Early in the morning, Uehara Yukito let out a long breath, his fingers clattering on the keyboard.
He checked the time; it was eight in the morning.
After tidying up and washing, Yukito left his house.
The cold streets were filled with people busy going to work or school.
People like him, who had resigned and were lying flat at home with nothing to do, were rarely seen.
Arriving at the bookstore, Yukito was surprised to find it already bustling with people, unlike what he had imagined.
Everyone's objective was clear: they all headed straight for the manga section.
This week's Dream Comic cover no longer gave special treatment to Hikaru no Go, but on the cover, Hikaru no Go's protagonist, Hikaru, and Source War Chronicle's protagonist stood opposite each other, a sense of impending conflict rising in his heart.
"If I remember correctly, the fan vote difference between Hikaru no Go and Source War Chronicle last week was less than 100,000, wasn't it?" Yukito pondered.
"The Hoshimori Group knows what it's doing. At a time like this, encouraging two works to compete for first place and guiding fans to argue with each other, it really heats up popularity."
"But… after all, it's a record of being number one on Dream Comic for over thirty consecutive months. Even if it's Hikaru no Go, can it really surpass it?"
With these thoughts in his head, Yukito took the magazine back home.
He opened the manga.
The plot picked up from last week, with Sai and Toya Koyo's online Go match being extremely cautious.
Don't let Toya Koyo's words fool you, saying Sai didn't dare to show his true face and was no gentleman.
In reality, he was incredibly serious when playing Go.
After all, his entire professional career was on the line.
And the biggest difference in online Go is that unless you intentionally restrict it, others can enter the room and watch from the side.
News of Sai's account going online spread rapidly through mutual promotion among Go enthusiasts worldwide.
Coupled with the fact that everyone had confirmed in the previous chapter that the player named "Toya Koyo" on the website was the Meijin himself, everyone now understood.
This game was a battle between Sai and the current world's number one Go player, Toya Koyo.
In the manga, the two players' stones fell one by one.
Because Rei used a Go record from his previous life, at the beginning, Toya Koyo's white stones were at a disadvantage under Sai's offensive.
Of course, Yukito didn't understand Go, so he could only infer the direction of the game through the reactions of other characters.
The manga's depiction shifted from an online match to a scene where the two sat at a Go board in a virtual mental space, personally placing stones.
Toya Koyo's serious expression.
Sai's sharp gaze.
The atmosphere was incredibly tense.
The early disadvantage gradually turned into a counterattack.
From this point onward, the evolving Go record was the one Rei had designed with two professional Ninth Dan players.
By this stage of the game, among the spectators were not only Go enthusiasts from around the world, but also Hikaru's friend Waya, and Akira, the person Hikaru pursued.
At home, Akira was greatly shocked to discover his father playing online Go with Sai, but then he sat in front of the computer, carefully watching the game.
As the match progressed, anyone with even a minor role in the story, notified by friends, began entering the online Go room to watch.
Yukito flipped through the pages one by one.
"This is my Go! You must remember, I am Koyo Toya," Toya Koyo said, staring at the screen.
"I won't hold back. I will definitely win. Then, I will uncover your true identity."
Sai merely gazed deeply at the Go board.
He was searching for the feeling of The Hand of God, but it did not appear.
Along the way, there were subtle mystery elements.
For example, Toya Koyo's disciple, Seiji Ogata, realized from Toya Koyo's prior arrangement with the nurse to refuse visitors that this match with Sai was definitely not accidental, but carefully prepared.
Seiji Ogata also sat down in front of the computer to watch.
To Yukito, the stones he didn't understand continued to fall one by one.
But judging from the reactions of the onlookers, Toya Koyo was incredibly strong, yet his white stones were suppressed by Sai's black stones.
Perhaps both were among the world's best, but even among the best, there were still differences.
Toya Koyo endured, waiting for an opportunity.
Sai played steadily from advantage, not making a single mistake.
"This aura… I've felt it before…" Toya Koyo's eyes suddenly lit up, sensing a familiar presence.
Yukito immediately understood, Toya Koyo was recalling that game against Hikaru in the New First Dan Tournament.
Then the game quickly entered the endgame.
"It has reached the small endgame. There is only one possible conclusion. I believe the opponent absolutely cannot fail to see it… I've lost."
Toya Koyo's expression grew solemn as he gripped his arm.
Unwilling, yet accepting.
In a match at this level, waiting for the opponent to blunder was an insult to both players.
Then, on the next page.
A pop-up appeared on Hikaru's screen.
"Toya Koyo resigns."
The expressions of Go masters from all over the world watching the game were shocked.
Akira, Seiji Ogata, Waya, a group of foreign Go players, Japan's professional Go players…
Sai and Toya Koyo's match ended with Toya Koyo's mid-game resignation.
Because the Go record used in the serialized plot differed, the exact progression in the Japanese version of the Hikaru no Go manga also varied.
But overall, the result was the same.
Whether it was the Go record from the manga in Rei's previous life or Lee Sedol's real match, normally, if that crucial move from his previous life was not played, the game would end in a mid-game resignation.
Even if Rika had invited two top-tier Ninth Dan players to continue from the seventy-eighth move of that game, it would still be meaningless.
White simply could not win.
The only outcome was resignation.
Sai won.
Yukito's hands trembled with excitement.
Indeed, even the world's number one, Toya Koyo, was no match in the manga.
But Sai, he was the Hikaru no Go that had been continuously learning for a thousand years.
No matter how strong Toya Koyo's talent was, no matter how much experience he possessed, could he truly be stronger than Sai?
Watching from the sidelines, Seiji Ogata, who was preparing for the fifth game of the title match with his master in a few days, felt despair well up in his heart.
In this game, all he could see was the terrifying calculation ability and control of the black stones.
Even his admired master had his rhythm completely seized.
Although Toya Koyo had attempted to counterattack, every attempt failed.
The game ended in resignation.
"Is there really no way to break this game?" Seiji Ogata's expression was pained.
"Sai… who exactly are you?"
In the manga, Akira, who was watching, also wore a bewildered expression.
From this game, he saw a familiar figure, the Hikaru from the very beginning.
That overwhelmingly strong Hikaru.
"It's him… Sai."
"It must be him!"
In the internet café, Sai, who had won, closed his eyes, quietly savoring the game.
In truth, as Go developed, players grew stronger and stronger.
But Sai had also never stopped learning.
And at this very moment, he had defeated the world's current number one, Toya Koyo.
"It's over, Toya Koyo… thank you."
"Thank you, Hikaru."
Sai spoke softly to Hikaru beside him.
But Hikaru remained silent, his gaze fixed on the Go board where they had played.
"Hikaru…?"
Yukito's expression also turned puzzled.
Hikaru, what are you looking at? Do you even understand it?
You're just a First Dan player!
"Here," Hikaru suddenly said, pointing inside the manga.
"In this game, if Toya Koyo hadn't played here and given up this area, but instead played here… to dig."
In the manga, Hikaru pointed several times at the board, then used the platform's built-in analysis function to deduce a few additional moves.
The white stones that had been almost completely surrounded in the center suddenly formed a threat against the black stones on the right.
The black stones' central advantage disappeared.
Originally, at this stage of the game, Toya Koyo's white stones were already at a decisive disadvantage, with no possibility of reversal.
But this move, Yukito couldn't understand it.
Yet he saw Sai's shocked expression in the manga.
And Hikaru's radiant smile.
Goosebumps erupted across his body.
Then, in Sai's narration, a single line of dialogue appeared.
"I understand now. Heaven made me wander the world for a thousand years… just so Hikaru could see this game!"
Yukito continued flipping the page, but only a single line of text appeared.
"The Millennium's Answer. End."
The Millennium's… Answer.
A tingling sensation ran across Yukito's scalp.
What did that mean?
The title, The Millennium's Answer?
And Sai's words… Heaven made him wander for a thousand years, just so Hikaru could see this game.
Did this mean that Hikaru's empty "dig" move, the one that reversed the situation, was The Hand of God?
Was it that highest level of human Go?
A move capable of overturning fate itself?
Shirogane-sensei, what are you doing?!
You can't end the chapter here!
Is there no morality?
No conscience?!
Today, Yukito really couldn't hold it in anymore.
He knew Hikaru no Go was famous for maddening cliffhangers.
But knowing didn't mean he could get used to them.
Especially now, It felt like ants were crawling beneath his skin.
He desperately wanted an answer. Desperately needed an explanation.
On the official website, angry fans finally exploded.
"Shirogane-sensei, what are you doing?!"
"Get out of school right now. Immediately. What kind of manga artist studies instead of drawing manga? Hurry up and update Hikaru no Go tonight, even if it's just two pages!"
"So it wasn't Sai who found The Hand of God, but Hikaru?"
"Can anyone evaluate this game between Sai and Toya Koyo?"
"I can. As a professional Go player and manga reader, I was stunned. I replayed the game record myself. Toya Koyo's white stones were absolutely top-tier, but those black stones… were they even human? Not a single mistake! And yet, such a perfect game could still be overturned?"
"That empty 'dig' move by the white stones completely broke my brain. Without it, white would have been crushed to death. Toya Koyo tried to counterattack the whole time and failed, but one move reversed everything."
"I envy people who understand Go. I don't understand anything; I can only follow the plot…"
"I just want to know what happens next. Will Toya Koyo really retire? Since Hikaru found The Hand of God, what comes next? What will happen to Hikaru?"
"Shirogane-sensei, please stop using divine powers. These cliffhangers are killing us every week!"
"I'm furious. I'm going to the school gate to confront Shirogane-sensei and force him to hand over the Hikaru no Go manuscript. Everyone wait for my good news."
"Remember to send me an electronic copy afterward, bro."
"Me too."
"Me too."
"Good people live peaceful lives."
"Please give me a copy."
"Thank you, OP."
Wednesday afternoon.
From early morning, fervent Hikaru no Go fans who had read the latest chapter were already waiting outside the school for Rei to finish classes.
But Rei was prepared.
Under staff arrangements, he didn't exit through the back gate. Instead, he slipped away through a small internal path and escaped first.
Online, the topic "Toya Koyo Loses to Sai" surged to the top of hot searches across major manga websites in an extremely short time.
At the same moment, the Japan Go Association's official website released a video.
The content was simple.
A lecture by Japan's top professional Go player Zenji, explaining the key moments of the Toya Koyo vs. Sai match in Hikaru no Go, helping readers understand the game.
Instantly, a massive number of casual Hikaru no Go fans flooded the Go Association's official website.
It didn't matter if they didn't understand Go.
If someone was explaining it, they absolutely had to attend the lesson.
...
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