Chapter 81: Please Call Me Sai

Xu Nuo had already restrained her smile, but the chill at the corners of her eyes and brows had melted quite a bit:

"In the afternoon, I go to the Shinjuku Go Salon to wash go stones and clean up. In the evening, first I go outside the Kanemaru Casino to hand out flyers, and then go to the bar to work."

Xu Yunzhou automatically filtered out the casino—the water in that place was too deep and muddy, easy to get oneself covered in stench, not suitable as a starting point.

His mind locked onto the "Shinjuku Go Salon."

"You know how to play Go?"

His heart stirred, faintly catching a superb path.

"Mhm."

Xu Nuo nodded, her tone flat yet carrying a trace of undetectable pride,

"Amateur 5-dan. When I was little, my family specially hired a teacher for me, quite famous too."

She didn't reveal more, such as the fact that her enlightening teacher was exactly the current eight-time champion of the Great Xia Go world, the genius Go player Gu Dali 9-dan, who hailed from Bazhou.

The reason Gu Dali 9-dan was willing to accept her, a young child, as a disciple back then, besides the fact that she indeed displayed extraordinary intelligence, the main reason was still because of her family's intricately intertwined influence in the Bashu region back then.

"Amateur 5-dan? The level is quite good!"

Xu Yunzhou's eyes lit up,

"Then you can go play Wager Go! Winning one game earns quite a bit, right?"

(TL: "Wager Go" refers to playing Go for money.)

Xu Nuo, however, shook her head, very clear-headed:

"With my level, bullying amateur hobbyists is fine. The wager Go circle is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. If I accidentally meet a true master, I will only lose everything."

"Heh."

Xu Yunzhou let out a light laugh, carrying an absolute confidence,

"With me here, how could you possibly lose?"

Hearing this, Xu Nuo glanced at him suspiciously.

This old programmer geezer... also knows how to play Go? Bragging, right?

"You don't believe me?"

Xu Yunzhou saw her suspicion, his interest growing even higher,

"Come, let's play a game. Let you personally experience what despair is."

"Okay!"

Xu Nuo's competitiveness was also aroused. She immediately opened the Go playing software on the computer, her actions clean and neat.

Xu Yunzhou's tone was as casual as if offering a piece of candy:

"You place five handicap stones first."

Xu Nuo:

"???"

She almost thought she had misheard. Abruptly raising her head, she stared at him with a look of "are you crazy or am I crazy":

"Giving me five handicap stones? Do you exactly understand Go or not? Unless you are an active professional high-dan player, otherwise this is courting death!"

Xu Yunzhou chuckled, his virtual figure seeming to grow a bit taller, his tone carrying a detachment of looking down upon all living beings:

"Not to mention you, even if the current world champion sat here, in front of me, he would have to obediently place two or three handicap stones first before talking."

At the same time, sitting in front of the computer, he quickly picked up his phone, downloaded a top-tier AI Go software named "Fine Art" in seconds, and directly activated a lifetime VIP membership—anyway, this master has money now, I don't care about these three melons and two dates.

A plan rapidly took shape in his mind:

AI ruling the Go world is a matter after 2016. In the current 2015, Xu Nuo, possessing the blessing of "Fine Art," is the God of Go walking in the human world! Unquestionably number one under heaven!

Even arriving in 2016, that newly emerged AlphaGo wouldn't be able to block Fine Art, which had undergone several version updates!

And although the overall strength and influence of the Nihon Go world were declining day by day, the prize money for various traditional Go tournaments was still quite abundant, and the attention was still there.

More importantly, a beautiful young girl Go player with a clear and pretty face coming from Great Xia, sweeping across the entire Nihon Go arena with an unrivaled crushing momentum...

This level of topic discussion, this influence, this sense of contrast, is simply a perfect stage tailor-made for the Goddess Nurturing quest!

Also, he remembered just now when browsing Takemiya Susumu's materials, he faintly noticed that this guy would occasionally pose as a lover of culture, attending some high-end Go cultural events to act as a facade...

This might be a potential entry point.

It could be called killing three birds with one stone! No, maybe more!

Let him, this noob who only knew how to capture stones, take the young girl Xu Nuo, who shouldered a blood feud, to conquer the Go world of 2015!

"Stop bragging, let's see the real chapter under our hands!"

(TL: "See the real chapter under our hands" means proving oneself through actual combat/action.)

Unconvinced, Xu Nuo placed five black stones on the Go board.

The game began.

More than ten minutes later.

Looking at the Go board on the screen where her large group of black stones was tragically slaughtered, scattered sporadically and lingering with its last breath, Xu Nuo's whole person froze.

Her slender fingers hovered unconsciously over the mouse, trembling slightly.

This... this is simply a crushing defeat!

The opponent's Go moves were unpredictable like ghosts and gods, the calculation so far-reaching it made one's hair stand on end.

"What... what exactly are you..."

She muttered, the gaze looking at Xu Yunzhou completely changed, full of shock and disbelief,

"You really are Sai... no, you are even stronger than Sai!"

(TL: This author really loves Hikaru no Go...)

Xu Yunzhou watched with satisfaction the expression of the little girl being completely awed, his virtual corners of the mouth hooking into an unfathomable arc.

He waved his hand:

"Let's go, I'll take you to bloodbath the Nihon Go arena."

...

The Shinjuku Go Salon was hidden on the second floor of an old commercial and residential building. The storefront wasn't large, yet it revealed a bit of the elegance of finding quiet amidst noise.

This place was run by a couple who loved Go—Kazuya Fujisawa and his wife Yui Fujisawa. Rather than a business, it was more like a spiritual habitat provided for Go friends nearby.

A few months ago, Xu Nuo had timidly come to the door, stuttering in Japanese with an accent:

"Excuse me... do you need a Go teacher?"

She couldn't produce identification documents, and her Japanese was also stumbling. Although she had an amateur 5-dan certificate, she was tactfully rejected by several Go schools.

But looking at her clear and pretty face that couldn't conceal its haggardness, Yui Fujisawa's heart couldn't help but soften.

"In this girl's demeanor, there vaguely remain traces of good upbringing, like a noble lady who has fallen into the mortal world."

Yui faintly guessed that this child's family had probably encountered a massive change, and she was sent to this foreign country to take refuge.

"We don't teach Go here... how about this..."

Yui smiled gently,

"We happen to need someone here to help organize the Go equipment and clean up. If Nuo-chan doesn't mind, just help out here for now?"

Since then, Xu Nuo became the "sweeping girl" of the salon.

She was reticent, but her Go strength could rank upper-middle in the salon.

When she wasn't busy, she would shrink into the tatami in the corner, hugging thick books like "Computer Network Security Technology" or "Python Programming" and chewing through them.

That focused appearance was completely incompatible with the leisurely Go game atmosphere around her, yet strangely harmonious.

Everyone quite liked this quiet, hardworking Great Xia girl carrying a bit of a mysterious aura.

In the afternoon, Xu Nuo came to the salon as usual.

"Sister Fujisawa."

She greeted softly.

"Nuo-chan is here, good work, rest a bit first."

Yui Fujisawa smiled gently.

Xu Nuo nodded, but her gaze had already swept sharply across the entire salon, quickly locking onto a Go table surrounded by a few people.

Of the two playing the game, a young man wearing glasses was pulling a long face, staring at the Go board sighing.

The other bald middle-aged uncle was leisurely fanning himself with a folding fan. It was exactly Xu Nuo's target for this trip—Natsu Yasuda.

Yasuda was a regular here, his Go strength approaching professional level, and he frequently played wager Go here.

With Xu Nuo's previous level, she would need to be given at least two to three handicap stones by him.

Soon, this game ended, and Natsu Yasuda won without any suspense.

The bespectacled youth smiled bitterly, took out two Fukuzawa Yukichi bills and handed them over:

(TL: Fukuzawa Yukichi is the face on the 10,000 Yen note.)

"Mr. Yasuda, next time... next time you have to give four handicap stones, right?"

Natsu Yasuda laughed loudly, shaking his head reservedly:

"Not at all, three handicap stones is the limit, any more and it's unplayable."

Xu Nuo curled her lips at Xu Yunzhou:

"That bald guy could give the person just now at least five handicap stones. Won twenty thousand and still putting on an act, old swindler."

Xu Yunzhou's voice carried a smile:

"Saw it. Go on, go make this scammer pay the price."