Although she wasn't a top-tier player, she was still a professional 6-dan, and setting up game records was something she had done countless times while studying Go.
Yet just watching Rei place the stones one by one made Rika's forehead begin to bead with sweat.
Because the level displayed on the board was, quite frankly, terrifying.
"Slow down, let me think," Rika said suddenly.
"Who is playing Black?"
"Why don't I recognize this style at all?"
A faint chill ran across her scalp.
The player controlling White was already far beyond her reach in skill, at least ten levels above her.
But after more than sixty moves, White was being steadily suppressed by Black.
That calm, seasoned, nearly flawless way of playing created a suffocating pressure that pressed down on her chest.
It was even more oppressive than watching championship matches between top players.
"They're amateurs," Rei said lightly after coughing once.
"It's normal that you don't recognize them. And they don't want to be recognized either."
His hands never stopped moving.
Stone after stone fell into place.
When he reached the seventy-seventh move, Rei finally paused.
"I hope you can help me find two top players to continue this game from here and complete it," Rei said quietly.
Rika leaned in and examined the board carefully.
"Does this even need to be continued?" she said slowly.
"White is clearly losing. Forget two top players, if I played Black now, and the world's number one ranked player took White, I could still..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her expression changed.
She suddenly remembered what Rei had said earlier.
He had claimed he had once seen The Hand of God appear in a real game.
Rika's pupils contracted.
"No," she said softly. "That's impossible."
She looked up at Rei.
"The game you saw back then, White won, didn't they?"
Rei's calm silence answered her question.
Rika sucked in a sharp breath.
"This doesn't make sense. With Black playing at this level, how could they possibly lose from this position?"
"Who are these two people, really?"
"And how did White turn this around?"
She could feel the terrifying depth of both players in this game, but because she herself wasn't at the very peak, there were still many layers she couldn't see through.
Rei broke the silence.
"Let's stop here, Teacher Rika."
"I know it's troublesome, but please help me find two players of at least 9-dan strength, preferably with championship titles."
"As for compensation," Rei added calmly, "I'll make sure it's sufficient."
Rika took a deep breath and nodded.
"Don't underestimate me just because I'm only 6-dan," she said."My network is wide. There's a current championship-title holder in Japn who used to be my junior."
"With Hikaru no Go's current influence and its contribution to the Go world, asking them to help complete this game won't be a problem."
She paused, then looked at Rei seriously.
"But when the time comes, you must be present."
"After they finish the game, you'll have to show us exactly how White reversed the situation."
Rei smiled faintly.
"No problem. I can recreate the game."
"Just don't ask me why those specific moves were chosen," he added honestly.
"You know my actual level."
With Rika agreeing to handle the most troublesome issue, Rei finally felt a massive weight lift from his chest.
Soon, Wednesday arrived again.
Chapter 41 of Hikaru no Go was released.
In this chapter, Isumi lost once more.
But Hikaru, and several other players who also had two losses, lost as well.
When multiple rivals fell together, it was as if no one truly lost.
Hikaru still held the initiative to qualify.
Isumi, however, remained dependent on others' results.
Especially the competitive relationship among Isumi, Hikaru, and Ochi was now fully exposed.
From the win–loss conditions presented in the chapter, most readers could already tell, there were only two promotion slots left for the three of them.
And given the intricate win–loss triangle between them, it was impossible for all three to be promoted.
And in the plot, Hikaru's final opponent in the professional Go qualifying tournament finally emerged.
In this chapter, although Hikaru had already suffered several losses, none of the opponents he lost to, were weak players. Moreover, because Ochi was determined to qualify, he had been meticulously studying the game records of every potential rival.
It was at this point that Ochi finally learned about Hikaru.
Especially after reviewing Hikaru's match against Ko Yeong-ha, the Korea's genius player, Ochi's confidence plummeted.
That game made him clearly realize one thing, Hikaru was not an ordinary examinee.
By the end of the chapter, Akira, who had been absent from the story for quite some time, finally reappeared.
After witnessing Hikaru's games, Ochi could no longer maintain his earlier composure. The sense of crisis he had been suppressing surged forth all at once.
And so, for the first time, he formally accepted Akira's earlier proposal.
To undergo special training under Akira before facing Hikaru.
Ochi wanted to defeat Hikaru in the final match and secure promotion with an undefeated record.
On the official website, the weekly large-scale discussion among fans immediately erupted.
By now, a massive number of TV drama viewers had already caught up with the manga through collected volumes. They flooded into Hoshimori Group's official forums, eagerly reading manga readers' analyses of the tournament structure and win–loss relationships.
"Alright, now the direction is clear."
"Has everyone actually mapped out the promotion win–loss relationships? At this point, whether Isumi and Hikaru qualify basically depends on Hikaru vs Ochi."
"The remaining opponents are relatively weak. Even if Isumi is in bad form, he's unlikely to lose again. So everything hinges on whether Hikaru can beat Ochi."
"I was wondering why Ochi was woven so deeply into the qualifying arc even though the plot felt harmonious before. So this was the setup."
"Is Ochi really that strong? He's still undefeated?"
"In the dojo, Ochi and Isumi were roughly fifty–fifty, and Isumi was even slightly stronger. But professional exams test mental strength."
"Hikaru's mentality used to be unstable, but that could be corrected through external training. Isumi's problem is internal. Failing year after year leaves scars."
"Purely in terms of mentality, Ochi is terrifying."
"Honestly, Hikaru's match against Ko Yeong-ha was probably the peak of his current career."
"If Ochi were truly confident, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly to that game. Now it all comes down to Shirogane's choice."
"Will Hikaru lose here, fail to qualify, and wait another year? Or will he reach his peak and shatter Ochi's dream of a perfect record?"
"This arc is brutal…"
"If Isumi fails again… will he give up Go?"