NOVEL NEXT Ch. 62
Chapter 62: Divine Move (7)
It was clearly my mistake.
Because I couldn’t think of a decent name, I ended up creating an ID as ‘Dangsari’, and that was the root of the problem.
-Sudamgaek has recommended Game Record 0422 from June 2, 2025.
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……
These were the messages on the countless pop-up windows that appeared the moment I logged into Ongame Baduk.
The matches I had played were even uploaded on a Baduk site under the rather grandiose title of ‘Dangsari Game Records Collection’.
“You’re quite the celebrity. Why not slap the café name on there too, huh? Click click.”
“That would’ve been a nightmare even to imagine.”
Thankfully, there were several places called Dangsari, so it wasn’t uniquely identifiable. If this had been the only Dangsari, I might have spent several months feeling like I was sitting on a bed of nails.
“Then can’t you just keep quiet about it?”
“Headong Seonnyeo is right. Those who came out of desperation only quietly drank their coffee and left, didn’t they? A few more might come, but that too shall pass, so just stay still.”
It was undoubtedly the best strategy. And not particularly hard to stick to.
I just didn’t feel like it.
“…….”
“Look at him silent again. Seems like he’s plotting something nasty.”
“I was just thinking. It bothers me a little that I let our first real customer leave just like that.”
“Oh? Come to think of it, that Dohyuk who came last time is Jinseong’s subordinate.”
“He’s not a subordinate, he’s a colleague.”
Dohyuk had known the address and sought me out deliberately, so he was an exception. That really was the first time someone had come to the café as an actual customer.
Granted, the person with him came for a very one-dimensional purpose.
Still, I could vaguely guess why someone would come all the way here just from seeing the ID ‘Dangsari’. When you’re lost, you want to follow even the faint light of a firefly.
Perhaps because of that desperation, he hadn’t even drunk half the coffee I served.
I didn’t know what was so special about my Baduk games, but if it helped, I planned to keep playing whenever I had time.
-Dding.
How many of those stacked-up recommendation pop-ups had I closed? Just when I thought I could finally play a game, another pop-up appeared.
【2025 Ongame Masters Baduk Tournament】
-Tournament Dates: June 21 (Sat) ~ June 22 (Sun), 2025
-Tournament Venue: Ongame Baduk Channel (Tournament)
-Registration Period: June 2 (Mon) ~ June 13 (Fri), 2025, until 17:00 (first-come, first-served)
-Registration: Go to Page
-Tournament Details: See image below
-Prize Money:
『Champion: 20 million Won + Trophy + Ongame VIP 3 years + Offline Award Ceremony
Runner-up: 10 million Won + Trophy + Ongame VIP 1 year + Offline Award Ceremony
3rd-4th Place: 5 million Won + Ongame Premium 1 year + Offline Award Ceremony
5th-9th Place: J-Pad Pro 12 + Ongame Premium 6 months』
The laid-back idea of playing now and then vanished completely at the sight of that announcement page.
An online Baduk tournament with a prize of 20 million Won.
It was an amount I’d never even considered.
Of course, there was no chance I’d win. I was barely a fledgling who had just learned the rules.
But in our café, we had literal gods of Baduk. Four of them, no less.
“I need to play more seriously. At least until the end of this month.”
The next evening.
-Ddalang.
The café door opened, right on cue with my off-work hours.
“We’re here!”
“The weather’s getting hotter by the day. Make it iced coffee today.”
“We’re here too.”
As if planned, the guests poured in all at once and each took their designated seats.
And today, there were Immortals who had ridden in on Yongman.
“Will you have time for a game later?”
“Yes, once I’ve served all the coffee.”
“Excellent! I’ll wait.”
Seven guests had arrived all at once.
Making seven cups of coffee didn’t take long for someone like me who had reached the height of mastery.
One by one, the cups were set down from the tray loaded on the cart, and I finally arrived at the seat of the Immortals.
“Hm? Are you planning to skip us and play with someone else using that?”
Their eyes, as they looked at the laptop I brought with the coffee, were full of disappointment.
“I didn’t bring it for me to play. Remember what you promised last time? You said you’d learn how to play Baduk using this.”
“We did say that. Though I’m not sure we’ll be able to learn since it’s so hard.”
“I’ll teach you in a way that’s easy to understand.”
They had to learn. For the sake of my grand plan.
And in truth, no knowledge beyond one particular action was necessary.
Preparing, starting, and ending a match could all be handled by me when each game began and ended, so all they really needed to learn was how to place a stone using the mouse.
Since the Immortals had watched me play fifteen consecutive games on their first day at the café, the lesson ended surprisingly quickly.
“You can start now. I’ll help again when this game ends and the next one begins.”
“Alright. Let’s see… move the mouse like this…”
As the match began, it seemed my words had already faded into the background.
I quietly stepped away and returned to the table where Elder Gumiho and Sanyi were sitting.
“But if the Gods of Baduk join the tournament, wouldn’t that be unfair?”
“It’s fine. AI will be flooding in anyway. That eased a lot of my guilt.”
“Bah, that’s just your guilt being eased. I’m sure they feel very differently.”
“I’ve already got everything planned.”
“Hm?”
The operation had already begun, in all but name.
The Immortal playing Baduk and the other three Immortals, watching and silently mouthing strategies, looked just like kids in an arcade, aimlessly hovering around the machine after running out of coins.
It was practically a cruel punishment.
After countless years of only playing each other, they had finally found a chance to play against someone else, only to be stuck waiting their turn. For three full games, at that.
“Are you enjoying it?”
“Hehe, I never imagined Baduk in the present world had changed like this. Blink and suddenly, territory had been formed all around the large group.”
“But isn’t it inconvenient, taking turns since there’s only one laptop?”
“Even so, to be able to play such fun Baduk, I’m happy to wait.”
“There is a way you won’t have to wait.”
“Hm? But there’s only one of these little machines. How could we not wait?”
“There’s a Baduk tournament starting soon. They’re giving out Baduk machines even better than this laptop as prizes.”
I played a prepared video on my phone screen.
“The screen showing the Baduk board is much larger and brighter. And instead of using a mouse, you just tap the glass with your finger like placing a stone, and it appears right there.”
“Oh ho.”
“They’re giving five of them, so if the four of you win one each, that should be enough.”
Any more than that would’ve been difficult for me too.
Even if the rankings were high enough to earn prize money and I used it to buy J-Pads, we’d still come out ahead. But we’d also have to attend the award ceremony.
Thankfully, all four of them enjoyed Baduk, and none were obsessed with victory, so it would be enough to just land in the top five.
That was the only solution to the tearjerking situation of four Immortals taking turns to play Baduk on a single laptop.
“When did you say the tournament is?”
“I’ll help with the registration.”
“Please do.”
The fire of resolve lit up in the Immortals’ eyes when they asked about the tournament date.
Their determination for the latest Baduk board was so intense, it even startled me—the one who had ignited it.
I would be the true winner of this Baduk tournament. At the very least, four J-Pads would be ours.
At the same time, in the Baduk classroom office, Han Kuksu and Park Gidong Sabom were waiting for a late-night delivery after finishing their final lesson.
“Ugh, they’re starting again this year too. That old coot, so stubborn even while on death’s doorstep. I told him, just cut out the AIs in the finals and hold it offline, but he never listens. Seriously. Who’s going to join like that? Even Han Kuksu got wiped out last time.”
“They’ll figure it out. It’s not like online tournaments only happen there.”
“Still, it’s the biggest Baduk gaming company in Korea. This is ridiculous. Right now, anything above 5 dan is basically just AIs, so researchers are the only ones using it to analyze game records.”
Clearly still upset, Park Gidong Sabom handed over his enlarged phone screen to Han Kuksu.
“Look at this year’s participant list. It’s a truckload of unknown IT companies.”
“Ah, move it. I’m in the middle of a game.”
“Ahem, sorry.”
“Wait a sec!”
Just as Park Gidong Sabom sheepishly reached to take back his phone, Han Kuksu grabbed his wrist.
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
-2025 Ongame Masters Baduk Tournament Participant List.
『Registration No. / ID
1349 J-Pa Solution
1350 Horibiri
1351 hanjin09
…
1572 Dangsari
…』
“Park Sabom, they’re still accepting registrations for the dan division, right?”
“Yeah, it’s first come, first served. But probably no one applied.”
“I’m entering. Register me.”
“Are you crazy? Why would you join that!”
-Bang.
Usually the ever-smiling Park Gidong Sabom slammed the desk and exploded with rage.
Referring to Han Kuksu as ‘you’ instead of by name was a clear sign of how furious he was.
Normally, Han Kuksu would back down in the face of such anger, but not today.
“I have to join.”
“You think the reporters will leave you alone if you do? Just because it’s online and your face isn’t shown doesn’t mean anything! Remember what happened last time? They’ll slap your photo on it and chew you out for the entire tournament! Are you pretending not to know?”
It was a twisted league with no people, only computers.
Once in a while, lucky amateurs might place in the top ten, but they were no match for the fully-evolved Baduk AIs.
The situation wasn’t much different for professional players.
Popular ones with support companies, or those who didn’t want to be known as someone who lost to AI like Han Kuksu, had essentially written off this tournament. And now, the person in question wanted to go back in.
But no matter how angry Park Gidong Sabom got, or how much they both understood what was coming, Han Kuksu’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Pfft, well, if we’re going to crash and burn, might as well go all the way. Fine, let’s get wiped out and head back to my dad’s orchard.”
‘Your family’s orchard hasn’t been profitable since the year before last…’
The words were forcibly swallowed down.
In a life with no safety net, if he had to rate who was closer to the edge, Park Gidong 9-dan’s situation seemed far more precarious than his own.
But on second thought, someone with just enough notoriety to barely make it into the finals of a national tournament might not stir much controversy.
And that, too, remained unsaid.