The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Qi Yue stared at Ji Yingting, looking her over. Judging from her school uniform, she should be from Minghaiji Middle School in Yongyue City, but which club was she in? Could blind people play board games?!

"Hmm..." Qi Yue took out her phone with some curiosity and opened the list of training camp members that the president had given them: [Minghaiji Go Club - Wang Xi 2 dan, Lin Hao 2 dan, Zhao Xiao 1 dan, Xin Yufei 5 kyu, Ji Yingting no kyu]

Huh? They're from the Go club? Blind people playing Go? Playing blindfolded? Qi Yue opened her mouth in surprise, her eyes widening.

"However, speaking of which, the Go club at Minghai Middle School is really weak this year. The highest level is only amateur 2-dan, and there is even a 5-kyu and a no-kyu player."

In Aratsuki City, not to mention Beaver Middle School with an amateur 5-dan rank, Shion Middle School also has me, an amateur 4-dan rank, and even Shiraga Middle School recently had a kid who just reached amateur 4-dan rank.

The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and Qi Yue quickly ended her thoughts and stepped out first.

"After exiting the elevator, walk straight to the right for 20 steps, then walk to the upper left for 7 steps, and you will reach the restaurant!" Ji Yingting carefully took her first steps. In an unfamiliar environment, one must be careful, otherwise there is always the risk of bumping into a wall.

Many people experience subconscious fear when they try to walk with their eyes closed. They know there is a large open space ahead, but after only a few steps, they can't help but open their eyes, feeling that they have deviated from the straight path and will bump into something.

Ji Yingting, who was already used to "one step, two steps, three steps," was fine, but Qi Yue, who was watching her walk, was a little apprehensive. She felt that Ji Yingting might fall at any moment.

"Senior Ji... do you need me to help you?" Qi Yue asked tentatively.

"Thank you," Ji Yingting nodded happily and extended her hand.

"That was a very decisive agreement!!!" Qi Yue was speechless. If he wanted her to help him up, he should have said so earlier!!

She slowly grasped Ji Yingting's right hand; it was soft and warm.

With Qi Yue's help, Ji Yingting arrived at the restaurant without any problems.

"Huh? Sakuraba, didn't Wang Murou bring you?" As soon as they arrived at the restaurant, Qi Yue let go of her hand and sat down among a group of people dressed in light purple school uniforms.

Although they were both girls, it was still a little awkward to hold hands in public. They weren't children... Qi Yue's face turned slightly red.

"Huh? Sakuraba, didn't Wang Murou bring you here?" Wang Xi asked. Speaking of which, the girl who pulled her over earlier seemed to be the president of the Go club at Shiyuan Middle School. Did they know each other?

"Hmm, she's still sleeping..." Ji Yingting said happily, she couldn't help but laugh when she thought about what happened this morning.

"I'm so sorry, if you had just given us a call, we would have come up to find you."

"It's okay, let's eat quickly!" Ji Yingting waved her hand and sat down.

Next to the breakfast table at Bailu Middle School ——————

"Is she the legendary green-haired school beauty from Minghai Ji Middle School? I really want to see her face!! It's such a pity I didn't notice her when she came."

"Holy crap, I just saw it!! It's absolutely gorgeous! Tens of thousands of times prettier than our school's hottest girl, I can't breathe." A short boy who looked like a troublemaker made a face as if he couldn't breathe.

"You mean Zhang Meng? Give me a break, she's not some school beauty, she's a total prostitute!! Who knows how many people she's infected with HIV at school?"

"But I don't think she's anything special... She's overdoing the innocent act," a hot girl with long brown curly hair said sourly.

"Born blind people are all very pure!! How could they have so many ulterior motives?"

"So she's from the Go club, right? Haha, Li Kaixuan, you guys are going to be ecstatic!" After saying that, a tall boy patted the shoulder of the boy with long, curly orange hair next to him.

"Huh? Ah Xuan, why aren't you saying anything today? Did you break up with your boyfriend?" the boy asked curiously.

"Yeah, Li Kaixuan usually can't stop laughing when he sees a beautiful woman, but he's unusually quiet today. He probably has a depression that he'll become depressed if he doesn't marry a beautiful woman," a bespectacled boy guessed, pushing up his large black-rimmed glasses.

"I'm fine..." Li Kaixuan waved his hand, looking a bit of a headache, then took a few deep breaths, his breathing gradually returning to calm.

"Could it be love at first sight? I never noticed you were so possessive," someone teased from the side.

"Hey, shut up!"

A cold male voice came from the side, and a boy with black hair covering his face and bangs suddenly sat down next to Li Kaixuan, causing the people around to awkwardly take a few steps back.

"Wang Jun, everyone was just joking, please don't..." a girl with a light yellow bun said apologetically.

"Shut up, ugly woman."

A black-haired boy named Wang Jun suddenly interrupted her, shouting the words "ugly girl," which stunned the girl who had tried to reason with him.

After a few seconds of silence, everyone could see the tears welling up in the girl with the bun hairstyle. The other girls, with slightly indifferent expressions, led her away from there.

“Wang Jun, you don’t have to do this… I did it for other reasons…” Li Kaixuan looked at the thin, black-haired boy sitting alone next to him with a complicated expression.

"Senior, that's why that happened... because you trusted your so-called friends too much, isn't it?" Wang Jun said coldly, his face expressionless.

Li Kaixuan was slightly taken aback, then buried his face in his hands on the table and remained silent.

If someone were standing between the two, they would clearly hear that Wang Junyu's tone was not contemptuous at all towards Li Kaixuan, who only had a third-level strength; on the contrary, it was full of awe.

Chapter 15: Training Camp Begins

"Alright, let's begin now... the 1-on-1 practice matches, arranged by position: Shion Middle School vs. Beaver Middle School, and Shirogane Middle School vs. Meikai Princess Middle School."

Teacher Chen Xiao, with his brown curly hair, was reading aloud from a small white piece of paper.

On the sixth floor, the Go club's dormitory, a dozen Go tables were placed in the center of the spacious hall.

There were no chairs; instead, everyone had to sit on small, single sofas that looked extremely comfortable.

Next to each chessboard is a small, mechanical box, which is used as a timer for the game, with each person having one hour set for their turn.

"Is this a training camp or a place to relax?" Many people sighed as they looked at the sofa.

"This year we have one amateur 4-dan, one amateur 3-dan, and three amateur 2-dan players, making it arguably the strongest lineup Ziyuan Middle School has had in recent years. Our ultimate goal is to defeat Beaver Middle School in the league!!"

Compared to the Go ranking system of hundreds of years ago, the chances of ranking up in Go today are much slimmer. This does not mean that the difficulty has increased, but rather that more people are participating.

After reaching the 3rd dan rank, the provincial tournament, held every six months, usually attracts hundreds of participants, but only a dozen or so players stand out and become high-ranking players [4th or 5th dan].

Of course, if a self-taught Go player has a good foundation, participating in the provincial competition might allow them to skip the ranking level and have the opportunity to directly achieve professional status.

Unlike city-level competitions, provincial competitions do not require grouping based on level and rank!

Qi Yue, with her purple hair combed up, fantasized in her mind for a while. Then, she smugly pulled out the small sofa in front of her and casually sat down.

Seeing Qi Yue sit down, the others also took their seats according to their positions. Ji Yingting was the commander, so she was to sit in the chair on the far left. She carefully moved over step by step.

Next up are Lin Hao (2nd Dan), Wang Xi (2nd Dan), Xin Yufei (5th Dan), and Zhao Xiao (1st Dan).

"Oh? She's the captain? By the way, when I play chess with her later, do I have to give her my coordinates?"

The members of Bailu Middle School also took their seats.

An unremarkable-looking black-haired boy sat down opposite Ji Yingting somewhat shyly and said in a low voice, "The captain is Wang Zaishan, amateur 3-dan."

"Vice General Li Kaixuan, Amateur 3-dan." Li Kaixuan composed himself, avoided looking at the side between Beaver Middle School and Ziyuan Middle School, and slowly sat down opposite Lin Hao.

"Chen Zhuoxi, a mid-level player, amateur 3-dan"

"Second-string striker Nan Ke, amateur 3-dan"

"…………"

"Forward, Wang Jun, Amateur 4-dan"

Under the astonished gazes of the four students from Minghai Ji Middle School besides Ji Yingting, a black-haired boy with a watermelon-shaped hairstyle sat down opposite Zhao Xiao with a blank expression.

"...How is this possible?! How could Bailu Middle School have four amateur 3-dan players?!" Qi Yue almost exclaimed in shock. Her heart felt as if it had been hit by a hammer, giving her a severe shock.

You know, amateur 3-dan means they were promoted after winning the top three in the city tournament. But she remembers almost all the players who have been promoted to 3-dan in Huangyue City over the past few years. How could she not recognize them?

After thinking for a moment, Qi Yue's purple pupils contracted slightly. So that's how it is... Are they going to another city, to a competition in a weak Go-playing city?

Compared to Ara-zuki City, which is known as the "group of death," the nearby Ei-zuki City and Mei-zuki City have an easier time advancing.

When Bailu Middle School announced the rankings, even the white-haired boy sitting opposite Qi Yue narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Alright, let's start guessing."

Wang Zaishan took the black chess piece from the chessboard.

Ji Yingting also grabbed the white chess box, casually took out a dozen or so chess pieces, threw them onto the chessboard, and then covered them with both hands.

She whispered, "Guess!"

“…I guess an even number,” Wang Zaishan thought that Ji Yingting couldn’t see the chess pieces, so he simply called out the number.

So, this is the school beauty Minghai Ji they were talking about! Her voice is really nice, and she's super pretty too. Awesome!!

Ji Yingting carefully arranged the chess pieces one by one and counted them meticulously.

He guessed correctly with 12 pieces, so Ji Yingting played white and moved second. According to the rules of the game, the next moves would be Lin Hao playing black, then Wang Xi playing white, Xin Yufei playing black, and Zhao Xiao playing white.

Unfortunately, Wang Zaishan was unaware that Ji Yingting had already seen his somewhat embarrassed and awkward expression... Wang Zaishan started the game absentmindedly.

"D5 star position" so as not to disturb other players' games, Wang said quietly after playing chess on the mountain, and then raised his hand to tap the timer button on his side.

At point P16, it was White's turn. Ji Yingting gracefully placed her piece, and then snapped the timer.

I've used this thing countless times in my past life, so of course I'm not unfamiliar with it. After all, timers are a very common tool in the world of Go.

"You just pressed my button," Wang Zaishan whispered to her.

"……Excuse me!"

Ji Yingting's fair face suddenly turned red, and a greenish-blue hair on her head stuck up unnaturally. She awkwardly pressed the timer again.

She could see the chessboard, but she couldn't see the timer at all!

****************** Ten minutes later.

"How could she be so strong?! Who said she doesn't have a rank?! Huh?!"

Wang Zaishan roared in his heart, and even he, who was usually calm, couldn't help but shout it out at this moment.

Only ten minutes have passed since we started playing chess!

Wang Zaishan had previously thought that Ji Yingting was like a mascot in the Minghaiji Middle School Go Club, and that as an amateur 3-dan player, he only needed to deal with her casually and make sure she didn't lose too badly.

But how could she possibly have such strength?! She's just blind! ! That's ridiculously strong.

A few drops of sweat trickled down Wang Zaishan's forehead and dripped onto his hands, which were holding the black chess pieces. His hands trembled incessantly.

If he had gone all out from the beginning, it would have been impossible for the game to have turned out like this after only ten minutes!

Unfortunately, he was initially inattentive when facing Ji Yingting.

Wang Zaishan was filled with regret. He looked around in a panic. Apart from a few scattered sounds of pieces being placed, everyone else was quietly thinking about their strategy.

"Oh no! As the captain of Bailu Middle School, if I concede after only ten minutes, wouldn't I be making a fool of myself? Should I just keep dragging this out?"

Wang Zaishan glanced at Ji Yingting and then shook his head. "No, she'll definitely notice I'm deliberately stalling for time. Won't she think I'm incompetent? Besides, everyone else is still in the planning stage; it's unrealistic to expect them to finish before me."