Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 496: The Three Teenagers (I)
"Hey, Duta, who do you think will be our coach?"
"Hey, hey, why are you so quiet like that? Are you still angry about your defeat last year? I tell you that it is nothing personal!"
"Hey, why are you giving me this silent treatment?! Come on, Duta! Speak something!"
Satria Cahaya Duta couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh as he sat in this strange place, trying to ignore the buzzing flies around him. Honestly, if he could choose, the boy would prefer studying at home or even going to Master Irfan’s place to get a sparring partner rather than this. Unfortunately, he had no choice here.
Last week, the people from the federation called his mother, informing him that someone sponsored him and the other two people who would represent the country in the Asian School Chess Championship to get guidance from a high-level coach. Of course, his mother was suspicious at first. However, after hearing the name of the coach, she agreed immediately, even telling Duta to be attentive to the new coach.
Still... That was the problem. He didn’t even know who would coach him here.
Yeah, whenever the boy asked about it, his mother just smiled mysteriously, saying that he would know when the time came. It was so frustrating, and even though he knew his mother was quite meticulous, Duta couldn’t help but doubt the credibility of this new coach.
’After all, Mom doesn’t really know which one is a good coach and which one is not, right?’ he muttered, scrolling through his phone while also trying not to snap at the annoying flies around him. In the end, though, his patience wore thin, and he finally had enough. "Come on, Brother Nay! Can you stop it?! It is so fucking annoying! You are two years older than me, for God’s sake!"
This was the second reason why he was in a bad mood right now. The boy in front of him, just two years older, was somehow more childish than he was. The name was Nayaka Buddhidarma, and he came from a city far east of Java called Malang. They knew each other quite well, and they were also rivals who fought against each other so many times in the past.
Honestly, they were quite good friends, even hanging out together sometimes. However, Nayaka had an annoying habit that gave Duta a headache. Unlike him, who was calm and steady like water, the older boy was explosive, always chatting around and not knowing how to stop. They were completely polar opposites, which was also the reason why they were often bickering with each other most of the time.
"Okay, shut up, you both!" Suddenly, a girl who had been quiet since the beginning and just watched the fun spoke, her tone carried the air that made the two boys follow her words like an order. "Brother Nay, it is still 9 in the morning, tone your mood down a little bit, will you? Also, Duta, no need to snap like that! Brother Nay might be annoying, but he doesn’t deserve your sass, okay?!"
"Yes, Ma’am..."
The girl nodded in satisfaction as she saw the two boys, far bigger than herself, wilt under her glare. Her name was Shafira Devi, and she was the third member of the group. She came from Jogjakarta, a province located in the heart of Java. Unfortunately, even though she was a talented player, her career didn’t really shine that brightly since she was from the same generation as Claudia. However, anyone who followed her career would recognize that her talent was up to par with Claudia’s.
So, here they were, three teenagers gathering in the office of the federation, waiting for the coach who could guide them to take a leap for their future careers.
"Hey, who do you think will be our coach?" Nayaka, who couldn’t hold back his chatty personality for too long, asked again. "I hope it is someone good like Master Novendra or even Master Taher. With them around, I think I can improve the loophole in my style." He said in a hopeful tone.
"Master Novendra..." Duta frowned, remembering all the nasty rumors about the man’s conflict with Sheva. "I don’t think that it would be a good idea." He shook his head quickly.
"Oh? Why so?" Now, Devi also turned to him, asking curiously.
"No, just a... Feeling, I guess." Duta shook his head slightly, not wanting to elaborate. "If anything, I hope that it would be someone foreign, like... The Australian GM or the American one? Their foundation level is better than ours, so I think it would be beneficial to get them coaching us."
Devi shook her head slightly, not bothering with Duta’s attempt to change the topic. "No, there is no way the federation will provide us a coach. They are too stingy to spend money on such a small player like us." She said in a depressed manner.
The light in Duta’s eyes also dimmed slightly, knowing that what the girl said was real. However, Nayaka just stared at them both, dumbfounded.
"Wait, why do you guys think that the coach will be provided by the federation?" He asked.
"Um?!" Both Devi and Duta turned to him questioningly. "You mean it is from another source?" Duta asked in disbelief.
"Yes, don’t tell anyone else, okay?" Nayaka whispered while glancing around as if he was about to leak the secret conspiracy to those two. "This is something I heard from my headmaster. It seems that his old friend owed him a favor, so he cashed it to get us the best coach possible. I still don’t know who it will be, but my headmaster said the man is capable. As for the place, the federation just lends us a gathering place so that they can get involved. Well, you know their style, right?"
"So, that means our sponsor is your headmaster’s old friend?" Devi frowned, still not knowing what to think about this information. "Well, I hope that he is really capable, or this will only be a waste of our time and our sponsor’s money."
