Because he was deeply shaken after losing to Hikaru in the morning,Isumi lost again in the afternoon match.
She couldn't even bear to watch.
Isumi was too miserable.
He was the oldest, the one who needed promotion the most.
Yet in the end, you lost to your closest friend, becoming a stepping stone beneath his feet.
If Hikaru and Ochi both succeeded in promotion, then what would become of you?
Before this, her understanding of the professional promotion tournament had been simple.
If you lost, you lost.
If your skill wasn't enough, you tried again next year.
But now, she only felt cruelty.
For someone like Isumi, who had staked his entire life on Go, how many "next years" were there left?
And Hikaru, too, was deeply shaken by that morning's match.
He had always beaten Isumi at the dojo.
Yet this victory felt heavier than any defeat.
Back home, Hikaru slammed his pillow onto the bed.
"I still had a chance, even if it was small. Why did I…"
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"When I realized I could win because of a foul, all I could think about was grabbing that chance."
"It's because I'm weak. Because I couldn't win cleanly, I chose the rules instead."
Hikaru collapsed onto the bed, tears soaking the pillow.
She felt her eyes sting.
This was growth.
Painful. Cruel.
And unavoidable.
Sai only looked at Hikaru gently, then pointed to the Go board beside the bed.
"Hikaru," he said softly.
"Let's finish the game we left yesterday. I'll take Isumi's place."
"You must make a clean break, and then walk forward tomorrow."
At that moment, Sai felt like light itself.
But Hikaru had Sai.
What about Isumi?
Who would pull him back from the edge?
The next day, Hikaru steadied himself and did not lose again.
Ochi continued his flawless winning streak, advancing without hesitation.
But for Isumi, the path was nearly closed.
Even if he won every remaining match, he would still have to rely on others' results.
And if players like Hikaru and Ochi did not falter, then Isumi's chances…
She turned the page.
"Chapter 40 - End."
"Hoo."
She exhaled slowly.
She didn't understand Go.
She had never been a Go player.
She had never even watched a single professional Go league match.
But for the first time, she had felt, viscerally, the cruelty of the professional Go world.
She turned on the television in her office and switched to the sports channel.
At that moment, the screen was replaying a Japanese professional Go league match.
For the first time in her life, she had the patience to sit down and watch something like this.
She still didn't fully understand the flow of the game.
But she could watch it now.
After this chapter was released, the comment section under Rei's account on the Dream Comic official website exploded before noon.
"Teacher Shirogane, don't do this to us. Let Isumi get promoted."
"Exactly! There are over thirty promotion spots. One more for Isumi won't hurt!"
"Just let us dream a little in the manga. It wouldn't ruin anything if Isumi succeeded this year!"
"I cried. I really cried. Watching Isumi resign was unbearable."
"I hate stories where friendship collides with competition like this. I haven't cried reading manga in years, but this chapter destroyed me."
"I broke down when Hikaru cried in his room, saying he was useless, that if he were strong enough he wouldn't have thought about winning through a foul."
"Hikaru is just a normal person. He wants to win. He wants to become a pro. He wants to catch up to Akira. But Isumi wasn't someone he could easily overcome."
"If this keeps going, Hikaru no Go will absolutely become a classic of Japanese manga."
"In my heart, Hikaru no Go is already number one on Dream Comic."
"Same."
"If Teacher Shirogane lets Isumi get promoted and shows the three of them competing together as pros, I'll buy every piece of merchandise this series releases."
Before this, the promotion tournament arc had been steady and restrained.
Wins were wins. Losses were losses.
Readers accepted that.
But after this chapter, even long-time lurkers surfaced in droves.
The discussion heat for Hikaru no Go burned all day without cooling, and with TV drama viewers pouring in, the intensity made even Hoshimori Group's staff uneasy.
Why was the reaction even stronger than last week?
The next morning, 9:30 a.m.
Misaki opened her email as she always did.
The top three remained unchanged:
1. Source War Chronicle
2. The Wanderer
3. Fist Armor
Their vote totals were nearly identical to last week.
Only Hikaru no Go;
This week's total had surged to 496,321 votes.
Just a breath away from 500,000.
Still ranked fourth.
But this fourth place was now dangerously close to Fist Armor.
So close that the editorial office fell into a long, heavy silence.
How could it be rising this fast?
TV adaptations did bring traffic, but was this level even reasonable?
If this momentum continued…
How long could Fist Armor really hold onto third place?