I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 152

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Talent That Pays Too Well — Episode 152
“Just as I thought…… Master Zhang is truly remarkable. He left a mark in the upper-left corner, and now he’s attached to the lower-right. It’s a probe of Black’s response!”
Liang Yichuan’s voice rose a full octave.
“Now Kim In-ha is taking time to think. An unexpected reaction—he didn’t anticipate such a brilliant escape.”
White advances lightly, yet touches Black’s vulnerabilities with subtle precision.
There is no immediate lethal threat, but small gaps are woven throughout the board.
The Go board is a battlefield.
Like a butterfly effect, small disputes accumulate until they trigger collapse—that is the nature of Baduk.
In Liang Yichuan’s assessment, Black’s right side was clearly thin.
‘There will definitely be a way to win.’
The intuition peculiar to professional players, honed across thousands of matches, signaled as much.
“Those who know will understand—Master Zhang is younger than I am.”
He smiled, pointing with the cursor at White’s moves in sequence.
Black had built an enormous sphere of influence.
Yet by subtly touching its weaknesses, White forced Black to retreat—a series of moves that applied relentless pressure.
“Which is precisely why I call him ‘Master’ without fail.”
Not all of those moves were positions the AI had flagged as critical.
But they all touched the essence of the brilliant escape.
“……Isn’t it beautiful?”
In that instant, rapture flashed across Liang Yichuan’s eyes.
Though he had been away from active play for some time, it was an emotion only one who had devoted his life to Baduk could feel.
“This is why I must respect him. Master Zhang’s Baduk reveals his own philosophy of the game.”
Right then.
Clack.
Kim In-ha’s black stone descended onto the board.
“……Ah? Black has resisted.”
White’s stones had penetrated deep into the right side, anchored at the lower-right corner.
Normally, this would be a situation where one extends and retreats.
But Kim In-ha pushed back forcefully instead.
“This is a decisive move. But isn’t it reckless? The position looks quite bad…… Ah, Master Zhang didn’t hesitate at all. He cut directly. This is about board momentum!”
Zhang Weitian was unwavering.
He had assessed the overall stone configuration and judged this battle favorable to him.
Now the position had entered a life-and-death struggle.
Move after move, each one drawing blood.
Will it live?
Will it die?
White sought to bore into Black’s formation and create eye shape.
Black stubbornly sealed off any possibility of two eyes.
Blockade and suppression, met by breakthrough.
As the position reached its climax, Liang Yichuan steadied his breath and continued the commentary.
“……The AI analysis board shows it this way, and it’s still difficult. But looking only at the conclusion, White survives if he follows this sequence.”
The moment he finished, Chinese fans erupted in cheers.
-Just as expected from Master Zhang! His Baduk carries a fundamentally different caliber than some kid from the streets of a small nation.
-Kim In-ha’s done for lol
-Ah, what a relief!
-I never wanted to see Kim In-ha’s face anyway, and this is so satisfying lol
-What’s this ‘Saint In-ha’ nonsense. Let’s see China’s true greatness.
Though Kim In-ha’s image had improved somewhat during his stint as a mercenary for Shanghai Shanhua, it remained a sentiment held by only some fans.
In world tournaments, nationality was still paramount.
Most Chinese fans supported their own players, and their resentment toward Kim In-ha persisted.
Clack.
Zhang Weitian executed the sequence without the slightest hesitation, move after move precisely as planned.
“R-remarkable, Master Zhang. A divinely inspired sequence. I can only gasp in admiration.”
With each stone placed, White’s winning percentage climbed steadily upward.
Near-perfect Move Reading.
White’s large group was on the verge of surviving, threading through a probability so thin it seemed no wider than the eye of a needle.
Then.
Black’s stone descended in a place no one had anticipated.
Clack.
The Empty Triangle Move.
A zigzag Z-shaped formation—the worst possible shape.
The large group seemed to lack a proper eye form.
No one but a blunder could have seen such a move.
“……Kim In-ha, surely that’s a mistake?”
A choice bordering on a fatal error—something no one should ever play.
And yet.
“Wait, wait. Something’s wrong. White’s winning percentage just dropped.”
Liang Yichuan’s eyes widened sharply.
He hastily launched the Deepstone AI, and a new analysis board appeared on the screen—one that hadn’t been there moments before.
“Why is the win rate fluctuating like this? This kind of situation is extremely rare……”
Liang Yichuan’s composure cracked.
As the AI delved deeper into its Move Reading, the graph line trembled with uncertainty.
Unpredictable variations cascaded forward, and the win rate graph steadily climbed toward Black.
Even the Chinese fans couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
Tap.
A Black stone descended onto the Go Board.
Clustered tight as a bunch of grapes.
Five stones arranged in a bowlike curve, yet with no internal space—a dead form incapable of making two eyes.
“You don’t mean……”
Liang Yichuan’s voice trembled as he drew a sharp breath.
A stone placed in what was classically treated as a dead form in Baduk.
It severed White’s outside connection and threatened the very lifeblood of the entire large group.
The Ghost Hand had transmuted the worst Empty Triangle Move into the most brilliant of maneuvers, shattered White’s board state, and sent his winning percentage plummeting to forty-five percent in an instant.
Liang Yichuan couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen, a gasp of astonishment escaping him.
“……The Five Palace Peach Blossom Brilliant Move.”

* * *
Park Ji-man’s Baduk broadcast channel.
Until moments ago, the mood had been grim.
Korean fans were elated at the prospect of Korean players sweeping a world professional tournament with no Chinese competitors in sight.
But the moment Kim In-ha’s board state began to crumble, the atmosphere plummeted into a funeral dirge.
“……He’s insane. Insane! In-ha doesn’t need any more explanation. He’s just a madman of Baduk!”
With Park Ji-man’s cry, the mood reversed in a single heartbeat.
The Five Palace Peach Blossom Brilliant Move—absent even from the AI analysis board—had flipped a losing position on its head in one stroke.
The viewers blazed with excitement, and Park Ji-man’s eyes burned just as hot.
“For those of you teachers who’ve worked with artificial intelligence, you know what I mean—an AI reference board is brutally unhelpful. Even professional players often can’t comprehend what it’s showing. The intent is invisible.”
That’s precisely why professional Baduk players spend so much time analyzing AI moves and researching their intentions.
He smiled as he continued.
“Moreover, the move sequences the AI displays are limited. It doesn’t show every possible variation. It’s as if it’s telling humans to interpret the rest for themselves.”
That’s why the skill of Baduk streamers matters.
Simply reading out AI commentary doesn’t transmit the depth.
“And while extremely rare, there are moments when a human finds a Bluespot before the AI does. What In-ha just did—that’s exactly such a case.”
Park Ji-man pointed at the monitor.
The graph was still oscillating wildly.
As the AI pushed deeper into its calculations, updating the win rate moment by moment, the expected percentages shifted constantly.
One thing was certain: Kim In-ha’s Black graph was climbing.
“That’s what makes our In-ha crazy. I mean, he’s not a computer, but he finds brilliant moves faster than the AI and shakes the board in ways it never predicted.”
A satisfied smile spread across Park Ji-man’s face.
That smile carried not mere delight, but a deep pride.
The viewers who’d been holding their breath began typing into the chat without restraint.
-I’m watching Liang Yichuan’s stream right now. It looks like a funeral service, sir.
-Yeah lol they thought they’d won and set off fireworks then went completely silent.
-Thanks to Kuksoo’s brilliant move, we got the reversal. We’re saved.
-I’m happy but…… In-ha’s Baduk is always so nail-biting. My nerves are shot.
-Right? They called it Korean-style Opening, but it didn’t match expectations… feels like he’s winning on pure individual skill?
-Kuksoo is always so dramatic. No stable matches at all.
Perhaps it was all the stress held during the entire match.
A note of concern rippled through the Korean fans’ chat.
Park Ji-man, watching those messages quietly, gave a slight shake of his head and let slip a remark.
“Everyone.”
In that instant, every eye in the studio fixed on him.
Park Ji-man paused to collect himself, then continued with measured calm.
“The Diagonal Double Axle Head, the brilliant move of the Empty Triangle, the subtlety of the First-Line Stone Strategy, and today even the ghost hand of the Five Palace Peach Blossom—if he can do all this, then we’ve been understanding it wrong.”
He called to mind the professional matches of Kim In-ha, 9-dan, that he had been commentating on until now.
These were moments that didn’t fade easily, moves that were impossible to forget even if one tried.
“It’s simply… that this is In-ha’s Baduk itself. It may look dangerous at times, but in the end it’s Baduk that wins. Baduk that savors reversals through brilliant moves.”
Some might call it unsettling.
They could evaluate it as precarious, lacking in stability.
But if it keeps winning despite repeating itself, then it isn’t luck.
It’s ruthless skill.
A faint smile spread across Park Ji-man’s lips.
“Perhaps that very romance is why we can cheer like this?”

* * *
‘My palms are drenched.’
I wiped my moist hands quickly on my trousers.
In this moment when suffocating tension pressed down on my entire body.
Each move settled like a lifeline, impossibly heavy.
If I hadn’t discovered the brilliant move of the Five Palace Peach Blossom.
I might well be sweeping the stones away right now.
‘Zhang Weitian, 9-dan… he was no easy opponent.’
His Breakthrough had been unparalleled.
Just as defense becomes attack, he pressed his assault through breakthrough moves, bearing down on me completely.
I had been caught off-guard more than once.
Which is why it meant all the more.
My Dispersed Opening Formation.
Territory-based Baduk employing influence that could transform at any moment into the Cosmic Style or Chinese-style play.
Beginning with that, I lured him into infiltration,
and then succeeded in driving his large group into a dead position through perfect Move Reading.
And finally…
A move his opponent couldn’t see.
A move his opponent couldn’t read.
A ghost hand that rendered breakthrough meaningless.
The entire process of collapsing white through the ‘Five Palace Peach Blossom brilliant move’ had made me feel truly alive.
“….”
Zhang Weitian, 9-dan, gazed silently at the board.
With a heavy face, he picked up the white stone and quietly placed it beneath the cover.
“I concede.”
Those words struck my heart with weight.
A Baduk style that was nearly the polar opposite of mine,
the exhilaration of defeating him who had long reigned at the pinnacle of Chinese Baduk in a head-to-head confrontation.
And the trembling thrill of knowing I was now the historic protagonist who would face another Korean player in the championship final of an international tournament held on Chinese soil.
Then.
—Ding!
A sharp, clear system notification sounded.
[You have defeated the ‘Nine Deaths, One Life—Master Realm.’]
[Congratulations. You have come very close to the ‘Masterpiece Game’ ranks. Bonus points are being awarded to your achievements.]
Though it hadn’t been registered as a Masterpiece Game, I felt no regret whatsoever.
It had already been a sufficiently precious match.
And more than anything.
[Congratulations. The ‘Realm of Enlightenment’ deepens. Your talent ‘Baduk’ is about to undergo a new transformation.]
A smile bloomed across my lips unbidden.
The message I had waited for so long.
My Baduk was about to evolve once more.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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