one who asked me to come and feed you moves?"

"I’ve found a better opponent now; today I’m in seclusion, no one disturb me!"

"Uh..."

...

"Boss, just one day after going online, our ’Star Array V5’ user numbers have exploded, and both user time and stickiness have greatly increased!"

I just checked our official website comments, and the vast majority are praising this update endlessly!

Weibo topics are also trending..."

Hu Yifei looked at the analysis report handed to him and also revealed a slight smile.

We’ve only just begun.

Wait until we win the AI competition; that will be our moment to shine!

"Boss, where did you find such a competent development team? They are incredible!"

"To be honest, I want to know that too, but today the person will come over..."

"Huh?"

"Thud thud!" Just then, a knock on the door came, followed by the secretary walking in.

"Boss, the guests you’ve been waiting for are here!"

"Quickly! Let them in."

However, when Hu Yifei saw the two people who walked in, he could not help but be startled.

Demon Hunter Team...

No wonder they have that name.

Their appearance, their physique... truly had a bit of a "Demon Hunter" look...

"Mr. Hu, right? We are representatives of the Demon Hunter Team; pleased to meet you, my name is Cheng Biao..."