Drama Queen Reborn as a Top Student!-Chapter 790 - 343 You lost.

This tournament adopts a single-elimination format, with half of the contestants eliminated in each round. The remaining players will draw lots to determine their opponents for the next round and continue until the champion is decided.

This format is brutal but time-efficient, keeping the entire competition within eight hours.

Shen You’an drew the twenty-seventh number in the first round. Her opponent was a girl of similar age named Feng Xue, who was relatively short and had slightly darker skin. Feng Xue glanced at Shen You’an, let out a faint "hmph" through her nose, took the seat for white pieces, and lowered her head to play with the chess pieces in her box.

The competition hall had over a hundred contestants, seated in pairs. At a glance, the scene was quite grand.

Shen You’an sat opposite her position.

At this time, the referee and two judges took their seats. When Wei Yun’er walked in, the previously quiet hall became slightly chaotic.

"It’s Wei Yun’er! She’s so beautiful in person..."

"I just saw my goddess. She looks even prettier than in her videos."

...

Wei Yun’er waved to greet the crowd, eliciting passionate cheers, a testament to her immense popularity.

Shen You’an noticed the proud girl sitting opposite her turn into a star-struck fan upon seeing Wei Yun’er, her face lighting up with an enraptured expression.

Wei Yun’er’s gaze swept faintly over them, and the players at the tables in front and behind Shen You’an both showed excitement, thinking Wei Yun’er was looking at them.

Shen You’an shook her head, and when she looked up, she met the hostile glare of the girl opposite her.

Feng Xue opened her mouth, and Shen You’an deciphered her lip movements.

She was saying: "Don’t even think about winning."

Shen You’an raised an eyebrow just as the crisp sound of a gong reverberated through every corner of the hall, marking the official start of the match.

Mounted above the chessboard was a black device, a high-resolution camera designed to record every move on the board for notation purposes.

First came the guessing phase. According to the rules, the player with the higher rank would hold the white pieces, while the player with the lower rank would declare the odd or even number of black pieces. If the guess was correct, they would play black; otherwise, they’d play white.

Feng Xue reached into her box of chess pieces and grabbed a handful of white ones, clenching her fist and placing it on the board. She raised her chin and gave Shen You’an a disdainful look, her gaze dripping with contempt.

Shen You’an stared intently at her face, picking up a single black piece with two fingers and placing it on the board.

Feng Xue’s eyebrows twitched slightly, betraying a subtle expression.

Shen You’an picked up another black piece.

"Are you sure?"

Shen You’an responded calmly, "I’m sure."

Feng Xue suppressed her laughter, but it was evident that she was holding it back with difficulty. She spread open her palm.

"I was planning to let you pass this round, but it seems your luck is terrible. My apologies."

Feng Xue’s open palm revealed a single white piece resting silently within.

Shen You’an failed to guess correctly, and the two players exchanged pieces. The girl took control of the black pieces and made the first move.

Feng Xue’s smugness was plastered across her face: "This must be your first tournament, huh."

She was met with silence.

Feng Xue took this as confirmation and grew even more self-satisfied: "What do you say I give you a three-and-a-half-point advantage? Otherwise, people might say I’m bullying you."

The most critical aspect of a match is momentum. Failing to guess correctly at fifty-fifty odds showed poor fortune. Even with a three-and-a-half-point handicap, she was convinced her opponent couldn’t win.

"No need."

The response was a cool, detached voice.

Feng Xue frowned at the girl sitting opposite her. The hall’s heating was turned up, and Shen You’an had draped her removed down jacket over the back of her chair. She wore a black, high-collared sweater that accentuated her long neck and fair skin. Her delicate, palm-sized face bore features that were flawless—a nose particularly striking, adding a hint of bold charisma to her otherwise soft features, restrained yet sharp.

Her nose was adorned with rimless glasses, and her eyes behind the lenses carried an enigmatic chill, like clouds and mist obscuring clear skies. Sitting there with her back gracefully straightened, she effortlessly stood out from the other contestants.

From start to finish, her emotions remained completely unexposed. Her detachment was not a prideful arrogance but rather an intrinsic indifference—as if no one and nothing were worth her emotional involvement.

Yet this effortless beauty and her air of irrelevance ignited Feng Xue’s jealousy, which grew like wild grass spreading unchecked.

Go ahead, keep pretending. Soon enough, the match will show who’s boss. Let’s see if you can maintain this calm attitude when I’m destroying you on the board.

"You’re the one who declined, remember. Don’t regret losing and claim I bullied you."

This tournament’s handicap rules stipulated that handicaps were entirely optional and subject to mutual agreement between players. Since her goodwill was clearly rejected, Feng Xue no longer cared. She had already said her piece.

Three years ago, Feng Xue had begun learning Go for a boy she was infatuated with. Picking up the game at her age was fairly late, but she’d enrolled in the most expensive advanced classes. Powered by her emotions, her progress was quite decent. This was far from her first amateur competition, and she had plenty of experience. Facing a "rookie" in her first match? It would be more than easy.

Feng Xue despised the face in front of her—a growing, intense animosity. Determined to expedite the match, she decided to play fast chess and end things quickly. Every second looking at her opponent’s face felt excruciating.

Playing fast chess was Feng Xue’s signature style. It crushed opponents with momentum and created immense pressure—a lasting, unforgettable experience for a newcomer to competitive Go.

When Feng Xue made her first move, she was already envisioning her opponent’s frustrated and flustered breakdown when she lost.

With this thought, a smug smile lifted the corners of her lips.

The girl opposite her had strikingly beautiful hands, her slender fingers delicately picking up a white piece. Even the translucent sheen of the piece couldn’t compare to the milky fairness of her skin—the tableau as elegant as an illustration from a magazine.

Without a hint of hesitation, she made her move—a gesture that was steadfast and graceful, contrasting Feng Xue’s frenetic pace.

Feng Xue saw the placement of her opponent’s piece and smirked triumphantly. Just as expected from a newbie: aimless and tactless, utterly ignorant of strategy.

Amateur competitions like these always attracted participants of all kinds. What was someone of this level even thinking? Rather than learning Go, she’d be better off joining the entertainment industry and selling her looks—at least that would be "using her resources efficiently."

Feng Xue continued to play faster and faster, but her opponent moved even faster, with no sign of deliberation—it looked for all the world like childish nonsense.

As the match progressed and the board filled with moves, Feng Xue’s laughter began to fade. Her moves grew slower and slower, her pauses longer and filled with hesitation. Every time she carefully played a move, her opponent followed immediately, as if the girl had already calculated her choices and predicted her next move.

Sweat started to bead on Feng Xue’s forehead, her eyes fixed anxiously on the board.

"Impossible..."

She abruptly looked up. The girl opposite her remained ethereal and composed, a faint smile brushing her lips as she gazed at her.

Her jade-like fingers toyed casually with a chess piece, her breathtaking face exhibiting effortless grace and unhurried elegance. Each movement was mesmerizing, striking at the very core of onlookers.

"You lost."