Although she wasn’t a top-tier player, she was still a professional 6-dan, and setting up ga records was sothing she had done countless tis while studying Go.
Yet just watching Rei place the stones one by one made Rika’s forehead begin to bead with sweat.
Because the level displayed on the board was, quite frankly, terrifying.
"Slow down, let think," Rika said suddenly.
"Who is playing Black?"
"Why don’t I recognize this style at all?"
A faint chill ran across her scalp.
The player controlling White was already far beyond her reach in skill, at least ten levels above her.
But after more than sixty moves, White was being steadily suppressed by Black.
That calm, seasoned, nearly flawless way of playing created a suffocating pressure that pressed down on her chest.
It was even more oppressive than watching championship matches between top players.
"They’re amateurs," Rei said lightly after coughing once.
"It’s normal that you don’t recognize them. And they don’t want to be recognized either."
His hands never stopped moving.
Stone after stone fell into place.
When he reached the seventy-seventh move, Rei finally paused.
"I hope you can help find two top players to continue this ga from here and complete it," Rei said quietly.
Rika leaned in and examined the board carefully.
"Does this even need to be continued?" she said slowly.
"White is clearly losing. Forget two top players, if I played Black now, and the world’s number one ranked player took White, I could still..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her expression changed.
She suddenly rembered what Rei had said earlier.
He had claid he had once seen The Hand of God appear in a real ga.
Rika’s pupils contracted.
"No," she said softly. "That’s impossible."
She looked up at Rei.
"The ga you saw back then, White won, didn’t they?"
Rei’s calm silence answered her question.
Rika sucked in a sharp breath.
"This doesn’t make sense. With Black playing at this level, how could they possibly lose from this position?"
"Who are these two people, really?"
"And how did White turn this around?"
She could feel the terrifying depth of both players in this ga, but because she herself wasn’t at the very peak, there were still many layers she couldn’t see through.
Rei broke the silence.
"Let’s stop here, Teacher Rika."
"I know it’s troubleso, but please help find two players of at least 9-dan strength, preferably with championship titles."
"As for compensation," Rei added calmly, "I’ll make sure it’s sufficient."
Rika took a deep breath and nodded.
"Don’t underestimate just because I’m only 6-dan," she said."My network is wide. There’s a current championship-title holder in Japn who used to be my junior."
"With Hikaru no Go’s current influence and its contribution to the Go world, asking them to help complete this ga won’t be a problem."
She paused, then looked at Rei seriously.
"But when the ti cos, you must be present."
"After they finish the ga, you’ll have to show us exactly how White reversed the situation."
Rei smiled faintly.
"No problem. I can recreate the ga."
"Just don’t ask why those specific moves were chosen," he added honestly.
"You know my actual level."
With Rika agreeing to handle the most troubleso issue, Rei finally felt a massive weight lift from his chest.
Soon, Wednesday arrived again.
Chapter 41 of Hikaru no Go was released.
In this Chapter, Isumi lost once more.
But Hikaru, and several other players who also had two losses, lost as well.
When multiple rivals fell together, it was as if no one truly lost.
Hikaru still held the initiative to qualify.
Isumi, however, remained dependent on others’ results.
Especially the competitive relationship among Isumi, Hikaru, and Ochi was now fully exposed.
From the win–loss conditions presented in the Chapter, most readers could already tell, there were only two promotion slots left for the three of them.
And given the intricate win–loss triangle between them, it was impossible for all three to be promoted.
And in the plot, Hikaru’s final opponent in the professional Go qualifying tournant finally erged.
In this Chapter, although Hikaru had already suffered several losses, none of the opponents he lost to, were weak players. Moreover, because Ochi was determined to qualify, he had been ticulously studying the ga records of every potential rival.
It was at this point that Ochi finally learned about Hikaru.
Especially after reviewing Hikaru’s match against Ko Yeong-ha, the Korea’s genius player, Ochi’s confidence plumted.
That ga made him clearly realize one thing, Hikaru was not an ordinary examinee.
By the end of the Chapter, Akira, who had been absent from the story for quite so ti, finally reappeared.
After witnessing Hikaru’s gas, Ochi could no longer maintain his earlier composure. The sense of crisis he had been suppressing surged forth all at once.
And so, for the first ti, he formally accepted Akira’s earlier proposal.
To undergo special training under Akira before facing Hikaru.
Ochi wanted to defeat Hikaru in the final match and secure promotion with an undefeated record.
On the official website, the weekly large-scale discussion among fans imdiately erupted.
By now, a massive number of TV drama viewers had already caught up with the manga through collected volus. They flooded into Hoshimori Group’s official forums, eagerly reading manga readers’ analyses of the tournant structure and win–loss relationships.
"Alright, now the direction is clear."
"Has everyone actually mapped out the promotion win–loss relationships? At this point, whether Isumi and Hikaru qualify basically depends on Hikaru vs Ochi."
"The remaining opponents are relatively weak. Even if Isumi is in bad form, he’s unlikely to lose again. So everything hinges on whether Hikaru can beat Ochi."
"I was wondering why Ochi was woven so deeply into the qualifying arc even though the plot felt harmonious before. So this was the setup."
"Is Ochi really that strong? He’s still undefeated?"
"In the dojo, Ochi and Isumi were roughly fifty–fifty, and Isumi was even slightly stronger. But professional exams test ntal strength."
"Hikaru’s ntality used to be unstable, but that could be corrected through external training. Isumi’s problem is internal. Failing year after year leaves scars."
"Purely in terms of ntality, Ochi is terrifying."
"Honestly, Hikaru’s match against Ko Yeong-ha was probably the peak of his current career."
"If Ochi were truly confident, he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly to that ga. Now it all cos down to Shirogane’s choice."
"Will Hikaru lose here, fail to qualify, and wait another year? Or will he reach his peak and shatter Ochi’s dream of a perfect record?"
"This arc is brutal..."
"If Isumi fails again... will he give up Go?"
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