In the next part of the story, the Heian-era Go master, Fujiwara no Sai, possesses Hikaru Shindo, pulling him into the world of Go. Soon after, Hikaru encounters his eternal rival, the Go prodigy, Akira Toya. With Sai's help, Hikaru manages to defeat Akira, and from there, he starts attending Go classes for Sai's sake. However, Hikaru soon realizes that the world of Go is much deeper and more complex than he had imagined. Hikaru and Sai later enter a national children's Go tournament, where they meet prominent players like Seiji Ogata and Akira's father, Akira Toya.
The pacing of the story was excellent, keeping Jada hooked for three straight chapters. After reading, she put the manuscript down slowly.
She was left wanting more.
However…
Jada looked at Ren, a bit confused. "This is a great manga, but… what's up with this?" she asked, pointing at the Go board in the panels. "There aren't any Go stones on the board."
Indeed, in Ren's draft, the board was completely empty—no stones placed at all.
"Oh, I did that on purpose," Ren explained, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll need to get someone who knows Go to help with that part later."
Originally, Ren had planned to directly copy the manga from the system. But halfway through, he realized there could be a problem.
This world, after all, was a parallel universe.
It was entirely possible that what looked like ordinary Go moves in the original manga could, in this world, be considered groundbreaking plays—like "the Divine Move" or something extraordinary.
The last thing Ren wanted was to become some accidental Go genius because of his manga.
And it wasn't just the Go moves—there could be other differences between Japan's Go community in his previous world and the Go Association in this world.
So, in his draft, Ren deliberately left all the Go board scenes blank. He planned to fill them in later during the final artwork phase after consulting with a Go expert.
It was like a "fill in the blanks" puzzle—he'd draw an empty Go board and let professional Go players select the appropriate moves that would fit the plot. There was no need to follow the original exactly.
After all, this was a commissioned work by Japan's Go Association. They were providing the funding, so they should at least contribute a few experts to help.
If they liked what they saw, Ren figured they'd pick some pretty solid Go moves to feature.
As for the concern that the manga wouldn't meet the Go Association's standards? Ren wasn't worried.
Even though this was a parallel version of Japan, the two worlds still had a lot of similarities.
In Ren's previous world, Hikaru no Go had a profound impact on the Go community.
The release of Hikaru no Go had caused a surge in the number of Go enthusiasts in Japan.
According to Japan's Go White Paper at the time, by the year 2000, the number of Go players had risen from 3.9 million in 1998 to 4.6 million. Though it was still far from the peak of 9.4 million, the popularity of Go was clearly on the rise.
The anime adaptation of Hikaru no Go had also led to a significant increase in the number of participants in the children's Go tournament.
The popularity of the series even set new records for attendance at the National Boys and Girls Go Tournament and the High School Go Championship preliminaries. It was the first time in the history of the game that an anime had such a massive influence.
The series even sparked a debate in the Go community about whether the Go masters of the past were stronger than contemporary players.
In short, Hikaru no Go had become a quintessential Go manga in Ren's previous world.
"So, I'm counting on you," Ren said, smiling at Jada. "If it goes through, we'll need them to provide some Go experts to help out."
"No problem," Jada agreed.
…
In Tokyo…
Go master Tanamatsu had been feeling quite anxious lately.
The suggestion he had put forward seemed to be failing.
After contacting several manga artists, including those outside the sports genre, none had produced a satisfactory Go manga.
Not one of the works met the standards he had set.
Even with his relatively high tolerance for Go manga, none of the drafts were acceptable, and he was far more knowledgeable about the game than the average reader.
If he couldn't even approve of these works, what chance did they have with a general audience?
"I should've known better than to make that suggestion in the first place," Tanamatsu sighed, feeling regret.
"Only two more manga artists left… but I doubt they'll be any better," he thought gloomily.
Truth be told, he wanted to go straight to those artists' homes to oversee their work, but he had to be patient and wait for them to finish on their own.
Just as he was lost in thought, a colleague approached him. "Tanamatsu-san, the drafts from those last two manga artists have arrived."
"Really? Pass them over, please," Tanamatsu perked up and immediately reached out for the manuscripts.
One of the drafts was from a well-known Japanese manga artist. This artist was particularly skilled at creating action-packed, intense scenes, and although Go was a quiet and strategic game, Tanamatsu thought a high-energy approach might work.
The other draft was from the Chinese manga artist Ren, whom his son had recommended.
Although Tanamatsu and his son had high hopes for Ren, he decided to start with the Japanese artist's work.
After all, relying on a foreign artist to depict a quintessentially Japanese game like Go would reflect poorly on their own manga creators.
So, he opened the manuscript titled Attack on Go and began reading.
A few moments later…
"This… won't do either," he muttered, rubbing his temples, a tired look crossing his face.
There were basic errors in the depiction of Go strategy.
With a sigh, Tanamatsu set the draft aside and finally opened Ren's manuscript.
Hikaru no Go, huh? He thought the title was promising.
As he flipped through the first few pages, Tanamatsu's interest was piqued. The story pulled him in, and soon enough, he found himself eagerly turning page after page.
By the time he reached the scene where the ancient Go master, Sai, appeared behind the young boy Hikaru, he was completely hooked.
He read through the entire first chapter in one go and continued straight through the next two. After finishing, he set the manuscript down slowly.
"This is… incredible," he murmured.
Even though it was only the beginning, the story had already captivated him.
However…
"How will the story progress from here?" he wondered.
With a character like Sai always guiding Hikaru, it felt like having an unbeatable advantage, almost like playing a game with cheat codes. While the strong start was exciting, Tanamatsu worried that the story might lose momentum later. Many manga had a similar problem: a thrilling beginning but a lackluster finish.
And then, of course, there was the issue of the missing Go moves.
Tanamatsu realized he needed to have a conversation with Ren about how to handle the Go matches in the story.
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