"Cut?"

Seeing this move, the youth froze instantly, his eyes filled with deep confusion.

Not just him—everyone else was completely baffled by this seemingly meaningless move.

After long contemplation, the youth finally snapped back to reality, picked up another stone, and swiftly placed it.

Yu Shao watched the board, saw the stone the youth placed, and immediately responded with his own move.

Tap!

Tap!

Tap!

"What's happening..."

As the game progressed, the youth's expression subtly changed, fine beads of sweat emerging densely on his forehead, while the eyes of everyone around widened bit by bit.

Suddenly, the youth instinctively clenched his fist, immediately picked up a stone, and pressed it down rapidly!

Tap!

Column 7, Row 16—stick!

Immediately after, Yu Shao also placed his stone!

"How is this possible..."

The youth murmured in disbelief.

Meanwhile, everyone around was utterly dumbfounded!

"Completely incomprehensible..."

"Logically speaking, after White's position thinned out, Black's counterattack should have been extremely severe!"

"But... but... White's cut here is incredibly clever—it actually shows signs of dragon slaying."

"Black's connection was originally a good move too, but for some reason, it didn't achieve the expected effect and instead appears heavy and slow!"

The game continued.

But the more they watched, the more question marks filled everyone's minds.

They had completely lost understanding of what was happening.

Just as Yu Shao picked up and placed another stone, someone couldn't help but exclaim: "After White's knight's move here, Black's originally fierce offensive stones are becoming unsustainable!"

"Impossible, how can this be!"

Seeing this, someone leaned forward, trying to see more clearly, as if unable to believe their own eyes.

Black exhausted every scheme to lure White into the trap. Once White entered, Black had White completely netted. Though White gained something, their losses were extremely severe.

No matter what, White should be suffering under attack while Black goes all-out with desperate, forceful assaults!

But...

"Invasive move!"

"White is still making invasive moves, aiming to completely erode Black's outside influence and force Black into difficult survival!"

The game grew increasingly tense, large drops of sweat streaming down the youth's face.

He picked up a stone and placed it!

Tap!

Column 17, Row 10—poke!

The stone landed.

The instant Black's stone touched the board, Yu Shao immediately pressed down with White's stone!

Column 14, Row 11—strike!

"Strike! White has launched the general offensive!"

No one could maintain calm observation anymore. Everyone stepped forward two paces. Though looking down at the board, they felt as if they were looking up, experiencing sheer awe!

Silence!

Deafening silence!

"How did this happen..."

The girl behind the youth also stared wide-eyed in shock. Everything happening before her completely exceeded her comprehension!

"Why is this happening! White indeed has thin characteristics, but why does it grow thicker the more we attack?"

"This completely defies logic!"

On the board, the youth picked up another stone and continued playing.

Tap!

Column 9, Row 14—cut!

Yu Shao placed another stone immediately!

"Black has completely fallen into gote! Sente entirely belongs to Yu Shao!"

Wu Shuheng swallowed hard with difficulty. Even swallowing felt arduous at this moment. His eyes couldn't leave the board.

Even knowing Yu Shao's playing strength, witnessing this unbelievable scene firsthand filled him with unparalleled shock and disbelief!

"Black's cut is excellent, even the strongest local response... but still fell into gote. Why?"

Wu Shuheng's mind filled with question marks as he stared intently at the board: "Why is this happening?"

Stones continued to fall, time passing bit by bit.

White jumped first, the situation becoming close combat, extremely urgent. Black used cut—a sharp technique to sever White's formation and initiate entanglement.

But White remained chillingly calm, not clinging to battle, quickly abandoning accumulated advantages, directly demanding exchange—injury for injury—terrifying everyone!

Yu Shao quietly watched the board, reached into the go bowl, and picked up another cold white stone between his fingers.

Snap!

The stone pressed down!

Column 13, Row 14—diagonal move!

The youth's face turned pale, fine sweat flowing down, completely incredulous: "The situation is completely different from what I anticipated..."

"It's already... completely trapped in a dead end!"

Tap, tap, tap...

After a great commotion, the go club had unknowingly fallen silent again—so quiet you could hear a pin drop!

After another dozen moves, the board's territory had completely changed color!

The originally thin White had quietly become thick influence, while the fiercely attacking Black in the center felt extremely heavy. The outside influence that Black saw as their last chance for comeback already showed signs of fragmentation!

Everyone around stared blankly at the board. Only after reaching this point did they gradually realize the problem from the previous moves.

They were deeply moved by the truth revealed on the board.

"White's entry into the trap wasn't because they failed to detect Black's intention. White entered because they found the method to break the situation after entering."

Someone murmured: "That cut was the preparation!"

"This cut was set up for over twenty moves! During the ladder breaker, it actually succeeded in cutting Black into two segments! White kept making forcing moves, dividing and conquering Black's two outside influences!"

"Finally, this cut ignited global warfare! One white stone mobilized all forces on the board, gathering troops in Black's territory, and ultimately... successfully sparked rebellion!"

"This is simply—"

His eyes looked utterly lost, searching for words, but momentarily found no language to describe his feelings. All vocabulary seemed so impoverished and hollow before this battle!

Tap!

Tap!

Tap!

On the board, Black stubbornly continued playing. Though at this point, Black's situation was precarious and the outcome basically decided, Black hadn't lost yet.

Even though Black's chances of survival on the board were almost invisible, Black still exhausted every means to search for opportunities.

"White's push was a probe. Black's jump was very strong. White seems to have lost here, but... who can say this wasn't White's design from the beginning?"

After several more moves, someone gazed at the board and spoke softly, as if talking to themselves or asking others' opinions.

Everyone around remained silent.

Yes, White seems to have lost here, but the recent battle that crushed Black's last hope remained vivid before their eyes. They hardly dared trust their own judgment anymore.

They could only watch in silence.

Above, White fiercely attacked while Black struggled desperately. Black forcibly cut White's connections, hoping to use ko fights for resistance. Both sides engaged in half-real, half-bluff entanglement around the ko.

"Black hopes to use the ko to live, while White uses the ko to maintain pressure. Actually, neither side faces life-or-death concerns here."

Wu Zhixuan said quietly: "But Black lacks enough ko threats and has to make a tiger's mouth for self-protection. The value of this move... is practically dame."

What is dame?

It refers to the move with the smallest value on the board that doesn't surround any territory. Usually only played during final endgame, but this move appeared during the intense middle game...

Tap, tap, tap...

The youth's move pace slowed increasingly.

The go club gradually filled with a desolate atmosphere, like a hero past his prime.

When paths cross, the brave win. But the defeated aren't necessarily not brave—sometimes the defeated are heroes too.

"Black's block aims at the potential in White's upper right corner, but White's cut capturing the vital stone is very clean—big and thick, practically a victory declaration."

Someone with complex emotions whispered: "The ko fight in the upper right corner is like a non-committal ko for White, plus they have local ko threats available. When White uses local ko threats, Black already... can't handle it anymore."

Finally, when Yu Shao picked up and placed another stone, the youth's hand reaching into the go bowl hesitated, unable to pick out another stone.

The outcome was decided.

Though they could continue, even playing further held no meaning anymore.

"I lost."

The youth slowly lowered his head and spoke in not-very-fluent Chinese.

After he spoke, the room still showed no reaction, remaining utterly silent. Everyone remained immersed in this game, expressions bewildered, unable to snap back to reality.

From both sides' meticulous calculations in the opening, to the back-and-forth battles in early middle game, to the peak contest between territory and influence formed by both sides...

They thought this was already the game's most brilliant part, never expecting that after White entered with their whole being, they ultimately used one cut to ignite full-board rebellion, violently severing Black into two segments, completely eroding Black's outside influence!

Every single move by both sides, even now, deeply shook them!

"Thank you for the game."

Yu Shao slowly lowered his head and spoke.

The youth stared blankly at the board before him, seemingly not hearing Yu Shao's words at all.

Yu Shao also looked at the board and slowly exhaled a deep breath.

The youth's playing strength completely exceeded his expectations. Though he won big in the middle game, honestly, it wasn't that easy—even could be said to have been consistently challenging.

"Perhaps during the upcoming World Championship, there might be chance to play him again..."

Yu Shao thought silently.

Even now, he didn't know the youth's identity, but after this game, he could at least determine that the youth opposite definitely wasn't some unknown player.

Even he himself felt this game had been played extremely well.

Seeing this game and thinking about the upcoming Phoenix Cup World Championship, Yu Shao couldn't help but grow more eager about the world competition.

Then, Yu Shao glanced outside the window and noticed the sky had grown somewhat dim.

Yu Shao stood up, looked back at Wu Shuheng and Wu Zhixuan behind him, saw they still stared dumbly at the board, and reminded: "It's getting late. Let's go."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, their thoughts were instantly interrupted. Reacting, they quickly nodded: "Oh, oh."

Though still somewhat dazed, they subconsciously followed behind Yu Shao, heading toward the go club's first floor together. Soon they descended the stairs and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Leaving only those still standing dazed in place, the youth still sitting staring at the board, and the girl standing behind the youth gazing intently at the game.

Even long after Yu Shao's trio left, the go club's second floor remained astonishingly quiet.

"It's over..."

A blond-haired youth stared blankly at the board, a deep look of confusion flashing across his face.

"Ring ring ring."

Just then, the youth's pants pocket phone suddenly rang, finally breaking the startling silence.

The youth somewhat stiffly pulled the phone from his pocket and answered.

"Hey hey hey, Old Wang, what are you doing? Weren't you supposed to come to the bar for drinks? Got girls ready, where the hell are you?"

The moment the call connected, a young male voice came through, sounding somewhat impatient.

"I..."

Hearing this, the youth's eyes still couldn't leave the board as he murmured: "I'm at the go club watching a game."

Getting this answer, the person on the other end clearly paused.

"Fuck? Watching fucking go? Weren't you going to the club to smurf? Thought you'd finish quickly, ended up watching games?"

The voice sounded puzzled, urging: "You're an amateur 5-dan, watching chickens peck each other in some club—what's so interesting? Can some game be better than girls? Watching this long? Hurry up!"

Seemingly worried the youth would be slow, the voice paused, then made an indescribable strange laugh: "The girls this time, damn, extremely hot."

Based on his understanding of the youth, he expected that after saying this, the youth would immediately eagerly ask if they looked hot.

Then he'd answer he didn't really see their faces, the youth would inevitably wonder how they could be hot without seeing faces, he'd say with disdain and contempt to stop pretending to be difficult, then the youth would instantly understand where they were hot.

But contrary to his expectations, hearing this, the youth actually fell silent.

"Holy shit! You're not right!"

The person on the phone sounded shocked, somewhat panicked: "Bro, what's wrong? Did you piss someone off smurfing and they pulled a knife on you? Told you not to smurf, had to show off at the club, got what you deserved?"

"...No."

The youth denied the guess.

"Then what is it? Say something!"

The person quickly pressed: "What happened?"

"You might not believe it."

The youth gazed at the board, speaking blankly: "At the go club, I only saw a dazzling divine light..."

This time, the person on the other end fell silent.

After a moment, he asked in a "you must think I'm an idiot" tone: "So you're saying you saw someone pull out a transformation device and turn into Ultraman?"

"In a certain sense..."

Facing his friend's teasing, the youth couldn't laugh at all. After a silent moment, he answered: "Yes."

"Bro, wait for me, I'm coming right away!"