As autumn faded into winter and January arrived, bringing the approach of winter break, Yu Shao finally reachedAmateur 5-Dan.

At the same time, the long-awaited registration for this year’sGo Promotion Tournamentofficially opened.

Early in the morning, Yu Shao took his rank certificate and caught a taxi to theJiangling Go Academy—or rather, theJiangling Go Association.

Although registration was open for three months until April, allowing players to sign up at any time, Yu Shao was still surprised to see a large crowd gathered to register.

Men and women, young and old—people of all ages were here.

"Even with three whole months to sign up, you can still run into so many people registering on just a random day?"

Seeing this, Yu Shao couldn’t help but be amazed.

In this world, the number of Go players was exponentially larger than in his past life. Yet, the number of professional slots remained just as limited—meaning the competition wasfarmore brutal.

As Yu Shao walked toward the registration counter, two young men passed by, chatting.

The other, calledDingzi, was visibly surprised. “Why? You’ve been in the dojo for ten years.”

“That’s exactly why.”

The first young man sighed, his expression dim. “I started learning Go at five, entered the dojo at nine… and ten years later, Istillhaven’t become a professional. Next year, I’ll be twenty.”

“If I can’t make it, there’s no point in staying. I’d just be wasting time—I need to find a new path.”

He exhaled deeply and said, “IloveGo. But… Go doesn’t love me back.”

“I’ve worked hard. I’ve fought for it. But now…”

He hesitated before finishing, “It’s time to let go.”

Dingzi quickly tried to reassure him. “Come on, don’t say that—like you’ve already lost this year! You never know, maybethiswill be the year you make it.”

“I won’t.”

The young man shook his head. “I know my own strength. This year isn’t about one last gamble—it’s aboutfacing reality.”

“I need tofail—so I can finally let go without regrets.”

Dingzi fell silent, unable to find the right words.

Yu Shao, overhearing their conversation, felt a strange mix of emotions.

This wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed a scene like this.

In his past life, he had seen it happen countless times.

He was fortunate—he hadjust enoughtalent to make it, reaching professional status at twelve.

But far more peoplefailedthan succeeded. Their dreams shattered beneath the weight of reality, becoming nothing more than stepping stones for others.

And inthisworld? The fallen would only bemorenumerous.

Yu Shao exhaled softly, shaking his head, before stepping forward to the registration counter.

He handed hisrank certificateandIDto the staff member—a man in his forties.

The man opened the documents and glanced at them before looking up.

“Yu Shao, right?”

“Yes.”

Yu Shao nodded. “I’d like to register for this year’sGo Promotion Tournament. Thank you.”

“Alright, give me a moment to verify your information.”

The staff member entered the rank certificate number into the system. Within seconds, Yu Shao’sranking history and match recordsappeared on the screen.

“Got it, you’re a—”

The man paused mid-sentence, his eyes widening slightly as he processed the information.

On the screen, it showed that Yu Shao had progressed fromUnrankedtoAmateur 5-Danin justsix months.

And in every singleAmateur Promotion Tournamenthe had played, he had placed first.

“…You must have been playing Go for years but just never took the ranking exams, right?” The staff member asked, a bit skeptical.

“Yes.”

Yu Shao smiled. “I’ve been playing for a long time.”

Hearing this, the staff member let out a deep breath, looking relieved.

For a moment, he had thought Yu Shao had onlystartedplaying Go six months ago and had still managed to reachAmateur 5-Dan—whilewinningevery single tournament.

That would have beenmonstrouslyterrifying.

But if Yu Shao had simply never bothered taking the exams before? That madewaymore sense.

“Why did you wait so long to get ranked?” The staff member asked, curious.

“If you could rank up so quickly, you probably could have joined thePromotion Tournamentyears ago.”

“Well, Zheng Qin didn’t join until he was nineteen,” Yu Shao said with a grin.

“Zheng Qin?He’s already2-Dannow!”

The staff member chuckled. “And besides, he’s an exception—most players can’t just join thePromotion Tournamentonce and immediately go pro. Do you really think you canpassin one go?”

Zheng Qin is already 2-Dan?

That was a bit surprising, but Yu Shao didn’t dwell on it.

“Maybe,” he said with a smile.

“Hah! I like that confidence.”

The staff member laughed, glancing at Yu Shao’s file again.

“You’re sixteen—almost seventeen. If you pass this year, you’ll be about the same age as most newly-ranked professionals.”

“But if youwaittoo long, you might be at a disadvantage. The players who make a name for themselves usually go pro by sixteen. Some even earlier. Zheng Qin waslate—but he’s an outlier.”

The staff member hesitated before adding, “Even though you ranked up quickly in the amateur scene, I should warn you… ThePromotion TournamentandAmateur Promotion Matches?”

He paused before emphasizing,

“They’recompletelydifferent beasts.”

“I know.”

Yu Shao nodded.

“Good. As long as you’re mentally prepared.”

The staff member nodded and pulled up the registration screen. “The fee is 200 yuan. Cash or QR code?”

“QR code.”

Yu Shao took out his phone and quickly completed the payment.

“ThePreliminary Roundwill be around-robinpoints system. Our province is divided intoten groups, and the topten playersfrom each group will advance to theMain Tournament—a total of100 qualifiers.”

“TheMain TournamentandFinalswill include players from across theentire competition region. Both of those rounds will bedouble-elimination.”

Yu Shao nodded. He was already familiar with the format.

In this world, the number of players in thePromotion Tournamentwas massive.

Because of this, the competition structure was very different from his past life.

Back then, everyone entered the tournament at once, since the number of participants wasrelativelysmall.

But here?

Even asingle provincehadmoreparticipants than an entireyear’s worthof players in his previous world’s Promotion Tournament.

And yet, the number ofprofessional slotsremained just as limited.

In this world, each province had a set number of spots for theMain Tournament. Players first had to survive thePreliminary Roundto secure their ticket to the main event—anincrediblybrutal process.

In other words, thePreliminary Roundwould eliminate 90% of the participants, allowing only the top 10% to enter theMain Tournament. From there, only 1% would successfully become professional players.

Calling it a one-in-a-thousand battle was no exaggeration.

“ThePreliminary Roundwill probably start in early May. We’ll notify you by phone in advance,” the staff member said.

“Thank you.”

Yu Shao nodded politely, then turned and left.

Not long after Yu Shao walked out of the Go Academy, a young, sharp-looking man stepped inside.

“Zheng Qin, 2-Dan.”

The staff member at the registration desk immediately greeted him with a wave.

Zheng Qin glanced over and chuckled. “Brother Li, why are you calling me so formally? Just call meLittle Zhenglike always.”

“You’re a professional player now—Ihaveto address you properly, especially since you just got promoted to2-Dan! Otherwise, I’d look disrespectful.”

The staff member grinned. “So, what brings you here today? Let me guess… you’re asking about theFangyuan Cup?”

“Bingo! TheFangyuan Cupis starting again soon, isn’t it?” Zheng Qin said with a smile.

“Hah! Knew it.”

The staff member laughed, then suddenly remembered something.

“Funny coincidence—I was just talking about you with a kid who’s signing up for this year’sPromotion Tournament.”

“Oh?” Zheng Qin raised an eyebrow. “What’d he say about me?”

“He hadn’t takenanyranking exams before. Then, last year, he took all of them at once and jumped straight toAmateur 5-Dan—and he woneveryamateur promotion tournament he played.”

The staff member shook his head, amused. “I asked him why he didn’t join thePromotion Tournamentearlier, since he was obviously strong enough. You know what he said?”

“He said,‘Didn’t Zheng Qin wait a long time too?’”

“His name’s Yu Shao, I think?”

Hearing that name, Zheng Qin froze.

The staff member kept talking, oblivious to Zheng Qin’s reaction.

“Winning every amateur promotion match is impressive, sure—but amateur games are nothing compared to thePromotion Tournament, right?”

“Not everyone can be likeyou, passing on the first try. Most players need bothskillandluck. If they get a bad bracket, there’s nothing they can do—they just fail.”

Noticing that Zheng Qin hadn’t responded for a while, the staff member looked up in confusion.

“…Zheng Qin, 2-Dan? What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Zheng Qin let out a long breath, shaking his head. Then, with a smile, he said,

“So…he’sfinally here.”

“He?”

The staff member blinked.

“Yu Shao.”

Zheng Qin chuckled. “Iknewhe’d be here sooner or later.”

The staff member was completely lost. “Wait… youknowhim?”

“Of course.”

Zheng Qin’s smile deepened.

“I’ve spent every day training, honing my skills, playing game after game… all forthismoment.”

“The moment he steps into the professional world—so that when I finally face him…”

“I’ll have the confidence to fight him head-on.”

Hearing this, the staff member was utterly stunned.

Confidence… to fight him?

Confidence?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com