On the sofa, Ethan Yin was explaining to Leo and Theo Mo: "Yinuo's moves in this game are extremely steady. It's a cautious, step-by-step strategy. Unless Yuzhen receives some miraculous help, it's almost impossible for him to turn the tables. Do you remember how you lost the last time you played the Zhenlong Chess Game?"
Leo and Theo Mo nodded together. "We remember."
"This game is a beginner's version of the Zhenlong Chess Game. It's used by the Yun Family to train their descendants. Yuzhen has never studied Zhenlong Chess, so he's at a huge disadvantage." Ethan Yin explained.
Leo and Theo Mo nodded again. "So that's it! Did Yinuo learn this from Aunt Yun?"
"Yes." Ethan Yin laughed. "My aunt's chess skills are rarely matched. Life is like a game of chess."
After speaking, Ethan Yin gave a meaningful glance at Gu Miao, who was walking over.
Clearly the same person, but Ethan Yin could distinctly feel that the person before him was not Gu Miao.
It was as if someone was wearing Gu Miao's skin, standing right in front of him.
He was Gu Miao, and yet not Gu Miao.
Everyone present could feel that sense of unfamiliarity.
Leo and Theo Mo suddenly felt awkward, unsure how to greet him.
Lucas Mu and Mason Kerr exchanged glances and both fell silent.
Ryan King greeted him boisterously, "Hey, uh, how should I address you now?"
"However you called me before, just call me that now. Just because I broke off the engagement with the Yin Family, doesn't mean our friendship no longer exists, right?" Gu Miao said.
Ryan King cursed inwardly: Friendship, my ass! I had a bond with your first persona, not with this fake!
Ryan King, typical for him, was all smiles on the outside. "Right, right, Gu Miao, even if you broke up with Yinuo, we're still acquaintances. Come, have a seat, dinner won't start for a while."
Lucas Mu and Mason Kerr stood up together, making space for Gu Miao and moving to sit beside Yuzhen Yin and Yinuo Yin.
It was supposed to be making room for Gu Miao, yet it somehow made Gu Miao feel excluded.
That feeling made him especially uncomfortable.
It didn't seem like things should be this way.
They seemed as though they should be inseparable.
Elisa Field was completely oblivious to the strange tension in the air. She plopped down on the couch, stared at the screen on the wall, and asked a clueless question: "Is this really hard? Why have you all been playing for so long?"
Her question left everyone in the room speechless.
Elisa Field didn't even know what Go was. Playing a rare master-level match with her would be like talking to a brick wall, wouldn't it?
Yina Yin tossed her Go piece aside and said, "I'm done playing."
Yin Yuzhen let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly cupped his hands to Yina: "Thank you for going easy on me, Sis! I'm such a terrible player—I don't deserve to play a master-level match."
Before Yina could respond, Miles Gu immediately spoke up: "Let me play a round with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Yina Yin smiled calmly and answered, "Sure."
Yin Yuhan chuckled softly and personally adjusted the holographic settings for them.
The game started over.
This time, Yina still played white, but Miles Gu was now playing black.
Compared to Yina's steady approach in the previous round, this time her style turned fierce—bold, decisive, ruthless.
She jumped straight into traps she could've easily avoided, all just to drag her opponent down with her.
This kill-or-be-killed style nearly overwhelmed Miles Gu.
Cherry Miller was right.
The women of the Yun Family have always been proud.
Their bloodline doesn't allow them to bow their heads or beg for mercy.
Just a few rounds in, both black and white pieces had suffered heavy losses—scars everywhere.
"Yina, steady now," Yin Yuhan reminded her.
Yina glanced at her brother, and only then did her style soften. She went back to her steady approach, reinforcing her defenses and advancing step by step.
This time, Miles Gu felt real pressure.
They say a Go match is just like a battlefield.
A person's style of play often reveals much about their abilities.
The ability to strategize, to read people, to lay out plans, to counterattack—on and on.
Yina might seem careless, but she's actually sharp beneath the surface.
She set up countless traps for Miles Gu, each one linked to the next, layers upon layers, all hidden from view.
Miles Gu would dodge one or two traps, only to get caught by the ones that followed.
It was always just a single misstep, and all he could do was watch as Yina swallowed up his supplies piece by piece.
Without supplies, no matter how fierce the fighting at the front, they'd eventually run out of steam.
At that point, Yina—who'd been keeping her distance—would launch a powerful counterattack and wipe out his elite forces in one move.
After all that back-and-forth, both sides had wins and losses, and neither came out unscathed.
Except for Elisa Field, everyone else was glued to the big screen, completely absorbed in the match.
Cherry Miller whispered to Mu Ziyue, "I never thought Yina's skills would get this good. We couldn't beat her as kids, and now we're even further behind."
Mu Ziyue said, "My dad lost to Auntie in Go back then, and that's how she tricked him into moving to China. Now Yina's inherited Auntie's skills, so we don't stand a chance. I never expected Miles Gu's Second Persona to play like this. His Primary Persona was never this reckless when he played against Yina—they were always neck and neck."
Miles Gu overheard Mu Ziyue's words. He ignored the talk about his personas and focused on one thing: the matches were always neck and neck.
So, he'd played against Yina often in the past.
And even though neither could win, there were rarely any casualties.
So why is it different now?
Where did things go wrong?