Full-time comic artist

Hiding fear, yet filled with excitement, they wielded their swords with unwavering courage.

More than ten years have passed, and he is still the same Akira Touya.

but……

"AlphaGo is too powerful!" Hikaru Shindo exclaimed in shock.

AlphaGo still possesses overwhelming dominance in slow chess games; even Akira Touya is no match for it.

He had initially thought that, with more time to think in slower chess, he had a chance of winning. But now…

Hikaru Shindo's expression turned serious.

……

Yang Sen said, "In the third game, Akira Touya tentatively started a fight on move 20. As a result, AlphaGo played its own move and then made a series of brilliant moves after move 30. Akira Touya thought for a long time but still couldn't come up with a countermeasure."

"So what's next?" Guli asked excitedly.

Under Yang Sen's witty remarks, he seemed to be witnessing a truly exciting chess game! He couldn't wait to know what would happen next.

Did Akira Touya manage to turn the tide?

There was no ending.

Even the best chess players are still far behind AlphaGo.

“When we were here, we could already see the ending…” Yang Sen sighed.

Even after that, Akira Touya did not give up. He fought hard to find a chance to turn the tide and used desperate moves, but he eventually resigned in the middle game.

"During the game against AlphaGo, Akira Touya remained calm and composed, but when the result came out, he shed tears and choked up, unable to speak."

"It wasn't until I calmed down that I shared my thoughts."

Akira Touya said: "I'm worried about the moves AlphaGo will make. It always makes the same moves, and I can't fully predict its moves. I... I lost."

"With a significant gap, Akira Touya lost both of his last two matches."

"Human chess players' intelligence was defeated by human scientists."

Hearing this, Gu Li was extremely unwilling. What kind of artificial intelligence was this, claiming that it could beat the top professional Go players!

His dream is to become a world-class Go player, win the world championship, and defeat South Korea and Japan! He doesn't want to understand this inexplicable thing that he himself cannot defeat in the future.

Gu Li's idea is the same in Japan.

AlphaGo in "The Great Revolution of Go" became one of the top three villains in Japanese manga, a terrifying existence with no hope of winning.

"Hikaru Shindo can't win, he can't even win one game!"

"What's crueler than cruelty is the absence of emotion. I can't imagine how AlphaGo could fail."

"The plot is very exciting. Even though it's just a chess-playing scene, it left me breathless, like being shrouded in a dark fog. Tori Akino's artwork has reached a new level, and the tension in the plot is even more terrifying."

"So, does Go really have no future?"

Yang Sen paid attention to the psychological changes of readers in Japan.

He told Gu Li and the Hong Kong children, “When readers didn’t know that AlphaGo was artificial intelligence, they were curious. This character is similar to Fujiwara no Sai, and everyone was looking forward to whether Fujiwara no Sai had returned. Twenty years later, another person saw his soul.”

"When AlphaGo's identity was revealed, readers were initially surprised, and then they scoffed."

"Such technology simply doesn't exist. It's just a cartoonist's talk, too far-fetched and unrealistic."

"As the plot unfolded, the comic became increasingly captivating, drawing readers deeper into the story and making them feel as if they were experiencing the same emotions as the characters. AlphaGo's overwhelming power led readers to exclaim, 'I can't breathe!'"

These three stages are now in their final stage, a stage where a hero is longing to emerge.

Defeat the Great Dog Demon King and win back the world!

The great revolution in Go is also coming to an end.

"Next up is Hikaru Shindo's game!" Gu Li said quickly.

“That’s right.” Yang Sen nodded. “Hikaru Shindo’s Go moves are the most exciting part, the climax, and the finishing touch in the entire manga. Even now, thinking about them still gives me goosebumps.”

……

In the first game, Hikaru Shindo gave it his all, but still lost to AlphaGo.

This chapter was met with resistance from readers as soon as it was released.

Such a dark ending is something no one wanted to see.

"So the old rhetoric started coming back: no artificial intelligence could defeat the top professional Go players," Yang Sen recalled. "Everyone was like ostriches, burying their heads in the sand and ignoring everything else."

"But this self-abandonment was quickly shattered, and he had to face the possible reality."

"What?" Guli asked.

Yang Sen said quietly, "That's another story."

This matter has little to do with Go, and even less to do with "Hikaru no Go".

But at this moment, it dealt a heavy blow to the readers.

Yang Sen said, "It's a major news story worldwide. You might not know about it at the chess academy, but it's already all over the place. Even Xinhua News Agency has given it the largest coverage."

"What is it?" Guli asked eagerly.

"Deep Blue, Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in the game!"

In the 1997 Human vs. Computer Challenge, the artificial intelligence Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov, the world's number one ranked chess player!

"Kasparov played six games from May 3rd to May 11th. The result was one win, three draws, and two losses! This ushered in a new era, a giant leap for mankind, but also a tragedy for chess players."

Gu Li's eyes widened when he heard this.

He knew about chess, but he never expected that the strongest chess player would lose to the artificial intelligence Deep Blue.

This is not saying...

He took a deep breath and stared straight at Yang Sen.

“That’s right, Bird Akino’s prophecy is very likely true!” Yang Sen said with utmost seriousness.

The emergence of Deep Blue reveals that when technology is advanced enough, it is inevitable that artificial intelligence will defeat the top Go players, regardless of human opinions.

Just hearing what Yang Sen said, Gu Li felt a sense of despair.

He is working so hard now, but in the future, he will have to face artificial intelligence, which will be his tragedy.

Efforts turned into nothing.

When Deep Blue's story is combined with comics, readers who scoff at it, or those with an Ah Q mentality, all become as sad as Gu Li.

Even Otake Hideo couldn't let it go.

He initially expressed his opposition to the content of Akino Tori's manga on television, but now it seems he lacked foresight.

That's not a big deal, because everyone thinks the same way he does.

But does this mean that the Go world will become stagnant in the future?

Not only that, but where will Japanese Go, which pursues the spirit and etiquette of Go, go from here?

His aesthetic Go moves represent a dead end with no future.

Just as Tori Akino said, the cold AI has indeed studied Go in depth. With the support of its computing power, the emotionless machine will defeat the Go player who loves the game.

He couldn't believe it!

"For a time, even Go players like Otake Hideo, one of the Six Supers, were confused by a manga." Yang Sen sighed. He had witnessed this firsthand at the Go Academy, and he himself was one of those affected.

"The philosophy inherent in Chinese Go serves as a backdrop to its status. When Go is stripped of its glamorous exterior and bullied by AI, like a pampered young lady being defiled by a frivolous boy, is Go still the same Go it once was?"

Upon realizing this, Yang Sen also became despondent.

This is a spectacle in the world of comics; a Go-themed work that has generated such a huge social impact has never happened before.

"It transcends the limitations of comic book themes, possessing artistry and an exploration of the future. It's a work like 'Foundation'."

This is what Yang Sen said from the perspective of a Go player.

"Although there are still insurmountable technical obstacles to computers, they will be overcome one day, and given the speed of technological innovation, that time will not be far off."

Gu Li grew increasingly distressed, foreseeing a terrifying future where everything would be shrouded in the shadow of AlphaGo.

"Isn't there any good news?" the Hong Kong child couldn't help but ask.

“Of course,” Jansen replied, “exciting news.”

……

This is the last chess game that Hibiki Higashino described in detail.

This was also Hikaru Shindo's third game.

After losing to AlphaGo, he fell into self-doubt, but in the second game, he verified one of his conjectures.

Thanks to the support of Seiji Ogata and Akira Touya, Hikaru Shindo is gaining a deeper understanding of AlphaGo.

Perhaps he can find a bug in AlphaGo in the third game.

But when it came time to actually verify it, he was breathing rapidly with nervousness.

As he was about to go on stage, Hikaru Shindo was still unable to calm down.

If things continue like this, they won't be able to unleash their full potential and thus won't be able to defeat AlphaGo.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.

Just then, he seemed to hear someone say in his ear:

"Xiao Guang... Xiao Guang..."

"What's this?!" Hikaru Shindo's eyes widened. "Sai's voice!"

He turned around abruptly and saw Sai behind him.

Sai looked the same as before, wearing a white robe, holding a folding fan, and showing a gentle smile.

"Long time no see, Hikaru."

“Hmm… Sai…” Hikaru murmured to himself.

He transformed into the image he had when he separated from Sai, a youthful face that countless readers fondly remember.