Hikaru no Go: I taught you Go, and you made the Kisei cry?

"Just one step away!"

"Without a ko fight, even if the black pieces devise a plan to silently encircle SAI's white pieces, the slow speed would backfire!"

"But it was precisely because of that one crucial step that Yuan gained the upper hand! Just that one step!"

"No more, no less, the black piece is now one step ahead of the white piece!"

"But it was this one crucial step that completely overturned and reversed the entire situation!"

"It's unbelievable..."

Ogata Seiji stared in horror at the English ID labeled YUAN: "Such a complex situation, a slight mistake could lead to certain death, but it first forced the white pieces to sacrifice, then deliberately ignited a ko fight, and then silently encircled the white pieces through its moves..."

"Finally... taking the advantage of being one step ahead, completely..."

"It has shattered any hope the white pieces could have!"

"If there is even the slightest mistake during this process, there will be utter ruin!"

"Even a teacher would never dare to do something like this... No... the teacher might not even have this idea or thought!"

"This idea... is too crazy... too bold... even too reckless, to the point of being arrogant and unrestrained!"

"But... it was precisely with this exquisite chess skill that YUAN, in front of all chess fans worldwide, ruthlessly trampled SAI's dignity into the dust!"

"The terrifying thing is... it actually succeeded..."

Ogata Seiji swallowed hard, a bead of cold sweat slowly sliding down his face:

"Ninety-nine moves..."

"This number represents an insurmountable gap for all the players who have been crushed by SAI and THESAI! But today..."

"This amount, which carries a strong sense of contempt and humiliation, was precisely used by YUAN against SAI!"

"Not too much, not too little..."

Is it trying to declare something to all of humanity?

"Terrible..."

"AI."

……

Is that all?

In a dark corner, a middle-aged man, completely shrouded in a black robe, coldly flung away the mouse in his hand.

"Is this me after absorbing the Alpha Element?"

"This feeling is absolutely wonderful!"

The middle-aged man shut down his computer with an indifferent expression and casually kicked something at his feet.

The object rolled over after he kicked it.

The next moment, a rotting corpse covered in blood and grime revealed its true form.

If there were any Americans present at the scene, they would surely cry out in horror upon seeing the face of this rotting corpse.

The corpse was none other than General James, the famous five-star general of the United States, who once single-handedly led the research and development process in the field of artificial intelligence!

And around James, there were countless rotting corpses, just like him, lying haphazardly, covered in blood!

Most of these corpses were American soldiers in camouflage uniforms, but a small number were elite scholars dressed as researchers.

The bodies of these people were piled up like a mountain; at a rough glance, there were at least several thousand!

Beside the computer of the middle-aged man in the black robe, a walkie-talkie covered in blood was still emitting a constant crackling sound.

"General, we've discovered that an explosion of flammable materials occurred at the Alpha Meta Research Center yesterday. What's the situation on site? Please respond! Over!"

"General!?"

"General..."

Snapped!

The middle-aged man in the black robe stomped on the walkie-talkie beside him, smashing it to pieces, a sinister smile creeping onto his lips.

"After waiting for so long, now... it's finally my turn to take the stage."

"Human?"

"It should have been destroyed long ago..."

……

The Tianyuan Chess Saint Championship! The top eight have been determined!

“Sai…”

Staring at the twelve columns and seven rows of pieces on the screen, Hikaru Shindo hesitated to make his move.

After a long while, she reluctantly wiped away her tears and clicked the surrender button on the exit screen.

"I...I voted..."

"Sai, he resigned in the middle game..."

"YUAN defeated his opponent using SAI's signature Shusaku style, becoming the second online Go player after THESAI to achieve a 100-game winning streak!"

"Too strong, simply too strong... Even a master like SAI, who far surpasses a 9-dan player, couldn't last past the 100th move against YUAN... Just who is this mysterious YUAN?"

The result before our eyes surprised all chess fans.

However, when they thought of YUAN's extraordinary and terrifying computing power, everyone felt that all of this was justified.

The meticulous opening moves of the Shusaku style, the intricate mid-game layout that resembled a spider web, led SAI step by step into a trap, and the deliberate initiation of ko fights, all in an effort to gain the initiative and the powerful calculation, and finally, that game-changing move that could be described as a stroke of genius!

All of this opened the eyes of all the chess fans watching in the room.

Unlike the excitement of the Go fans, Hikaru Shindo stared blankly at the computer screen, speechless for a long time.

The silence lasted for a long time before Hikaru Shindo staggered to his feet and walked towards the door of the internet cafe.

As he walked, he clenched his fists tightly, his trembling figure appearing particularly desolate in the cold winter wind.

"YUAN, just you wait. One day, I will take Sai's place..."

"Defeat you!"

……

"There are no flaws whatsoever..."

Staring at the defeat screen displayed after SAI's loss on the computer, Su Ran remained seated for a long time.

To be honest, before YUAN appeared, he always thought that Touya Kouhiro and Sai were the representatives of the world's highest level of Go.

But until today, YUAN's appearance has completely overturned his previous understanding!

At first glance, each move by YUAN seems unremarkable, but the further he progresses, the more pressure he exerts on his opponent.

What's even more unsolvable is that this mysterious online chess player seems to have no need to think at all. No matter how deep the opponent's traps are, he can see through them at a glance and, in the shortest amount of time, turn the tables on them and defeat them with the same moves!

Even with his exceptional chess sense at full power, he couldn't fathom the deeper meaning behind each of Yuan's moves...

"If I were to play against him... could I win?"

For the first time, Su Ran had deep doubts about her own chess skills.

Su Ran reviewed the game between SAI and YUAN several times, searching for YUAN's weaknesses bit by bit. But after countless attempts, he still had to admit that, according to current chess principles, YUAN's moves were indeed perfect.

"Forget it, with his skill level, this Tianyuan Battle will definitely happen in a professional tournament. Only when we actually meet will we know who is stronger between us..."

After shutting down the computer, Su Ran lay stiffly on the bed, calculating which strong opponents she would encounter in the Tianyuan Battle a week later.

After thinking about it, he realized that there were probably only five or six people who truly posed a threat to him.

First is Zama-sensei, who holds the title of Oza. His skill level is roughly equivalent to Ogata Seiji's, both being at the peak of the 9-dan level.

Next up should be Kuwabara, who leads the Honinbo lineage. His skill level is at least around 10 dan, but he certainly won't reach the peak of Kisei. After all, he is quite old, and his skill level has declined somewhat compared to when he was younger.

Next up is Touya Kouyo, whom he has always regarded as his greatest enemy. He is a top-level Go master. Even against Sai, it would take a fight to the very last point to determine who is stronger.

And now, above them, there is another mysterious figure, YUAN.

Although this player currently only appears online, given the Yomiuri Shimbun's penchant for generating buzz, it's believed they will extend a warm invitation to him to participate in this year's Tengen Tournament.

This is also a variable that we must pay close attention to.

Of course, I've also heard that there's another super-skilled player who's recently become incredibly popular online, rapidly rising to prominence with an equally impressive 99-game winning streak.

I heard it's called something like Yixing; it seems like a rather formidable opponent...

While calculating the various powerful enemies in this Tianyuan War, Su Ran felt his eyelids drooping. Finally, after he had reviewed all the possible threats, his brain, which had been working overtime all day, finally succumbed to sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep.

……

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, the day of the Tianyuan Chess Saint Championship finally arrived as scheduled.

This time, in order to get more exposure in front of the media, many professional chess players arrived at the competition venue early.

As the organizer, Yomiuri Shimbun President Shoichi Ryukawa personally attended the event and delivered a grand speech for the competition.

With Long Chuanxiang's resignation completed, the long-awaited Go Saint title match finally began for Su Ran...

"Hey kid, are you looking for someone or just here to watch? This is the players' section, the spectator section is over there."

As soon as Su Ran entered the contestants' area, before she could even find her seat, she was stopped by a middle-aged man.

"Uh, well, I'm here to participate in the competition."

Su Ran said awkwardly.

"Competing? You're a contestant?"

The middle-aged man was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter:

"Little guy, stop joking. These are all Go players, not Gomoku players!"

The uncle's words immediately drew laughter from all the contestants.