Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 563: The Morning Before the Fourth Round Begins

The next morning, right after Sheva woke up from his beauty sleep, the boy blinked for a moment; somehow, his mind was in disarray. Everything from after the second game was over to him falling asleep yesterday was quite hazy in his memory, and it took a few moments before his brain finally reassembled what happened last night.

"Oh, my god..." He gasped in horror. "Why would I say that to Ia?! I need to apologize!"

He didn’t even wash his face first, just jumping to his phone without hesitation. However, once he was about to send a heartfelt apology, his finger paused in the air, and his brain moved so quickly before he removed all the texts and changed it to the big sister’s contact.

You: Hey, Anna! I am so sorry for being an asshole last night. I was too tired to mind my decorum. Should I apologize to Ia right now?

In his mind, after being mocked so harshly by him last night, Claudia should be in a foul mood right now. If he texted an apology, with the fourth round being only four hours away, it could only make her mood worse, so it was important for him to check whether she was in a good condition to accept the apology or not.

After a while...

Anna: No! Don’t apologize!

Anna: Don’t worry, Ia might be angry, but it will disappear soon with one win.

Anna: In fact, she really needs it.

Anna: It will be different if it comes from Laysa.

Anna: But from you? It is a reality check.

Anna: Now, she will really think first before acting like an arrogant snob.

Sheva snorted a little, inwardly wondering, ’She associates her sister with an arrogant snob? Wow, Ia must be rubbing her on the wrong spot here.’

Still, with Anna’s affirmation, Sheva was able to let out a relieved sigh. At least, he would get an ally when Ia confronted him later, and now, he could focus on the game first rather than having to think about that little girl.

Still, thinking about the game... No, not the game in general, but the schedule, more specifically...

’Who the hell is insane enough to put four double-header days in a row like this?’ He rubbed his forehead due to the headache. ’Wanting to save money, my ass! They just want to kill the players, right? It is not like they lack a sponsor, what with Mister Wahyu spending money lavishly to make the tournament grant. Who the hell is still stingy enough to shorten the schedule like this?’

In his mind, he also gave Nayaka, Duta, and Devi a hat’s off. After all, those three also faced the same condition in the Asian School Chess Tournament two weeks ago, yet they were able to thrive so far that they snatched all the glories from under their opponent’s noses.

Honestly, Sheva himself didn’t quite remember the last time he had a double-header day like this. Usually, it would only happen on a low-level open tournament, and the last time he played in one was...

’Jakarta International Festival last year?’ He questioned himself with an unsure tone. ’Damn, that was such a long time ago! And now, I suddenly have to face four of them continuously?! No wonder my body collapses...’

He shook his head quickly, deciding to focus on the game today. Even if he hadn’t looked at the pairing, he knew exactly that his opponent would be Tin Jingyao, an experienced GM from Singapore with a peak rating of 2580. The man was an interesting player, always thriving in an imbalanced position.

’Hmm, a rook versus a bishop and a knight, two rooks versus a queen, three pawns versus a bishop... It seems he has a lot of experience in this kind of situation.’ Sheva pondered as he saw the result of his research while also enjoying his breakfast.

At this point, his mother also didn’t nag him for playing with his phone while eating breakfast. After all, she knew that he was in the middle of the tournament, and he would need to keep an eye on his phone most of the time.

Still, that didn’t mean he could escape from her motherly nag here.

"Why are your clothes so messy?! Haven’t you ironed it beforehand? I told you to leave it to the box, and I will do it for you! What is so hard about doing so?!" His mother started nagging. "Come on, take it off! Give me three minutes!"

"Oh, come on, Mom! It is not such a big deal!" Sheva tried to complain. However, his mother didn’t bulge. If anything, her glare was enough to shut him up.

"Now!" Her voice was stern. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Even if he was reluctant, Sheva didn’t have a choice but to take off his shirt here, watching his mother turn on the iron with a helpless sigh.

"I mean, I know that you have a lot on your mind, but tidy clothes are the first impression that you give to people! How could you brush it off as a big deal?! Aren’t you afraid that Anna will look down on you?!" She kept nagging while her eyes were completely on the iron board, ignoring Sheva’s silent groan of suffering here.

’I know this is going to be like this... Also, why in the hell would Anna look down on me just because of a messy shirt?’ He mumbled lowly.

Of course, he would never dare to say it out loud. No, he still valued his life so much to throw it away like that.

After waiting for a while, though, his mother finally finished, throwing the shirt to him directly. Sheva didn’t hesitate, not wanting to be half-naked longer than necessary. As he was ready, his mother looked at him with a satisfied manner.

"Good. Now, you look like a decent young man." She nodded in approval. "So, will you be back at night again?"

"Yeah, afraid so, Mom. The one who makes the schedule is a devil reincarnation." He grumbled while also putting his jacket on, the one with the BNI logo in it. "Oh, you don’t have to prepare dinner, Mom. I will eat with everyone outside. So, don’t worry about it!"

As he left the house, his mother didn’t forget to shout, "Good luck, Kid! Don’t forget to have fun!"

"Thanks, Mom! I am leaving first! Wish me luck, okay?!"

-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!