September arrived, marking the start of the new school year.
During the two months of sumr break, Yu Shao finally completed his ranking exams and secured the title of Amateur 1-Dan.
To advance further, he now had to participate in amateur tournants or official Promotion Matches. Amateur ranks couldn’t be skipped, aning the process would take so ti, but it wouldn’t be unbearably slow either.
Throughout the past two months of playing online, Yu Shao hadn’t necessarily sharpened his attacking skills, but he had started to adapt to a more aggressive style within real gas.
More importantly, his mindset had shifted.
At first, he played cautiously online—focusing on a solid opening, gradually accumulating small advantages, and only launching fierce attacks in the midga to dismantle his opponent.
But as ti passed and he grew accustod to initiating battles, he began to change. Since these were just online gas, he figured: Why not? He started treating the opening phase casually, not even caring if he fell behind, just so he could dive straight into chaotic midga fights.
For soone like Yu Shao—whose previous life had been defined by a careful and ticulous playing style—this transformation was almost unimaginable.
Jiangling was still hot in September, with no sign of the temperature dropping.
As Yu Shao arrived at the High School Year 2, Class 7 registration, a dark, shadowy figure lunged at him with wild energy.
“Old Yu! It’s been two months!”
Startled, Yu Shao instinctively sidestepped, causing the dark figure to crash into empty air.
“…Zhou De?”
Yu Shao squinted at the figure, finally recognizing it. His lips twitched.
“Damn, you could totally be the new spokesperson for Black Man Toothpaste.”
“You wouldn’t understand the pain of an athlete!”
Zhou De groaned dramatically. “You guys got to sit at ho all sumr with air conditioning—I was stuck training. It was hell!”
“If you weren’t training, would you have studied instead?”
Yu Shao’s expression turned serious. “Zhou De, I’ll say it again—you’re not like the others. You must not waste your energy on academics.”
“Get lost!”
Zhou De rolled his eyes before suddenly rembering sothing. “Oh, by the way, did you know that this year our physics teacher is Chen Jiaming?”
“Chen Jiaming?”
Yu Shao was surprised. He shook his head. “I didn’t know that.”
“Are you joining the City High School Go League again this year?” Zhou De asked.
“I can’t.”
Yu Shao shook his head. “Even if the principal wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to join.”
“The league happens around the sa ti as the Promotion Tournant. I won’t be available.”
“I’m just here today to register. In a few days, I’ll be filing for part-ti enrollnt. This sester, I’ll be traveling to participate in amateur tournants to rank up. I won’t be coming to school regularly.”
Zhou De had expected this, but hearing it still shocked him. “So you’re really serious about becoming a professional player?”
“Yes.”
Yu Shao nodded. “I’ve made up my mind.”
“Damn it! You’re damn unbelievable!”
Zhou De let out a long sigh, looking as if a massive burden had just fallen on his shoulders.
“I heard Xu Zijin is also planning to go pro. That ans for this year’s City High School Go League, Zhong Yufei and I have to carry the team!”
Yu Shao nearly choked. “You?”
“Don’t underestimate ! I secretly took a Go class over the sumr—I didn’t tell you.”
Zhou De smirked smugly. “My teacher said I’ve got talent. And with over six months left, I’ve got plenty of ti to beco a killing machine! I’m gonna defy fate and achieve the impossible!”
Yu Shao froze for a mont.
As much as he didn’t want to admit it… Zhou De did have a bit of talent in Go.
It probably wasn’t enough for him to beco a professional, but if he took the ga seriously, with six months of training, he might actually beco a decent player.
For once, Yu Shao didn’t mock him. Instead, he patted Zhou De’s shoulder and said, “Alright. It’s all on you.”
Three days after registering at school, Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaoi arrived to help Yu Shao complete his part-ti enrollnt paperwork.
From that mont on, Yu Shao fully committed to his amateur promotion journey.
anwhile, sothing else was shaking up the Go world.
The Star-Point Attachnt joseki, after being intensely analyzed and tested by countless players, had finally made its way into professional tournants—spreading like wildfire.
Against the Star-Point Triple Hane, instead of following the standard online variations where White played atari, professionals began opting for a Tiger’s Mouth. Black, in response, played Counter-Tiger, creating a much simpler variation.
While both choices were viable and equally competitive, this alternative branch had fewer variations, causing the Star-Point Triple Hane to lose so of its initial hype.
But two months later, another breakthrough occurred.
After more in-depth research and nurous reviews, players suddenly realized—according to the original online variations—White wasn’t actually at a disadvantage!
If White chose to tenuki (play elsewhere), the seemingly trapped three stones still had imnse potential in later midga fights.
Furthermore, the ensuing battle would be highly complex—a completely balanced ga!
This revelation instantly shook the Go world, pushing the Star-Point Attachnt joseki to the peak of its popularity.
After all, this went completely against conventional wisdom.
From a human perspective, White should have been losing.
But now?
White wasn’t losing at all.
People could accept this logically… but emotionally? It was too hard to swallow.
Late Night. A High-End Apartnt.
He Yu sat at his computer, staring at the screen, his expression complicated.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
Glancing at the caller ID, he picked up. “Hello?”
“He Yu, did you watch today’s ijin title match?”
“In the final ga, Kong Zi was the first to play the Star-Point Attachnt with Tenuki! Then, in the midga, he launched an all-out attack and crushed Liang Yucheng to take the ijin title!”
“Everyone thought that after losing the Tianyuan title to Zhuang Weisheng, Kong Zi would need ti to recover. But nope—he bounced back imdiately and snatched the ijin title instead!”
“For the past week, people were debating whether White could hold their ground with this variation. But no pro had dared to actually use it yet—because intuitively, it still felt like a losing move.”
“But Kong Zi actually used it in a championship-deciding ga! I was shocked! That guy’s got guts!”
“That match was insane!”
The caller was talking so fast, he didn’t even pause to breathe.
He Yu continued staring at his computer, replying calmly, “Yeah, I saw it. I’m still reviewing the ga record.”
“It’s unbelievable. The Star-Point Attachnt isn’t just so basic joseki. The deeper we analyze it, the more bottomless it seems. This could beco one of the most complex josekis ever.”
“I feel like there are still endless variations we haven’t explored yet!”
They continued discussing the ga for a long ti before finally ending the call.
After hanging up, He Yu remained silent, staring at the screen.
After a long while, he exhaled softly.
“…Looks like I was wrong.”
“They haven’t even entered the professional scene yet…”
“…and they’re already stirring up the storm.”
He lit a cigarette and glanced at the bottom corner of his screen.
Three months left until Promotion Tournant registration.
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