Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Chapter 61 A Divine Move (6)

-Rattle, rattle, rattle.

A yellow van bearing the words "National Champion Han Seun's Children's Go Academy" rattled down the road, its engine making an alarming noise.

Inside the vehicle, which looked as though it might break down at any moment, sat National Champion Han Seun, who had claimed South Korea's national Go title, and Master Park Gidong, who barely managed to qualify for the main rounds of tournaments each time, in the passenger and driver's seats respectively.

"You know I'm the Go Association's information expert, right? I put out feelers everywhere. Just like that."

"Unless you're looking for a burial plot, keep your hands on the steering wheel."

Master Park had a habit of waving both hands around whenever he got excited about something, repeatedly letting go of the steering wheel, so National Champion Han rebuked him.

"Anyway, with a playing style like that, someone at a Go parlor would've spread rumors about him. But no matter how hard I searched, nothing turned up. Even searching for Dangsan-ri only brought up three or four rural villages. It was driving me crazy. But then! I found one clue."

"The wheel."

"I'm holding it! I've been driving for thirty years. The car practically knows where to go, so stop interrupting me! Now, where was I? See? You made me forget again."

"You said you found a clue."

"Right! What happened was, one of Master Yang's trainees was playing a match and got curious about the username. So he asked where Dangsan-ri was, and the guy answered Gyeonggi Province."

"Gyeonggi Province?"

-Beep. Beep.

"Hey, why are you fiddling with the navigation system? Just search on your phone. I've already set everything up."

No matter how he searched, he couldn't find any connection between Dangsan-ri and Gyeonggi Province.

"There's nothing."

"Of course there isn't. There's no Dangsan-ri in Gyeonggi Province. But Master Go said there definitely used to be a Dangsan-ri when he lived in Namyangju years ago. That's when I got a feeling. Sometimes places are like that. The locals have a name they've used for years, but then some government officials come along and give the place a different administrative name. Just like that, the village officially disappears."

Master Park was so excited about finding Dangsan-ri's actual location that his explanation took quite a detour.

"But why are you so determined to find him? Frankly, his skill isn't all that impressive. In the later games, those masters were just playing along out of curiosity and ended up losing."

"Look at you, putting him down just because you lost. The screenshot of Master Park getting humiliated on the gallery has already spread through all the group chats."

"What? Damn it, which bastard did that? I'm telling you, I clicked the wrong place because of lag!"

It was him.

But National Champion Han didn't think Master Park would drive him peacefully to their destination if he confessed, so he steered the conversation back to the subject.

"I'm not sure why I want to find him. At first, I thought I'd just play a game against him, but he's become so popular that even that seems difficult."

"Tell me about it. Word spread everywhere that day. I heard some people are even using those macro things to automatically reserve matches against him."

"Still, we're both Go players. If I tell him my name, surely he'll agree to play one game face-to-face? I'm not dead yet, you know."

"Try entering a tournament before saying that. How many competitions have you missed already? I'm embarrassed to face the younger players now. I stuck with you thinking some of your success might rub off on me, but all I do is look after you and barely scrape by on the pocket money we get from teaching children. If you'd done a few television commercials when you were at your peak, this van would've been a Benz!"

"That again? I'm sick of hearing it."

"Huh? Is that really something you should be saying?"

"If Master Park hadn't talked me into quitting Go and getting rich through Bitcoin, I could've bought two studio apartment buildings with all the prize money I'd saved."

"You said you wanted to do it too!"

There was a good reason the two argued like a married couple.

Both had lived as professional Go players since childhood and knew little about how the world worked. Naturally, almost every business venture or investment they attempted ended in either a scam or a disastrous loss.

Eventually, they'd become an economic partnership with their investments and debts hopelessly intertwined.

"It should be around here. National Champion Han, look carefully at those commercial buildings. See if there's a Go parlor or Go academy."

"Didn't you get the address from the association?"

"Huh? Uh, no. They didn't have one."

"Then there isn't a Go parlor."

"Do you think establishments where old men play Go for money bother registering with the association? Instead of arguing, help me look! You're the reason we came all the way here."

But no matter how far they drove along the road, redevelopment had left the surroundings largely empty, and even the few buildings still standing had banners announcing their scheduled demolition.

"Beyond here is another neighborhood."

"Come on, I'm sure Dangsan-ri extends up ahead. Maybe the guy just plays at home by himself?"

"He has a teacher. I'm certain of it. His stone movements gain a peculiar strength after every game. There's no way they'd develop like that unless he was learning through game reviews."

"Yes, yes, what an extraordinary shaman we've got here. You can identify his teacher and his Go parlor without ever seeing his face. Maybe we should take down our Go academy sign and open a fortune-telling shop instead..."

"Why'd you stop? Go on, make fun of me some more."

-Grrrrrrumble.

A tremendous noise from Master Park's stomach rang out over the loud engine.

"N-National Champion Han. I need a bathroom."

"Where are you going to find a bathroom around here? Just pull over somewhere and take care of it."

"Do you want to see someone end up in the Go newspaper for that?"

"You've never even appeared in the Go newspaper except in group photographs at the start of tournaments..."

-Grrrrrrumble.

"Oh, good grief!"

"There's a café over there."

"Where?"

"But is it open? There's construction going on."

"Damn it! If it's closed, I'll just use the construction site!"

With his face turning pale, Master Park had no time to check such details.

-Screeech.

The yellow van swung sharply around the corner and stopped in front of a coffeehouse where construction was in full swing.

Then he shot inside.

"Welcome."

"P-Please let me use your bathroom!"

"It's through the doorway to the left of the kitchen."

While Master Park made his way to the bathroom with pitifully cautious steps, National Champion Han slowly looked around Jinseong's coffeehouse before sitting down, just as other visitors had done.

'Is this one of those places people post on Instagram?'

It really was an old-fashioned coffeehouse.

Not somewhere that had awkwardly adopted a retro concept and merely imitated the past, but a genuine coffeehouse bearing the traces of time.

The only new things he could see were the POS terminal at the counter and the mottos hanging beside the business registration certificate.

『Pay for coffee with money.』

『Act like a human being when customers are present.』

'What is this? A gangster hideout?'

No matter how he looked at them, they weren't the sort of mottos one would expect to find in a café.

If not for the handful of customers sitting around, he might seriously have considered paying a bathroom usage fee and fleeing.

Fortunately, however, the handsome young man who appeared to be the owner provided surprisingly normal service.

"The menu is over there. Please let me know when you've decided."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

Two glasses of water were politely placed on the table beside where he stood awkwardly.

'Coffee, milk, ssanghwa tea... They even have ramen?'

The menu was remarkably simple.

"Two coffees, please."

"Certainly."

3,500 won per cup.

Cheap by some standards, but expensive compared to budget coffee chains.

Of course, a total of 7,000 won was more than reasonable, even cheap, compared to the alternative of soiling one's trousers.

"Wow, that was seriously close. I thought I was going to get it all over my pants."

"Hey, damn it. Stop talking about disgusting things so loudly."

"Ahem. Do you think they heard?"

"Obviously."

Since the embarrassment belonged to both of them, National Champion Han frowned deeply at Master Park, who had belatedly lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Ahem. What did you order for me?"

"Coffee."

"I mean, what kind? Americano? Latte?"

"No, just coffee."

"What are you talking about? Huh? It really does just say coffee."

Seeing the simple menu hanging on the wall, Master Park quickly understood.

Shortly afterward, two cups of coffee in thick glass mugs were placed on their table.

"Wow, this is the kind of coffee my grandfather used to drink when I was little. National Champion Han, this must be your first time in a coffeehouse like this, right?"

"I've been to one too. You're only five years older than me."

"Five years is practically a lifetime!"

"Whatever. If you're finished, let's hurry up and leave. Riding around in that junk heap all day has made my back ache."

"Oh dear... So that's why our National Champion Han can't play Go anymore. His back hurts. I should've realized sooner."

"Check, please!"

Before Master Park could resume his sarcastic remarks now that his stomach felt better, National Champion Han beat him to it.

And so the two climbed back into their van and departed like any ordinary customers who had stopped by for coffee.

Never dreaming that the person they'd been so desperate to meet was the handsome young man who had just served them their drinks.

____________

"You can come out now."

I called toward Sani, who was hiding upstairs.

"Have they left?"

"Yeah."

"Phew. I almost got caught this time. I didn't expect him to rush inside so quickly."

"That's strange, though. The Divine Tree's energy is unchanged, and we've placed talismans around the area, so ordinary people shouldn't even notice this place..."

"Maybe it was because he desperately needed the bathroom?"

"Then what about the person who came with him?"

"That's true."

"Dharma Master, didn't you make the talismans incorrectly?"

"If I had, customers would've been coming all weekend."

When it came to concealing our business, our coffeehouse was practically an impregnable fortress protected by two or three layers of camouflage.

As the Haedong Divine Maiden had explained, the energy emanating from the Divine Tree blended into the surroundings and blurred the very existence of the coffeehouse. It was a kind of camouflage.

The second line of defense consisted of talismans attached at various points along the road.

Since their power came from the divine energy of the Divine Tree, the talismans produced a similar effect.

And the third was the coffeehouse's ordinary exterior.

The sign was so faded that it was difficult to make out the lettering, and the ongoing interior construction at the back made the place look rather chaotic.

Few people were bold enough to deliberately open the door, check whether we were operating, and then order coffee.

Until now.

"Perhaps that man also had an overwhelming desire to enter the coffeehouse."

I had no hobby of eavesdropping on other people's conversations.

Especially not those of customers visiting the coffeehouse.

But one man's voice had been excessively loud.

Loud enough that I'd heard information I hadn't wanted to hear.

Since he'd been addressed as National Champion Han, it wasn't difficult to guess his identity.

Professional Go player Han Seun, 9-dan.

He was famous enough that even I, who knew little about the world of Go, had heard his name.

Unfortunately, the reason he was famous had taken a rather unfavorable turn.

-Human National Champion Also Falls: Han Seun Suffers First Defeat Against AlphaGo AI

-A New Chapter in AI Go History: National Champion Han Seun Suffers Shocking Midgame Resignation Against AlphaGo

-Thirteen-Time National Champion Han Seun Brought to His Knees by AlphaGo

-"Humanity's Last Bastion Has Fallen": National Champion Han Seun Soundly Defeated by AlphaGo

...

These were the headlines on the first page of search results I'd opened to confirm his face.

The photographs accompanying the news articles showed close-ups of National Champion Han Seun sitting with an expression as though he'd lost everything.

"I need to find out what he was so desperate to find in our coffeehouse. That way, he won't come back."

It didn't take me long to realize that what National Champion Han Seun was searching for was none other than my Go game username.

Because he wasn't the only person searching for it.

The problem was a username I'd chosen without giving it any thought.