Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!

Chapter 170: A Sponsorship?!


"SAY, WHAT?! A full year of sponsorship?!" Sheva slammed the table unconsciously, his eyes went wide in shock and disbelief. He turned around at Bagas, who seemed to know about this already, couldn't help but ask, "Is this serious or some sort of a cruel joke?"

"Oh, it is serious, I could assure you." Bagas snorted amusedly at his reaction. "You don't know how surprised my dad was when he was called by the CEO of BNI. I bet all of the soldiers under his command would pay a lot of money just to see his dumbfounded reaction." He grinned wickedly, having already imagined all the cruel and humiliating pranks he could pull on his father.

Sheva had a sweat drop on his face at his best friend's reaction. He knew that Bagas and his father's relationship was closer than ever. However, to hear the son of a high-ranked soldier in the military planned for his father's downfall seemed to be a little bit too much. He shook his head quickly, trying to get rid of that distracting thought before turning back at the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Ugh… Mrs. Dina, right?" Sheva asked hesitantly. At the woman's gentle nod, he continued, "Do you mind telling me why one of the biggest companies in the country put their interest in me?" Yeah, even though he was ecstatic, Sheva knew that there was no free lunch in the world. It was better to understand the other party's motivation first before thinking about the further plan.

The woman gave another nod of approval, clearly satisfied that Sheva wasn't just a hot-blooded teenager who accepted everything that looked good on the front. She pushed her glasses up, making her look like an intelligence secretary from an action movie, before starting to explain.

"Honestly, the reason is pretty simple. Our president is a fan of chess, and he is interested in you after watching the Reykjavik tournament. He wants to know whether you need financial backup to climb higher, as you should've known yourself that you cannot just be a genius to reach the top. No, you need to have good resources too."

Of course, Sheva knew about that. It was also another reason why he was grateful to Bagas's father for providing him with a chance to go to Reykjavik without any second thought. However, this method was unsustainable for the long term, as individual sponsorship wouldn't be able to cover everything.

'Oi, System, is this the reward that you promised me?' He couldn't help but mutter.

[Indeed, Host. The system gathers the database of all the wealthy family that loves chess and do a little bit of manipulation here and there. This is the reward that the system gives to ensure that Host wouldn't have any financial problem and could just focus on your chess career in the future.]

That… Was scary.

Sheva didn't know what kind of manipulation did the system do to pull this string, and honestly, he didn't want to know anything about it. The fact that something mysterious from a higher realm like this system could affect someone's mind was enough to make him shudder, and the boy didn't want to be more terrified than he had already been.

"Did your father say anything about it?" Sheva asked his best friend, trying to distract his fuzzy mind.

"Dad has already done his background check, and he found that there is no problem with this," Bagas replied with a shrug. "Also, he left a message for you, that this is your opportunity to fly higher. So, just accept it."

Somehow, Sheva felt tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Bagas and his family had been taking care of him for a long time, and honestly, to hear the patriarch of the family give a short, yet somehow meaningful message to push forward, Sheva couldn't help but feel grateful. He didn't know what kind of good karma he had done in his past life to deserve all of their kindness here.

"Anyway!" The boy coughed, trying to hide his shaky voice. "What kind of sponsorship does it offer for me? Also, what kind of obligations would I need to fulfill?" This was just a basic question to make sure that he knew what his rights were and what he should do in the future.

Instead of answering the question directly, though, the older woman, Dina, took out her phone, operating it for a while before showing it to both the teenagers in front of her. Sheva was confused by this move, yet the boy still took the phone from her.

Sharjah Master

Prague International Chess Festival

Biel International Chess Festival

Riga Technical University Open

Abu Dhabi Festival

Sheva raised one of his eyebrows slightly as he read the list. It was filled with a bunch of strong open tournaments for the rest of the year, and even if the boy didn't know what Dina wanted to say, an idea started to flash inside his head, and he could feel his heart pounding faster at the image his brain gave him.

"This is going to be the main perk that you can get from our sponsorship." Dina smiled, striking when the iron was still hot. "That is the list of the chess open tournaments for the rest of the year, and I know that you recognize that too. So, let me say it frankly. You can choose any of the tournaments that you want to play, and we will cover all the costs for you, including the travel, registration, and accommodation fees. How about it?"

BOOM!

That was it.

That was the perk that flashed through his brain a moment ago, yet Sheva didn't dare to think about it for too long because it was too ridiculous to be true. But now that the fact lay in front of his eyes, the boy froze, not even knowing how to react. His brain stopped working, as if the information he received was just too much for him to handle.

Hell, even Bagas, who had already heard a little bit about the details of the sponsorship, was shocked, not expecting one of the biggest banks in the country to be so generous like this. Of course, he heard about the CEO's obsession with chess from the woman. Still, this was a little bit exaggerated. Hell, not a little, this was indeed too much, too generous to be accepted offhandedly.

"So, what is the obligation that Sheva needs to do?" The fat boy asked about Sheva, knowing that his best friend still couldn't comprehend the fact in front of him.

"Oh, well, there are a few obligations that we would demand from him, but for the main one…" The woman smirked as she pushed her glasses upward once again. "Let's just say that we want to see you fulfil your potential and maybe… Speed it up a little bit. So, what do you think, can you get a GM title before this year is over?"

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