I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 30

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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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Too Many Profitable Talents — Episode 30
‘Oh.’
Without meaning to, I felt a swell of pride.
Yu Jeuhha, unaware of what was running through my mind, approached with a bright smile.
“Hello, In-ha.”
“Ah, hello.”
I greeted her awkwardly, glancing away for a moment.
Eyes as large and gentle as a deer’s.
Looking up at me with that gaze, I found it oddly difficult to meet her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. For making you come all this way.”
“I offered to come.”
“Still……”
Yu Jeuhha fretted with apology, her fingers fidgeting nervously.
The truth was, she had been the one to suggest visiting me first.
I’d come myself because I found that a burden.
But now that I was actually here, I felt oddly guilty about it.
She hesitated for a moment, then her expression shifted.
“Oh! Please, talk to me casually. I’m so much younger!”
“You sure?”
“Yes!”
I laughed nervously.
Asked to drop formality, I felt more tense than ever before.
Seeing my discomfort, Yu Jeuhha laughed brightly.
“Let’s go to the café.”
“Sure.”
I followed Yu Jeuhha up the stairs.
On the fourth floor, we turned a corner and opened a glass door adorned with cypress wood panels.
Mokryeon Go Café.
It was far larger than I’d expected.
Go boards scattered throughout.
Large floor-to-ceiling windows and natural wood blinds.
One wall held a neat arrangement of ancient Go texts and game records.
And deeper inside, a sunlit terrace seating area.
Go and sensibility.
It was a space where the two terms blended perfectly.
“Yu Jeuhha, is this a new customer?”
As we approached the counter, a middle-aged man greeted us.
Salt-and-pepper hair, gentle eyes.
A composed smile with striking features.
So this is what it looks like to age with grace.
The thought came naturally to me.
Yu Jeuhha introduced me while looking in my direction.
“The café owner, Master Hwang. He’s retired from Professional Go, and as you can see, he’s quite the skilled barista too.”
“Welcome.”
Master Hwang’s eyes crinkled warmly as he offered a light greeting.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Kim In-ha.”
I offered a brief introduction.
Master Hwang narrowed his eyes, then asked with a playful smile.
“Your boyfriend?”
“What? No!”
Yu Jeuhha shook her head vigorously, looking flustered.
“In-ha is…… someone I wanted to learn from, so I brought him here.”
She added hastily.
Master Hwang chuckled at that.
“That’s all? No other feelings involved?”
“Stop teasing me!”
Yu Jeuhha’s cheeks flushed as she protested.
“He’s someone important to me, so please don’t create misunderstandings!”
My mouth went dry.
‘……Someone important?’
No.
In this situation, is that really the right word choice?
She’d just thrown out a remark ripe for misunderstanding without a second thought.
‘Is she doing this on purpose, or what?’
Her tone—impossible to tell if it was a joke or genuine.
I found myself at a loss for words.
Habitual flirting, maybe. Something like that.
I was flustered, my mind tangling over how to smooth things over.
Master Hwang chuckled and asked me a question.
“What can I get you?”
“……An iced Americano, please.”
“Don’t worry about the cost.”
Master Hwang gestured subtly with his eyes toward Yu Jeuhha.
“She’s someone meaningful, you know. Even if her Korean’s a bit rough, an expression like that would come from the heart.”
I smiled a little awkwardly and nodded.
When I glanced over, Yu Jeuhha was grinning with her eyes narrowed.
‘……I shouldn’t read into this.’
It was nothing but unintentional, harmless words and actions.
I resolved not to let my own imagination run wild and make careless assumptions.
Master Hwang continued as he brewed the coffee.
“Head to the inner terrace. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
“Thank you so much!”
At that, Yu Jeuhha bowed brightly in gratitude.
I took the coffee and made my way to the terrace with Yu Jeuhha.
‘This is nice.’
Soft sunlight filtered through the window and settled gently on the Go board.
The atmosphere was cozy and carried a hint of old-world charm.
It was the kind of place I’d want to visit often if I lived closer.
But then.
‘Wait, what?’
My footsteps slowed as I moved deeper inside.
Young people gathered around a Go board.
They were studying intently, reproducing moves with serious expressions.
The stones on that board.
They weren’t unfamiliar to me.
‘This……this is my Go game, isn’t it?’
A few days ago.
The match from Jang Yu-na’s livestream against the Chinese professional Sun Yao, 6-dan. That exact game.
I stopped in my tracks and found myself naturally gazing at the board.
‘That’s definitely it.’
From the opening skirmish in the upper-left corner to the fierce combat along the left edge in the middlegame.
It matched perfectly with the sequence burned into my memory.
“Ah! Do you know about Mu-myeong too, In-ha?”
As if sensing my attention, Yu Jeuhha stopped and turned to me.
“Mu……myeong?”
I paused before responding.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Oh, you don’t know? But you’re drawn to it anyway?”
Yu Jeuhha explained calmly.
“Recently, he’s been the hottest amateur player across the three Go nations. A while back, he even beat Master An Seong-hyeon, and he took down Sun Yao, 6-dan from China.”
“Really?”
“He became famous after appearing on Yu-na’s streams. Especially among the younger professionals—he’s created quite the buzz…….”
Yu Jeuhha stepped closer to me cautiously.
Then she rose up on her toes and whispered softly into my ear.
‘Actually, they say he’s a top-level professional hiding his true identity.’
For a moment, I went blank.
I didn’t even register the warmth of her breath tickling my ear.
A top-level professional?
My Go that strong?
A strange numbness crept through me, and reality seemed to twist out of focus.
At that moment, the players gathered around the Go board engaged in heated debate.
“No AI would ever recommend this move here.”
“But Mu-myeong played it. And it worked.”
“I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not a Blue Spot exactly, but he controls the board flow on his own terms.”
“Even this retreat does that. Dodge and he forces you to fight. Fight and he makes you want to dodge.”
“It’s fascinating Go.
I felt heat creep across my face.
Not just anyone—professional players, all gathered in one place.
Analyzing my game.
Me, an amateur no one had ever heard of.
In that moment, I felt like I was standing at the center of the world.
“Could it be O Su?”
“He’s been retired for ages.”
I’m guessing it’s Senior Won Seong-jin. The style fits him perfectly.”
“Brother, I think it’s Na Sang-ho. Something in the way he moves his pieces gives it away.”
My face burned with embarrassment.
Top-ranked professionals from the past.
Or players whose names appeared high in the domestic rankings.
They were placing me on the same level.
And discussing it among themselves right in front of me, the actual person in question.
I couldn’t lift my head from the shame.
And yet.
‘I feel good about this.’
The real me—Kim In-ha, a bank security guard—was not being recognized.
I was being acknowledged purely on my Go skill.
Little by little.
There was no longer any reason to hide.
‘Wait a moment.’
Now that I thought about it.
Yu Jeuhha knew my Go.
She’d told me via direct message that Kang Hyeok had recommended me.
Then what if.
‘Did she also see Mu-myeong’s games?’
I found myself glancing at Yu Jeuhha out of the corner of my eye.
She seemed oblivious to my gaze, smiled brightly, and walked toward the terrace.
I felt a little uneasy.
If she knew my Go, she might pick up on the fact that I’m Mu-myeong.
A pleasant terrace.
Sunlight settled on the Go board as we sat across from each other.
“I haven’t played or even watched Go in quite a while. Kang gave me advice that rest can be part of the path too.”
‘Ah.’
I felt relief wash over me without thinking.
That statement meant she didn’t know Mu-myeong’s games.
Yu Jeuhha continued, her expression growing serious.
“Then I watched your Go, In-ha, and thought about it. If I play, maybe I’ll feel something.”
Again.
That peculiar way of speaking, dropping the subject.
Still.
As we talked more, I was growing accustomed to it.
“I’d be honored for a match.”
Yu Jeuhha bowed respectfully.
I nodded silently in response.
We finished our preparations and set down the Go stone container below the board.
The stones felt warm in my hand, perhaps from the sunlight.
I centered myself with even breaths and concealed the stone.
Black.
We exchanged containers and offered our opening greetings.
‘Her eyes have changed.’
The Yu Jeuhha from moments before—bright and bashful—
had transformed into someone entirely different.
Not a trace of playfulness.
In those clear, deep eyes lay the gravity of a Professional.
‘She’s serious.’
I steadied my breathing lightly and picked up a stone.
Click.
I played my first move.
A star point.
A textbook opening strategy popularized by AI research.
But within just a few moves.
‘There’s no conviction behind it.’
I could feel it.
Her stones weren’t charting their own course.
She was following AI’s direction, yes.
But that was all.
Yu Jeuhha had no voice of her own.
‘She’s just imitating.’
The pattern was precise.
The form, clean.
Yet across the entire board, something felt lifeless.
The trend became even starker as we entered the middlegame.
Click.
I neither attacked nor pressed.
Naturally.
I played a game of patience, waiting for her to crumble of her own weight.
‘I think I understand now.’
Why she asked me for this match.
She must feel it herself.
That something in her game has gone awry.
The slow collapse written across her face told me everything.
‘Should I say something?’
Was I allowed to offer advice?
Did I have the standing to do it?
I hesitated for a moment.
Still.
Someone had to say it.
Besides, she was the one who reached out first.
I set down my stones slowly.
“There’s no point in continuing this.”
Yu Jeuhha looked up.
She said nothing.
I swallowed hard and spoke with conviction.
“Right now, you’re imitating. That’s not your game.”
Yu Jeuhha sat quietly, both hands folded in her lap.
Silence.
Her eyes trembled with transparency.
“Finding the right answer isn’t always the same as finding a solution.”
“I know that.”
When Yu Jeuhha spoke, her voice was small and shaking.
“But somewhere along the way, without even realizing it, I started chasing Blue Spots. And when you’re doing that, you forget what you’re trying to play in the first place.”
I nodded quietly.
“I was afraid.”
Yu Jeuhha bowed her head slightly.
“I didn’t know that making a mistake in an actual game, losing—that it could be so terrifying.”
I drank my coffee in silence.
Bitter.
I understood that feeling.
Since I’d started delving into AI research recently,
I’d naturally begun hunting for the next move that AI suggested.
When you keep following like that,
before long your own game vanishes, and you’re strangling yourself chasing right answers.
‘That’s not necessarily a bad thing.’
The real problem is the transition itself.
If during that process someone like Yu Jeuhha loses their own style of play,
then slump follows slump, and confidence crumbles.
“Then what Kang showed me…… was your way of playing Go.”
Yu Jeuhha lifted her head again.
Her eyes glistened slightly.
Emotion welled up—a faint flush lingered across both her cheeks.
“Someone who plays their own way, even if it’s not the textbook answer. Someone who makes a move even when afraid.”
Those words struck something deep in my chest.
I felt oddly embarrassed.
‘That’s not who I am.’
I was only playing the best move I could find to win.
It seemed she was seeing something far better in me than that.
Her words were grateful, and awkward, and made me flush.
And yet part of my chest swelled with something like pride.
“I…… really like your Go.”
Yu Jeuhha bowed her head shyly.
But her eyes, fixed on the board, were firm.
“I saw something in this game…… something I needed.”
The words came carefully, tentatively.
Yu Jeuhha fell silent for a while, collecting herself.
Then, as though her resolve had crystallized, she asked with quiet hope.
“I know it’s difficult for you, but…… would you play one more game with me?”
I studied her quietly.
She was different now.
“I’ll play my own Go this time.”
The shadow that had dimmed her face before was gone.
No hesitation. No wavering.
Instead, her gaze had grown far deeper.
It seemed she was finding her own answer through me, through this game.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
When I answered, a small smile bloomed across Yu Jeuhha’s face.
And then.
We began our second game in quiet.

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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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