Chapter 59

Chapter 59

"Hmm."

"What are we to do?"

Having returned to the Celestial Realm, the immortals sat in their pavilion, deep in thought with grave expressions.

Their decision to approach Goddess Mago together and argue that the coffeehouse lay along the road to the Celestial Realm, so there should be no problem with visiting it, had been a resounding success.

"Now that you mention it, that is true. Hoho."

They had received permission with almost disappointing ease.

The problem was that the disciple they'd gone to such lengths to visit had driven them away. After only a single day, no less.

"Where do you think we made our mistake?"

"You were far too long-winded during the review of the seventh game."

"And what about you? You kept rambling about philosophy and other incomprehensible things!"

"What did you say?"

"Enough. What good will fighting among ourselves do?"

"Ahem!"

It was an undeniable defeat.

If they declared their intention to accept someone as their disciple, that person should naturally shed tears and bow respectfully before their new masters.

But the situation had unfolded in a direction none of them had anticipated.

Instead of receiving the respect they deserved, they had been driven away with a cold dismissal unlike anything they had ever heard.

"To think a man whose eyes have attained enlightenment would speak of material wealth..."

"Surely he understands that even a single word of our teachings is worth a thousand pieces of gold."

Go was said to be another universe, containing the principles of all creation upon its board.

Perhaps that was why rulers who sought to command the world through Go and enlightened thinkers who wished to educate the ignorant masses had sought them out tirelessly in the past.

Every one of them had offered gold, silver, precious treasures, and hundreds of servants while begging to become their disciples.

They had knelt and pleaded for a year's instruction, or even a single move, but the immortals had never accepted any of them as disciples, much less bestowed even the smallest lesson.

That was because nine out of ten ordinary people who glimpsed the world through Go sought to place stones upon the board themselves.

With their meager knowledge and wisdom, they presumed to judge black and white as they pleased, as though they were gods.

But Jinseong was an existence on an entirely different level from those foolish people.

When they invited him to play Go, he declined under the pretext of modesty.

And what happened after they persuaded him to sit at the Go board?

He unleashed a chaotic slaughter disguised as a game of Go.

It was they who became fascinated by his unpredictable style and offered to take him as a disciple.

And the answer they received was,

"I'm not particularly interested in Go. If you visit, I can serve you coffee, but I'll have to decline becoming your disciple."

It was truly astonishing.

Even the emperor of a great empire had never been granted such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He should have bowed with tears of gratitude, yet his confident attitude was utterly incomprehensible.

The four immortals could scarcely imagine that, to Jinseong, who was even raising the Divine Tree as his adopted daughter, they were nothing more and nothing less than old men with whom he had exchanged greetings a few times while passing by.

That made the situation even harder for them to understand.

"Hoho, it's eternal life."

Eternal Life.

A term describing a Go position in which black and white repeatedly played the same moves in order to survive.

Such a position, which might arise only once in a thousand years, perfectly reflected their present circumstances.

Jinseong was the first prospective disciple in thousands of years to meet their standards, yet at the same time, he wasn't their disciple.

But this position of eternal life was extremely unfavorable to the immortals.

After all, they remained locked in a confrontation without Jinseong becoming their disciple. If things continued as they were, Jinseong would already have achieved his objective.

"You should give him something before asking him to do anything. You want him as your disciple, but you don't understand the coffeehouse owner at all?"

"What?"

Yongman, who happened to be passing near the pavilion, overheard their discussion and offered his opinion.

"Goddess Mago gave him a ring made from divine stone, didn't she? And although I didn't give it to him directly, I left my Dragon Pearl behind. That fellow has a soft heart. If you give him something, he'll feel bad about refusing and agree to almost any reasonable request."

"Oh!"

"Oh, nothing! How would that be any different from paying money to purchase something?"

Paying a price to obtain their first disciple in thousands of years was unthinkable.

"We've shown him our sincerity. If we wait, he'll surely come to understand our intentions."

"That must be so. He's a wise disciple, after all."

Just as the four immortals were about to reach a consensus, Yongman delivered the decisive blow.

"You must have plenty of time. The coffeehouse owner won't even live a hundred years."

"..."

All four immortals' expressions stiffened simultaneously.

A hundred years was but a fleeting instant to them.

Ironically, these immortals who had played Go longer than anyone now found themselves facing a countdown, something found only in modern Go.

"I must go somewhere for a moment."

"I-I have something to fetch as well."

Watching the immortals disappear in a great hurry, Yongman smiled mysteriously.

___________

At the same time, National Champion Han Seun was heading somewhere with steps that seemed almost impossibly reluctant, in stark contrast to the immortals.

The heels of his shoes dragged listlessly along the floor, producing scraping sounds that echoed through the corridor.

"Ugh, I'm dying."

His constant grimacing and the way he pressed his forehead made him look exactly like an office worker suffering from a terrible hangover.

His painful journey finally ended before an old steel door at the far end of the corridor.

【National Champion Han Seun and Park Gidong 9-dan's Children's Go Academy】

The sticker attached to the door was made of such cheap material that its edges had already cracked and curled hideously, even though its colors had yet to fade.

-Bang.

Just as he reached for the handle, the door swung open violently, almost as though it were automatic.

The man who opened it was a short, middle-aged fellow whose hair was somewhat sparse.

"Ah! You startled me."

"Late again? Wonderful. Just wonderful."

It was Master Park Gidong, who had previously called National Champion Han Seun and told him to check the Go community.

"What? How did you know I was here?"

"National Champion Han, I could hear you dragging your shoes all the way from the first floor. And what time do you think it is? Why don't you just teach your classes remotely at this point?"

"Can I do that?"

"Of course not! Get inside! And if you're late again tomorrow, you're on your own. It's getting embarrassing having to tell the parents every day that you're late because of tournaments you keep forfeiting."

"I said I got it."

Not wanting to listen to any more nagging, National Champion Han Seun playfully shoved the runway-like expanse of Master Park Gidong's balding head with his fist.

"Ah, damn it! I told you not to do that! I just applied my medicine! You're not getting away with this!"

At the mention of medicine, National Champion Han Seun rubbed his palm against the wall a couple of times before quickly fleeing into the classroom marked Beginner Class.

"Hellooo."

"Hello, Master."

Inside the classroom sat elementary school students whose eyes looked as lifeless as dead fish, much like his own.

Several of them remained completely absorbed in games on their phones despite his arrival.

They were children whose parents had pressured them into attending Go lessons even on weekends.

Out of pity, he didn't even feel like telling them to turn off their games.

"All right, today we'll solve some life-and-death problems."

-Tap. Tap. Tap-tap.

"Everyone, draw in your notebooks how black can survive."

National Champion Han Seun placed magnetic stones on the blackboard in succession, setting up the main activity of his lesson.

Then, as always, he leaned his chair far back and prepared to enjoy a pleasant nap while the children worked on the problems.

But when he actually closed his eyes, his hangover prevented him from falling asleep.

'Should I check the Go Gallery? Maybe some new game records have appeared.'

-When is Dangsan-ri coming back? I'm losing my mindlosingmymindlosingmymindlosingmy

-Hasn't logged in for three days.

-Hey, the guy who played Dangsan-ri in his sixth game was definitely AI lol (I have proof) [3]

-I figured out how to beat Dangsan-ri. Just queue for matches when he's offline like now. [1]

-Look at the Go Gallery becoming a major trending gallery when it used to get less than a page of posts a day. [14]

'Looks like he hasn't logged in since that day.'

Han Seun had entered the Go Gallery hoping to find new game records from the user called Dangsan-ri, but little had changed in the past three days.

And the occasional posts criticizing him were still there.

Title: Am I the only one who honestly enjoyed watching Han Seun get destroyed by AlphaGo? lol

Body:

『Look at these gems he said while defending his National Championship title.

What? You don't understand why everyone spends so long thinking about placing a single stone?

There are lots of professionals who make moves without knowing what comes next?

Wow lololol

Then he got crushed by AlphaGo, and now he can't even enter tournaments because of everything he said.

I hope we never see him in another tournament.』

┗ Anonymous: Han Seun? That guy's ancient history.

┗ Go Gallery User 1: Give it some time and we'll probably see him playing ten-thousand-won betting games at Tapgol Park.

┗ Anonymous: lol fuck, he's still a national champion. You guys are brutal.

┗ Go Gallery User 2: He's not wrong. If he skips this year's National Championship too, he'll officially be the fastest washed-up player ever.

"Phew."

It was something he wouldn't have seen if he hadn't deliberately clicked on it.

But with his own name displayed so openly, National Champion Han Seun couldn't simply scroll past. After reading the contents, he let out a deep sigh.

Were it not for the children sitting in front of him, his expression suggested that a string of filthy curses would have followed.

"Teacher."

"Not teacher. Master."

"Master, are you sick?"

"No, no. Am I?"

A hangover certainly counted as suffering.

And the stigma of defeat spread across the internet had been branded so clearly into his eyes that it refused to fade.

____________

-Jingle.

"Hm? Where is the coffeehouse owner?"

"He said he'd finish work late today!"

Instead of the coffeehouse owner they'd been hoping to meet, the raccoon dog divine beast from their previous visit greeted them.

"Sani! I told you not to go out there because they might be people!"

"They aren't people! They're immortals!"

"Hello. Please take a seat over here."

"Oh, yes, yes. As expected, when the father is upright, the daughter is exceptionally well-mannered too."

Lia's polite welcome stood in stark contrast to the raccoon dog spirit's greeting, which could be considered rather rude depending on how one interpreted his declaration that they weren't human.

They already knew Lia was a child of the Divine Tree, having heard it from Yongman beforehand. Even without being told, the energy emanating from her body made it obvious.

But benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom were not virtues one automatically acquired simply by being an extraordinary existence.

It was perfectly clear who had taught her those virtues.

"Hehe. Oh, right! Mister said that if the immortal grandpas came, I should bring this out for you."

"This is..."

What Lia brought out from beneath the counter was a Go board and Go stones.

Despite his cold declaration that he would do no more than offer them a cup of coffee if they visited, he had prepared these especially for them.

The immortals were so delighted that their smiles nearly stretched from ear to ear.

"Are we playing Go?"

Sani, who had to stretch his hind legs to their full height just to peer over the table, asked.

"Do you know how to play Go too?"

"I'm the best Go player in the coffeehouse! Even Jinseong couldn't beat me!"

"What?"

Better than their disciple, whose abilities had been developing so remarkably(?)?

An unexpected rival had been right under their noses.

But the immortals soon accepted the possibility.

After all, wasn't he a divine beast who had lived for thousands of years, just like them?

Moreover, he wasn't just any spirit, but a raccoon dog spirit.

'Well, raccoon dog spirits are known for being cunning.'

"Very well. Let's see what you can do."

"But I keep losing the stones, so Jinseong told me I couldn't play anymore."

"I'll make sure none of the stones get lost."

"Then it's fine!"

Sani climbed onto the sofa opposite the immortals and sat down.

"You may play first."

-Tap.

No sooner had the words left the immortal's mouth than Sani placed a black stone in the center of the lower side of the board.

'How bold. With white occupying both corners, how could black possibly hope to win?'

But according to the raccoon dog spirit, he was a formidable player who had defeated Jinseong, their own disciple.

Jinseong had also demonstrated an unconventional style of stone placement, so the immortal remained on his guard.

Then it was Sani's turn again.

"Here I go!"

"Hm? You're going? Where?"

-Smack.

Sani used the stone he'd placed in the center of the lower side to strike a white stone, sending it flying off the board. As luck would have it, the flying stone struck the immortal sitting opposite him squarely on the forehead.

"I won again! Even the immortals of the Celestial Realm weren't anything special!"

"Y-You... you insolent wretch!"

-Crash!

The Go board overturned, scattering stones in every direction.

"Why are you getting angry just because you lost?"

"What did you just say?"

With no idea what he'd done wrong, Sani had no choice but to flee outside the coffeehouse.