Shanhai Chess Hall

The last class of the day was physics. Though the dismissal bell had already rung, the physics teacher showed no sign of stopping and continued going over the exam paper.

Watching students from other classes stream out of the corridor with their backpacks, the students of Class Seven, Year One cursed the physics teacher in their hearts countless times. Every one of them was desperate to go home.

Finally, after dragging class on for a full ten minutes, the physics teacher reluctantly set down the paper, cleared his throat, and said, "Class dismissed."

"Woohoo!"

The moment those words fell, the entire classroom erupted. Everyone swiftly packed their bags with nimble hands and feet.

This world wasn't as brutally competitive as his previous one. High schoolwork was still fairly demanding, but it wasn't like in his past life, where evening self-study lasted until ten at night.

At Jiangling First High School, students generally commuted from home. Once five o'clock came, they were dismissed for the day.

"Old Yu, want to hit the internet café?"

A boy ran over and called out to Yu Shao. "We're queueing ranked tonight. Easy points—I guarantee I'll carry!"

"Not today. I've got a bit too much homework."

Yu Shao politely declined his classmate's invitation while packing his backpack.

"Come on, I've been practicing a killer move set. I'm ready to slaughter everyone!" His classmate refused to give up and continued urging him. "You can just copy the homework tomorrow morning."

Yu Shao shook his head and refused. "Forget it, forget it. I still need to study hard and improve every day. As the saying goes, if you don't work hard in high school, you've lived for nothing."

"Yeah, right. You're only in your first year. What the hell are you working hard at? At most, you've got morning wood."

His classmate rolled his eyes, not believing him in the slightest.

But seeing that Yu Shao was resolute, he didn't press further. He turned around and went to recruit other classmates for a gaming session at the internet café.

Soon, Yu Shao finished packing his bag, left the school, and set off for home.

As he walked, he suddenly stopped at an intersection and turned to look at a storefront on his right.

It was a finely decorated Go club. Two broad automatic glass doors stood at its entrance, and above them hung a sign with several bold, flamboyant characters written across it—Shanhai Chess Hall.

"There's actually a Go club here?"

Yu Shao was somewhat surprised.

He had been transmigrated for several days now, and he had walked this route home more than once. Yet he had never noticed that a Go club was hidden along the way.

Through the glass doors, Yu Shao could see quite a few people inside. Business seemed rather lively.

Seeing that, Yu Shao recalled the days in his previous life when Go had been his constant companion, and an inexplicable feeling stirred within him.

"Kid, here to play Go?"

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind Yu Shao.

Yu Shao froze for a moment, then turned around. The speaker was a young man around twenty years old, dressed in sportswear.

"No, I..."

Yu Shao shook his head, but before he could finish, the young man said, "Come on in with me. You're a student, right? Students get half off here."

With that, the young man stepped forward, and the automatic glass doors immediately opened.

The young man was about to enter when he saw that Yu Shao hadn't followed. He turned back to look at Yu Shao, who was still standing there, and asked, "What? Aren't you coming in?"

For some reason, when Yu Shao heard that, he followed behind the young man as if possessed and entered the Go club with him.

"Welcome."

The receptionist immediately put on a sweet smile when she saw customers entering. But once she recognized them, surprise appeared on her face. "Zheng Qin? You're here so early today?"

"I don't have classes at university these days."

The young man named Zheng Qin smiled and asked, "Sister Su, are there still seats available?"

"Yes."

The receptionist nodded, only then noticing Yu Shao. "And this student is...?"

"Oh, I ran into him outside the shop. He probably wanted to play too, so I brought him in."

Zheng Qin grinned playfully. "Shouldn't I get a cut for that?"

The receptionist rolled her eyes at Zheng Qin, then smiled at Yu Shao. "Is this your first time here, student?"

Yu Shao nodded lightly. "Yes."

"Did you bring your student ID? Students get half off here—just twenty." The receptionist smiled sweetly.

Yu Shao hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he showed his student ID, took out his phone, scanned the code, and paid.

"Alright, please wait a moment. I'll arrange an opponent for you. Um... what's your Go strength?" the receptionist continued.

Go strength?

That question stumped Yu Shao. For a moment, he wasn't sure how to answer.

Go strength was divided into amateur and professional ranks. Amateur ranks went from one to eight, while professional ranks went from one to nine. The higher the number, the stronger the player.

In his previous life, he had naturally been a professional ninth dan.

But was he really supposed to say he was a professional ninth dan?

Yu Shao didn't mind showing off, but wasn't this showing off a little too hard?

Leaving aside whether anyone would believe him, even if they did, could this Go club really find a professional ninth dan to play against him?

Just then, Zheng Qin suddenly said with a smile, "Forget it, Sister Su. You don't need to arrange anything. I'll play him."

"Huh?"

Hearing that, the receptionist looked rather startled. "You want to play him? But..."

"Ah, it's fine."

Zheng Qin waved a hand, then turned to Yu Shao and asked with a smile, "What do you say, kid? Want to play a game with me?"

"Sure."

Yu Shao didn't think much of it and nodded.

The receptionist immediately looked as if she wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, she didn't stop them. "Alright, then. There should still be an open seat by the window on the first floor. You can play there."

"Alright."

Zheng Qin paid as well, then headed toward the playing room with Yu Shao.

Watching the two leave, the receptionist couldn't help shaking her head with a smile. "That Little Zheng, honestly."

Zheng Qin was clearly a regular at the club. Once he entered the playing room, quite a few people took the initiative to greet him, while eyeing Yu Shao behind him with curiosity.

Before long, Zheng Qin found an empty Go Table by the window, pulled out the chairs, and sat across from Yu Shao.

"My name's Zheng Qin. I'm from Jiang University. What about you?"

Zheng Qin opened the Stone Box as he asked curiously.

"Yu Shao. Jiangling First High School, first year."

Yu Shao opened his own Stone Box as he answered.

"You're pretty young."

Zheng Qin smiled and asked, "So how strong are you? Have you been ranked? Do you need a handicap?"

A handicap?

Yu Shao was slightly taken aback. Then he shook his head. "No need. I haven't been ranked, but my Go strength should be... pretty strong?"

A handicap meant that Black first placed a certain number of stones on the Go Board, after which the other side played White. This allowed two players with differing levels of skill to narrow the gap between them.

In his previous life, Yu Shao had always been the one giving others a handicap. Now, hearing someone offer him one made him feel somewhat strange.

Upon hearing Yu Shao's words, the players around them immediately exchanged looks.

Though none of them spoke, they could all see the strange expressions in one another's eyes—

"Seriously? He doesn't need Little Zheng to give him a handicap? Won't he get crushed so badly he questions his whole life?"

Zheng Qin was also somewhat surprised when he heard Yu Shao. He couldn't help smiling. "That confident, huh? Fine, no handicap, then. Hmm, you play Black and go first."

Yu Shao looked at the crisscrossing Go Board on the table before him, his expression complicated.

He had been transmigrated for several days, but this was the first time he had sat before a Go Board again. For a dazed moment, it felt as though he had returned to his previous life and could once more hear the crisp, stony sound of Go stones striking the board.

Yu Shao took a deep breath and calmed himself slightly. Once seated properly, he raised his head, looked Zheng Qin directly in the eye, and said, "Then, Please guide me."

Zheng Qin froze. He felt as though Yu Shao, sitting across from him, had suddenly become a different person. There was even a faint yet inexplicably sharp aura rushing straight at him.

After remaining stunned for quite some time, Zheng Qin finally came back to himself. For some reason, he instinctively sat up straight before saying, "Please guide me."

Yu Shao reached into the Stone Box and, amid the clicking sound of stones colliding, lightly picked up a Black Stone.

His gaze lowered as he silently looked at the nineteen-by-nineteen grid of the Go Board before him.

This would be the first Go Stone he placed after coming to this world.

The Go Stone rested between his index and middle fingers, his wrist held high, and then—

The next moment, Yu Shao's right hand, holding the stone, descended from on high!

Tap!

Accompanied by a crisp, stony sound, the stone landed on the board.

Sixteenth column, fourth row!

Star point!

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