Too Many Money-Making Talents

Heo Gyu 9-dan, the supervisor of the integrated preliminaries, walked quietly around the hall with his back to the wall.

His legs felt heavier than the day before, and his knees were stiff.

He wasn’t even playing the game himself, yet he felt as if his own energy was being drained.

‘… I must be getting old too.’

In the senior division alone, he had already lost his competitiveness.

As a professional Go player,

his role had become nothing more than occasionally stepping in as a supervisor or referee.

As he wandered, a quiet melancholy settled in his eyes.

‘If we keep losing to the Chinese like this… it shouldn’t be.’

The integrated preliminaries sounded grand in name,

but when you looked closely, there were almost no exceptions or variables.

Thirteen main-event tickets.

Of those, China claimed ten every year.

It was almost a predetermined path.

The difference was at most one.

This year, the result didn’t seem to differ much from that.

‘Si-hoo and Eun-woo are fine. They’ve been performing well. The real problem is…’

World ranking number one: Jeong Si-hoo.

World ranking number eight: Kim Eun-woo.

Both were undisputed top-tier players in the world.

Among them,

Jeong Si-hoo 9-dan had broken Oh Soo’s record of six consecutive world number ones and was holding the number one spot for the seventh year as a new legend in Korean Go.

However,

excluding those two, Korean Go lacked competitiveness.

‘The waist is weak.’

A bitterness lingered at the corner of Heo Gyu 9-dan’s mouth.

Korean Go’s greatest weakness.

There was no young, solid mid-tier players.

Honestly speaking,

The world tournament results of domestic ranking 20th to 30th pro players were at a disappointing level compared to Chinese players ranked 50th or lower.

In the end, this preliminary would likely be dominated by China.

That was why

Heo Gyu 9-dan always felt a deep thirst.

He hoped that someone would appear to shoulder the broken waist and become a new center.

In that sense,

His gaze softened as he looked at Byun Woo-bin 5-dan sitting in the center of the hall.

‘In Korean Go… there are few stable pillars like Woo-bin.’

From his trainee days, he had shown his talent.

Even after entering the pro ranks, he had grown rapidly.

He had absorbed AI Go into his own style,

and his ability to control the flow of the board with intuitive and creative moves was excellent.

Furthermore, his performance this year had been good.

A player who was better tomorrow than today.

However,

The atmosphere of the match between Byun Woo-bin 5-dan was strange.

‘What’s going on?’

The expressions of the pro players watching were also not normal.

Surprise.

Gasps.

Shock.

Heo Gyu 9-dan unconsciously moved his feet toward that direction.

Up close, Byun Woo-bin 5-dan’s posture was as straight as usual.

There was no wavering in his expression.

However,

The tips of his fingers and his gaze were telling.

He was repeatedly picking up stones and putting them down again,

scanning the entire board again.

He was aware that he had deviated from the predetermined flow.

‘Eh, how?’

Heo Gyu 9-dan’s eyes wavered.

Just a moment ago,

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan’s black had been pouring on a one-sided attack.

White had held on well,

but he thought it would collapse soon.

Yet,

Like a tree with deep roots,

White was holding the center without wavering.

It was black who was shaken.

All the moves Byun Woo-bin 5-dan made were threatening.

However,

Those moves didn’t feel threatening to black at all.

He was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠killing the momentum,

avoiding unnecessary fights,

and clearly blocking the reckless moves.

He was protecting the territory but leaving thickness,

and the positions he defended became the center axis.

“…”

Heo Gyu 9-dan had no words.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Or rather, he couldn’t say anything.

The pro players watching the game,

now understood why they were making those expressions.

If they looked in a mirror,

they would be making the same expression.

He turned his head as if mesmerized by something.

‘Kim In-ha’

He wasn’t a trainee.

His background and history were ambiguous, an amateur.

However,

He had beaten strong players like Kim Dong-gyu 8-dan, Lin Sui 8-dan, and Lu Yuan 6-dan and reached this position.

Moreover,

Lu Yuan 6-dan, who lost to him,

was watching the game here today as well.

‘Is it possible that it’s not Woo-bin… but watching this person’s Go?’

It was an absurd thought.

Never had pros gathered to watch just one amateur.

But somehow,

He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were paying more attention to Kim In-ha holding white than to black.

“…”

Heo Gyu 9-dan took a breath and quietly looked down at the Go board.

Yes.

First, confirm.

Tap.

White placed a stone.

Without forcing it.

Without pressing.

However,

The shape was clearly tilting subtly.

‘This, this is… winning without fighting.’

That kind of Go.

Being good at defense meant,

in other words,

being good at fighting.

Not just blocking,

but reading the flow of the attack and cutting it off.

In other words,

Go of someone who controls all moves and designs the flow.

At that moment,

A name flashed through Heo Gyu 9-dan’s mind.

‘It… resembles that guy’s Go…’

Oh Soo 9-dan.

The entry into divinity who left a mark on Go history.

Perfect.

And

The only human to win an official match against AI.

Go that no one could imitate.

Prediction, not domination.

Technique, not intuition.

Unique ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flow.

Heo Gyu 9-dan suddenly felt a cool shiver running down his spine.

‘If, really… if this match isn’t a fluke,

and he can play ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this Go without fluctuation,

continuously,

‘I might have to be on edge.’

Even the top pro players from China, Japan, and Korea, who are called world-class,

order,

era,

might be shaken by one person.

‘I’m leading.’

My shape judgment has little error.

A field where I’m confident.

‘I’m ahead by two and a half points.’

By now,

The game had entered the endgame phase.

Time was running out,

and options were narrowing.

The more that happened, the more simply and accurately I played.

I picked up a stone.

Tap.

I blocked the last remaining variable.

What remained was the endgame.

Calculated precisely, there was no chance of a comeback.

I glanced at Byun Woo-bin 5-dan’s expression.

‘He must be feeling bitter.’

The feeling of having done nothing but shadowboxing until the end.

He had challenged from the beginning,

kept pressing until the middle game.

There was momentum and attack,

but no domination.

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan had never taken the flow.

All his attacks had only collided like empty echoes,

and there was no counterattack coming back.

So, it would have been more futile.

Like having poured all his power, but the opponent never drew a sword.

He might have felt powerless himself.

The Go that had been pressed with momentum but ended without even grasping the flow.

‘His pride must have been hurt.’

This wasn’t a simple defeat.

Maybe,

a humiliating end.

A cruel defeat.

‘There’s no reason for me to feel sorry?’

Putting aside personal feelings,

I had simply chosen the most certain way to win.

Even if that process was cruel to someone,

it didn’t matter.

He was a pro,

and I was at the threshold of pro,

so…

‘He can’t make the next move.’

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan’s hand had been stopped for quite some time.

His expression looked complicated.

Not focusing on reading the moves,

but sorting thoughts,

emotions.

‘He can’t let go of his attachment.’

It was different from being tenacious or not giving up.

Right now, Byun Woo-bin 5-dan

wasn’t accepting the fact that he had lost to me.

Whoosh.

The pro players watching the game one by one stood up.

Regardless of the remaining moves,

they had judged that it wouldn’t affect the win or loss anymore.

On the board,

only meaningless time was flowing.

At that moment,

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan quietly raised his head.

His expression was still expressionless, but the emotions inside couldn’t be hidden.

Anger.

And pain.

He clenched his teeth and placed two stones on the Go board.

Resignation.

“…”

I quietly watched the scene.

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan stood up without a word.

Without greeting,

without removing his own stones on the board,

he turned his back and tried to walk towards the exit.

“Well played.”

I

kept etiquette to the last.

Both the match and manners.

To accurately show that I had won.

And

There was no reason to overlook the words and actions that had ignored me.

“Today’s, my condition seems a bit better.”

Pausing.

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan’s footsteps stopped.

However,

He didn’t turn his head at all.

As if the last bit of pride didn’t allow it.

Instead,

His shoulders faintly trembled.

The image of holding back anger.

Without seeing his expression now,

I could imagine.

He took another step.

Heavy and quiet.

I no longer looked at his back.

‘Was that too childish?’

He was older,

so maybe I wasn’t being dignified enough.

But

It was just a fleeting thought.

Byun Woo-bin 5-dan had been the first to show uncomfortable feelings.

Even though he had blatantly ignored me,

it was more ridiculous that I was just standing there.

-Ding!

‘This is real?’

My heart pounded.

One beat lagged, then suddenly raced like crazy with dopamine and adrenaline.

‘This changes everything.’

The Primary Job Exchange Ticket.

And

The Diamond Roulette Ticket.

Everything was different now.

Until now I had only focused on meeting the conditions to not lose the talent.

But this time was different.

It wasn’t about staying and protecting.

It was about changing everything completely.

A chance to upgrade my entire life.

‘… I have to win with my life on the line.’

Twenty-nine-year-old Kim In-ha.

The day that became the biggest motivation in my life.