Chapter 1761. That's Why I'm Here (1)

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Pale, long fingers moved a pure white Go stone onto the board. The board itself was luxurious and elegant, entirely out of place in a battlefield.

"Hmm."

It looked as though he was about to place a stone, but he hesitated for a moment. Then, as if dissatisfied with the move he initially intended, he placed the stone in a completely different spot than originally planned.

Although his eyes, fixed on the board, were serious, his voice carried a distinct playful tone.

"It's quite unusual. For you to suggest a game of Go."

Jang Ilso looked at Ho Gamyeong, who was sitting across from him, with a satisfied expression. However, Ho Gamyeong remained focused on the Go board, not sparing a glance elsewhere.

"It's not strange. I used to play quite often."

"Right. You used to pester me about it."

There was a time like that.

It was a time of intense struggle, yet at the same time, it was excruciatingly dull. Like a dragon hiding its body in a quagmire, enduring to ascend to the heavens, those were the days when they had to waste time in the filthy back alleys.

At that moment, Ho Gamyeong made his move.

Placing a black stone on the board, he spoke without taking his eyes off the game.

"Perhaps it was out of pride."

"Pride?"

"There was a time when I learned Go, 'hand talk', as it's called from my teacher….. who considered it the leisure of gentlemen."

"Such a useless skill."

"However, I could never beat Bangju—no, Ryeonju—at Go. Even though I was the one who taught you how to play." [tl note: bangju = leader of Myriad Man House, Ryeonju = leader of Evil Tyrant Alliance]

Jang Ilso laughed lightly.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If I had known you'd hold such a grudge, I would have gone easy on you."

The words carried a subtle sting. How upset must he have been to insist on playing Go even in such a situation?

"It was frustrating."

But Ho Gamyeong continued calmly, as if unaffected, even though he surely understood the underlying meaning.

"Go is a conversation with your opponent, a mirror reflecting yourself. My teacher taught me that you must be patient and learn to see beyond the immediate moment. But... I couldn't do that against you, Ryeonju-nim."

Click.

Jang Ilso's white stone was placed firmly on the board.

As he watched Jang Ilso's move, which skillfully targeted his weaknesses, Ho Gamyeong continued speaking quietly.

"Ryeonju-nim's style was so free. Even though I was the one who taught him Go, he made moves I could never imagine."

"Hmm, perhaps you're too old-fashioned?"

Ho Gamyeong responded calmly 'That could be true' to the teasing remark. He continued making his move, unfazed.

Seeing the unexpected reaction, Jang Ilso leaned back in his chair, as if he had lost interest.

"So, do you want to reminisce about the past, even in this situation? Or... is it because of the situation?"

A slight glint flashed in Jang Ilso's eyes.

The truth was, Jang Ilso was indulging in this game only because Ho Gamyeong had suggested it. The situation was far too pressing to spend time leisurely playing Go.

"Gamyeong-ah."

"It's your turn, Ryeonju-nim."

Jang Ilso stared at the still-calm Ho Gamyeong for a moment.

He didn't usually waste time on meaningless things.

And Ho Gamyeong, who had been with him for so long, was the same. If anything, Ho Gamyeong considered wasting time on pointless tasks an extreme waste.

Jang Ilso sighed deeply.

"Fine, let's see what this is about. What could possibly be the meaning of this?"

Jang Ilso straightened his posture and began to focus again.

Several moves passed in silence between them. The only sound was the occasional clack of the stones being placed on the board.

It was Ho Gamyeong who surprisingly broke the long-standing silence.

"Recently, my thoughts have changed a bit."

".... About what?"

"I couldn't understand it when I tried to look deeper. Even when I tried to converse, nothing revealed itself. So I dismissed the idea of Go as a gentleman's hobby, just a pastime for those who needed something to kill time."

"..."

"But now that I think about it, perhaps it wasn't entirely wrong."

"Hmm. You've become quite talkative. Even in the middle of our game."

Click.

Jang Ilso placed a stone right in the middle of Ho Gamyeong's territory.

A white stone surrounded by black. It seemed like an utterly reckless move.

But Ho Gamyeong's expression turned cold.

He realized that this move could potentially drag his entire army of stones to their doom.

"How do you feel about that?"

Ho Gamyeong began to defend cautiously without saying a word.

But the more moves Jang Ilso made, the more difficult Ho Gamyeong's situation became. Jang Ilso's territory began to take shape in the center of Ho Gamyeong's, threatening to surround and kill off all his black stones.

Jang Ilso let out a faint sneer.

"My, my... The situation seems difficult. Should I let you take a few moves back?"

Ho Gamyeong, who had been staring at the board, finally looked up and met Jang Ilso's gaze.

"How about you, Ryeonju?"

".... Hmm? About what?"

"Can you see what I'm thinking right now?"

"Hmm."

Jang Ilso squinted slightly as he examined Ho Gamyeong. Ho Gamyeong shook his head.

"I suppose you can't."

"..."

"In the past, whenever I faced you, I felt completely exposed. Even without revealing my thoughts, it seemed like Ryeonju-nim could see right through me. But now, that's no longer the case."

Jang Ilso's expression subtly hardened.

".... What are you trying to say?"

"The Ryeonju I knew in the past was someone like that. You did things that ordinary people couldn't even imagine, whether on the battlefield or on the Go board."

Click.

Ho Gamyeong placed a stone with a casual hand. Jang Ilso's expression subtly changed. A faint, displeased smile crossed his previously stern face, and then it slowly turned into something more menacing.

"This is...."

The situation on the board had changed without Jang Ilso realizing it.

While it was still true that Jang Ilso had captured Ho Gamyeong's large group of stones, a large territory had formed in an unrelated area of the board.

The stones that had been desperately wriggling to survive had somehow built a solid formation.

Even if Jang Ilso captured the large group, he wouldn't be able to win.

'A decoy?'

Did he use that large group as bait?

However, what left Jang Ilso more than just bewildered—what made him feel truly unsettled—was not that he lost in an unimaginable way.

"Gamyeong-ah..."

"Do you remember?"

Ho Gamyeong, as if determined, calmly continued to say what he wanted.

"This... is a game we played once before in the past. Only back then, our positions were reversed."

"..."

The memory came back to him.

It was none other than Jang Ilso himself who had used the strategy of sacrificing a large group as bait to build external power.

And now, Jang Ilso found himself helplessly caught by the very move he had played in the past. As if he were under a spell.

"Back then, I was deeply shocked. Sacrificing a large group to the enemy as bait and creating a new territory for your own—that was a strategy that didn't exist in the Go I knew. But that wasn't the only reason I was shocked. It wasn't just because that move went against the fundamental principles of Go. Sacrificing a large group that you worked so hard to create isn't easy. For ordinary people, at least."

Ho Gamyeong's gaze grew cold and detached.

"But at least the Ryeonju-nim I knew back then was someone who made such moves without hesitation. Someone who would use anything he had if it could be of use, and discard it if it needed to be discarded. A person who would tear off his own arm without a second thought if it meant defeating the enemy."

"..."

"But the Ryeonju-nim of now... doesn't easily let go of what's in his hands. And that's why you're falling into the trap of a move you once played yourself."

"Gamyeong-ah."

"Are you enjoying this, Ryeonju-nim?"

"..."

"Back in those days, everything was just a game to you. Gaining something, losing something, even your own fate—it was all just entertainment. But what about now? Are you still enjoying it?"

"That's enough."

"Or is it that you've begun to feel burdened? Are you hesitant to make a move because you fear that one mistake might cost you everything?"

"You've gone too far. No matter who you are..."

"I'm curious. If the Ryeonju-nim who roamed the back alleys of Guizhou could see the Ryeonju-nim of today, would he see you as a human, or just..."

Bang!

The Go board between them suddenly flipped into the air.

Clatter clatter.

The Go stones that had been suspended in midair rained down onto the floor. Jang Ilso slowly withdrew the hand that had struck the board.

A sinister smile spread across his face.

"Not as a human... but as a gluttonous pig who's stuffed himself? Is that what you're implying?"

Instead of responding, Ho Gamyeong stood up. He then silently began picking up the scattered Go stones from the floor.

"Ho Gamyeong."

"They're encamped in that Wudang. It's not easy to deal with an enemy that has taken such a position. That's probably why you're hesitant to move, isn't it, Ryeonju?"

The corner of Jang Ilso's mouth twitched.

"So?"

"Patience and procrastination are different. We have no more time to spare. We need to draw them out instead of waiting aimlessly."

"Draw them out ...."

Jang Ilso tapped his knee slowly with his fingertips.

"I don't wish to argue about your sense of aesthetics, Ryeonju-nim. I understand why you think there's no need for the common people to be involved in this war. But..."

Ho Gamyeong stared at Jang Ilso with firm resolve.

"In war, aesthetics and values are meaningless. Wasn't it you, Ryeonju-nim, who said that?"

Jang Ilso's colorless eyes began to flicker. The killing intent rising from him seemed as if it might slice through Ho Gamyeong's throat like a blade at any moment.

But Ho Gamyeong remained unperturbed, as if his own life meant nothing.

"Give me the order. I will cut down the commoners and force them out. If you won't give the order, at least grant me the authority to take control. Then..."

His voice was low, serious, and at the same time, resolute.

"I will offer this Central Plains to you, Ryeonju-nim."

Jang Ilso fell silent.

"Ryeonju-nim."

".... In the past, now, and in the future."

"..."

"You're the only one who can speak to me like that."

Ho Gamyeong nodded as if he had heard something completely obvious.

"That's why I am here."

".... Honestly..."

Jang Ilso leaned back deeply into his chair and let out a long sigh.

"Fine, do as you please. But you must deliver the results you promised. Understand?"

"Even if it costs me my life."

Ho Gamyeong bowed deeply, then turned and walked out without hesitation.

As Jang Ilso watched him go, he suddenly lowered his gaze. He saw the Go stones that Ho Gamyeong had not fully picked up.

Jang Ilso hadn't been sitting idly by without a plan. Of course, he had a strategy. But precisely because of that, he couldn't help but ask himself.

Is my plan truly better than the one Ho Gamyeong just proposed?

Why was I complicating things when there's a simpler way to throw the enemy into confusion—a way that even a three-year-old could see?

Was it really because of the aesthetics Ho Gamyeong mentioned? Had I unknowingly been shackled by some half-baked principle?

Or...

Was it, as Ho Gamyeong said, that I was afraid? Afraid to witness the end of all this with my own eyes?

Swoosh.

Jang Ilso, who had been brushing his bangs aside, suddenly let his hand drop. His long hair fell across his pale face.

"Enjoying this, huh..."

A dry, hollow laugh escaped him, something that was rarely seen in him.

He already knew that he had changed from who he once was. Despite knowing, he had convinced himself there was nothing he could do about it. He thought he had to accept it.

But Ho Gamyeong told him otherwise. He told him to keep playing with everything, just as he had in the past, and to enjoy it.

"In that case, then I...."

Jang Ilso's eyes darkened.

As they grew darker, the usual glint of cunning disappeared, and something heavy and profound began to fill his dry eyes.