anwhile, in a small food court chain near the hotel, three people sat there with a solemn atmosphere, ignoring all the oily, mouth-watering sll coming from the piping hot fried chicken in front of them.
No, the atmosphere was heavy, especially after one of them took a glance at his phone.
"Yeah, it is settled." That person, the youngest of them all, sighed heavily. "My next opponent is going to be Sheva." He announced it like the end of the world.
In hindsight, it should be the case for anyone who got paired against Sheva in this tournant. After all, the boy was a complete juggernaut, beating everyone rcilessly without giving any respect to the opponent. However, the situation was more difficult than that, since that person was still aiming for the top of the standing right now.
As you might imagine, that person was the one and only Arfan, the talented youngster whose na was drowned under Sheva’s shadow in the last couple of months. Even though so far, he hadn’t had an ideal tournant, he was still in second place, and his hope to get the ticket to the World Cup was quite open.
However, now, he would have to et the strongest executioner itself, the one who players always associated with Shinigami, the death god from Japan. So far, Sheva has maintained a clean record in this tournant, not wasting even half a point against his opponents.
"Tch! Don’t be intimidated by his current record! He is still the sa boy who fought hard just to get a draw against you last year, so have a little bit of confidence!" The person on the other side of the table scowled, yet that man didn’t really believe in his own word.
That man was the GM Priasmoro Novendra, the one who had a huge conflict with Sheva in the last Olympiad. Sohow, the man started to regret his arrogance at that ti, because it was so awkward to ask for a reconciliation this ti.
Also, he still didn’t want to admit that he was wrong at that ti. Even though Novendra knew that Sheva had an unlimited potential, he still believed that for a boy who lacked respect for his seniors, it was normal to get sidelined in one or two gas.
He only considered reconciliation because, just like Master Susanto, the man knew that Sheva would be the future leader of the community. Even if he hated it, Novendra still had to think about the future, at least if not for his future, it was for his protégé’s.
Yeah, he was here as Arfan’s teacher, not just to express his desire to see Sheva’s downfall.
Hearing what his coach said, Arfan just smiled wanly. "I am flattered that you still think I am at the sa caliber as him, but do you even believe that, Brother? Because I didn’t hear any conviction in your tone, you know?"
Novendra felt the corner of his lips twitching, sohow too speechless at his student’s sensitiveness.
"Ha! He got you here, Nov!" The last person just barked out a laugh. "Let tell you this, Sheva right now is even stronger than he was in the Olympiad last year! Hell, I think he is so close to crossing the threshold of 2700-rated-club right now, not the rating-wise, but in terms of ability. Don’t be foolish to treat him like that, or he will definitely punish you!" He warned.
Novendra just pouted slightly, unbecoming of a dignified adult like him. "So, what can you offer to help here, Master Susanto? I am sure you are not just here to gloat, right?" He asked, sounding dissatisfied.
Yeah, the last person was Master Susanto, the forr best player in the country before he got dethroned by Sheva and the one who was just beaten by the boy himself earlier. When the man heard Novendra and Arfan were about to have dinner together, he invited himself to the group, ntioning that he wanted to hear their plan to deal with Sheva tomorrow.
Yeah, even Master Susanto himself knew that Arfan was going to play against Sheva.
"Don’t worry, I can assure you that my presence here is to offer you my professional advice, not just gloating on your misfortune." Master Susanto had the corner of his lips twitching in amusent. "In fact, our purpose is the sa here. I also want to see soone stop Sheva’s dominance in this tournant."
"Wait, wait a sec!" Arfan blinked, this ti with confusion lacing his tone. "I thought you were supporting Sheva to take over the community from you?"
Novendra also turned to the older man, waiting to get the answer here. He still felt jealousy toward Sheva regarding this matter, but the man was clear-headed enough to know that only the strongest could be the leader here, and since he was far from it, he could only swallow that pill bitterly.
"Oh, don’t get wrong, I still believe that he is the right choice." Master Susanto nodded. "Still, he has been standing on the top for too long, so I just want to see soone knocks so sense on him. Ideally, it should be another Indonesian player, and it seems at this point, only you have a chance to do so, Arfan."
Arfan was flattered, but a wry smile followed after that. "It is easy to say, but even you, Tin Jingyao, and Brother Taher failed to do that, right?"
"Yeah, if it were easy, anyone would’ve done that a long ti ago." Master Susanto nodded in agreent. "Still, you know how Sheva would go this ti. Even though he has already reached a different height compared to us, inwardly, he still yearns to prove sothing. In this case, since your first eting ends up in a draw, he will try from the beginning to launch everything to your face, and that’s when the chance will appear."
Master Susanto said with a full conviction, as if he had already grasped Sheva’s psychology. However, Arfan, the one who was about to enter the lion’s den, still remained skeptical, as he only had one response for that.
"Are you really sure about that, Master Susanto?"
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