"Eh? Capital has actually invested in an ordinary cram school like ours? That's strange. I've heard recently that major capital is eyeing the Go industry, though I don't know whether it's true. I just hope they don't muddy already murky waters even further."
After receiving notice from the cram school's owner, Shirakawa Michio looked rather melancholy.
He had studied under Koshita 9-dan and now held the title of Professional 5-dan. His strength was considered quite good among professional players, and since he was young, he still had plenty of room to improve.
However, while professional Go players appeared glamorous, their lives were not actually all that good. Relying solely on the usual subsidies, without winning prizes or titles, they could only barely maintain their daily lives.
Thus, every professional player more or less took on part-time work in other fields to supplement their income.
Teachers at Go classes like Shirakawa Michio's were the most common type.
"Who knows? With capital coming in, at least our lives should improve quite a bit. And there should be more people willing to learn Go too..."
One of Shirakawa's colleagues spoke with a sigh. There might be drawbacks, but for professional players like them, the benefits would certainly be greater.
Although many children studied Go now, the vast majority treated it as nothing more than a hobby. Those truly willing to pursue it as a profession were genuinely few.
He had seen too many talented children who had ultimately still given up this path.
That made sense. If they were willing to devote so much energy to Go, then putting that same energy and focus into another field would surely offer better prospects than becoming a professional Go player.
Those who became professional players now were all people who truly loved Go...
In the