I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go! Chapter 96: How Long Has It Been Since I Last Lost?

The competition venue was emptying out, with people gradually leaving.

Yet, Su Yiming remained seated, still staring at the board, showing no intention of getting up.

Jin Xiao and the two other players from Guangzhou Affiliated High stood nearby, looking at him, hesitant to speak.

"How long has it been... since I last lost a ga?"

Su Yiming gazed at the board, his mind seemingly drifting through ti—returning to over a hundred years ago.

At that ti, after reaching the pinnacle of his Go prowess at twenty-three, he had never lost another ga, regardless of whether he played as Black or White.

But because of that, he also felt a profound loneliness, having no worthy opponents.

Seeking a challenge, he was the first to introduce the komi system, handicapping himself and playing against the strongest challengers of his era under various komi settings.

Ti and again, he found himself in desperate situations—on the brink of defeat.

But in the end, none could overco him.

Whether it was a 4.5-point komi, or a 7.5-point komi—it was always the sa result.

It was only when he played under a 10.5-point komi that he finally reached a losing position.

But just as he was about to concede, Fang Xin resigned first, telling him, "This wasn’t a fair match."

Afterward, they played another ga under a 7.5-point komi, battling fiercely to the very last move of the endga.

And still, Su Yiming erged victorious.

If he disregarded that one 10.5-komi match, from the ti he was 23 until his death at 33, he had gone ten entire years without losing a single ga.

Now, over a hundred years later, he had ntally prepared himself for the possibility of losing.

After all, the world of Go had evolved imnsely over the past century.

But never did he expect that his first loss in over a hundred years would co in a city-level high school Go tournant.

Back then, he had longed for defeat—so much so that his obsession had even made him sick.

But now that this loss had finally co, his emotions were too complex to describe.

If it had been a hard-fought battle to the endga, with both sides evenly matched until the very last move, he could have accepted it.

But this wasn’t like that.

From the very beginning, from the mont the ga entered the opening, he had been at a disadvantage and never recovered.

Su Yiming lowered his gaze to the upper-left corner of the board.

That sequence of three stunning, unconventional opening moves left him in silence.

anwhile, in a Car Outside the Venue

He Yu sat in the driver’s seat, fastening his seatbelt.

On the short dash from the venue to the parking lot, he had tried to run quickly, but the heavy rain had drenched him completely.

With his hands resting on the steering wheel, He Yu prepared to start the engine.

But no matter how hard he tried, his mind kept replaying the ga he had just witnessed.

The sounds of the stones striking the board still echoed in his ears.

In this state, he couldn’t even drive.

Eventually, He Yu let out a deep breath, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one up.

He remained silent, staring at the pouring rain outside.

Just then—

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

His phone rang.

He Yu glanced at the screen, then put it on speaker and answered the call.

Before he could even say a word, a voice on the other end fired off like a machine gun:

"He Yu, where the hell are you?! Weren’t we supposed to play mahjong tonight?! We’re missing a fourth player—hurry up!"

He Yu exhaled a puff of smoke. "Not going. I’ve got sothing else going on. Find soone else."

"The hell? What could be more important than mahjong? You’re usually the first one to agree! What, are you playing in a title match tonight? Or are you busy writing love letters to Xia Wen?"

Hearing He Yu cancel, the caller imdiately turned up the heat, attacking He Yu’s greatest weakness.

Normally, He Yu would fire back instantly.

But this ti—he didn’t say a word.

The voice on the other end fell silent in confusion.

"Wait, He Yu, say sothing. What happened?"

After a brief pause, He Yu finally spoke.

"I went to watch a city high school Go tournant today."

The caller was even more confused. "A city high school Go tournant?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, why would you waste your ti on that? You may not be that strong, but you’re still a professional 5-dan player. Even a first-dan pro wouldn’t bother watching so high schoolers play."

"At first, I just ca to confirm sothing."

He Yu exhaled another puff of smoke and muttered, "Before I knew it, it was already this late."

The caller was completely baffled.

"Wait, what were you trying to confirm? That they weren’t playing Five-in-a-Row instead?"

"No. You probably won’t believe when I say this..."

He Yu’s eyes beca distant as he spoke.

"In the ga I just watched, a brand-new opening pattern was created."

The car fell into absolute silence.

For a long ti, the caller didn’t say a word.

Finally, his voice ca through, completely disbelieving:

"Are you ssing with ?"

"You’re telling that in a random city high school Go tournant, two amateur players created a brand-new Go opening? Not even a movie would dare write sothing that ridiculous!"

He Yu didn’t respond.

He just took another deep drag of his cigarette.

After a long pause, the caller finally asked, "Wait... you’re serious?"

"Dead serious."

He Yu replied firmly.

"And White's style of play, the way he built large-scale formations—it reminded of Shen Yi."

There was another mont of silence.

Then the caller asked, "So... White was the one who played the new opening?"

"No. Black did."

He Yu shook his head. "White lost in the end."

"Huh?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

The caller sounded completely exasperated.

"You just said White’s play reminded you of Shen Yi—one of the greatest Go players of all ti. And yet White still lost? What, are you telling Black played like Zhuang Weisheng?!"

He Yu let out another puff of smoke, his expression turning contemplative.

"I had high praise for White’s play. But Black’s ga..."

"It was... unsettling."

"The mont the opening sequence was completed, Black had already pulled far ahead."

"But that doesn’t an White was weak. I can tell you this—if I were playing that ga, whether I was Black or White... I would have lost too."

The other end of the call went completely silent.

The caller wanted to believe He Yu was joking—but there was no trace of humor in his voice.

Only seriousness.

And that was what made it so hard to believe.

"White lost on ti," He Yu continued after a pause.

"So I keep wondering... If this hadn’t been a blitz ga—if the one playing White had actually been Shen Yi—would he have won?"

"Shen Yi was an all-around player, but his greatest strength was his late-ga prowess."

"Unless you entered the endga with a 99% win rate, even a 90% lead wasn’t enough to guarantee victory against him."

But then—

He Yu replayed the ga in his mind once more.

And suddenly, he shook his head.

"No... in that position... even if it had been Shen Yi playing White—he probably would’ve lost too."