I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 472 Chasing after them with a trembling body, challenging them with a heart full of awe!

Finally, after a while, once all the contestants had gathered, Zhao Zhengyang announced the results of today's competition.

"The players who have advanced to the next round of the winners' bracket are: Yu Shao, An De, Araki, An Hongshi, and Zhuang Weisheng..."

Upon hearing Araki's name, everyone's expressions changed, and they turned to look at Araki.

Araki stood in the crowd, his expression remaining calm despite the gazes of so many, though his face was slightly pale.

After announcing the winners' bracket, Zhao Zhengyang paused, then continued, "The players advancing to the losers' bracket in the next round are: Zhu Huai'an and Zhang Dongchen..."

After Zhao Zhengyang announced the names of the players who would advance to tomorrow's competition, the atmosphere in the entire competition venue became somewhat oppressive, and everyone looked preoccupied.

Even Ahn Hong-seok had a somber expression, as if he felt the pressure.

After today, another sixteen people will be eliminated. These sixteen people are all world-renowned top chess players. There are fewer and fewer chess players who are qualified to continue to compete for the championship.

Fewer participants do not mean things will be easier; on the contrary, the journey ahead will only be more difficult, and the competition will become even more intense.

On stage, Zhao Zhengyang remained silent for a moment before finally speaking again: "The draw will still be held at eight o'clock tomorrow, and the competition will start at nine o'clock. All the contestants should get some rest tonight."

"I hope that tomorrow we will see you all present us with a match as exciting as today's."

Zhao Zhengyang seemed to want to say something, but after opening his mouth, he didn't know what to say. Finally, he shook his head, turned around, and left the stage.

That concludes today's match.

The chess players turned around and left the competition venue one after another, walking out of the venue with their own thoughts on their minds.

When they arrived outside the competition venue, they suddenly realized that it had started to drizzle. Almost none of the contestants had brought umbrellas, so they had to jog to the parking lot.

Yu Shao saw Su Yiming's back in front of him, hesitated for a moment, but finally called out to Su Yiming, "Su Yiming."

Hearing Yu Shao's voice behind him, Su Yiming stopped and turned to look at Yu Shao.

Yu Shao was slightly taken aback when he saw Su Yiming's expression.

The drizzle soaked Su Yiming's hair and slowly slid down her cheeks.

However, to Yu Shao's surprise, Su Yiming was clearly unwilling to accept defeat when the game between Su Yiming and Araki Nobuyo ended. But at this moment, Su Yiming's expression was surprisingly calm.

Seeing Su Yiming like this, Yu Shao was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say.

"What's wrong?" Su Yiming asked.

Yu Shao was silent for a moment before finally speaking, "I watched your game with Professor Araki..."

Su Yiming said directly, "I lost."

Su Yiming's words left Yu Shao completely bewildered. He was incredibly surprised by Su Yiming's frankness and didn't know what to say.

"Although we lost, it was still a pretty good game, wasn't it?"

Su Yiming smiled faintly and said, "Playing such a move shouldn't be considered shameful."

"Of course, it was a very exciting game."

Yu Shao nodded and said, "You played very well, and I was truly impressed. I just thought you would be in a bad mood because you lost the game."

"I can't say I'm in a good mood, otherwise it would be strange if I were happy after losing the game."

Su Yiming shook his head and smiled, "The level of skill that Araki-sensei displayed in this game completely exceeded my expectations."

"but."

Su Yiming paused, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, then smiled and said, "To think that this game of chess could be played like this, that there was such a strong opponent besides you, and that I could play against such a player and complete this game record together."

"When I think about these things, I feel that God has been kind to me."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao's expression turned somewhat strange.

This is what you call God being kind to me?

You're a masochist, right?

"Yu Shao, do you ever feel lonely?"

Su Yiming said with some emotion, "As your chess skills improve and your level rises, you'll find it hard to find an opponent with whom you can go toe-to-toe."

"No."

Yu Shao thought for a moment, and finally shook his head truthfully.

He has always had rivals. Although he did have a glorious period of invincibility after standing at the top of the Go world in his previous life, Go AI emerged not long after.

Even after coming to this world, there are still chess players like Su Yiming, Araki, and An Hongshi.

Even as he tries to change his playing style and as players around the world continue to learn new understandings of Go, he doesn't feel like he has no rivals.

"is it?"

Su Yiming smiled faintly and said, "Anyway, I think that as a chess player, it is a very lucky thing to find a strong opponent."

"But wouldn't that mean we'd likely lose? Losing a game isn't a pleasant experience."

Yu Shao rolled his eyes and said, half-seriously and half-jokingly, "If you really have a powerful opponent, and you try your best but can't beat it no matter what you do, you might think it's better not to have any opponent at all."

Yu Shao, who experienced the AI ​​era, has a lot to say on this point.

"but……"

Su Yiming shook his head and said, "To me, you are."

Yu Shao was stunned.

"I've never won a single game against you. No matter how hard I try or how much effort I put in, the best I can achieve is a draw. And that draw had a lot of luck involved. Logically speaking, I should have lost that game."

Su Yiming pondered for a moment and said, "If I had to say, the most likely time for me to beat you would be before the National Cup. At that time, your game had a more obvious sense of disjointedness, and after the National Cup, that sense of disjointedness disappeared."

"However, I have a feeling that if you really only care about winning, even before the National Cup, I might not have much of a chance." "Even so, I still feel from the bottom of my heart that I am very lucky to have you."

"In my matches against you, I could clearly feel that I was constantly moving towards the answer to Go."

Su Yiming looked up at the drizzling rain in the sky, letting the raindrops patter on his face, and said, "I have indeed lost this game of chess today."

"Just like all the previous games with you, I still lost despite giving it my all."

"but……"

"I don't wish that the person who beat me didn't exist. On the contrary, I hope that as many people as possible can beat me, and I even feel lucky that such people exist."

"It's not that I don't want to win, but I feel that absolutely no one can beat me forever. Everyone who has beaten me, in the end, no matter who they are, will definitely fall to my hands."

Su Yiming raised his head and looked directly at Yu Shao. His eyes no longer showed any signs of defeat; in fact, they seemed to shine with an even brighter light than before.

"including you."

"Yu Shao".

Yu Shao silently met Su Yiming's gaze, and saw in Su Yiming's eyes the light that he had once possessed, but which had ultimately vanished.

There was a time when his eyes had gleamed with that light, but it had vanished completely.

Because of his overconfidence in engaging in fierce battles with Go AI, he ultimately suffered defeat after defeat, receiving that utterly chilling answer—

Mortals and gods are incomparable!
He couldn't help but wonder if Su Yiming would still have the courage to say such things if a Go AI were to appear in front of him.

should--

It's still possible to say it!
For some reason, Yu Shao had this incredibly strong premonition.

If one day, just like in the previous life, a Go AI appears in this world, all the Go players in the previous life will eventually grovel before the infinitely powerful light of the god.

But in this world, even if all other chess players are prostrate on the ground, there will always be one chess player who, no matter how many games he has lost or how miserable his defeat is, will still say – I will definitely win.

That person must be Su Yiming!
Yu Shao stared at Su Yiming, and seeing the light shining in Su Yiming's eyes, his heart trembled—

"If there really are gods in the heavens."

"I finally understand why God made me cross a dimension to come to this parallel world."

The pouring rain pounded on the ground, making a crisp, pattering sound like a game of chess, as if the whole world was shrouded in a misty, rainy haze!
"Perhaps, it's not to make up for my shortcomings in my past life, nor is it to help me find the answer to Go..."

"I might be mistaken."

"God brought me into this world, let me meet Su Yiming, and perhaps most importantly, let me rediscover the courage I lost in my previous life because of Go AI!"

"So that I may chase after you with trembling body and challenge you with awe!"

"If I don't have this courage, no matter how long I stay ahead of him, one day he will definitely catch up and surpass me!"

"Su Yiming is the opponent that God has given me!"

The rain stopped.

A ray of light pierced through the dark clouds, the sky cleared, and the light seeped into the previously oppressive and gloomy world, dispelling the gloom!

Not far away, a few people had just opened their umbrellas. Looking at the clearing sky, they couldn't help but grumble, "This damn weather! I just bought an umbrella from the convenience store, and it's stopped raining again."

Under the sunlight, Yu Shao and Su Yiming stared at each other for a long time before Yu Shao finally spoke, his words firm and resounding: "Then, why don't you give it a try!"

"Araki-sensei, An Hiroshi-sensei, Honinbo Shingo-sensei, and Jiang Han-eun 10-dan are all quite strong. There's also Zhuang Weisheng-sensei. Although you beat him once before, I feel that Zhuang Weisheng-sensei is different now than before."

Su Yiming said slowly, "Our next encounter shouldn't be in the loser's bracket, right?"

"If I encounter them, I'll send them to the loser's bracket to keep you company."

Yu Shao stared directly at Su Yiming, his eyes gleaming: "What you should be thinking about is whether you can climb out of the loser's bracket without any room for error."

Upon hearing this, Su Yiming couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait and see."

Su Yiming turned around and said as he walked forward, "If you can really send them all over, then send them over and let me see them for myself!"

……

……

The second round of the Phoenix Cup double-elimination tournament has come to a complete end.

The entire internet is abuzz with discussion, with everyone talking about today's match with great interest, feeling both shocked and delighted. After all, this round of matches was truly breathtaking.

In the first round of the game between Zhu Huai'an and Su Yiming, Zhu made a major mistake and fell into the loser's bracket. However, in the next round after the loser's bracket, Zhu Huai'an showed his true colors, sacrificing pieces twice to ultimately defeat his opponent cleanly and decisively.

The duel between An Hongshi and Inoue Seren was equally exciting.

Inoue Serizawa, a top Japanese Go player holding both the "Tengen" and "Meijin" titles, held an advantage at one point in the game and, driven by a murderous intent, launched a terrifying attack on Yasuhiro. Yasuhiro, in a desperate situation, made a thrilling and risky maneuver to save his remaining stones, ultimately turning defeat into victory – a truly remarkable feat!

Zhang Dongchen faced off against Ishida Norio in a fierce battle. The game featured six giant dragons intertwined and two dramatic reversals, making it a truly breathtaking spectacle. In the end, the two fought to the very end, with Zhang Dongchen winning by two and a half points.

In the game between Yu Shao and Ed, Ed did not give an inch to Yu Shao, and a great battle eventually broke out. Both sides made brilliant moves. Although Ed lost in the end, the game was still a classic and excellent one.

Zhuang Weisheng executed a game of flowing water without vying for the lead, ultimately winning the game by controlling the opponent's position rather than being controlled by them. He then used the strong momentum created by capturing the opponent's center to decisively take the game, drawing countless exclamations of amazement.

Of course, the most anticipated game of the day was undoubtedly the match between Su Yiming and Araki. After the game, countless media outlets lavished praise on the game, and it certainly deserved it.

It was this game that brought Araki, the uncrowned king of the Go world ten years ago, back into the public eye, and stirred up everyone's emotions.

There are quite a few strong players who fell into the loser's bracket in the first two rounds, such as Zhang Dongchen, Zhu Huai'an, and Su Yiming. Although it is extremely difficult for them to climb out of the loser's bracket so early, no one can be sure that they can't do it.

The winners' bracket is equally difficult, and there are not many winners left. Among the remaining ones, such as An Hongshi, Yu Shao, Honinbo Shinga, Araki, and An Toku, none of them are easy opponents!
Some people online joked that, in the style of fantasy novels, the losers' bracket is a chaotic dance of demons, while the winners' bracket is a battle of gods. Considering the stark difference in mentality between the losers' and winners' bracket players, it's not really an exaggeration.

As a result, the online debate over who will win the championship has become increasingly intense, and everyone has become more curious and expectant about the upcoming matches.

Who will face off in tomorrow's match?
Who will ultimately claim the world championship title?!
(End of this chapter)