LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 579 Are you also going to take the steady approach?
In fact, for the other Korean players, it's just a formality and there's absolutely no chance of them even starting out.

After all, South Korea doesn't have the large pool of talented individuals that China produces, so there's still a gap in average strength.

China has many players capable of winning championships and a greater depth of talent, while South Korea only has a handful of top players, making a gathering of elites simply impossible.

However, over the years, South Korea has always been able to produce a few top-tier players, such as Lee Chang-ho, who has seventeen world championships, and even Lee Se-dol, who has fourteen.

However, South Korea has clearly not yet seen this type of situation.

During this period, the world's top Go player should be Ke Jie.

With Park Jung-hwan's career declining, the only successor South Korea can count on is Shin Jin-seo.

Therefore, in addition to the battle for the world's number one ranking, the Korean media also generated a lot of hype for this match against Lin Ruo, such as Shin Jinseo facing the biggest challenge of his career.

Or perhaps this is a huge opportunity for Shin Jinseo. If he can grit his teeth and get past Lin Ruo, it will be equivalent to breaking through the bottleneck of his own strength, and from then on he will ascend to immortality.

Indeed, even the South Korean media have noticed that Shin Jinseo has reached a bottleneck in his career, always falling short of the championship in major international tournaments.

Shin Jinseo clearly needs to overcome his most difficult hurdle right now.

Shin Jinseo is currently unaware of where this step is, but the Korean media has already readily labeled Lin Ruo with this step.

By surpassing him, Shin Jinseo essentially surpassed himself.

That's a good idea, but Lin Ruoke doesn't think so.

Shin Jinseo certainly has a bright future, but his breakthrough point doesn't lie with himself.

And if you try to break through my defenses, I'll definitely show you what pain is.

Yes, Shin Jinseo did feel a bit of pain when he saw Lin Ruo. He felt that Lin Ruo was somewhat of a jinx to him, he didn't know why, but that was his subconscious belief.

After the draw for their matchup was determined, the two went on stage as is customary to shake hands and take a photo together, leaving behind a beautiful picture of their duel before leaving the stage.

The draw ended in less than half an hour. People went about their business: some ate, some prepared for the competition, and some packed their things.

For example, when Lin Ruo returned to her dormitory, she found Ke Jie packing his things.

Ke Jie's expression wasn't exactly bad; he always habitually adjusts his glasses when feeling helpless: "I'm going home now. You guys keep going!"

This time, Ke Jie dared not relax his guard any longer when he returned.

It wasn't because he lost to his nemesis, but mainly because Lin Ruo put too much pressure on him.

I'm not afraid of not being in good form; I'm afraid of someone being in too good form and potentially replacing me. And now, that person has emerged.
Ke Jie dared not relax, especially after losing the game to Lin Ruo at the hotel, plus the blow of losing the match today. If he didn't work hard after going back, he would really be in trouble.

However, Ke Jie soon realized that he couldn't actually go back today because he had forgotten to buy a ticket.

Or rather, he never even considered being eliminated in the round of 16, so he never bought a ticket.

There were other players around, and the coaching staff wouldn't be going with him. Plus, he spent half the day reviewing the game afterward. By the time it got dark, he realized that it seemed like there weren't many tickets left.

What should I do?
When Ke Jie had some free time, he suddenly had the urge to play a game with Lin Ruo, but he was worried that it would affect Lin Ruo's match tomorrow, since it was early in the morning.

Asking someone to log off so late, won't that disturb their rest?

Then Ke Jie realized that he had overthought things; Lin Ruo neither wanted to play chess with him nor wanted to do anything to rest.

It's only 7 p.m., okay? He wants to go out and take a walk.

Doesn't the training institute have a lot of sports facilities? It's a pity we can't go swimming now that it's winter. How about we go play table tennis indoors with air conditioning?

Liao Yuanhe also decided to go along, since as long as he returned at 10 p.m. and went to bed on time, it wouldn't affect anything. Besides, it's normal to relax after a competition.

Ok.

Hearing that Ke Jie couldn't leave tonight, the two of them went together.

By the way, you can also call another player to play a two-player mode, which is quite convenient.

Ke Jie probably didn't expect that, not only was he in a bad mood after losing the game, but he would also be dragged to play table tennis.

Well, he had to suspect one thing, no, he should say he was certain of one thing.

Lin Ruo's ambition is even greater than his. Your opponent is Shin Jinseo, how dare you play table tennis so close to the competition?

Forget it, forget it. They can play CF for a whole month without training. What's the big deal? It's nothing at all.

Unlike Shin Jinseo, who did nothing but eat, sleep, and play Go.

Sure enough, it was late at night, not even bedtime, and Shin Jinseo was already diligently in the review room with his coach, organizing the content based on his performance in the day's games.

Then he saw his opponent playing ping-pong in the sports equipment room across the building.

Okay, Shin Jinseo does know what kind of person Lin Ruo is.

It's rare to see someone like him who has a match tomorrow but is still having fun; at least, serious Korean Go players certainly wouldn't do that.

Meticulous South Korean Go players never leave the Go board, sometimes even staying up all night to prepare.

Of course, this is assuming the match is tomorrow afternoon.

Shin Jinseo believes there are many Chinese Go players of this type, but the presence of Ke Jie and Lin Ruo inevitably influenced him somewhat.

For example, seeing Lin Ruo so relaxed right now makes Shin Jinseo a little worried about tomorrow's game.

It's not that I'm afraid my opponents aren't working hard; it's that I'm afraid they don't seem to take me seriously.

This situation is usually not due to surrendering, but rather a gap in strength, where the opponent is so confident that they believe they can easily defeat you tomorrow.

With Lin Ruo's skill level, he could indeed do that. After all, he seems to have maintained this mindset ever since he entered the world of Go.

When such images are brought to the public eye, they merely provide headlines for the ubiquitous South Korean media reporters.

[In preparation for the quarterfinals, Lin Ruo played table tennis with Ke Jie and other eliminated Chinese Go players for fun.]

Forget it, the Korean media, who are used to saying that Lin Ruo lacks professionalism and likes to slack off in training, are too lazy to stir up trouble now. They just report the facts as they happened late at night, and leave the rest for the audience to think about.

What's the point, really?

I've criticized Lin Ruo so many times before, but did it make a difference? It didn't affect her performance on the field at all.

You say they lack professionalism, but they still won the game.

You say they didn't train hard, but they still won the game.

Then what's the point of saying anything?

Let's talk about this again when Lin Ruo loses the game. How about tomorrow? Is tomorrow okay?

Even the usually confident South Korean netizens are having second thoughts after seeing this news.

Playing table tennis before a match is normal to relax, but Lin Ruo seems to be relaxing the whole time.

No, it's also possible he played table tennis to comfort Ke Jie after he was eliminated.

Do you think an arrogant Go player like Ke Jie needs comforting? It's obvious Lin Ruo dragged him into the match. After all, you have to understand, besides being skilled, Lin Ruo seems to be quite the social butterfly; I've seen this kind of thing a lot in League of Legends.

indeed.

In League of Legends, Lin Ruo calls everyone he meets his idol, not to mention Peanut, and his relationship with his arch-rival RNG is also incredibly good.

Needless to say, people like Xiaoming are another story.

Thinking about it this way, the Korean netizens were a little angry. It's outrageous that they have time to socialize when they're about to compete against their strongest Go player.

Can you be a little more serious?

They genuinely want Shin Jinseo to defeat Lin Ruo tomorrow and finally get revenge, so that the Korean Go viewers who have suffered losses for the past six months can redeem themselves.

However, we'll leave that as an open question for now. Fortunately, the game is fast-paced, so we won't have to wait too long. We can catch this highly anticipated match after a good night's sleep.

……

In the new day's quarterfinals, FoxGo, as the largest Go platform in China, still provided live streaming of four major matches.

Obviously, the biggest focus will remain on the key matches in the upper half of the bracket.

Therefore, the professional analyst and commentator in charge of this match is Zhang Xuebin, the top commentator and professional sixth-dan player from Wildfox.

The other female co-hosts were somewhat unfamiliar; they weren't any of the female anchors from WildFox.

However, viewers who entered the live stream could immediately recognize who she was: Yu Lijun, who recently became famous because of the Samsung Cup.

Logically speaking, how could someone who is eliminated in the first round possibly become famous?

Therefore, Yu Lijun's fame is obviously due to her appearance.

Although the Samsung Cup was eliminated quickly, the match against Lin Ruo attracted a lot of attention and quickly gained the interest of many Go fans.

The fans who love good looks are here now, aren't they?
So in the past few days, Yu Lijun easily gained over a million followers after registering an account on the Chinese internet.

As a result, the savvy Fox platform invited Yu Lijun to participate in today's commentary, ensuring maximum viewership both during and outside of the match.

Look, the live stream has already reached a new high in popularity even before the match has started.

[Holy crap, it's Yu Meimei! Wild Fox, what are you doing? Do you know us that well? With this kind of knowledge, I have to give you a five-star review.]

[Can I believe my eyes? I actually saw Yu-meimei so soon! Waaah, why have you been staying out all night lately? It's so tiring for me to be home alone.]

Since Yu Meimei is participating in today's commentary, I have a reason to watch the entire live stream. I originally planned to peek in halfway through, but now I'm going to watch it without taking my eyes off the screen.

[I did watch it, but who knows what you were actually looking at? You probably don't even watch the game.]

[Could you please zoom in on the commentary booth in the bottom right corner? The game board can be zoomed out a bit.] [Right, right, Wildfox, you'd better have some self-awareness. You don't think all of us came here to watch some dry, boring match, do you? We're here to see the people, okay?]

[Lin Ruo is nobody, who wants to watch his match? We're all in the live stream for Yu Meimei, okay? Without Yu Meimei, who would watch this lousy quarterfinals?]

[Hmph, I'll always be a supporter of Sister Yu.]

...

"Hello everyone, I am Yu Lijun, a professional Go player from Taiwan, China."

Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Yu Lijun immediately greeted them with a smile and then actively interacted with the audience before the competition started.

As for Zhang Xuebin, the male commentator next to him, he suddenly felt that it didn't matter whether he greeted them or not, because no one in the audience wanted to know who he was.

Wait a minute, isn't this FoxFox? I'm quite famous on the FoxFox platform; I'm one of the top commentators.

So where did this come from? I can be so easily ignored even in my own home.

Well, after thinking for a moment, he chose to accept and joined the welcoming camp.

"Welcome, welcome again to Yu Lijun, our Go player. Today she will be commentating with us on one of the key matches in the quarterfinals, namely the duel between Lin Ruo and Shin Jinseo."

At this point, Zhang Xuebin, who knew how to find a point of interest, immediately changed the subject: "Yu Lijun also competed against Lin Ruo in the first round. May I ask what your impression of him is?"

"Impression?"

Yu Lijun fiddled with her hair, put on a shy look, and said in fluent Taiwanese motorcycle dialect: "Teacher Lin Ruo is really handsome and amazing."

"He's so amazing that after walking just a few steps with him, I felt like I no longer knew who I was."

Yu Li Ke was absolutely telling the truth. Sometimes she herself didn't know how she managed to keep going in that game of chess. She only knew that after the opening moves, she seemed to lose all reason.

Zhang Xuebin strongly agrees with this. Having frequently commentated on Lin Ruo's matches, he knows just how strong this person is. His dominance is off the charts, it's simply terrifying.

However, the viewers in the live stream were not happy to hear this.

[What do you mean? How can you praise Lin Gou's looks and abilities? Sister Yu, you mustn't fall for Lin Gou's tricks. Don't let him fool you. Lin Gou is the kind of person who's best at deceiving people. I was once fooled by him ten times.]

[Sigh, Yu-meimei will say anything to spite me, she even praised other men as handsome in front of me. But it's okay, I won't be angry, just don't say that again next time.]

[I admit Lin is very strong, but I don't think he's handsome at all. Yu, you must have been kidnapped. Otherwise, blink twice, and I'll come to rescue you on a colorful cloud.]

[Lin Ruo is nothing special, I'm actually a hundred times more handsome than him. If you don't believe me, Yu-meimei, you can add me to learn more. If I'm lying, I'll be your boyfriend for life.]

[You're eating and eating at the same time! You guys are disgusting. Only I am truly sincere towards Sister Yu.]

harm.

Seeing the barrage of comments from fans who couldn't bear to watch, Zhang Xuebin quickly shifted his focus and concentrated all his energy on the competition.

Let's first analyze the historical encounters between the two players, who have only met once before, in the quarterfinals of the Mengbaihe Cup.

As for why they only met once, it's because Lin Ruo had only participated in one world championship before that.

In this quarterfinal match, Lin Ruo defeated Shin Jinseo 2-0 without lifting a finger.

Although half a year has passed, the old record can no longer affect the current match. However, considering that Lin Ruo still defeated Park Jung-hwan, his form is almost the same as during the Mlily Cup.

Therefore, Zhang Xuebin still believes that Lin Ruo may have the upper hand in this match.

When the camera later cuts to the match venue, it means the match is about to begin.

At the four tables in the center of the arena, Lin Ruo and Shen Zhenxue sat upright, waiting for the referee to announce that the match could begin. They then stood up, bowed to each other, and sat down to guess who would go first.

Shin Jin-seo draws a tile, and Lin Ruo guesses the number.

Neither side had any specific intentions; both just randomly picked a card. In the end, the result of the guessing game was announced, and Lin Ruo once again got the right to play white.

The clock started ticking, and the competition began.

Shin Jinseo, playing black, makes the first move, opening with a small star formation on the right side.

Since Lin Ruo, who was imitating him, placed a small point in the upper left corner, Shin Jinseo, on his fifth move, immediately attacked with a high approach.

By placing a stone on the upper fourth line to block the corner, White can break White's monopoly on the opposite corner and seek to expand its sphere of influence.

While hanging high makes it easy to grab a good spot, it also makes you very vulnerable to attack, just like standing on tiptoe to reach something, which makes your stance unstable.

The next move Lin Ruo needs to make is to go close and attack, push back and finish a set of moves, and then choose to use a small flying attack to guard the corner.

Shin Jinseo then turned and flew to the upper right corner to guard the horn.

On the eleventh move, White played a low approach in the lower right corner against Black's low approach. Shin Jinseo's response was the standard sharp move, and then Lin Ruo returned to the lower left corner to continue defending the corner.

The two sides quickly completed the initial corner-hanging process in just over a minute.

Next, the unveiling ceremony officially began.

Shin Jinseo, who had the first move, made the first move by flying, quickly establishing a formation and applying pressure to the white stones in the lower right corner.

This is not a normal option.

Under normal circumstances, in this opening, most players who make a move in the lower right corner will choose to play a low pincer attack to strengthen their control of the area.

But Shin Jinseo did not.

He chose to fly.

As the player with the best judgment, Shin Jinseo believes that the combination below is very flat. For example, if White chooses to jump later, then Black can choose to make a small knight's move, a large knight's move, or press all the way down.

White's pieces will remain very flat throughout the game.

Moreover, the black stones in the upper right corner actually had a certain shape foundation. Considering the overall layout, Shin Jinseo abandoned the two-space low clamp and chose to fly.

"This move was a mistake, but it's understandable. After all, if Shin Jinseo had started with a low two-space clamp, then with Lin Ruo's sharp move, Black would definitely have had to extend two spaces. He probably felt that it was too flat."

In the Wild Fox live stream, facing Shin Jinseo's unusual opening move, Zhang Xuebin, a professional 6-dan player, quickly figured out the reason.

He also saw through Shin Jinseo's intentions, because the white stones in the lower left corner already had a small knight's move to defend the corner. Doing this might allow them to continue to press down the white stones in the area below.

"Oh, Professor Shin Jinseo is very thoughtful." Hearing this explanation, Yu Meimei, who understood the situation, quickly nodded in agreement.

On the chessboard.

Having witnessed the entire process, Lin Ruo initiated his first large-scale relocation, retaliating by moving to the right side to seize the open space.

Seeing the situation below, Lin Ruo had no intention of responding.

Indeed, Shin Jinseo's move was brilliant, because if Black responded, whether he made a large knight's move or continued with a small knight's move, he would be at a disadvantage.

Then we have to remove the edges.

Unsurprisingly, Shin Jinseo then chose to press the opponent by placing a piece from above, specifically two squares above the piece that was about to be split.

This move is also quite unusual.

Because under normal circumstances, it's better to force it from below.

However, Shin Jinseo's decision to take this path indicates that he is heading in a very complicated direction.

Lin Ruo could also see Shin Jinseo's hope, which was that the black stones in the upper right corner could form a large knight's move to defend the corner.

If Dafei were to defend the corner and then force his way in from above, it would be somewhat counterproductive, but since Shin Jinseo is going this way, he must have his reasons.

Lin Ruo quickly understood this principle.

Because the opponent used a double-kick strategy, this strategy has many flaws. It neither effectively seizes the large side nor completely defends the corner, and it is also easy for the opponent to exploit.

The so-called "point of exploitation" is the familiar method, which is that Lin Ruo directly uses point 33 to suppress the opponent.

However, he believes that Shin Jinseo had already prepared a response, which was a series of blocking, blocking, and connecting moves. Later, Black played outside and captured, so White didn't actually gain any advantage.

Therefore, this situation, which Lin Ruo saw as being forced into a corner, was a blatant trap.

You did this right before? You're really thoughtful.

An ordinary person might not notice and simply consider it a mistake, thinking they could take advantage of the situation and leave.

But Lin Ruoke was no ordinary person; having seen through everything, he chose to jump alone below.

I'm not going up there. You can put on a one-man show from now on.

If you enjoy performing, I'll watch; if you don't want to perform, then it's up to you.

Shin Jinseo couldn't help but show a little disappointment right from the start, thinking to himself how hard this person was to fool, even more cautious than him.
But that's not right.

Shin Jinseo clearly remembered that Lin Ruo was a radical throughout the Mengbaihe Cup, otherwise how could he have defeated several players in just 100 moves?

Although he already showed a very steady performance when he played against Park Jung-hwan.

However, Shin Jinseo always believed that a person's habits cannot be easily changed, so that incident was most likely an accident.

Therefore, in today's match, Shin Jinseo deliberately set up a formation to entice the radical Lin Ruo to jump in, but unexpectedly, he remained unmoved.

Is the market really starting to move towards a more stable, control-oriented approach?
Shin Jinseo didn't know whether to be happy or not. In fact, he was also maintaining this style to cater to the AI's playstyle. If Lin Ruo did the same, the two sides would definitely fight fiercely.

It's natural for everyone to be cautious.

On the contrary, Shin Jinseo is more afraid of Lin Ruo's previous aggressive and chaotic fighting style.

At least he's not afraid of this style now, which seems to be a good thing in terms of the game content, even though some of his planned strategies are useless.

(End of this chapter)