The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

Ban Heng stood at the entrance of the dojo, holding a list in his hand, and said to Zhu Dayong, "Five people, not bad."

Zhu Dayong snorted: "Seven people last year, five this year, will it be three next year?"

"That depends on the student." Ban Heng smiled. "But that kid Shi Guang, he won all twelve games. I really didn't expect that."

"What didn't you expect?" Zhu Dayong said. "He's always had the ability, he just lacked that final push. Once that push comes, nothing can stop him."

Ban Heng nodded and said nothing more.

In the evening, several tables of food were set up in the dojo's canteen to celebrate the students who had achieved the required rank.

Honghe rushed back from outside, and as soon as he entered, he shouted, "Shiguang! You're number one, kid!"

Shi Guang was startled by the shout and almost choked.

"Keep your voice down!"

"What are you whispering about? Twelve wins out of twelve, first place in the ranking tournament—doesn't this need to be known worldwide?"

"Well done!"

Time seemed to be grinning at him, but he was happy inside.

Zhang Rui remained seated in the far corner, a bowl of noodles in front of him, his expression unchanging.

But when he saw Shi Guang being hugged by Hong He and grinning, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Then he lowered his head and continued eating his noodles.

After the celebration ended, Shiguang sat alone in the game room.

I didn't study the game record; I just stared blankly at the empty chessboard.

Chu Yingpiao stood beside him, without saying a word.

"Chu Ying".

"I've decided on the next level."

"I know."

Time was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you."

Chu Ying was taken aback: "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for introducing me to the world of Go." Shi Guang looked up at Chu Ying. "Without you, I wouldn't know how to play Go, I wouldn't come to the Go academy, I wouldn't achieve professional ranking, and I wouldn't have won first place. So, thank you."

Chu Ying looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

"Xiao Guang".

"Um."

"You don't need to thank me. You got to where you are today on your own merit."

Time shook its head: "No. Without you, I am nothing."

"Even without me, I think you will still shine brightly in this world."

Time bowed its head and looked at its own hands.

These hands have played thousands of games of chess.

There are wins and losses, brilliant moves and utterly awful ones.

"Chu Ying".

"Um."

"From now on, let's play chess together."

Chu Ying smiled: "Okay, let's go together."

The dojo was unusually quiet the day after the ranking competition ended.

As usual, Zhang Rui stayed in his room and did not go out.

But time, contrary to its usual pattern, came looking for us.

"elder brother."

"What is it?"

Shi Guang took a deep breath: "I have a friend who wants to play a game of chess with you."

"friend?"

"Hmm." Shi Guang's gaze was somewhat unfocused, avoiding direct eye contact with Zhang Rui. "A very skilled friend. He's been playing chess for a very long time, much better than me, and he's always wanted to play a game with you."

It's obvious that they're talking about Chu Ying, but Shi Guang doesn't know that Zhang Rui and Chu Ying had already made an agreement that once Shi Guang reached the next rank, they would play a proper game together. But for now, let's just grant Shi Guang's wish.

"When?"

Shi Guang paused, surprised that it went so smoothly: "Tomorrow? Ten o'clock in the morning?"

"Where?"

"Can we use Weida Go Network? It's not convenient for him to show his face."

Zhang Rui paused for two seconds, then nodded: "Okay."

Shi Guang opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "Why don't you ask who he is?", but he swallowed the words back, afraid that if he asked, Zhang Rui would change his mind.

"Chu Ying, my brother agreed!"

Chu Ying floated behind Shi Guang, her expression complex: "Yes, I heard you."

That afternoon, an inconspicuous message appeared on the forum of Weida.com.

"Zhang Rui, 9th Dan, has registered a Weida.com account!"

The poster attached a screenshot of Zhang Rui's personal information page, which showed an official certification mark and the words "Go 9-dan, World Champion Zhang Rui" below.

There were only a few replies under the post.

"Don't make a fuss, it's just registering an account."

"That's right. Weida Go Network was originally founded by Fang Xu 9-dan, so it's perfectly reasonable to invite Zhang Rui 9-dan to come and show his support."

"Is it possible that I'm going to play chess with someone?"

"Who deserves it?"

"If we invite Zhang Rui, 9-dan, to play a game on the Go website, how much blood will Fang Xu, 9-dan, have to bleed? Impossible!"

The post quickly sank to the bottom.

The following morning, the weather in Fangyuan City was sunny.

Instead of using the dojo's computers, Shi Guang found an internet cafe and booked a private room.

The computer screen was lit, and the Weida.com interface was already open.

"Chu Ying, are you nervous?"

"You know what, there's actually a bit of that."

Shi Guang paused for a moment, then asked, "You get nervous sometimes?"

In fact, Chu Ying wasn't nervous; she just had a complicated mindset.

When I was with Zhang Rui before, I never saw him show any love for Go, let alone learn to play it.

I was worried about how Zhang Rui would deal with those professional Go players after I left, and I even thought about just being honest with Shi Guang.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Rui displayed extraordinary chess skills, which made Chu Ying very curious.

But he's not one to pry, so perhaps the answer will come after today's round.

Please help me register an account.

Shi Guang opened the registration page, hesitated for a moment, and typed two words in the nickname field: Chu Ying.

The portrait is a silhouette of Chu Ying that he drew, with a chess piece in his hand.

Registration successful.

Looking at the brand-new account on the screen, Shi Guang suddenly felt a strange sensation—this account might be Chu Ying's first footprint in this world.

"Alright, now we're just waiting for your brother to come online."

At 9:50, Zhang Rui logged into Weida.com.

The ID uses my real name directly, and the profile picture is the default one with a gold badge in the lower right corner indicating real-name authentication, like a medal.

A few minutes later, Fang Xu was studying game records in his study when he received a call from a subordinate at the company: "Mr. Fang, Zhang Rui, 9-dan, has gone online and even created a game room. Do you think we should take advantage of this hype and create a big buzz..."

"No, let's not worry about anyone else."

After saying that, Fang Xu hung up the phone and turned on his computer.

Zhang Rui was quite surprised to register an account on the Weida Go website.

We did consider inviting them at first, but as a newly established website, inviting a few professional chess players of similar caliber to join the site already showed a lot of prestige.

It's really hard to give a price to someone like Zhang Rui, a 9-dan player.

Even his own teacher, Yu Xiaoyang, Fang Xu was too embarrassed to ask him to open an account. He opened an account himself and was the only ninth-dan player on the website before.

Of course, after Zhang Rui, a 9-dan player, registered his account yesterday, he had someone discuss the fees for staying at the station with Zhang Rui.

But Zhang Rui is creating a game room online? Who is he going to play against?

The room has been built, and everything is set up according to the rules of the official competition.

The opponent has not yet entered.

Fang Xu stared at the screen, refreshing it again and again.

At 10:00 AM sharp, a second ID appeared in the game room.

Chu Ying.