Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 525: Sheva’s Preparation for the Next Round

"So, how is it, Brother Sheva? You watched our performance, right? How is it?"

Sheva couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard that. Even though Devi didn’t say it out loud, her expression basically said, ’Please, praise me!’, which was like a dog wiggling its tail to attract the owner’s attention. This reminded him of how Claudia acted around Anna, and somehow, the memory of those siblings was quite amusing for him.

’Speaking of which, I haven’t heard anything about them for a long time, right? I should call them later.’ Sheva made up his mind. "Anyway," HE shook his head quickly, putting his focus back on the phone in front of him. "Good job in beating your opponent, all of you! Even though the process is not that smooth, I don’t have any doubt about your ability."

"Eh, don’t have doubt, huh?" Bagas suddenly barged in, ready to ruin the fun. "Don’t believe what Sheva said. You don’t know how worried he was earlier. ’What if they lost and got depressed?’, ’What if they encountered a problem?’, ’What if they got lost?’" He took a mickey out of his best friend ruthlessly.

Sheva had his face flushed red in embarrassment while Devi chackled on the phone, watching amusedly as her idol got flustered like that. However, she felt her heart warmed, knowing that her teacher cared so much about them.

"Anyway, where are Duta and Nayaka? I haven’t seen them at all." Bagas asked.

"They want to take a walk, searching for a local snack at the shop nearby," Devi answered nonchalantly.

Sheva nodded slightly, knowing full well the desire to try something local when going abroad for the first time. While it wasn’t the first for Duta, in Dubai a few months ago, he was controlled completely by his mother, so this was his first real chance to explore things properly, and he didn’t want to miss that.

"Well, it is good that they both can have fun like that, but remind them to take it easy, okay?" He reminded. "After this, your schedule will be insanely tight, and it will be harder to get even an hour to relax. They—Well, not just them, but you need to prepare for an exhausting battle as well, Devi."

"I know." This time, Devi nodded solemnly.

Indeed, the schedule after this was insane. To shorten the tournament as much as possible, they would have to play two games every day. It was basically a double-header day for the entire tournament except for the opening day, and to cope with the devilish schedule, they needed to manage their time better.

They chatted for a little bit more, with Sheva mostly inquiring about their well-being and nagging further so that the teenagers were not satisfied with their results and continued their good effort for the rest of the tournament. After a while, they finally ended the call, and as the screen went blank, Sheva couldn’t help but nod, satisfied with his proteges’ condition.

"Happy?" Bagas asked amusedly. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Very." Sheva nodded without any hesitation.

"You know, you remind me of those nagging mothers toward their children who live far away," Bagas said, the corner of his lips quivering. "Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would think that they are your children or some sort of thing like that."

"What do you mean by that?!" Sheva laughed, throwing a pillow straight at his best friend. "Still, I would say that their result today really brings me relief."

After all, the first day was always the most important part of the tournament. That was when the players’ guard was at its lowest, and it was easy for them to make a mistake that would bring down their mood for the entire tournament. Even though winning the first game wouldn’t ensure their tournament would go smoothly, at least they were able to start on the right track.

"Anyway, enough about them! Have you already prepared for your game tomorrow?" Bagas asked. He checked his phone and added, "It is 5 in the evening already; if you don’t start your research now, you will not get a lot from that." He warned his best friend.

"I know, I know. Don’t worry about it." Sheva waved nonchalantly.

Bagas could only sigh helplessly at that. Sometimes, he really couldn’t get a read on his best friend. Just like right now, he didn’t know whether Sheva was really prepared or if it was his best friend being annoyed with him talking about the same thing over and over again. Of course, if somehow Sheva said that it was the last part, Bagas wouldn’t hesitate to point out how hypocritical the boy was, considering that was how Sheva acted for the three teenagers who were in Uzbekistan right now.

"...Tch, just do what you want, man. Don’t cry in regret later." Bagas huffed, getting annoyed.

In reality, though, Bagas shouldn’t be that worried, especially knowing how seriously Sheva is approaching the game. The boy might try to act nonchalant, but behind the scenes, he would be the one working the hardest, researching everything he knew about the opponent. Underestimating his opponent had never been in his dictionary, and it was also the case for tomorrow’s game.

’Benjamin Gledura, a dynamic player who is not afraid to take a calculated risk for a win.’ This information popped into his head. ’However, sometimes, his risk-taking ability is questionable, throwing away games from time to time for something that could so easily be identified as a blunder. He is the kind of player who will grab the bait the opponent throws ferociously, so this is the information that I could use for tomorrow.’

Even though Sheva didn’t show it, he really treated the game tomorrow seriously. After all, Benjamin Gledura was in second place in the tournament with 3.5 points out of 5 games, and if somehow Sheva managed to get a win tomorrow, he would only be half a point away from securing the tournament for himself.

As that thought crossed his mind, the boy couldn’t help but clench his fist tightly. ’I have to win the game tomorrow! The sooner I seal the deal, the more time I can spend on watching those three kids’ games. Come on, I can do this!’

-Author’s note-

Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting my story! I have written a new one with the hope of getting a contract for that story as well, the title is ’The Rise of the Iron Wall!’. It is a football story, so if you like, please give your support by adding it to your collection and giving your power stone to that story! Thanks!