Chapter 1107: The world number one in Go makes his move!
Chapter 1107: The world number one in Go makes his move!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At China Qiyuan.
Everyone was sorely beaten!
"Go on!"
"Get him!"
"There are so many of us! I don't believe that we can't beat him!"
Quite a few people started calling for action!
They could not take it lying down!
They were reluctant to accept the results!
This was too embarrassing! This was way too embarrassing!
With so many of the world's top Go professionals on their side, how could they have possibly been defeated by an amateur?
Li Yi 9-dan said angrily, "This bastard is too rude! Causing trouble! He's making trouble! How can he keep sending those offending messages during the game! If I wasn't distracted by his messages, I would have won!"
"Yeah!"
"Despicable!"
"Extremely despicable!"
"This person is so evil!"
A group of professional Go players were hurling all kinds of abuse!
But all of a sudden, someone came out from behind them. "If he can still send that many messages while playing, that means he has not given his best effort yet. Even if he plays a few more games, you guys still might not be a match for him."
It was Xiang Rong!
No one knew when Xiang Rong had arrived!
The computer's display here at the Go association was hooked up to the big screen. Everyone had been watching the games on it earlier, so Xiang Rong must have also been spectating all this while!
"Master Xiang!"
"Teacher Xiang!"
"Ah, Master Xiang is here!"
"Master Xiang, that fella is too cocksure!"
Everyone looked over.
The moment Wu Changhe saw Xiang Rong, his spirits lifted. "Little Xiang! What are you also doing here?"
Xiang Rong said politely, "Elder Wu."
At the association, or even within the Chinese Go world, whoever met with Wu Changhe would have to speak to him very politely. That applied even to the current number one in the world of Go!
Dan Donghe was still in a state of shock. The losses suffered by several of those 9th dan players had rocked him to his very core. He wouldn't have believed it if someone told him before today that his Qiyuan players would fall so easily. He said, "Little Xiang, there's something very odd about this guy! He clearly does not play by the book and uses many moves that no one has really used before. Yet every move of his has meaning, and the openings were played exquisitely! If you were playing, do you think you could win?"
Xiang Rong smiled and said, "Without going up against him, I won't know."
But Wu Changhe said, "How could you possibly not win!"
Qi Qi was on the verge of tears. "Master Xiang, you have to avenge us!"
"Master Xiang!"
"Master Xiang, please play him!"
"Only you're capable of defeating him!"
"Get him!"
Yes!
Everyone knew that Xiang Rong was just being humble. No one believed that he could lose!
Xiang Rong? Lose? What a joke! This was the current number one in the world of Go. Comparing the current Xiang Rong and Wu Changhe 9-dan at the peak of his prowess when he went undefeated, it would be difficult to tell who would win. Xiang Rong's name alone was the greatest reputation in the world of Go, which was a stage all to his own. Some experts predicted that within the next two years, there would be no one who could compare to Xiang Rong even if he was not that young anymore—he turned exactly thirty this year.
Wu Changhe suddenly said, "Little Xiang, it was good that I took you in, right?"
"But of course. It was all thanks to your coaching when I was in my teens," Xiang Rong replied. Although his teacher was not Wu Changhe, his career in Go was still considered to have been initiated by him. Therefore, Xiang Rong owed him an enormous favor.
Wu Changhe immediately said, "Hurry up. I'm depending on you to save me some face!"
Xiang Rong gave a wry smile. "Since Elder Wu has spoken, I wouldn't dare to say no. But I will have to use my own account. Playing a game on someone else's behalf is not something that I can make myself do."
Dan Donghe asked, "You have an account?"
Xiang Rong calmly said, "Yes, but I've rarely used it."
Wu Changhe said, "That's fine. Just make sure to utterly demolish this guy!"
Xiang Rong was actually also quite eager to play against him. Earlier, when Wu Changhe's disciple had played on his behalf, Xiang Rong took notice of YE. At that time, he could already see that YE did not play to his best of his ability against Hu Liang 7-dan and Xu Han 8-dan. He was really hoping to verse this so-called amateur Go player who had won four matches in a row against four 9th dan pros. He was incredibly curious!
Xiang Rong was already seated in front of the computer.
Everyone crowded around to watch!
Even the professional Xiangqi and international chess players from the neighboring associations came over after they heard about it. News had long since spread, so who wouldn't know about it?
"Holy shit!"
"Master Xiang is going to play?"
"This is a big deal!"
"Master Xiang will be playing? Is that really necessary?"
"The opponent is most definitely not an amateur! Even a few of our 9th dan players lost to him!"
"Yeah. If Master Xiang still does not take this matter into his own hands, then China Qiyuan can no longer hold its head high!"
Presently, all of the Qiyuan was making a ruckus. YE had stirred the pot and turned everything upside down such that even a few executives came running over!
A deputy chairman: "What happened?"
A director: "Even Li Yi 9-dan lost?"
Another deputy chairman: "Could it be Korea's Old Park trying to mess with us?"
Li Yi said angrily, "I don't know who it is, but he's extremely devious. Teacher Changhe claims that he's just an amateur. But when we asked who it was, he wouldn't say."
The executives all had solemn looks on their faces. But when they realized that Xiang Rong would be taking care of things, they brightened up a bit.
Wu Changhe's account went offline.
In its place, Xiang Rong's account appeared in the room. Xiang Rong turned off the spectate option for this match and forbade any outsiders from watching.
...
Several thousand fellow Go players saw their monitors turn dark after they were kicked out of the room.
"What the heck!"
"What happened?"
"Why can't we spectate anymore?"
"I was having fun watching!"
"Why did I think I saw Xiang Rong's account appear in the room?"
"Huh? Surely not, right?"
"Haha, you must've seen wrong."
"Xiang Rong 9-dan does not play Go online."
...
At Old Wu's residence.
Wu Zeqing went to pour some tea.
Zhang Ye discovered that Wu Changhe had suddenly gone offline.
Eh?
Where did he go?
Then he saw an account by the name of Xiang Rong appear in the room.
Xiang Rong sent a message. "Elder Wu needs to rest. Shall we play a game?"
Us two play?
Who are you!
Xiang Rong?
Never heard of this name before!
When he checked his opponent's account, he saw that it had a very low rating but a 100% win rate. The total number of games played was only ten. Zhang Ye sneered to himself. Only ten games played? A newbie? And you dare to challenge me to a game? Where did you come from? Who gave you the courage to come in here, little comrade!
Zhang Ye replied: "How did you get into the room? Don't make trouble. I have important business to handle. I don't play against newbies."
Then he continued to flood the chat box.
"Teacher Changhe?
"Why did you leave?
"Is it because you're a sore loser?
"Uncle, why don't I let you play with a handicap?
"It's boring if I keep winning.
"Please speak. How many games do I have to win before you admit defeat?"
...
At the computer.
The people at the Qiyuan blew up!
Xiang Rong's eyebrows twitched wildly!
Chen Ying 7-dan's jaw dropped!
Xu Han 8-dan stared, slack-jawed!
YE's messages displayed on the big screen had silenced the hall in the blink of an eye!
I don't play against newbies?
I don't play against newbies?
Everyone was dumbfounded by what they saw!
Everyone was aghast!
You don't even fucking know Xiang Rong?
As long as someone played Go, how could they possibly not know Xiang Rong!
A newbie?
Xiang Rong was a newbie?
Goddammit, you're done for!
This time, it's really over for you!
Are you trying to offend the entire world of Go with that!
But in this moment, everyone finally believed while shocked that this joker called YE was really not a professional Go player. He wouldn't even be considered an amateur Go player. This idiot did not have the first fucking clue about the world of Go!