Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The ProfessionalAuthor: Sakaguchi Ango
| Original Title | 勝負師 |
|---|---|
| Author | 坂口 安吾 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the shadowed world of professional Go and Shogi, players navigate a labyrinth of obsession, sacrifice, and unseen forces. At its heart is Wu Qingyuan, a Go prodigy shackled to a fanatical sect known as the Deity, whose rituals drain him of sleep and sanity. His match fees sustain the cult, yet he endures nightly torment—kicked awake at altars, his spirit fraying into hallucinations. Across this strained existence unfolds another battle: Kimura, a dethroned Shogi Meijin, claws his way back through meticulous preparation, haunted by past collapses and rivals like Tsukada, whose desperation veers into psychological warfare. Between sleepless rituals and boardroom duels, these men grapple with isolation—Wu’s lonely scrutiny of magazine articles about himself, Kimura’s quiet resolve against time’s cruelty. Their stories intertwine in a dance of strategy and survival, where victory demands more than skill—it requires escaping gods, outlasting exhaustion, and confronting the specter of obsolescence in a world where every move could be their last. |
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