The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Ji Yingting is a core member of the art club. Her main jobs include being a model, being a model, and being a model.

"Um, um, I have some things to do this afternoon, you can go to your own club."

Her long, light green, Hime-style hair swayed dramatically as Ji Yingting shook her head.

Because she couldn't see clearly, Ji Yingting was very familiar with directions. She slowly walked to the 19th floor of the chess and card club, supporting herself against the wall.

Ji Yingting found a room at random and knocked on the door.

"Hey! Isn't this Sakuraba-senpai? Are you looking for someone?" A junior schoolgirl with long, reddish-brown curly hair opened the door and covered her mouth in surprise.

"Um...no, where is the Go club?" Ji Yingting asked softly.

"Well, we're the chess club. If you're going to the Go club, just keep going through two more doors."

"Upon hearing that Ji Yingting was going to the Go club, the junior student sounded somewhat disappointed."

As a celebrity at Minghai Ji Middle School, if Ji Yingting were to join the chess club, they would receive more new students next year. However, she might just be looking for someone.

"Okay, thank you," Ji Yingting nodded with a smile.

When the junior schoolmate saw Ji Yingting's smile, her heart started racing, and she quickly said, "No, you're welcome."

"So, this must be the Go club, right?" Ji Yingting walked past the two clubs, touching the wall, and knocked on the door of the Go club.

"Ah! Sakuraba-kun, what brings you here?" Another surprised voice rang out, and Ji Sakuraba carefully recalled the voice.

"Wang Xi?"

************

Sitting on the sofa in the Go club's reception area, Ji Yingting picked up the black tea on the table and took a small sip.

"Sakuraba-kun, do you play Go? Are you going to join the Go club? What about your art club?"

Wang Xi asked, noting that she had a head of golden curly ponytail and was also Ji Yingting's classmate.

"I'll just withdraw from the art club."

"Ji Yingting replied succinctly.

Wang Xi's lips twitched, and she asked with some curiosity, "You make it sound so easy. By the way, what's your level in Go?"

"You must be very strong... Can I play a game with you?"

"..."

This surprised not only Wang Xi, but also the Go apprentices next to her. Could it be that Senior Sakuraba, who is blind, often plays Go?

"If only you were really strong. Although we have 16 members for now, only 4 of them are actually taking the grading exams. It will be quite difficult for us to participate in the junior high school Go league in a few weeks."

"Phew, let's get started!"

Ji Yingting breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little nervous. This was her first time playing chess in her life.

With Wang Xi's permission, she slowly knelt down on one side of a Go board and began playing from AS, from 1 to 19.

There are 19 x 19 = 361 points, which are the points in a Go game.

"So, shall we coin toss?" [The method of choosing between white and black in Go]

"Guess," Ji Yingting said, lifting the somewhat antique-looking chess box. However, she suddenly froze when she picked up a white chess piece.

In a vast starry sky, a girl with long, light green hair knelt cross-legged on the ground.

When Ji Yingting first saw herself, she suddenly felt that she understood what "cute" and "beautiful" meant.

Her long, flowing hair, styled in a Hime cut, reached her hips, with straight bangs framing her face. She possessed incredibly perfect features, fair skin, starry eyes like the night sky, and a languid yet noble air.

The blue school uniform paired with the white pleated skirt, the cute white knee-high stockings, and the small brown cloth boots on her feet—everything was perfectly harmonious, breathtakingly beautiful. Ji Yingting lovingly reached out and touched her face.

She could see everything around her clearly: the chessboard and Wang Xi in front of her, with her golden ponytail and curly hair. Although she was considered a beauty in school, Ji Yingting felt that there was something indescribable about her compared to Wang Xi at this moment.

The difference in beauty between the two was beyond words, not to mention the ordinary-looking junior school girls next to them.

As her field of vision widened, Ji Yingting saw Wang Murou, a girl who could be described as very cute, the magnificent Minghai Ji Middle School, and the hover school bus she often rode in.

The entire moon, the entire Milky Way galaxy, and all human settlements were laid bare before Ji Yingting in an instant.

And those anime playing on some people's computers—Ji Yingting felt that, compared to the humans she had just seen, her appearance was more in line with the beauty of the anime characters.

She felt she had embodied the word "beautiful," even if only for a fleeting moment.

"How wonderful!" Ji Yingting's thoughts returned from the starry sky to reality. In that instant when she could see everything in this world clearly, she had no regrets.

Character design illustration for Ji Yingting

First of all, I want to thank the artist Fei Xiang C. It's amazing that they could perfectly draw the main character's character design; I'm truly grateful. Although it cost 1000 yuan, I feel it was worth it. It's not easy to find an artist whose art style you like. I also spent a lot of time developing the main character's personality. I hope you like her design.

Chapter 3: First Game

"That's wonderful," Ji Yingting's thoughts returned to reality. In that instant when she could see everything in this world clearly, she had no regrets.

"Sakuraba-san, what's wrong?"

Wang Xi picked up a bunch of black chess pieces from the chess box and asked Ji Yingting with some confusion.

"It's nothing," Ji Yingting gently shook her head and placed the chess piece in her hand onto the chessboard.

As her gaze returned to the present, Ji Yingting's mind was immediately filled with the familiar starry chessboard from her previous life, as well as Wang Xi and herself on the other side.

Ji Yingting admired her own appearance for a long time without getting enough, until Wang Xi urged her again.

She counted the chess pieces she had just taken out.

"There are sixteen in total, which is an even number. You guessed it was an odd number, so you're wrong. Therefore, I'll play black and go first."

"Uh-huh"

Ji Yingting nodded excitedly, and as she picked up the chess piece again, she was very excited and couldn't wait to play.

She is the type of player who is better at playing white.

Compared to darkness, Ji Yingting definitely yearns for light more, so she is much stronger when she plays white than when she plays black.

[Black moves first, but receives a 7-point komi; wins by 185 points. White moves second; wins by 177 points.]

Ji Yingting could clearly see Wang Xi's expression and movements, as well as everything on the starry chessboard in front of her, so she refused to let anyone help her play. The other members of the Go club gathered around the two to watch the game.

"Hey, is Sakuraba-senpai really going to play blindfold chess? That seems to be at a disadvantage for her."

Several members whispered among themselves.

"P4, the star position in the upper right corner"

Wang Xi spoke, and the black piece was placed on the chessboard.

Ji Yingting placed her left hand flat on her knee, and picked up the white chess piece from the chess box with her right hand. The action, which she had used hundreds of thousands of times in her previous life, was already etched into her mind.

She held the white piece between two fingers and slowly dropped it into the starry chessboard with a soft thud.

A crisp sound rang out on the chessboard, drawing the attention of everyone around.

"Sakuraba-senpai, your Go-playing posture is so beautiful and perfect."

A female elementary school student said with some admiration.

"She seems really skilled; she can find the chessboard so accurately even with her eyes closed."

"D16, Star Position"

Ji Yingting also lowered the star position located in the upper right corner of her position.

There are 8 star points on a Go board, located at the four corners and four sides, marked by 4+4 small black dots. The point in the center of the board is called the Tengen (center point).

Generally, the opening moves in Go should start from the four corners, because there is a saying that goes, "Gold corners, silver edges, and grass belly."

The corner is valuable because it has two closed sides, making it difficult for the opponent to attack and allowing for easy scoring.

The edge is silver, second only to the corner. It is closed on one side, and you need to take a few more steps to get the same number of points as the corner.

The large open space in the middle is made of grass, making it difficult to enclose and easy for people to invade.

"P16, Star Position"

Wang Xi continued, "The black piece fell with a crisp sound."

Twin stars... that's a fairly standard move. There's no point in thinking about it here. Let's just play according to her skill level. Ji Yingting blinked.

"What is Wang Xi's rank?"

Ji Yingting said softly. She took her right hand out of the chess box after only one step and asked.

"Uh... amateur 2nd dan, I've only been learning for three years."

Wang Xi scratched his head and said embarrassedly.

If you start learning Go from a young age, even if you reach the amateur fourth or fifth dan level by junior high school age, you can't say you've made fast progress.

"Um"

Without saying anything, Ji Yingting nodded slightly and put her right hand back into the chess box.

The second paragraph says... "E3, outside the eye."

Ji Yingting held a white piece and struck it crisply on a square. The thunderous sound startled everyone present.

The act of placing a piece is quite technical. For a professional Go player, breaking a piece in one move is a piece of cake. In Ji Yingting's previous life, when she placed a piece, she could make a deafening roar like a cannon shot.

Wang Xi trembled slightly, and her small hand holding the chess piece lost its grip. A black chess piece fell onto the board, rolled a few times, and landed upside down.

"Phew..." Wang Xi, who had been on edge, breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, she placed the piece in the opposite direction. If it had accidentally landed face up on the board, she would have been too embarrassed to take it back.

"Sakuraba-kun, I'm sorry, I dropped this piece."

"It's nothing," Ji Yingting shook her head. She had naturally seen what happened on the starry chessboard.

"Then, let me see."

Wang Xi carefully picked up the piece.

Wait! Wang Xi, who had just calmed down, suddenly widened her eyes. She had actually lowered her gaze?

Having come from an untrained background and never attended a formal Go academy, she had never encountered the "eye-outside" move before. What could she do?