The Last Three Boards

Wu Zhixuan, sitting in the front row, was utterly stunned when she saw the black stone's throw-in appear on the big screen.

"There's actually a throw-in here? But this move is completely counterintuitive."

She had never expected that the boy who had asked her for an autographed photo could possess such strength. Even she, a professional Go player, had completely failed to see this move.

That throw-in was simply too counterintuitive. Ordinary people would have found it difficult to think in that direction.

"Is my autographed photo really that powerful?"

The energetic girl fell into thought for a moment. "Should I give myself an autographed photo too?"

Onstage, Wu Shuheng stared at the Go board with an unprecedentedly grim expression.

After a long while, Wu Shuheng finally clamped up a Go stone and slowly placed it down.

Tap.

Fourteenth row of the eighth column, capture!

Although he was extremely unwilling, Wu Shuheng still made the most rational choice. He picked up the black stone that had been thrown into the white formation and placed it inside the stone box.

Yu Shao immediately followed with a move.

Tap!

The black stone landed, capturing the white stone from the previous ko fight.

At this point, White could no longer immediately recapture the black stone. He could only choose to resolve the ko or, like Black had done earlier, look for a ko threat.

Wu Shuheng did not continue playing. Instead, he stared at the board and committed the game to memory.

Afterward, Wu Shuheng did not hesitate. He went straight to the next board.

He needed some time to consider where exactly he should play this move. If this had been a game between just the two of them, he could have taken his time, but this was a simultaneous exhibition.

He still had to play the other games.

Seeing this, the students below the stage looked at one another. They could all see the shock in each other's eyes.

Although they still could not understand the game very well, they knew what it meant for Wu Shuheng to leave without making a move.

For several boards in a row, Wu Shuheng played extremely quickly, and every move was ruthlessly precise, showing no mercy at all.

He had already made up the handicap advantage in all these games, and in some of them, he had even begun to gain the upper hand.

So although Wu Shuheng was thinking about his game against Yu Shao, he did not find it difficult to make moves in these games.

Before long, Wu Shuheng arrived once again at Xu Ziqin's board.

When he saw the position, Wu Shuheng's eyelids twitched uncontrollably again.

"She started attacking the Mokuhou directly. She's not giving me even the slightest chance to catch my breath..."

After thinking for a moment, Wu Shuheng clamped up a stone and placed it down again.

Xu Ziqin seemed to have anticipated Wu Shuheng's response. As soon as he finished moving, she immediately played her own move.

Wu Shuheng's brows knitted tightly as he continued playing.

The two sides began placing their stones one after another. The situation grew increasingly tense, and the pressure on Wu Shuheng mounted.

As the game progressed, the disadvantage of giving two stones not only failed to disappear but grew wider and wider. Under the black stones' pressure, his formation was already in danger of splitting apart!

Soon, more than a dozen moves had been played. While Xu Ziqin was thinking, Wu Shuheng walked toward the next board.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The stones continued to fall one after another. Now, it was Wu Shuheng who played rapidly, while the student opposite him had to ponder every move for a long time.

Finally, after forcing himself through several more moves...

"I... lost."

The student sitting beside Xu Ziqin looked at the board and had already judged the situation. After hesitating for a long time, he finally lowered his head and admitted defeat in a feeble voice.

"It's over? That fast?!"

"How long have they even been playing?"

"Wait, they haven't played many stones yet, have they? The board doesn't even look half full. How did it end so quickly? That's ridiculous. Is this the strength of a professional Go player?"

"Isn't that person a senior? Last year, he represented our school in the high school Go league, but he could only hold out until now?"

"Is he just too weak?"

"Yeah. Even against a professional Go player, I thought he could at least last a little longer. Who would've thought he'd be the first to lose?"

The appearance of the first player to admit defeat immediately caused an uproar below the stage, and all the students began whispering among themselves.

If the one who had surrendered had been someone else, that would have been one thing. But he had represented Jiangling First High School in last year's high school Go league. Even if he had not achieved a good ranking, he should still have possessed some strength.

Yet against Wu Shuheng, even with the handicap, he had lost far too quickly!

"Actually, he didn't play badly. You can tell that he gave it everything he had."

Wu Zhixuan blinked her beautiful eyes as she gazed at the game on the big screen and reached her conclusion. "In theory, he should have been able to hold out longer. It's just a pity that my brother didn't hold back at all in this game. He only wanted to finish it as quickly as possible..."

Wu Zhixuan looked at the student with some concern.

"This must be a huge blow to him, right?"

Wu Shuheng nodded at the senior student. He had no time to comfort or praise him, and went straight to the next board.

The defeated senior student lowered his head and stared at the board. Hearing the whispers below the stage, he could not help biting his lower lip hard.

He had clearly given it everything he had!

Yet even with the handicap, he had still been crushed by Wu Shuheng, practically unable to fight back...

The difference in strength filled him with an intense sense of helplessness.

After the first person surrendered, a second and then a third soon followed under Wu Shuheng's fierce attacks...

Seeing this, the discussions and doubts below the stage quieted considerably.

If the first person had lost so quickly because he was simply not strong enough, then with two or three more people choosing to admit defeat one after another, perhaps it was no longer a matter of inadequate strength.

Rather than saying that they were too weak, it would be more accurate to say that their opponent was too strong!

Soon, Wu Shuheng arrived at Yu Shao's board once more.

After glancing at the game, Wu Shuheng immediately reached out, clamped up a stone, and placed it down!

Tap!

Fourteenth row of the fifth column, cut!

"A cut?"

Yu Shao was not surprised to see the move. He immediately clamped up a stone and prepared to place it.

But before Yu Shao could play, Wu Shuheng turned and left, heading toward the next board without lingering.

Right now, he only wanted to finish the other games as quickly as possible, then devote all his energy to dealing with his two games against Yu Shao and Xu Ziqin!

If he had to divide his attention between these two games and the others, he could practically predict the outcome—he would inevitably suffer a crushing defeat!

Especially in his game against Yu Shao, where his white stones had already been strangled by the black stones. All he could do now was search for a chance to turn the game around!

He had to give these two games everything he had!

As a Professional Third Dan Go player facing high school students whose Go strength was at most around amateur Third Dan, the gap was almost despairingly vast, even with a two-stone handicap and the disadvantage of a simultaneous exhibition.

Therefore, under Wu Shuheng's full-force attacks—almost beneath the dignity of a professional player—more and more people chose to resign.

Only the final three players remained onstage.

Yu Shao, Xu Ziqin, and another sophomore boy.

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