Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 385: Chess with A Bunch of Weird Old Men

"... You don’t know how terrible my state was that day! I could even feel my brain was pounding, and every move only made my head dizzy! Fortunately, my opponent didn’t see that until it was too late, or all of my efforts would be a waste!"

"Yeah, I saw that game as well! You really did a good job!"

"Good job, my ass! You were being so reckless! No matter how important the game is, health should always be your first priority!"

"So, Grandpa, you know that health should be your first priority? Then, should you stop smoking after this?"

"Hahaha! Just listen to your granddaughter, Arsya!"

Before he was here, Sheva didn’t really know what to expect about this day. Getting swarmed by another horde of journalists? Maybe. Spending his first day at the new home lazily? Most likely. However, being the center of attention among probably the wealthiest group of old men in the country? That was something that he could never dare to dream of, even in his wildest dreams. Yet, here he was, acting as a storyteller to satisfy their curiosity.

"You did a good job, letting the Garuda fly high..." Wahyu Satyawan, the ultimate donor for Sheva’s career, couldn’t help but sigh in melancholy. "You might not know this, but we all always want the sports in this country to thrive. So much money have we already burned, and for so many years we have waited after planting so many trees on the grassroots level. However, only badminton and deadlifting thrived! Other than that, everything is always problematic, and we all would leave with dissatisfaction in the end!"

"Yeah, I could still remember my investment in the basketball community. Not only did it fail to show any improvement, but they even dared to ask more, trying to rob our money so blatantly! So fucking shameless!" The other old man cursed out loud.

"Ha! You are still better than me! Imagine investing in football! Nothing has ever gone right with that!" This time, Sarah’s grandfather, Arsya, also commented with a bitter tone.

From this conversation, Sheva knew that all the old men here gathered for two things. First, they were all just a bunch of old men who had too much free time, and second, they all genuinely hoped that the sports community in this country would be better, burning so much money for that dream just to be disappointed by the reality.

"That is why we lost hope in investing in the community, and instead of that, just waiting for one talented player like you to appear," Wahyu said as if he was giving Sheva a lecture. "It might be better to cast nets to get the fish, but if the nets are actively damaged by the people on the boat, everything would be useless. Also, supporting a talented player to thrive is quite satisfying. At least, we could see your progress in real life, not just a cold number on paper."

Sheva himself just nodded silently, accepting everything with a quite nonchalant expression. He knew that he didn’t have even a fraction of their wealth, so the boy felt like he had no right to comment about that. Instead of focusing on their depressing chat, he put all of his focus on the chessboards inside his head.

Yeah, the boy was not just here to tell a story. Instead, out of Bagas’s suggestion, they set five chessboards on the table, letting Sheva play the brutal format of 5v1 here. This should be the first time Sheva did that, and coupled with his not being allowed to see the boards directly, this became quite challenging.

This kind of blind chess seemed to be quite popular among the high-rated players. For the last couple of years, a similar kind of event had also been held all over the world with a little twist in format, such as doing a simulation with 20 games straight while the players got covered in a blindfold or not allowed to see the boards directly. This was just pure entertainment, but Sheva still took this matter seriously. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even though this was his first time doing anything like this, Sheva adapted to the rhythm quickly. It was quite an experience, honestly, giving him an idea of how to visualize several boards together inside his head. While his ears were still listening to the old men’s rambling, his hand was still multitasking, trying to figure out how he should win this simulation.

Yeah, even though it wasn’t a guaranteed one, especially with him not being able to see the boards directly and having to think of several games simultaneously, Sheva was sure that he had an 85 percent chance of winning this case. The only question was whether he should send some of them to the shadow realm quickly or not.

’Winning too quickly would be too disrespectful. I cannot offend my sugar daddy for this.’ He thought to himself. ’Let’s just give them some chances to create something before showing a little bit of strength here.’

That was indeed what he did. After letting the old men have their fun for about five to six minutes, the boy started to get serious. Within the next minute, one board fell, and in the next three minutes, another three fell. In the end, with only one board surviving, it was easy for Sheva to sweep the field, eliciting a round of applause from the old men here.

"So, that’s how you dominate the Olympiad, huh?" Arsya gave a nod of approval.

"Yeah, with the coldness that you show, everyone will be running away the moment they sit in front of you." The other man also joked around.

Sheva could only rub the back of his head awkwardly, still not getting used to the direct praises like this. Wahyu Satyawan himself was also satisfied, feeling like the money that he invested was pretty much successful. "So, you have already gained all of the GM norms necessary, right?" He asked.

"Yes, Sir. All I need is to get my rating over 2500, and the title is mine." Sheva nodded confidently.

Some of the men couldn’t help but let out a whistle, impressed with the achievement. After pondering for a moment, Wahyu finally asked the question that everyone wanted to know. "Then, after this, what is your next target?"