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

"Perhaps... those so-called starlight are just my delusions?"

"Perhaps, there are no geniuses in this world at all... and even if there are, it certainly wouldn't be me, right?"

Thinking like that.

Hikaru Shindo lowered his head and buried himself in his arms, unable to face Sai.

I dare not face those pairs of eyes, some filled with surprise, others with disappointment.

"Maybe I've always been a troublemaker... I'm sorry, Sai..."

Before I knew it, tears were already streaming down my cheeks.

After shrugging his shoulders for a long time, Hikaru Shindo suddenly went berserk, shoved the Go board in front of him aside, grabbed his schoolbag, and ran out of the Go room.

The black pieces rolled and jumped on the floor like raindrops, scattering everywhere.

Ignoring everything else, Hikaru Shindo fled the place as quickly as he could, as if his life depended on it.

"You...wait a minute."

Some onlookers tried to stop him, but Hikaru Shindo pushed them aside and broke through the door.

"What exactly happened?"

"Why is it that every time we're halfway through the game, this child suddenly goes berserk, crying and screaming, and leaves?"

"Was it because that young man from China put too much pressure on him?"

"But the game is almost over. Judging from the current situation, even if Black loses, he will only lose by one or half a point at most, right?"

"Sigh, this child is still too young and not mature enough..."

Upon seeing that Hikaru Shindo had vanished without a trace, everyone erupted in a flurry of chatter.

Su Ran remained silent, waiting for the system's reward.

however.

Unlike the usual lightning-fast arrival of funds, this time the system was slow to send him a reward notification.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Su Ran was puzzled and couldn't help but open the system settlement page.

next moment.

He was completely stunned.

[Ding! According to the simulator's calculations, Black will ultimately win this game. Unfortunately, you have failed this challenge.]

what! ?

Su Ran was shocked and stared in disbelief at the settlement interface in front of her. The shock in her heart could not be calmed for a long time.

"Could it be... that severed arm from earlier!?"

Su Ran suddenly woke up with a start, hurriedly picked up the chessboard, and frantically began to organize and review the game from the first move.

His strange behavior immediately piqued the curiosity of all chess fans.

"This young man from China doesn't look well..."

"Perhaps he was angry? After all, any dignified chess player would be a little angry if the same opponent overturned his chessboard twice in a row."

"But judging from his expression, he didn't seem very angry. It seemed more like he was eager to find some answer."

"How strange, have you noticed? This child's ears are so red, they look just like Inoue Gen'an's back in the day..."

"Huh? Now that you mention it, it does seem to be true."

The conversation reached Akira Touya's ears, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.

"Could it be...?"

Akira Touya was startled. The entire game of Go that had just taken place began to replay rapidly in his mind, like a movie.

"Move 194, Black's 9th to 14th move, a clamp..."

"Move 195, Black moves 16.8, jumps..."

"Move 196, Black moves 9 to 13, cut..."

"and many more!"

Akira Touya looked up in shock, his eyes wide with astonishment at the chessboard that Su Ran had already arranged.

There.

The position where Black played its 196th move.

A bright, star-like sun hangs alone at the highest point of the entire Milky Way!

"Xiao Liang, do you know what the highest level of Go is?"

The scene of his father, Touya Kouhiro, teaching him to play Go for the first time suddenly appeared in Touya Akira's mind.

"clatter!"

As a black stone loomed before him, Touya Kouhiro's imposing figure spoke in a kind yet undeniably authoritative tone:

"The highest level of Go is to be able to survive when you are in a desperate situation. Only by understanding loss can you truly appreciate what you have."

"Only by experiencing despair can one truly cherish hope."

"Only those who have faced death can truly understand..."

At this point, Touya Kouyo gently took Touya Akira's hand and personally taught him how to place a white stone where it should land:

"I understand the meaning of life even more now!"

……

"Could it be..."

"This move is exactly what Father meant by 'putting someone in a desperate situation'..."

"And then life begins!?"

The next instant, Su Ran suddenly looked up, her face filled with shock as she placed the 196th black piece.

The 13th of 9, which Hikaru Shindo just landed on.

Simultaneously.

The words slipped out involuntarily:

"So this is the real..."

"A divine intervention."

……

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Realm of a Chess God - This game actually ended in a draw!

In the quiet chess room.

Everyone stared blankly at the chess game that Su Ran had just replayed.

"The 196th move, break..."

Mr. Gu Dian swallowed hard, and after a long while, he exhaled deeply:

"I see. Black's move was a desperate gamble, a move that led to his survival. That kid, Hikaru Shindo..."

"He seemed to have abandoned his main force in the center and was going to have a desperate showdown with Su Ran on the left, but in fact... this move of cutting off the center directly hit the vital point of the white pieces, like a nail, deeply embedded in the crucial spot where the white pieces had no choice but to defend, yet had no way to defend!"

"If White tries to defend, it won't be able to spare any extra stones to capture the Black stones in the center. In the endgame, Black will have one or two more stones than White..."

"Conversely, if White abandons defense and forcibly exchanges a piece for a Black stone in the center, the consequence will be the same as what happened to Xiaoliang before. Black will use its momentum to overwhelm White, putting White in a completely passive and defensive position. In the end, White will still be at a disadvantage by several pieces in the endgame and suffer a regrettable defeat..."

"This move seems unremarkable at first glance, but once it's made, it puts the white pieces in a dilemma, unable to defend and unwilling to attack. On the surface, there are still dozens of moves to play, but in fact, the final result was already determined the moment the black pieces 'cut'!"

"That was a truly remarkable move!"

"No wonder, no wonder that boy named Su Ran's ears suddenly turned red... He must have been just like Inoue Gen'an back then, deeply shocked by his opponent's spirit of fighting back from the brink of defeat..."

As Mr. Gu Tian provided a more in-depth analysis, the other Go fans present gradually began to discern the unusual significance in Hikaru Shindo's "cut" move.

a long time.

The entire chess room erupted in an uproar.

"My goodness! I never knew Go could be played like this!"

"Is this the opening strategy of a high-ranking professional Go player? Attacking the enemy so they have no choice but to defend, yet leaving them with no way to defend... This, this calculating ability is terrifying!"

"If someone hadn't helped analyze it, I would still think that Hikaru Shindo lost!"

"It's clear how big the gap is between us and professional Go players... Even with Mr. Gu Tian's help in analysis, we've only just begun to grasp the basics."

"But Hikaru Shindo had already won, so why did he run out crying?"

"I don't know. Maybe he just stumbled upon it by chance?"

"Hmm, that's possible..."

Hearing the constant chatter around her, Su Ran couldn't help but clench her fists tightly.

"No, it was definitely not a fluke! But... this move wasn't intentional either."

"because!"

"The person who made this move was neither the legendary Honinbo Shusaku, nor the great Go master Fujiwara no Sai from a thousand years ago!"

"The person who made this move was someone like me, who only had a superficial understanding of Go, yet possessed an extraordinary innate sense of the game—Hikaru Shindo!"

"He is the only candidate in the entire world of Hikaru no Go who is truly qualified to challenge the level of the Hikaru God!"

"Hikaru Shindo... I never imagined that your innate talent would be unable to withstand even the Heavenly Demon Transformation..."

"The realm above the Chess Saint, the courage to face death and live—is this the ultimate key to unlocking the Divine Move?"

Su Ran stared intently in the direction where Hikaru Shindo had gone, a sudden surge of determination appearing in her eyes:

"Okay, very good... Thank you, Hikaru Shindo, thank you for showing me the direction I should take next."