The Qualification Tournament
Three wins, zero losses. That was the scorecard Lee Jiah carried home once the afternoon games were all finished.
She had even beaten the top-ranked research student, against whom her head-to-head record had been unfavorable.
Regardless of how the games running in parallel turned out, her professional qualification was now assured.
The moment she had tried so hard not to hope for.
And yet it didn't bring the joy she'd imagined.
A long-standing knot in her heart had come undone, leaving her feeling refreshed — but along with it came an odd emptiness, as if she wondered whether it had really been this simple all along.
Ryu Seoa's advice — that she should neither despair nor grow complacent — finally rang true.
In the end, once it's over, you simply find yourself standing at a new starting line.
The weakest player to step into the wider world of professional Go.
She had left the protective fence behind and entered the wild, where the law of survival of the fittest reigns.
Still, at least today, there was no reason to hesitate about going home.
The thought of her parents' relief and joy made her heart feel lighter.
For just this one day, she could rest easy and sleep soundly.
What worried her right now were her close junior in Division 1, Rank 3, whose qualification had fallen through, and the top-ranked research student who had failed to bear good fruit.
Even words of comfort seemed like they might wound, so she couldn't bring herself to say anything at all.
Silently wishing them better luck next time was the best she could do.
Tending to other people's misfortunes was a luxury — she was already swamped just dealing with her own affairs.
After qualification was confirmed came a brief interview and a photo session.
Clutching the professional diploma she had longed for more than any trophy, she trudged out of the association building to find no grand fireworks or congratulatory wreaths waiting.
Only the same quiet as any other day.
"Congratulations!"
But looking at the bright smile of the blonde girl who was genuinely happy for her, she felt that the absence of all that fanfare hardly mattered.
"Thank you. It's all thanks to you."
"Not at all. This is an achievement you earned yourself, unnie. All I did was help you bring out your potential."
"Even so, without you, this result wouldn't exist."
Even if she had passed qualification, the Go she'd played before meeting Ryu Seoa would have hit a wall soon enough.
"By the way, wasn't it boring waiting around for me? I can't repay you properly, so at least let me buy you something expensive for dinner!"
"I'm fine, really! Your parents will want to hear the good news, so you should head home early today. You can treat me to a meal any other day."
A girl still so young, yet with consideration for others woven into her very nature.
She was right.
Her parents hadn't said anything, but they were surely anxious.
"Okay. I will."
"Next time, maybe we'll meet at a tournament. I look forward to it then."
The girl said it with a bright, sunny smile.
But meeting her would soon mean being eliminated — so that, at least, she would have to politely decline.
----------------------
Last week, two new professionals confirmed their qualification.
A final tournament of four players.
Lee Jiah, Rank 2 of the women's research students' Division 1, and Park Eunsol, Rank 7.
Both boasted glamorous records of podium finishes at various gifted-youth and amateur tournaments.
There was nothing here that could be called an anomaly.
9-dan Park Soohyun scrolled roughly through the Go news articles.
The male qualifiers, the female qualifiers.
All fine timber, but none of them seemed connected to 'tlsckdah1021'.
The female qualifiers, moreover, had been in the middle of their games during the hours when 'tlzckdah1021' had appeared — physically impossible.
Fifty-five wins, zero losses.
Twenty-five of those wins had come against professionals.
Park Soohyun had never yet faced 'tlsckdah1021' himself, but replaying the game records made it abundantly clear that 'tlsckdah1021' would be no easy opponent.
Just last week, 9-dan Seo Changhyun — famous for his fearless trash talk — had been utterly demolished.
His prime might be behind him, but his decades of experience could never be dismissed.
Curious as to why such a remarkable figure would hide in the shadows of the internet, content with a win streak, Park Soohyun began digging into his whereabouts.
A mid-career pro, Park Soohyun had been appointed director of the national Go team this year.
He wanted to satisfy his personal curiosity, of course, but as director, he also wanted, by any means necessary, to lure 'tlsckdah1021' into the daylight.
What he had learned so far was that, at least among male professionals, no one shared 'tlckdah1021's' style.
Typed in Korean, 'Shin Changmo' — and the birthday was, apparently, October 21st.
He had widened the search to include research students, but no matching figure emerged. Even in articles introducing strong amateurs and winners of small tournaments, the three syllables 'Shin Changmo' could not be found.
'World Go Empress Ryu Seoa. Declaration of intent for the Women's Kuksu Title.'
As he kept scrolling through the articles, one news story caught his eye.
She had once been suspected of being 'tlsckdah1021's' owner, but like everyone else, her connection to one 'Shin Changmo' was weak.
For starters, her family name was Ryu. Her biological father was even a foreigner. There was no way she could be related by blood to a man named Shin Changmo.
Furthermore, she had publicly stated in official interviews that she had no teacher.
A hard story to believe — but if she said so herself, who could know under whom she had studied?
But what if she had deliberately concealed her teacher's existence?
What if her teacher, disliking the world's attention, had told her to deny him?
Ryu Seoa's brilliance, and the similarity to 'tlsckdah1021' she had shown in the final game of the Paihe Cup.
If one 'Shin Changmo' had instructed her in Go, all of it would suddenly carry a certain persuasive weight.
Whether or not Park Soohyun's hypothesis was true, one thing was clear: Ryu Seoa, 2-dan, was the key that would decide the fate of this year's national Go team.
Park Soohyun hurriedly checked the schedule of the Women's Kuksu Title.
For the sake of the box office, she was a player he could not afford not to invite.
Through the host organization's invitation seed, Ryu Seoa 2-dan would skip the preliminaries entirely and proceed straight to the main tournament.
He wanted to see her games with his own two eyes.
If her Paihe Cup victory had been no fluke — if she was ready for immediate action, good enough to field as a women's national representative — then he would have to press her to enter the national team qualifiers. And if she really was connected to 'tlsckdah1021', so much the better: two birds with one stone.
Looking at the photo of the blonde girl in a cheongsam, awkwardly holding up her trophy, Park Soohyun carved her face firmly into his memory.