Chapter 444: Chapter 444

Seeing Su Yiming about to begin the draw, everyone's attention was immediately captured once again.

Su Yiming quickly drew a lot paper from the drawing box, then under everyone's watchful gaze, slowly unfolded it to reveal only a single number—

Seeing this number, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Su Yiming, number 8."

Su Yiming looked up and reported to the staff member.

The staff member nodded, quickly found Su Yiming's name on the list, and recorded the number eight beside it.

"Pretty good luck. At least so far, there haven't been any number collisions. Looks like even if there are internal matches in the first round, there probably won't be too many." Seeing this, Zhu Huai'an smiled and commented.

The World Championship was indeed an individual competition with no concept of teammates—everyone was an opponent. Yet even so, everyone still hoped to avoid internal matches as much as possible.

The Chinese team's participants continued coming forward one after another to draw lots. Over a dozen players drew without any number collisions.

Although no one wanted to see internal matches in the first round, this situation ultimately became unavoidable.

"Li You, number 381."

After seeing his number, Li You glanced at Chen Shan beside him, his expression darkening slightly as he reported to the staff.

Immediately, everyone turned to look at Chen Shan—even Yu Shao and Su Yiming were no exception.

If they remembered correctly, Chen Shan's number earlier had also been 381.

This meant that in the first round, either Chen Shan or Li You would inevitably be eliminated!

Learning that Li You had drawn the same number 381, Chen Shan's expression also turned somewhat unpleasant.

"This is just terrible luck."

Zheng Qin looked at Chen Shan, then at Li You, his eyes complex as he whispered to Yu Shao: "Both Teacher Chen Shan and Li You 8-dan have high chances of breaking into the top 64, maybe even going further. But..."

Zheng Qin didn't continue, but Yu Shao already knew what he meant.

Although it was truly unfortunate that one of Li You or Chen Shan would be eliminated in the first round, there was nothing to be done. The tournament format was merciless —survival of the fittest, where the strong ruled.

Luck was part of strength, unless one possessed power that could completely disregard luck.

"Teacher Chen Shan, looks like we'll have to cross blades on the board." Li You turned to Chen Shan and said: "I was hoping to pick a soft target too."

"Let's each rely on our own abilities."

Chen Shan took a deep breath, controlling his emotions until his face showed neither joy nor anger as he responded.

Seeing that someone had already experienced a number collision, those who hadn't drawn yet felt their moods grow heavier. They came forward one by one to draw their own lots.

Finally, after a while, the remaining Chinese participants all finished drawing. Seeing their numbers, they couldn't help but sigh with relief, exhaling deeply.

Aside from Su Yiming and Zheng Qin, there were no other internal number collisions, meaning the entire Chinese team would only have one internal match in the first round.

"Only one internal match in the first round—that's pretty good luck already." Looking at the number in his hand, Li You said with a smile.

Chang Yan seemed noncommittal about this, looking at the number in her hand as she said calmly: "As long as they don't encounter the strongest domestic players, many veterans who've participated in many World Championships actually prefer drawing internal matches."

Hearing this, Cui Junzhe paused slightly, somewhat confused.

"A country only has so few truly top players. As long as you don't draw those few, drawing anyone else is mostly acceptable."

Chang Yan glanced at Zheng Qin and the others with a hint of amusement in her phoenix eyes, deliberately saying: "But foreign matches are different. If you don't draw an internal match, the probability of encountering top foreign players actually increases."

Hearing this, the expressions of Zheng Qin, Qin Lang, Cui Junzhe and other first-time World Championship participants changed.

Indeed, since they hadn't collided with each other, this meant their opponents couldn't be Zhu Huai'an, Zhuang Weisheng, Yu Shao or the others.

But while they wouldn't face domestic top players, they were more likely to encounter foreign top players like An Hongshi, Honinbo Shinwa, and so on!

After all, the number of foreign top players combined was clearly much greater than the few domestic top players!

At this thought, Zheng Qin and the others immediately grew tense.

"Look at your pathetic expressions!"

Kong Zi couldn't stand seeing Zheng Qin and the others so nervous, grumbling: "So what if you encounter them? What's so scary about meeting An Hongshi? You should want to meet them! You should want to fight!"

"This is exactly the chance for true men to make their names and achieve eternal glory! Why should you avoid their sharpness? Not only should you not avoid it, you should use their blood to consecrate your banner and proclaim your might!"

Kong Zi was closest to Zheng Qin, his spit practically spraying on Zheng Qin's face. Zheng Qin twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't dare refute, only nodding meekly.

"Oh really? Then may I ask Master Kong Zi, what was your win rate against An Hongshi before?" Just then, Chang Yan's voice came over with a somewhat sarcastic tone.

Kong Zi coughed lightly upon hearing this, his face not reddening nor his heart racing as he said: "Merely a slightly soiled garment corner."

Hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but laugh, the tense atmosphere immediately lightening considerably.

Finally, after quite a while, all players in the hall had finished drawing lots.

Then staff members brought the lists to several computers, began inputting data, and prepared to arrange tomorrow's match pairings.

Although the hall was crowded, during this waiting period for the final pairing results, it was completely silent, as if awaiting judgment.

Finally, after about another ten-plus minutes, the large screen at the front of the hall finally displayed the densely packed pairing chart filled with names.

The entire venue immediately stirred into activity as everyone turned their gaze to the large screen, searching for their first-round opponents.

Yu Shao also looked toward the large screen, quickly finding table 277 and seeing his first-round opponent's name. Then a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

Because this opponent's name wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him.

Table 277: Yu Shao (China, Title: National Champion) vs. Dong He (USA, Rank: 9-dan).

The name Dong He was of course his professional Go name—this didn't mean Dong He was Asian. On the contrary, Dong He was an American player born and raised in America.

The last time Yu Shao had seen Dong He's name was during the Challenge Matches, when Kong Zi had powerfully defeated Ma Dong in the fifth game. In the sixth game, Dong He had been called upon in a crisis to face Kong Zi.

Among the ten Americans participating in the second Challenge Match, Dong He had the smallest reputation with relatively unremarkable past results. Meanwhile, Kong Zi had just beautifully defeated Ma Dong the previous day and was at the peak of his momentum.

But ultimately, the game between Dong He and Kong Zi had exceeded everyone's expectations—including Yu Shao's.

Kong Zi had initially held the advantage, but later Dong He erupted in desperate circumstances, displaying astonishing fighting power in the battle that ultimately turned the tide, forcing Kong Zi to resign by the middle game.

However, in the following seventh game, Dong He had eventually lost to Chu Jingfeng, whose fame was far below Kong Zi's. That game featured Chu Jingfeng's divine-level rescuing of isolated stones in the middle game, accumulating thick position to slaughter a large group—also quite spectacular.

Kong Zi also noticed that Yu Shao's opponent was the same Dong He who had defeated him in the Challenge Match, warning: "That guy's a bit unorthodox. Don't underestimate him."

"Understood. Thank you, Master Kong Zi."

Yu Shao nodded and expressed his thanks.

Behind Yu Shao, Zheng Qin and Qin Lang couldn't help but twitch their mouths upon hearing this exchange.

Was there any Go player in this world more unorthodox than Yu Shao? What 3-3 point strategy, what pointed apex, what ghost blade vulgar push—was there anything more unconventional than these?

No, wait—that wasn't right either.

If you really thought about it, it seemed like over this past year, all players had quietly transformed into unorthodox practitioners. The entire Go world's atmosphere had been warped by Yu Shao, to the point where Yu Shao could now only be described as orthodox to the point of being unorthodox!

At this thought, a somewhat strange expression appeared on Zheng Qin's face.

But the immediate task was to find his own opponent. Zheng Qin quickly collected his thoughts and searched for number 207 on the large screen.

Soon, Zheng Qin found number 207 and saw his name along with his opponent. When he saw his first-round opponent, he froze completely.

There on the large screen, it clearly stated—

Table 207: Zheng Qin (China, Rank: 5-dan) vs. Kudou Yano (Japan, Rank: 9-dan).

Just then, Yu Shao also noticed Zheng Qin's opponent and paused in surprise before couldn't help looking at Zheng Qin and saying quietly: "Zheng Qin, this..."

Zheng Qin shook his head, staring intently at the large screen. Seeing that his opponent was Kudou Yano, he seemed to sigh with relief, but then immediately took a deep breath.

Yu Shao was somewhat surprised by Zheng Qin's composure but didn't think too much about it, quickly turning back to look at the pairing chart on the large screen.

Then Yu Shao noticed that aside from Zhu Xinyuan 9-dan's opponent being America's Master Ma Dong, almost everyone else's opponents were names he hadn't heard before.

For example, Su Yiming's first-round opponent was a Dutch player currently only ranked 7-dan, probably a new talent who had just broken into the title match main event to qualify for the World Championship.

The hall was now buzzing with activity as everyone stared at the pairing chart on the large screen, discussing animatedly. Expressions varied—some relieved, some nervous, others already looking like they faced a formidable enemy.

Seizing this opportunity, Yu Shao continued searching the pairing chart for players from other countries, quickly finding An Hongshi's name at number 451. His opponent was a Japanese player named Taizai Ryouichirou ranked 9-dan.

"This is exactly the chance for true men to make their names and achieve eternal glory! Why should you avoid their sharpness? Not only should you not avoid it, you should use their blood to consecrate your banner and proclaim your might!"

Suddenly, Yu Shao spotted another familiar name on the pairing chart. When he saw the opponent listed after this familiar name, a look of astonishment immediately appeared on his face. The most update n0vels are published on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

Kong Zi was closest to Zheng Qin, his spit practically spraying on Zheng Qin's face. Zheng Qin twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't dare refute, only nodding meekly.

It wasn't just him—Higashiyama Kaoru and Kimura Go were already names that attracted much attention. Many players in the hall had also noticed this point, their expressions stunned as they turned their gazes toward Higashiyama Kaoru and Kimura Go.

Kimura Go had been one of the representative figures of Japanese Go for many years. Over a decade ago, he had subdued countless opponents, repeatedly pushed An Hongshi into desperate situations, and even frequently thwarted An Hongshi!

As for Higashiyama Kaoru, he was the strongest player of Japan's younger generation, even once praised by Japanese media as "after Higashiyama Kaoru, there will be no more geniuses."

During the China-Japan-Korea Go League, although Higashiyama Kaoru had ultimately lost, those few games had made him famous throughout the world—one could say he lost with honor!

Higashiyama Kaoru lost in the China-Japan-Korea Go League not because he was weak, but simply because... his opponent was too strong.

After the China-Japan-Korea Go League ended, Higashiyama Kaoru had actually borne considerable criticism in Japan, since netizens often didn't care about details—they only wanted results.

But as time passed and everyone calmed down, online perception of Higashiyama Kaoru in Japan underwent tremendous change.

Because as time went on, many people looking back at the China-Japan-Korea Go League now felt Higashiyama Kaoru was a tragic hero. It wasn't that Higashiyama Kaoru hadn't performed well—quite the opposite, he had achieved the limit!

But the opponent Higashiyama Kaoru faced was simply too strong, too powerful...

When understanding of Yu Shao and his playing methods and style was still incomplete, for Higashiyama Kaoru to play as he did, to once reach a stalemate, to persist until the end—this could already be called a spectacular feat!

It was like a mortal attempting to wrestle with a god. Even if the mortal ultimately lost, it was only the tragedy of wanting to best heaven by half a move yet failing at the last moment!

Thus, a strange phenomenon occurred in Japan: the better Yu Shao's results became, the better Higashiyama Kaoru's reputation grew in Japan.

By the time the Twin Stars Cup ended, Higashiyama Kaoru's fans in Japan even far exceeded Yu Shao's!

And now, Higashiyama Kaoru would face Kimura Go in the first round.

Actually, it wasn't unusual for young newcomers to face top players in internal matches in the first round. If it were anyone else—for example, if Kimura Go were replaced by Honinbo Shinwa—it wouldn't attract so much attention.

The key point was that Higashiyama Kaoru's teacher was none other than 10-dan Kimura Go!

"If I remember correctly, Higashiyama Kaoru's teacher is 10-dan Kimura Go, right?"

Qin Lang also looked completely astonished as he said: "A master-disciple match? So between teacher and student, one will definitely be eliminated in the first round? This should be quite a show!"