After his last match in the National Master Tournant, Yu Shao had a break before the next one. But the Fight for the Pro Slot was still going strong, match after match, day after day, drawing attention from across the world. Each ga sparked massive discussion everywhere.
After Chu Jingfeng won the seventh ga, he took the lead in the eighth with a genius Throw-in, but was ultimately overturned by his opponent, losing by just 1.5 points.
Then Zhu Huaian stepped up and won a match, setting up a brutal showdown with Anton, the current King of Go. The two clashed down to the final half-point, and Zhu Huaian narrowly lost by that tiny margin.
Next, Fu Shunan, holder of the Great Player title, went on an incredible three-ga winning streak, cutting the Arican lineup down to just two players. The entire internet went wild!
But in the fourth ga after that, Fu Shunan clearly showed signs of fatigue. He made a devastating blunder and was defeated in a dragon-slaying loss.
In the following match, the Arican player stood firm under pressure and pulled off another win the next day, defeating Fan Shengjie, 9-dan. But once Jiang Changdong took the stage, he captured his opponent’s Large Dragon, sending the challenge straight into the final match.
The last player for the Arican side was Xi Rui, who currently holds the Tengen title.
The match was absolutely brilliant. In the midga, Xi Rui used an almost supernatural sacrificial transformation, giving up the side and corner in exchange for a massive territory formation. White had already seized control of the board. Black looked completely dood.
But then—what happened next stunned everyone to their core.
In this do-or-die mont, Jiang Changdong, after a long think, unleashed unbelievable killing strength, locking down five of White’s Large Dragons using a group of eyeless isolated stones!
Jiang Changdong rallied fiercely, and in the end—with one flash of the blade—he landed a killing blow.
Black devoured White’s massive territory. In a ga that looked utterly lost, he clawed back a single thread of life, executed a real-ti tesuji theory, and completed a shocking coback!
Without Lu Bo, 9-dan or Zhuang Weisheng, 10-dan even appearing, the second round of the Fight for the Pro Slot ca to an end!
“It’s over.”
Seeing Xi Rui resign, Yu Shao finally looked away from the TV and turned to his parents—only to be stunned.
Both Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaoi were still staring at the screen, faces flushed with excitent, completely absorbed in the match.
“Mom, Dad... you guys actually understood what was happening?”
Yu Shao couldn’t help asking.
Since their hotpot shop was undergoing renovations, Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaoi hadn’t gone in to work. Today, since it was the final Pro Slot match, they insisted Yu Shao watch it with them.
But they looked like they understood what they were seeing?
“Uhh… not really.”
Cai Xiaoi was the first to snap out of it. She shook her head and said, “But the comntary helped a bit. It felt like I understood. Anyway, it was amazing—so full of twists and turns. Just aweso!”
“Yeah.”
Yu Dongming also nodded. “Back when you were in the Pro Slot matches, your mom and I watched it the sa way. We didn’t understand, but we could feel the excitent. I’m thinking of learning Go now.”
“Wait—seriously?”
Hearing that, Yu Shao was a little surprised. “Dad, you want to teach you?”
“No need, no need.”
Yu Dongming waved it off with a laugh. “He’s way too busy to teach anyone. And you don’t have the ti to teach either. Just buy a couple of Go books and get a feel for it. Who knows—you might end up like him, a self-taught prodigy?”
Xi Rui had nothing to say.
“Oh right, Xiao Shao, now that the second round is over—are they going to send out the prize money?” Cai Xiaoi suddenly rembered. She quickly turned to Yu Shao and asked, “I heard that if a team wins two rounds in a row, the prize money goes up?”
“According to the rules,” Yu Shao said after thinking, “if one side loses both rounds, the challenger has to pay triple the bonus.”
“Fifty percent of the prize is split evenly among the ten players. The other fifty is distributed based on individual win count.”
“You won ten gas—so that fifty percent is all yours?” Cai Xiaoi’s eyes widened. “That’s gotta be several million, right?”
“More or less.”
Yu Shao nodded. “The first round’s prize wasn’t as high as the second.”
In this world, Go prize money was incredibly generous—sponsorships were everywhere. Judging by the buzz from this Pro Slot challenge, the sponsors clearly made bank, regardless of who won.
In truth, the sponsors were the biggest driving force behind these events. The national Go associations, on the other hand, were often hesitant to accept sponsorship unless they were absolutely confident of winning. Otherwise, they wouldn’t agree to a Pro Slot challenge lightly.
Hearing all this, Cai Xiaoi and Yu Dongming were a little stunned.
They already thought the first round’s prize was a lot—but the second round’s was even higher?
That’s faster than robbing a bank!
“But wait—your teammates didn’t even play. Why should they get half?” Cai Xiaoi blurted. “Shouldn’t you get all of it?”
“Of course not.”
Yu Shao couldn’t help but laugh. “Even the players who didn’t get to play help stabilize the team.”
“Normally, the strongest players are saved for the end. That way, the ones playing earlier can give it their all, knowing soone strong is holding the anchor position. And those final players bear the most pressure, too.”
“Like in this round, Zhuang Weisheng, 10-dan, and Lu Bo, 9-dan, didn’t even get to play—but they still put in ti and effort. It wouldn’t be right to leave them out.”
Hearing that, Cai Xiaoi nodded thoughtfully. “I see... that actually makes a lot of sense when you put it like that.”
“But Xiao Shao, I’m still going to put that money away for you.”
Her expression turned a bit serious. “You’re not even an adult yet. You can’t be walking around with that much money. Soday you’ll need it to buy a house, a car, get married—that all costs money.”
Yu Shao didn’t really care. Ever since Xu Zijin gifted him those two Go sets, he didn’t even feel like millions were that big of a deal anymore.
He nodded and said, “Mom, once the money’s in, you guys can use so of it if you need.”
“No way, it’s your hard-earned money!”
Cai Xiaoi imdiately shook her head. “We’re not touching a cent. Once you’re an adult, it’ll all go to you.”
Hearing that, Yu Shao didn’t argue. He knew it wouldn’t do any good. If his parents said they wouldn’t touch it, then they really wouldn’t.
“Oh right, Xiao Shao—your next National Master match is tomorrow, right?” Yu Dongming suddenly rembered and asked.
“Yeah.”
Yu Shao nodded. “It’s tomorrow.”
“Who’s your opponent?” Cai Xiaoi asked, curious.
Yu Shao thought for a second and answered, “Yin Yan’ang, 9-dan.”
At that mont, both Yu Dongming and Cai Xiaoi froze.
“9-dan?!”
...
...
That night, with the conclusion of the Pro Slot challenge, the whole internet exploded.
Two rounds. Ten straight wins.
News, posts, and videos about the Pro Slot matches swept across every platform. Even the first round saw a revival in popularity thanks to the excitent from the second.
Amid all the buzz, the night passed quickly.
The next morning, after breakfast, Yu Shao called a taxi and headed to the Go Academy.
Just as he stepped into the academy lobby, he spotted a familiar figure.
“Su Yiming?”
Yu Shao was surprised to see him scanning a QR code at the vending machine. “You have a match today too?”
“Nope.”
Su Yiming shook his head, paused, then said, “I ca specifically to watch your match today.”
Yu Shao was montarily speechless. “You know who I’m playing?”
“Even though it’s a preliminary, the Go Academy posts the matchups on their website.”
Su Yiming looked at him calmly. “I’ve looked up the na of every opponent you’ve faced.”
Yu Shao was taken aback for a mont.
Then Su Yiming spoke again. “You signed up for the China-Japan-Korea Youth Team Tournant, right?”
Yu Shao nodded silently.
Su Yiming bent down to grab two cans of cola from the vending machine, handed one to Yu Shao, and said, “I signed up too.”
“Thanks.”
Yu Shao took the can and popped the tab while thanking him.
“You don’t need to go through the prelims—you’ve already secured your spot for the team tournant.”
Su Yiming continued to look at Yu Shao. “But there’s still going to be one selection match to decide who’ll be the team’s main player. You know that, right?”
Yu Shao’s hand paused mid-pull on the tab.
He looked up at Su Yiming.
Su Yiming’s gaze remained calm. He stood quietly, no sharpness showing on his face.
“I didn’t know before.”
After a mont, Yu Shao looked away, opened his can, and nodded. “But I do now.”
Su Yiming didn’t say anything more. He opened his own drink and walked toward the Playing Room.
Yu Shao didn’t say anything either. He followed alongside him.
Not long after, the two of them reached the doorway to the Playing Room. But unlike usual, the room was unusually packed today.
As soon as they arrived, nearly everyone in the room turned their gaze toward the entrance.
“It’s Yu Shao!”
“Yu Shao’s here!”
“Wait—why’s Su Yiming here too?”
The whole room stirred.
Yu Shao scanned the room and recognized many familiar faces. Clearly, a lot of people had co to the academy just to watch—despite not having matches themselves.
He looked toward Table 14—both sides of the board were still empty.
That was his table today.
Yu Shao walked over, pulled out the chair, and sat down.
Seeing that, several players exchanged glances, and one by one, they got up and moved toward Table 14.
Before long, the crowd around the table grew thicker and thicker—completely surrounding it.
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