"Yu Shao, you finished this early?"
After leaving the playing hall, Yu Shao walked out of the hotel and headed to the sa restaurant where he had previously dined with Jiang Xiahua. Just as he was halfway through his al, Jiang Xiahua’s voice rang out from behind him.
"Yeah. You finished too?"
Yu Shao looked up at Jiang Xiahua, who entered the restaurant looking completely at ease.
"You won?"
Since their match venues were different, Yu Shao had no idea how Jiang Xiahua's ga had gone.
"Yeah, I won. What about you?" Jiang Xiahua ordered a pork knuckle rice bowl and asked.
Yu Shao nodded. "I won."
"Impressive!"
Jiang Xiahua raised an eyebrow in surprise, then sat down across from Yu Shao.
"Who was your opponent?"
This question stumped Yu Shao for a mont.
It was... soone with the surna Wan?
He thought about it for a mont but ultimately couldn’t recall the na, so he just shook his head and said, "I forgot."
"You just finished the match, and you already forgot your opponent’s na?"
Jiang Xiahua was montarily speechless but then shrugged.
"There are still four rounds left. After those four rounds, it'll be the finals. Let’s hope we don’t end up facing each other."
The main tournant didn’t have too many rounds. With 400 players in the competition and a double-elimination format, only five rounds were needed to determine the top 50 players who would advance to the finals.
The remaining 350 players would be eliminated, and with that, their path to becoming professional Go players would co to an end.
Just then, two more participants walked into the restaurant together.
"He was too strong..."
One of them, a young man around twenty years old, looked utterly dejected.
"His positional judgnt was ridiculously precise. It was a slow ga, but he was placing his moves almost instantly, like it was a blitz match. And he’s only thirteen... I wasn’t even close to being a match for him."
"You just had bad luck running into Zhuang Fei in the first round. But don’t worry, you still have one more chance. Just win all your remaining matches," his companion comforted him.
"Yeah, but that ans I can’t afford a single mistake now. The pressure is insane..."
The young man shook his head and fell silent for a mont before continuing.
"If I don’t earn my pro status this year, I’ll have to give up. I need to find another path."
"What? There's no need for that. You’re only twenty-three. The age limit for the Promotion Tournant is thirty—you still have seven years to qualify."
"I co from a rural family. My financial situation isn’t great, and my father has always opposed learning Go. He thinks I’m not cut out for it. My mom is the only one who supports ."
The young man let out a bitter smile.
"I wanted to beco a professional player to prove my dad wrong. But now… I’m starting to realize he might’ve been right."
"My options now are either becoming a Go instructor, a comntator, or focusing on amateur tournants for prize money. Either way, I need to start making a living."
"I can’t keep failing every year, relying on my family for money. I’m an adult now—I’d be too ashad to face my mother."
Jiang Xiahua, who had been eating, suddenly fell silent upon hearing their conversation.
The Next Day
The atmosphere in the playing hall was different from the previous day.
Yesterday, despite the tension, there had been an undercurrent of excitent—both winners and losers knew they still had a chance.
But today, 100 players from the losers’ bracket would be eliminated.
The losers would have to make way for the winners, watching as others took step after step toward the path of becoming professional Go players.
"I lost."
A fourteen-year-old boy placed two stones on the board, his face filled with unwillingness as he lowered his head in resignation.
"Phew..."
Jiang Xiahua let out a breath of relief, nodded, and exchanged a customary bow with his opponent before lifting his head to glance over at Zhuang Fei’s table.
Zhuang Fei’s ga had drawn a massive crowd—his table was completely surrounded, with even the referees paying close attention.
Jiang Xiahua clicked his tongue and turned his gaze toward Fang Haoxin’s table, only to find that it, too, was packed with spectators.
Today, he, Zhuang Fei, and Fang Haoxin were all playing in the sa hall.
"I played Zhuang Fei in the preliminaries before—he’s definitely strong. But I don’t know much about Fang Haoxin yet. I should go take a look."
Just as Jiang Xiahua was about to stand up and check out Fang Haoxin’s ga, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Yu Shao’s table.
He blinked in surprise.
Standing behind Yu Shao was He Zhi’an, watching the match with a solemn expression.
"He Zhi’an? He’s not watching Zhuang Fei or Fang Haoxin’s gas?"
Jiang Xiahua imdiately recognized him and was puzzled.
Then, he turned to look at Yu Shao’s opponent and recognized him as well.
Zhu Yi—one of the Dojo Trainees from Zhifeng Dojo.
Fifteen years old, competing in his fourth Promotion Tournant.
Last year, he had fought all the way to the final round of the losers’ bracket before being eliminated.
Jiang Xiahua hesitated for a mont but ultimately decided to walk toward Yu Shao’s table. Soon, he was standing beside He Zhi’an, looking at the board.
"What the—?"
The mont Jiang Xiahua saw the position, his eyelid twitched in shock.
The ga had already entered the midga, and the board position was a complete landslide in favor of Black.
White had three large groups under severe attack, and its corner had been reduced to an empty triangle—one of the weakest shapes in Go!
"How did this ga even get to this point? How did Zhu Yi end up in such a disastrous position?"
Jiang Xiahua quickly glanced at the ga clock—and was stunned.
Zhu Yi had only ten minutes left before overti.
anwhile, Yu Shao still had a staggering two hours left!
"Even the ti difference is massive?"
Jiang Xiahua could hardly believe it.
If one player had an advantage in board position but both had similar ti left, it could still be considered an even fight.
But if one player dominated both the position and the ti, then it was a complete wipeout.
This ant that Yu Shao was instantly reading through Zhu Yi’s moves, requiring almost no thought.
anwhile, Zhu Yi had to struggle over every single move, unable to find a solution!
"Isn’t Yu Shao just an amateur player?"
Jiang Xiahua forced down his shock and continued watching the ga.
While White pondered each move for a long ti, Black played at lightning speed—often responding the instant White placed a stone.
Soon, White was on the verge of entering overti countdown.
"He’s too strong!"
Jiang Xiahua’s heart pounded as he took a deep breath.
"That last attach by White was actually quite tenacious, but Black’s diagonal move imdiately followed by an atari completely exposed White’s thin shape and weaknesses!"
"This move... It’s hard to spot. If I had a little more ti, maybe I could’ve thought of it too."
"But… he played it instantly."
"Yu Shao actually has this level of skill?"
Jiang Xiahua was shaken.
Until now, he had always assud Yu Shao was just lucky—that he only made it into the main tournant because his preliminary group had just two Dojo Trainees. He had thought Yu Shao was just another amateur who had slipped through.
"White has lost. Honestly… he should just resign now."
Jiang Xiahua had already made his judgnt about this ga.
But Zhu Yi was still unwilling to accept defeat and continued playing.
Suddenly, a thought struck Jiang Xiahua. He quickly walked over to the front of the playing hall, where the tournant brackets were posted.
Since there were too many participants in the main tournant, the bracket was spread across multiple sheets. He had only checked his own matchups earlier and hadn’t looked at Yu Shao’s or his fellow dojo trainees’ records.
After searching for a while, he finally found Yu Shao’s na.
"Round 1: Yu Shao vs… Wan Baihan?"
"And the result is..."
Jiang Xiahua took a deep breath as he read the match outco.
"Wan Baihan lost?"
He had played against Wan Baihan multiple tis before. Overall, their win-loss ratio was about 6-4 in his favor. But even so, he considered Wan Baihan a formidable opponent who couldn’t be underestimated.
Yet… Wan Baihan had lost to Yu Shao in the first round?
Jiang Xiahua turned back toward Yu Shao in shock.
At that mont, Zhu Yi placed two stones on the board—signaling his resignation.
Clearly, he had finally accepted reality.
Two Days Later
Three days of intense battles had already eliminated a significant number of players.
Many had been knocked out entirely, while others were clinging to survival in the losers’ bracket, walking on a knife’s edge.
As for the winners’ bracket, only a select fifty players remained.
Today’s matches would determine the top 25, securing them a direct spot in the finals.
For the remaining 25, they would be dropped into the losers’ bracket—where a single loss would an elimination.
If possible, everyone wanted to qualify today and avoid the risk of elimination entirely.
Yu Shao arrived at the playing hall early.
Inside, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt suffocating.
Not a single sound broke the silence.
These were the final fifty of the winners’ bracket.
And only twenty-five would move forward today.
As Yu Shao entered, Su Yiming, who was seated at Table 5, lifted his head and looked over at him.
Not just Su Yiming—several others turned their gaze toward Yu Shao as well.
There was curiosity in their eyes.
And a subtle but undeniable wariness.
Anyone who had made it to this stage with a 3-0 record was not to be taken lightly.
They were all potential opponents in the finals.
Even those who had never heard of Yu Shao before now had no choice but to take him seriously.
Jiang Xiahua was also among the winners, watching Yu Shao with a slightly complicated expression.
Yu Shao scanned the tournant board, quickly found his na, then walked over to Table 12 and sat down.
Shortly after, Zhuang Fei arrived at the hall.
Though he was only thirteen, he was already showing flashes of brilliance.
The mont he stepped in, the air in the room seed to grow even heavier.
A wave of pressure settled over the players.
Zhuang Fei glanced at the bracket, then calmly walked over to Table 21 and pulled out his chair.
Though his opponent had known in advance that he’d be facing Zhuang Fei today, now that he was actually sitting across from him, the 15-year-old boy’s face turned slightly pale.
Not long after, Fang Haoxin entered the playing hall.
And with his arrival—
The entire room seed to freeze.
Even Su Yiming glanced at him twice.
The tension reached its peak.
The battles today…
Would decide everything.
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