Chapter 25: Appearance of the Go Saint from the Great Scholarly Institute (1)
Tak!
A white stone flew sharply across the board and landed with force.
“Ahem!”
Cho Manpyeong, widely known throughout the Confucian Forest as the Faceless Go Player, turned ashen. Cold sweat began to trickle down his face.
Staring at the board for a while with a face drenched in sweat, Cho Manpyeong eventually raised his head with a sheepish smile.
“Uh…”
Wi Yeonho furrowed his brow sharply.
“What is it?”
Cho Manpyeong offered a smile as benevolent as one could muster. At a glance, he looked no different from a saint aiding the needy. In a voice filled with warmth and kindness, he stammered,
“C-could you let me take back just one move?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I must have lost my senses for a moment…”
“That’s enough. If you can’t ascend, then just get up.”
“Now, listen, I…”
Suddenly, loud voices rang out from behind.
“Oh, come on! If you’ve lost, just get up already!”
“Do you think you’re playing alone? Can’t you see the people waiting?”
“They call him the Faceless Go Player, but what face? Shameless Go Player, more like!”
Cho Manpyeong turned around with a sour expression.
The crowd, their faces flushed, glared at him as if they were ready to devour him.
“Urgh…”
It felt like he could still manage a comeback with just one move. But in this kind of atmosphere, if he whined for even a single move, it wouldn’t be his Go match that was reversed—it would be his entire life.
With resignation, Cho Manpyeong placed his stone back on the board.
“I’ve lost.”
While Cho Manpyeong was filled with a sorrowful air, Wi Yeonho sighed deeply and waved his hand with an annoyed expression.
“Next.”
“Then I’ll go!”
“I was here first!”
“What are you saying? I’ve been waiting since yesterday!”
“Yesterday, my foot! I’ve been here since this morning!”
“Then why didn’t you come yesterday?”
“What was that? Are you trying to start something?”
“Watch your mouth, man!”
And so, collars were grabbed and a scuffle broke out.
Watching the scene unfold, Wi Yeonho let out another deep sigh.
‘How did I end up like this…’
Everything had started with Wi Yeonho’s failure to fully grasp what Mun Yuhwan meant.
— I just ask that you occasionally play a game or two of Go with visitors who come to the institute.
He had thought it meant playing a quiet game or two with the odd visitor. Who could have imagined that Mun Yuhwan would personally summon people?
While Wi Yeonho had been lazing about, Mun Yuhwan had leisurely sent letters to Go players across the Central Plains.
The message was simple—there was a powerful player with a unique style staying at their home, so if anyone had the time, they should come test their insight.
At a glance, it might have seemed like a simple gesture of courtesy. But the problem was that Go players were the kind of people who enjoyed the game more than eating—and would gladly travel hundreds of miles for the thrill of a single intense match.
Over half of those who received Mun Yuhwan’s letter made their way to the Great Scholarly Institute, and even those who had initially dismissed it ended up packing their bags once the rumors spread.
— A Go Saint has appeared at the Great Scholarly Institute!
The Great Scholarly Institute was already famous as the place where a Peerless Hand resided. Now that word had spread that a powerful player acknowledged by Mun Yuhwan was there, how could those who sprang out of bed at the mere mention of Go possibly endure?
In the end, the Great Scholarly Institute became crowded with unexpected visitors.
For Mun Eunji and Mun Yuhwan, it was a most welcome outcome. During such difficult times, the arriving guests were a great help to the household.
Although Mun Yuhwan stated firmly that they could not accept money from guests, those who played Go and received meals at someone else’s home still had a sense of shame.
No money was exchanged directly, but under the guise of gifts, various items began to be handed over.
Unlike chess, Go remained almost exclusively a pursuit of the upper class.
You would be hard-pressed to find a skilled Go player who was poor.
Naturally, playing Go well required dedicating significant time to the game. For those struggling just to survive, it was impossible to devote hours—sometimes even two days per match—to playing Go.
Even Cho Manpyeong, who had just played a game with Wi Yeonho, was a descendant of a family that had produced generations of Prime Ministers.
Naturally, the gifts brought by such individuals were far from cheap.
Under the name of propriety, luxurious items began to pile up as compensation for the matches, and the storerooms filled with these offerings made Mun Eunji squeal in joy.
But in stark contrast, Wi Yeonho felt like dying.
He had thought he’d just play a couple of casual games with visitors dropping by. Who would’ve imagined there were so many people in the world willing to travel hundreds of miles just to play Go?
Thanks to that, Wi Yeonho had to play Go from morning until sundown.
At first, without knowing better, he poured all his time into Go aside from mealtimes.
In the end, the method Wi Yeonho came up with was to limit the number of matches per day to five.
Of course, the faster he finished a match, the more rest he could get. Thanks to that, for the first time in a while, he was able to play Go with the same intensity as when he used to face Baek Muhan inside the cave.
Tak!
A Go stone landed on the board like a lightning strike.
“Hmm…”
The one holding the black stones, Ma Jeok, Head of the Swift Horse Trading Company, clenched the stone in his hand tightly.
Although the match hadn’t yet entered the battle phase, Wi Yeonho’s stones had already cut through Ma Jeok’s territory without hesitation. If he backed off here, his domain would be split in two, and he would inevitably lose.
Normally, Ma Jeok would have calmly toyed with any reckless black stones that dared enter his sphere.
He would have enlarged them by giving just enough breathing room, only to sever their lifeline in a single stroke to end the game.
But right now, he couldn’t do that.
First of all, he couldn’t grasp the intent behind this bold charge into what was obviously a suicidal position.
On top of that, the one holding the white stones wasn’t just anyone—it was none other than the Go Saint of the Great Scholarly Institute, who had been defeating famous players across the land one after another.
Someone like that wouldn’t have made such a move without a plan.
And yet, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find the hidden tactic behind it.
And finally…
Ma Jeok cautiously lifted his head to glance at the Go Saint.
“…!”
The young man’s face was twisted with irritation as he glared at the board with a murderous aura.
No—it wasn’t the board he was glaring at.
His eyes were fixed precisely on Ma Jeok’s right hand, the one holding the stone.
‘D-did I do something wrong?’
Without realizing it, Ma Jeok flinched.
Once his confidence faltered, cold sweat started pouring down inexplicably, and he felt this strange compulsion to hurry up and make a move.
“A-hem!”
Ma Jeok had no choice but to step back.
He hadn’t even figured out his opponent’s intent—if he rashly launched an attack, he could suffer a crushing defeat.
Even if his territory was split now, it wasn’t yet at a level where loss was certain. For the moment, retreating seemed the wiser option.
“Th…”
Grind…
Suddenly, the sound of grinding teeth cut into his ears.
Looking at the board, Ma Jeok saw the Go Saint gnashing his teeth with such force that it was audible, and he became sure.
‘If I had fought there, I would’ve lost! There’s definitely a move I didn’t see! Damn right I retreated! It was the right choice! Absolutely!’
But Wi Yeonho was thinking something entirely different.
‘Why!’
Wi Yeonho glared at Ma Jeok.
‘Why! Why did you retreat there?! Why!’
He was just about ready to grab Ma Jeok and fling him across the room.
He had thrown out a move so obvious that even someone who had only studied Go for three days could win from it.
And yet all these so-called experts—these mighty players of the world—after long deliberation upon deliberation, would end up backing down and retreating with cold sweat running down their faces.
To Wi Yeonho, winning or losing didn’t matter at all.
Which meant, even if he lost, it was better if the game ended quickly.
That was why he had purposely thrown the match with losing moves, but these people—every single one—would just retreat in a cold sweat.
No matter how many times he provoked a fight, if they refused to engage, it was all meaningless.
Still, throwing the game outright would obviously spark rumors that he wasn’t taking the matches seriously.
And this wasn’t just about Wi Yeonho.
It was a matter of Mun Yuhwan’s reputation, the very person who had invited these people.
As someone freeloading without paying a single coin, he couldn’t afford to do anything that would tarnish his host’s dignity.
Wi Yeonho, lazy as he was, still understood propriety.
If things went badly and Mun Yuhwan became displeased, Wi Yeonho might be kicked out of this fine place where he was being fed and housed for free.
That was something he absolutely could not allow to happen.
Tak!
Wi Yeonho’s stone burrowed inward once more.
‘Bite!’
Wi Yeonho glared at Ma Jeok with blazing eyes.
‘Just bite already! I’ll let you win in ten moves, so come at me!’
But again, Ma Jeok merely broke into a cold sweat and quietly pulled back his stones.
“Urgh…”
A white puff of steam seemed to rise from Wi Yeonho’s head.
With trembling hands, he placed his stone on the board.
It was the same every time.
Wi Yeonho would throw out reckless, overreaching moves in order to lose. But his opponents, startled in advance, would mistakenly recognize those moves as reckless and retreat instead. The overreaches would then become brilliant plays, and Wi Yeonho would end up winning, completely against his own intentions.
It was the reputation he had unwittingly built for himself.
The pressure felt by those who faced him in person.
And the oppressive momentum he unconsciously gave off, which weighed heavily on his opponents.
If only a rumor spread that he was actually weak and had been losing intentionally, all these people crowding in would return to their homes. But because he kept winning, contrary to his intention, the number of challengers just kept growing.
‘I have to lose!’
In the end, Wi Yeonho intentionally made a series of mistakes, narrowly losing by a single house.
“Well played.”
Ma Jeok smiled and offered a respectful clasped-hands bow.
“I know it wasn’t your real skill. Had you played seriously, I’d have had to forfeit ages ago. But because you’re this generous of spirit, the match was all the more valuable.”
“No, that’s not…”
“I won’t forget the Go Saints’s consideration! But next time, please face me properly. I, Ma Jeok, am not a man of narrow mind!”
“…Yes.”
It was enough to drive a man mad.
In the end, Wi Yeonho had to grit his teeth and endure five full games of Go. Only after a full four hours had passed was he finally able to escape the match hall.
“Urgh…”
Massaging his legs, Wi Yeonho let out a heavy sigh.
“Doing the laundry and chopping firewood would be a hundred times easier than this! What the hell is this mess?”
He felt like crying.
And yet, of all days, the sky was obnoxiously clear.
“This is all because Master told me to go to the Confucian Forest!”
When he thought about it, it was all Baek Muhan’s fault.
And the Inner Core of Baek Muhan lodged inside him.
“Stupid old man.”
Grumbling, Wi Yeonho trudged back toward his quarters.
At least for today, he’d finished his duties. Now he could finally get some rest.
That was when a sharp cry hit his ears.
“I said I don’t want to!”