The first place to completely explode was Lin Fan's livestream chat.
"Holy shit, is this real?"
"I thought I was dreaming, so I slapped myself twice as hard as I could. Now my face has an imprint and it hurts like hell."
"This is way too absurd, right? Did Zhan Ying throw the match? That can't be it, can it? She's a professional player—losing at Go to Brother Infinite Borders? That's basically social death."
"But other than that, I seriously can't think of any explanation. Throwing the game to farm hype and grow popularity. After the incident the other day, Zhan Ying's Bilibili followers increased by over 130,000. I have every reason to believe this was marketing."
"But doesn't that affect her professional career? Doesn't the value of a professional second-dan drop hard?"
"Professional ranks nowadays can't compare to the past. They don't have much value. Other than ninth dan, they're all trash."
"That's not wrong either. Anyone truly strong in Go has already won tons of championships. Reaching ninth dan directly is normal. So below ninth dan, everyone's about the same, right?"
"Then this kind of hype farming actually makes sense. Brother Infinite Borders gains reputation, Zhan Ying gains popularity."
"People with dirty minds really do come up with dirty, ridiculous ideas. I just came from Jaguar's stream—after listening to his analysis, it's obvious Brother Infinite Borders actually has real skill. A world champion would really play house with them?"
"Lian Xiao's take is exactly the same as Jaguar's."
"Brother Infinite Borders' Go really has substance. Only true experts can see the step-by-step layout. After just a bit over twenty moves, Jaguar already said Zhan Ying was done."
"Brother Infinite Borders is seriously a top-tier gamer! He can play anything. Even Go at this level—next time he tells me he can code, I'll believe it instantly."
"Damn, if he can win a League of Legends World Championship on top of this, he'll be deified. Absolute top-tier pro. A living legend."
The barrage of comments flew past nonstop.
Shock, doubt, and fervent worship mixed together.
Meanwhile, the viewer count in the stream kept climbing.
Douyu staff stared at the skyrocketing numbers, completely dumbfounded.
Ever since Brother Infinite Borders beat Yi Zheng before, waves of hype had followed one after another, with popularity exploding.
Real-time online viewers exceeded 400,000.
With an unimaginable number, he climbed straight to number one across the entire streaming scene.
Crushing Honor of Kings' ace streamer Zhang Daxian.
Back then, Douyu's upper management already felt this deal was worth it.
But no one expected that just two months later, even that record would be broken.
"Unbelievable! This is Brother Infinite Borders' traffic—absurd beyond imagination!"
"If Huya had signed him, they'd be swelling up again. One hand Zhang Daxian, the other Brother Infinite Borders."
"Thankfully our executives had good judgment and didn't screw up at that time. Otherwise, we'd be in real trouble."
The head of operations was so excited he slapped his desk repeatedly.
Here it comes—this is all my achievement. Pushing through opposition and spending that much to sign him. If not for prior cooperation, Huya really might've snatched him away.
Just imagining competitors sighing in their offices made him grin even wider.
"Not bad. Invite Brother Infinite Borders to an event later—another explosive surge in users. Then we can find opportunities to monetize the traffic."
And on this point, he wasn't wrong.
On Huya's side, executives watched Douyu's rising heat with darkened expressions.
Douyu really never knows peace. They just had to fight it out, huh?
Huya first, Douyu second—wasn't that balance fine?
With Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili all watching closely, why fight to the death?
But… seeing this level of traffic, once Brother Infinite Borders' Douyu contract ended next year, they would definitely spend big to sign him.
Moreover, based on internal intel, Douyu only signed the TES club broadcast, not the individual players.
Could they exploit that loophole?
This needed serious research.
"This is Brother Infinite Borders' traffic…" a Huya executive muttered bitterly.
At the same time, another stream was also exploding.
That was Zhan Ying—the one who had just lost a game to Lin Fan.
She sat there dazed, staring at her monitor.
Her cheeks were flushed, her body trembling slightly.
She lost.
This time, she hadn't been careless, nor had she underestimated Lin Fan. From the very start, she decided to go all out.
Every stone placement had gone through deep calculation.
Because she wanted a crushing victory.
But unexpectedly… after just over thirty moves, something felt wrong.
By move thirty-four, when the entire bottom-left corner was eaten, the problem became obvious.
She had fallen completely into a trap.
A rough glance showed she was behind by at least eighteen points.
It felt like going back to league competition, facing Yu Zhiying…
In that match, she'd also lost in the midgame by over twenty points—so dizzy she could barely think.
That was the current number one active female player.
What was going on with Brother Infinite Borders?
She couldn't understand it.
But the board didn't lie.
She lost badly.
"What's going on with Zhan Ying?"
"Holy crap, she got steamrolled the whole way? For real? She just lost like that?"
"No, those few moves by Brother Infinite Borders were insane. I watched for ages and still didn't get it. Then I checked Lian Xiao's stream—and only then did I understand his setup."
"I don't know if you guys are crazy or I am… Brother Infinite Borders won? My god."
"Has Zhan Ying been too busy streaming lately? Focusing on Bilibili ops and not practicing Go? When I heard her resign, I was stunned. What the hell happened?"
"From a higher-level perspective, Zhan Ying didn't lose unfairly. And because she didn't lose unfairly, things are about to get spicy—professional player getting absolutely destroyed by an amateur."
"If Zhan Ying wants to cleanse her name, the only way is probably blowing up some shrine in Japan. Otherwise, this is going straight onto the pillar of shame—she got double-killed by Brother Infinite Borders."
"Or she could switch to League of Legends. Solo-kill Brother Infinite Borders twice, maybe that works. Mutual fulfillment."
"Man, I was hoping to see Brother Infinite Borders eat dirt, but instead he really got to show off. This is ridiculous—truly ridiculous."
Zhan Ying watched her viewer count break 30,000.
But she couldn't feel happy at all.
So many years of effort… and she still lost to someone who was just casually playing?
She couldn't accept it.
Her Dao heart shattered.
"Zhan Ying, don't be sad. It's really nothing. Look at how many top players Brother Infinite Borders has beaten in just a month or two. This is real, hard-earned skill. He never even showed his Go before—clearly he's been playing since childhood. Losing to a genius is normal."
"Exactly. Ordinary people have to accept the existence of geniuses. Ke Jie was already top ten in the world at fifteen, remember? It's just that now there's AI… that's Ke Jie's fate too."
If AI hadn't appeared, Ke Jie might've dominated the entire Go world.
Even so, he's still a top-tier player and a strong contender for every title—assuming he keeps studying and doesn't slack off.
"Zhan Ying, these games don't really mean anything. You were just careless. As long as you focus and fix these issues, you can definitely win it back."
"Yeah, don't take it to heart. The opponent was weak and distracted you—that's all. I've played Go for years and lost to seven- or eight-year-old kids before. It's normal."
"Didn't Rui Naiwei once lose to you? She's the number-one female Go player—does that mean she has no skill? Of course not. She just wasn't fully focused. Your situation is the same—you were too focused on the stream and not enough on the board."
"Agreed. That's exactly what I think too."
Quite a few die-hard fans noticed something was off with Zhan Ying's expression.
They understood—she was deep in self-doubt.
This was the moment she needed reassurance most.
Otherwise, if her confidence took a hit, she'd really be finished.
How far a person can go depends entirely on their mindset.
With the right mindset, you can persist and climb higher.
Whether you succeed or not is another matter—but mindset is the prerequisite.
And surprisingly, the comfort worked.
Zhan Ying glanced at the comments and felt they made sense.
Maybe… she could win if they played another game?
But her hands hovered over the keyboard, unable to type.
She was afraid of being rejected.
"I've told you all—I'm actually very good at Go. Ordinary players really aren't my match."
Having just played her, Lin Fan could clearly feel she'd gone nearly all-out.
But honestly, every move she made surprised him.
Why would you play like that?
That's just giving stones away for free.
This made Lin Fan start doubting.
Is professional 2-dan really just this?
Or is she simply bad?
Considering her 2–16 record… it wasn't impossible.
Maybe try another game and test her true strength?
So he typed.
…
"Still playing or what?"
When she saw Lin Fan's message, Zhan Ying snapped back to reality and clenched her teeth before replying.
"Play. Let's go again."
"Alright. Another game."
Zhan Ying quickly adjusted her mindset.
This time… no mistakes. Absolute focus.
Thirty minutes later.
Her expression stiffened even further.
"Hahaha, Brother Infinite Borders is interesting. I want to play him," Ke Jie said on his stream.
The audience, already itching for chaos, immediately fanned the flames.
Messages were passed around.
Lin Fan didn't feel much accomplishment beating Zhan Ying—but seeing that Ke Jie wanted to play him?
No way he'd refuse.
He agreed.
And just like that, the real traffic vortex began.
Countless people flooded into Douyu and Bilibili.
Executives at both platforms were grinning ear to ear.
If this could happen once a month, the more the better.
Ke Jie was confident.
He opened by offering handicap stones.
Lin Fan thought for a moment—and accepted.
After all, this was China's number-one Go player.
This was completely different from Zhan Ying.
Pressure skyrocketed.
A professional 2-dan's calculations couldn't even begin to read Ke Jie's intentions.
Zhan Ying could only defend passively.
Even deliberate traps failed to deceive him.
After a hundred moves back and forth, Lin Fan's pressure became immense.
Looking at the devastated board, he decided not to continue.
He resigned in the middle game.
The moment this happened, many viewers breathed a sigh of relief.
"Damn… as the board filled up, I almost thought Brother Infinite Borders was about to slay a god."
"Same here. Mostly because I don't understand Go at all—I'm just watching stones get placed."
"So like this, Brother Infinite Borders does have real strength—just not at that absurd level. That's why Zhan Ying triggered her 'never kill the nameless' rule."
"Hahaha, even so, it's still crazy… not many people can last over 100 moves against Jaguar."
…
"Second game?"
"That'd be pointless. Our skill gap is pretty big—you'd have to give me at least three stones."
"No, it's not that exaggerated. Giving two stones already makes it hard for me."
"Oh? Then how about another game?"
After a brief exchange, Lin Fan and Jaguar started a second match.
Jaguar directly gave two stones.
At this moment, the teary-eyed Zhan Ying finally stabilized her mindset.
She began watching the match seriously.
This game was completely different from the last.
Back-and-forth exchanges. Mutual kills.
Both sides fought fiercely over every inch of territory.
But the two-stone advantage was enormous.
Lin Fan's black stones firmly secured the right corner.
Later on, White simply couldn't reverse the situation.
At move two hundred—
Ke Jie resigned.
"HOLY SHIT—he actually won?!"
JackeyLove and Mark were watching from behind.
Ever since they heard Lin Fan was playing Ke Jie, they'd stopped ranking entirely.
They just sat there watching in fascination.
Go was a completely foreign field to them.
Yet Lin Fan was slaughtering.
When the resignation notice popped up, JackeyLove yelled out loud.
"Brother Infinite Borders is going to defy heaven—my god!"
Mark's eyes were wide with disbelief.
The chat exploded.
"Winning against Jaguar with a two-stone handicap? Brother Infinite Borders's strength has to be at least 6–7 dan!"
"The gap between pros isn't that big. A 9-dan giving three stones to a beginner like Zhan Ying could still lose. Since Brother Infinite Borders beat her, his strength is probably 3–4 dan—but that's still insane."
"This is what contrast looks like. Five-in-a-row? Timid. Go? I throw heavy punches."
"What kind of monster is this?! I'm not even excited for tomorrow's match anymore."
"Tomorrow TES vs LNG isn't exciting? After watching these four Go games, I just want to see Brother Infinite Borders play League—to confirm he really is a LoL pro."
Beating Zhan Ying had already caused forum meltdowns nationwide.
But beating Jaguar—even with a two-stone handicap—was nothing short of a miracle.
Brother Infinite Borders… how many hidden skills are you still hiding?
Can you just come clean already, give us some warning—
So we're not scared half to death every time you do something insane?
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup