I’m Really a Superstar

Before noon.

On the Go Server.

The global chat was full of talk.

“Zone 3, Table 56, looking for an opponent.”

“Are there any amateur 5-dan players available for a match?”

“I’m not playing anymore today. I Am a Singer’s fourth season is rerunning and I want to watch it again.”

“Are there any professional players in a match right now? Looking to observe.”

“I think 9-dan Chen Ying ¹ is online at Table 17 in the pro zone.”

“Has anyone challenged PeterGo these past few days?”

“Why would anyone do that? They’ve been losing for over two years.”

“How many wins has that ‘computer’ racked up?”

“7000-plus wins, should be. Don’t really remember.”

The chat was constantly scrolling with messages. But unbeknownst to everyone, at this very moment, a match worthy of going down into the annals of the Go world’s history books was about to begin!

Zhang Ye clicked on the button to challenge PeterGo with a smile. “It’s starting.”

Sisi’s small fists were clenched, and her face was tense with nervousness.

However, Zhang Ye appeared very relaxed as he clicked to confirm the match.

The battle began!

Zhang Ye picked white and was to go second.

Peter went first and placed a stone in the corner without calculating.

Zhang Ye clicked and placed a white stone.

Peter followed up.

Zhang Ye smiled as the white stones’ framework got set up.

For a battle of such level, a three-year-old child like Sisi who had just started learning Go would definitely not be able to comprehend what was going on.

However, Zhang Ye still patiently explained to his daughter as he played his moves. “The first step is to create the opening. On the surface, this is a very regular way of playing, but there exist many variations.” He then placed another white stone on the board. He smiled and said, “For this move, your grandpa is actually very good at it. He really loves using it.”

Sisi said disappointedly, “But Grandpa still lost to the computer.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Even if your grandpa lost, it doesn’t mean that Daddy will lose. Though it’s the same move, it becomes different when he uses it and when I use it. Your grandpa definitely does not know how to play the variations that follow after this move, nor do the professional Go players of this world know it either. You’ll see what I mean later.”

Sisi was feeling confused. “Oh.”

But two moves later, Zhang Ye exclaimed, “That’s interesting.”

Sisi said, “Huh?”

Zhang Ye said, “It has predicted my intentions and is beginning to remedy things.”

Sisi said, “Ah?”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “PeterGo really seems to have been upgraded. It’s much more astute than before. Actually, the performance of such AI can be pretty iffy. Those years ago, the Americans were so confident when they declared that machines had already surpassed humans. In actual fact, PeterGo’s basic principle only lies in its processing power. It depends on an extremely powerful computer to make calculations that humans are unable to make within a short period of time. As such, be it your grandpa or Little Tian, all of them would lose to it no matter what. They didn’t lose because of their playstyles, but because of the difference in computing power and computing speed. The dozens to hundreds of variations that can be played after a move cannot be predicted by them, but PeterGo can do just that. That’s its advantage.”

Sisi was getting anxious. “What about you?”

Zhang Ye said, “I’m naturally an exception.”

Sisi asked, “Why?”

Zhang Ye gently patted his daughter’s little head and said with a smile, “Because your daddy does not only know how to play Go. I’m also a mathematician.” He added, “The most outstanding mathematician in the entire world, and that is where Daddy is different from them.”

It was hard to tell if Sisi understood.

…

Yalong Bay.

In the hotel the Qiyuan’s people were lodging in.

Quite a few newcomers had gathered together and were ready to start training.

“Who wants to go first?”

“Definitely not me.”

“Old He, you’re the eldest here, so you go first.”

“Get lost, I’m only 21, and I’m also just two months older than you.”

“Niannian, you’re the most skilled; you go first.”

“No.”

Everyone was pushing the responsibility around as they did not wish to play first. The training schedule the Qiyuan had planned was to let everyone play against PeterGo by the batches. They had a total of over a dozen people, so everyone would likely get a game each throughout the day. After that, they would discuss the experience and write a research report about it before continuing the same process on the next day.

Chen Qiqi exclaimed, “Aiya, hurry up, we don’t have much time.”

A girl said, “Yeah, Teacher Tian will be coming to check on us later.”

Suddenly, Chen Niannian said, “Eh? There’s someone playing against PeterGo?”

Chen Qiqi ridiculed, “Hah? There are still people who want to play against the AI these days?”

A teenager asked, “Is it someone from our Qiyuan?”

Chen Niannian shook her head. “No, it’s someone called ‘HEOR.’”

Chen Qiqi giggled. “It must be some amateur who wishes to play against the famous PeterGo. With so many Go enthusiasts around, it’s not surprising even if PeterGo is challenged by someone. Haha, this means we’re free to do whatever we want.”

A teenage girl rolled her eyes. “Free from what? When this match is over, it’ll still be our turn, won’t it? It’s just a matter of playing earlier or later. There’s no difference.”

Chen Qiqi said, “Then let’s just chat for a while. We’ll let Niannian go first afterwards.”

Chen Niannian complained, “Sis, why should I be the one playing first?”

Chen Qiqi harrumphed, “That’s what you get for being a 5-dan.”

Half an hour.

An hour.

Everyone was chatting happily and had lost track of time.

“It should be over soon, right?”

“Is that person done playing yet?”

“Damn, why is it taking so long?”

“There’s someone who can play for an hour against PeterGo?”

“Yeah, PeterGo plays really quickly and practically doesn’t need any time to think through its moves. It must be that amateur who’s dragging the game out by taking a long time to consider every move.”

“But the time rules should apply as well.”

Someone clicked into the match room and had a quick glance to confirm that the game was not over yet, then closed it without paying any attention to how the game was going.

Another twenty-odd minutes went by.

Chen Niannian impatiently went onto the Go server again. “Why is it still not over? Let me see. Eh? It’s done, it’s over, they’ve finally finished the game.”

Chen Qiqi laughed and said, “Little Sis, you can do it!”

Chen Niannian gave a bitter smile. “Alright, I’ll be playing first then. Please pray for me, everyone.”

A teenage girl said, “The rest of us will go outside then? We don’t want to disturb you.”

But at this moment, they realized that Chen Niannian had frozen!

“Sister Niannian?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Why aren’t you responding?”

“What’s with you?”

Everyone found this strange.

Chen Niannian’s jaw dropped, as if she had seen a ghost. She stared at the computer screen and shouted, “What the fuck!”

Chen Qiqi went over. “Little Sis, what’s the matter?”

Chen Niannian was so shocked that her hands were trembling. She reached out and pointed at the computer monitor while yelling, “Oh my God! Look at this, quick! Quickly come and see this!”

A teenager wondered, “Look at what?”

A teenage girl said, “What are you rambling about?”

Everyone went up to her.

All of them were dumbfounded by what they saw!

Chen Qiqi was so shocked that she screamed!

Two of the teenagers almost fell to the ground!

Three of the teenage girls were staring with wide eyes just like Chen Niannian!

They were all stunned. Because in this very moment, what they saw on the monitor was making them utterly doubt their eyes. They could see the match records clearly showing two lines of data.

PeterGo’s Record:

—7451 wins!

—1 loss!

“Oh my God!”

“Something has happened! Something big has happened!”

“How is this possible!”

“What the hell is this?”

“PeterGo has lost?”

“Fuck! PeterGo has lost?”

Screaming rang throughout the room!