Stones and Shooters
"I've installed all the basic programs as you requested. This is a pretty high-spec machine, so you'll be able to run most games on max settings."
Hyeong-man smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the PC sitting on Cheol-jun's desk.
"Yes, thank you for your hard work."
After the installation technician left, Hyeong-man sat down in front of the computer and began to search.
• Psychology of gifted children
• How to raise a gifted child properly
• Socialization issues in highly gifted children
• Negative traits of gifted children
Hmm...
"Sigh..."
Hyeong-man let out a deep sigh.
"Being too smart is a problem in itself."
He checked the clock; it was about time for Cheol-jun to come home.
I hope nothing bad happened. Did he manage to make at least one friend?
"...Huh?"
Hyeong-man had expected Cheol-jun to run straight to the computer the moment he saw it, but instead, the boy plopped down on the living room sofa and began chattering away about his day at school.
"So, there's this kid named Min-jun, and he's incredibly good at games. They say he's the best in the whole school. He's also the tallest among the fifth graders. And Ha-rang was originally Min-jun's friend, but he decided to be my friend too! He's like an anime expert. He recommended a few shows to me, and they sound so fun just hearing about them. I haven't talked to the other kids much yet, but there's Si-woo, Ji-ah, and Arin..."
Hyeong-man stared blankly at Cheol-jun, who was talking with flushed excitement, before letting out a sigh of relief and smiling warmly.
I guess those experts don't know everything.
"So, you had fun?"
Cheol-jun beamed.
"Yes!"
"Haha. I'm glad."
"But..."
For a brief second, Cheol-jun's brow furrowed slightly.
Then, he looked up at Hyeong-man.
Hyeong-man raised an eyebrow.
Did something happen?
"Uncle."
"...Yeah?"
"I have something serious to ask you."
Hyeong-man tensed up slightly and nodded.
"I... I want you to increase my phone screen time!"
"Ah...?"
"And! I want to install games on my phone too!"
Hyeong-man grinned.
So that was what this was about...
After his consultation with the pediatric psychiatrist this morning, he had already planned to grant this anyway.
"Sure. I'll let you."
Cheol-jun's eyes widened.
In truth, he knew his uncle had restricted his phone usage out of care for him.
He had searched it up once and found countless articles warning about the negative effects of smartphones.
That was why he had been racking his brain to prepare a logical argument to convince his uncle. He never expected to get permission so easily.
"Really?"
"Yeah. But you still have to keep your bedtime."
"Whoa!"
"Ha, look at you. Is it really that great?"
"Yes! Booyah!"
Booyah? What kind of word was that?
Did he already pick up slang from the other kids?
Hyeong-man chuckled and turned his head toward Cheol-jun's room.
"By the way, do you not like the computer?"
Only then did Cheol-jun startle, jumping up from the sofa.
He scurried over to his room and stood in front of the computer.
"Whoa!"
He had been so distracted talking about his school day.
Furthermore, his mind had been entirely occupied with strategies to persuade his uncle to allow more phone time and game installations.
That was why he was only now registering the computer's existence.
Cheol-jun quickly sat in the chair and grabbed the mouse.
Following him inside, Hyeong-man looked at the back of the boy's small head with a proud expression.
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes!"
He had occasionally used his dad's laptop before.
So he knew how to operate it.
Well, since he hadn't been allowed to use the internet back then, all he had ever done was typing practice games and the classic game StarCraft.
Hyeong-man pointed a finger at the monitor.
"If you click that icon there, an internet browser will open, and you can find tons of information. That's it. Just type in the box next to the magnifying glass to search. Now, what is our Cheol-jun most curious about?"
Hyeong-man looked forward to this.
He thought back to the things the boy had shown the most interest in.
Stars? Math problems?
It had to be one of those two.
Cheol-jun's round eyes sparkled as he placed his fingers on the keyboard.
His tiny, fern-like fingers moved like lightning.
[How to get good at Rival]
"...?"
Hyeong-man blinked blankly at the completely unexpected search term.
What is Rival?
On the monitor, a video played showing cute-looking characters running around and shooting guns.
No matter how much he looked, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
After watching the video with excitement, Cheol-jun suddenly turned his head to look at Hyeong-man.
"Oh, right. Uncle, you know how to play Baduk, right? I saw a Baduk board on the balcony."
"Huh? Yeah, I can play a bit."
In his prime, he had been at the level of an amateur 2-dan.
"Dad told me I was really good at Baduk."
"Ah, you learned Baduk too? Right, Jaegang used to play a bit. Your dad and I were about equal in skill."
When they were young, there was a time when the two of them were deeply obsessed with the game.
Back then, they were staying secretly in China with nothing but time to kill, so their only entertainment had been Baduk and cards.
"But why do you ask?"
"I've only ever played Baduk with Dad, so I don't know what level I am."
"So, you want to play a game with me?"
"Yes!"
"Haha. Sure, how many handicap stones do you want to place?"
"Uh, three stones!"
"Huh, is that how you played with Jaegang?"
"Yes!"
"You must have been pretty good, then."
Hyeong-man laughed and shook his head.
Was he good at Baduk too because he was a genius?
Assuming Jaegang was around his level, let's say amateur 2-dan.
A handicap game with three stones against an amateur 2-dan would put the opponent at around amateur 2-kyu.
For an elementary schooler, that was considered quite high.
To reach that level without even attending a Baduk academy, playing only with his father, was impressive.
Hyeong-man grew curious about Cheol-jun's actual skill.
Hyeong-man grinned.
"Shall we play now? Or do you want to use the computer a bit more?"
"Now!"
Cheol-jun smiled brightly, jumped up, and scurried off to the balcony.
Park Jin-gyeom Baduk Academy
Si-woo stared blankly at the sign attached to the large building.
Normally, on Mondays, he would go to school, leave early after the second period, and come straight here.
But today, being the first day of the new semester, he had arrived a bit later.
Si-woo closed his eyes for a moment.
Last week, he had lost in the weekly research student group league.
He still had plenty of league points, so a single loss wasn't enough to make him worry about demotion, but his opponent had been an older boy who kept failing the professional entry exams and ultimately failed to turn pro by the age of eighteen.
He had lost to the lowest-ranked player in his research student group.
The fact that he had lost to someone he had always beaten kept gnawing at him.
Reviewing the game in his head, he realized he had made a few hasty moves in the lower-left corner.
That mistake had snowballed, leading to a significant loss.
No matter how much he analyzed it, that was the sole cause of his defeat.
It was due to carelessness.
He had assumed he was several moves ahead in reading the board and had played aggressively, unlike his usual style.
Once he entered the academy, he would have to review the match with his father.
Si-woo reconstructed the battle in the lower-left corner in his mind, visualizing every possible variation.
Dozens of virtual Baduk boards materialized in his head, each searching for the optimal move and responding accordingly.
If a board faltered even slightly after a few moves, he abandoned it without hesitation.
Then, he carefully reviewed only the surviving boards that remained after the filtering process.
He had to scrutinize every single move to see if there were any flaws in his opponent's responses.
He naturally did this when he lost, but even when he won, if there was a move that left a lingering sense of unease, Si-woo would repeat this process.
He had to find the absolute best moves in advance.
Only then would he face less of his father's wrath during the review.
—What if you play here?
If that question was asked, he had to provide the correct answer immediately.
And he had to be able to perfectly explain the significance of that single stone several moves ahead.
He was terrified of his father's low, heavy sigh whenever he hesitated or failed to explain a move's clear purpose.
On days he heard that sigh, he would suffer from nightmares all night.
Dreams where his body shrank to an infinitesimal size, wandering the board while dodging giant Baduk stones.
In the end, he would wake up just as his entire body was crushed by those massive stones.
Since childhood, Si-woo's mind had held nothing but Baduk.
Kids his age were far too childish, and communication was impossible.
Classes were boring, and most of what the teachers said was useless.
School was merely a place that cluttered his mind.
None of it helped his Baduk in the slightest.
He resented having to force himself to go.
Since he had kept to himself like that since the first grade, the other kids naturally stopped trying to talk to him.
Si-woo found that incredibly comfortable.
He didn't want to waste his emotions on pointless interactions.
—Hi.
Si-woo raised an eyebrow.
The face that suddenly popped into his mind scattered the lower-left corner records he had laid out.
—Whoa. My dad taught me Baduk too!
—He said I was really good at it!
Recalling what the boy had said, Si-woo let out an incredulous laugh.
What? "Really good"?
Even the older boys in Group 1, the highest tier, never dared to claim they were good at Baduk.
People who lived in this world never uttered such words.
Because they knew all too well how much they had to prove just to utter that single phrase.
Even his formidable father had never once said anything of the sort.
And yet, that boy had spoken so lightly in front of someone who was risking his entire life on the game.
It was incredibly grating.
Si-woo's brow furrowed deeply.
Ugh, so annoying.
It was probably just a thoughtless comment from a kid who didn't even know Baduk properly, but for some reason, it kept coming back to him.
He also detested that innocent face, speaking boastfully as if he truly believed he was a master.
Si-woo gritted his teeth and entered the building.
He was even more annoyed because thinking about that kid had disrupted his preparation for the review with his father.
Hyeong-man tilted his head in confusion.
"What? You want me to place three handicap stones?"
Cheol-jun nodded with a bright smile.
"Yes. You said you were similar to Dad. Dad also placed three stones when he played with me."
Hyeong-man raised an eyebrow.
It was the exact opposite of what he had assumed.
It meant Cheol-jun was the one giving the handicap, not Jaegang.
"Huh..."
"Um, this is a secret, though."
"Yeah?"
"Actually, even if Dad had placed five stones, I still would have won."
"...What?"
"But every time the number of handicap stones increased, Dad's expression got a bit dark."
"..."
"So after we reached three stones, I purposely won some and lost some."
"Ha..."
Hyeong-man narrowed his eyes.
Even if the kid was a genius, should he take this at face value?
Well, he would find out once they played.
Hyeong-man slid the container of Baduk stones toward Cheol-jun.
"Let's start with an even game first."
"Oh, are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Hey. Your uncle is pretty good, you know? Take the black stones."
"...Okay."
"No holding back! Got it?"
"Yes!"
And about fifteen minutes later.
Hyeong-man swallowed hard as he stared at the vast, impenetrable territories built by the black stones.
There wasn't a single weakness to exploit.
It was a complete defeat.
Honestly, he should have resigned long ago, but he had kept playing out of sheer stubbornness.
Once the outcome became undeniable, the kid started giving him subtle glances.
As if asking when he was going to resign.
That was incredibly embarrassing.
Glancing at Hyeong-man's expression, Cheol-jun spoke up cautiously.
"Are you going to keep playing?"
Hyeong-man slowly shook his head and placed his stone down in resignation.
Cheol-jun looked at the board, deliberately furrowing his brow.
"Um, Uncle."
"...Yeah?"
"You're worse than Dad."
"..."
Staring at Cheol-jun's innocent, bright face, Hyeong-man barely managed to suppress the urge to flip the board.
"The loser cleans up the stones, right?"
Hyeong-man gritted his teeth and nodded, and Cheol-jun quickly scurried back into his room.
Then, he began to study the game Rival.
The next day.
"Holy crap! No Min-jun got absolutely wrecked!"
It was lunchtime, during the brief window of phone usage allowed after eating.
Cheers erupted from the Special Creativity Class, which had only half the number of students of other classes.