Just at this first meeting, Ethan Brooks found his fondness for his cousin-in-law Matthew Hill, whom he had only known for a few days, increase even more. Finding tranquility amid movement, leisure amid bustle, blending the ancient with the modern, never losing touch with the present nor falling into clichés, yet expressing individuality—excellent!

However, it was strange. Upon entering, he noticed that the woman who should have been standing at the chessboard-shaped front desk was instead facing away from him, craning her neck to peek inside from behind a screen.

Slacking off? Unlikely. Something must be happening inside—something lively!

“Dong, dong…” Ethan Brooks lightly tapped the black-and-white checkered chessboard at the front desk. The board had fixed, inlaid pieces, arranged in an ancient game position.

“…Hello…” A girl of about twenty-three or twenty-four, with delicate features, turned around. After a slight pause, she said a bit flustered, “Are you here to play or to study? If you’re a member, please show your membership card.”

Seeing her a bit flustered, Ethan Brooks smiled gently and said, “I’m not a student. I’m here to see someone—your boss.”

Ethan Brooks’s honest smile seemed to have a calming effect, making the previously flustered girl suddenly feel much more at ease. Simple and sincere, it gave a reassuring, wholesome feeling. Even though it was their first meeting, she already had a good impression of him.

“The boss…” The girl looked troubled. “He probably doesn’t have time to see you right now. Why don’t you wait for a bit in the lounge next door? As soon as he’s free, I’ll let him know right away.”

Behind the screen was the main hall. From the corners on both sides, it was clear that the hall behind the screen was supposed to be divided into separate sections, but at the moment, they were all empty. At least, from the angle Ethan Brooks could see from both sides of the screen, there wasn’t a single person. Coupled with the girl’s demeanor just now, Ethan Brooks already had a good idea of what was going on.

“What’s happening inside?”

Ethan Brooks’s honest appearance worked wonders. The girl glanced at Ethan Brooks again before whispering, “Someone came to challenge the club—they want to wreck our Kaizhu Go Club.”

Hmm… Ethan Brooks was taken aback for a moment. Wrecking the place? But Kaizhu isn’t a martial arts school. Then he thought it over and understood: martial arts schools settle things with fists, but Go clubs settle things on the board. Different methods, same idea.

“Oh!” Ethan Brooks nodded, then asked again, “Who are they? What’s the situation inside now?”

The girl shook her head. “I’m not sure either. But they’ve come a few times before. Lately, our boss has been sighing a lot. From what I’ve heard from others, even the top players holding down the fort can’t keep things under control. The situation probably isn’t very good.”

Cousin-in-law is in trouble!! Ethan Brooks really liked Go, but he wasn’t entirely sure of his own level. He used to play with Adam Reed’s teacher, and later only played online. Online, he had to control himself, and in real life, he’d only played once with his cousin-in-law Matthew Hill. However, in the online Go world, Ethan Brooks, this master of ancient Go, was already considered a super expert. Recently, people had been studying what would happen if he faced off against professional superstars—even though he was intentionally holding back.

Because his playing style was a kind of ancient Go that didn’t exist anymore, it was ruled out that he was a professional player in real life. Countless people believed he would be the first person since the rise of online Go who could truly challenge the top professional players.

“Can I go in and take a look?” Seeing that the girl didn’t know much, Ethan Brooks pointed inside, once again showing that honest, comforting smile.

“Sure, but please don’t make any noise.”

“Thank you, no problem.” Smiling and nodding, Ethan Brooks stepped inside.

The space inside was quite large, with small private rooms separated by bamboo on both sides. Each had seats, a chessboard, and a game in progress, but in the area of at least a hundred square meters, there wasn’t a single person. Faintly, he could hear the sounds of arguing and commotion coming from a round doorway up ahead—such noise was rare in a Go club.

Back when he played with Adam Reed’s teacher, one reason was to train his mind.

Entering the doorway, he found a space of about thirty square meters. In front was a projector, with two sixty-inch wall-mounted LCD TVs on either side. On the TVs, you could see the two players’ faces, every move, even their blinking. The projector in the middle displayed the game board.

The place was already packed, with dozens of people standing and watching the match. Ethan Brooks quickly spotted Matthew Hill among them, sitting at the very front with a few others. Ethan Brooks immediately recognized those sitting around Matthew Hill as well. When he had looked up information about the Kaizhu Go Club online, he’d seen their introductions. If it were just Matthew Hill, probably not many people would be interested in coming to this club—these were all experts he had invited.

Looking at the screen, the one currently playing for the Kaizhu Go Club was their top expert, national player Andrew Carter, 8-dan. He was originally only a nominal member of the club, giving one or two lectures a year at most, all because of his personal friendship with Matthew Hill. Yet today, he was the one playing, and his opponent was a young man.