CHAPTER 349: ANOTHER NEW MISSION!

Indeed, the next day, Sheva was put on the bench, not being allowed to play the game. Fortunately, he was allowed to leave the hospital straight away after another round of check-up that showed he had no problem, so the boy could wander around freely that day. He couldn’t imagine getting trapped in the hospital for all day, having to relive the traumatic event of his father’s death for so long. It sure would drive him crazy.

For the ninth round of the tournament, Claudia also had a day off on the women’s team. She volunteered to step aside after losing the game yesterday, and while Anna was worried about her, she didn’t know how to cheer her up, so the task fell on Sheva, who was also free that day.

"So... What should we do?" Sheva asked as they strolled into the hotel.

"I don’t know... I think I just want to be lazy today." Claudia sighed, not feeling energetic.

"What? Still feeling frustrated?" Sheva crooked one of his eyebrows slightly. "Well, I cannot say I understand your feeling, since I don’t remember the last time I lost a game."

It was a lie, of course. Sheva remembered clearly his game against Gukesh in Reykjavik a few months ago, and until he could take revenge, this memory would always be on the tip of his head. However, Claudia didn’t need to know that. Sheva just needed to make sure that Claudia got distracted, and by how she stomped his foot angrily, the boy knew he succeeded here.

"Still, I am quite jealous about how your women’s team works." Sheva sighed. At Claudia’s questioning gaze, he added, "The team put the best performers to be on the table without even caring about their seniority or something shady like that. Just like yesterday, Sister Medina lost and volunteered to be benched, and now you also did the same. I am sure that later, if someone lost their game, they would also volunteer themselves to be replaced by you. Compared to that, the atmosphere on the men’s team is quite terrible."

Yeah, Sheva was being jealous here, and Claudia knew exactly what he was talking about. It should be about Master Susanto and Novendra, who still occupied the team’s spot no matter how bad their performances were. Even though the boy didn’t have a grudge against them, he was still infuriated by how everything worked here.

"Well, if you really want to change it, be the number one person in the country. I am sure that at that time, everyone had to listen to your words." Claudia said nonchalantly.

However, Sheva pondered it carefully, and he found that the idea was feasible. He knew that some countries that had a young superstar let that young man be the team’s leader, like the Iranian team with Parham Maghsoodloo, Nordibek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan. However, to do so, the gap would need to be so overwhelming that the others couldn’t find any reason to reject him.

[DING!]

[You have a new mission!]

Suddenly, a notification popped up in front of his face, startling the boy a little. It seemed that Claudia noticed his weird state, as she couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"

"No, nothing." Sheva shook his head quickly. "Anyway, I am going to the toilet first." He ran without even explaining, leaving Claudia in confusion.

Right as the boy went into the toilet, he didn’t wait for too long, shouting inwardly with an anxious tone. ’Oi, System! Explain yourself! What is this new mission that you give me here?!’

[The system recognizes Host’s desire to be the undisputed leader of the national team, so be bold and chase it! Make all of your teammates remember who the ultimate boss of the team is before the next Olympiad!]

[Mission: Get into the top 100 players in the world!]

[Reward: ???]

’Another random reward?’ Sheva felt the corner of his mouth twitching. ’System, is this random to surprise me, or because you still don’t know what to give here?’ He asked incredulously.

[Host, please, don’t slander the system like that! The system is a top-notch technology from a distant world, so all the rewards have been prepared before the mission comes!]

’Yeah, yeah, this excuse again, right? You sound like a broken record here.’ Sheva waved his hand, dismissing the argument lazily. ’Still... Top 100, huh? Isn’t that a bit difficult? If I remembered it correctly, the number 100 on the list should be a player with an ELO rating of 2650, right? You want me to reach that level in two years?’

[If it is another player, this will be a mission impossible. However, for you, Host, the mission is more than possible. The system has already calculated, and the fastest you can get to that point is in the next 1 year and 4 months. The system is kind enough to add 8 months as a guarantee so that you can complete the mission successfully.]

’... How kind of you, System.’ Sheva muttered sarcastically. However, he didn’t complain too much about this matter. After all, it was exactly in the same line as the trajectory that he envisioned. Sheva himself didn’t want to stay for too long in the mud. He was so eager to get into the same league as Pragg, Gukesh, and the others, putting his name up to those geniuses instead of just being a mere talented youngster from a barren land.

After confirming the mission, he went back casually, not even giving Claudia any reason to suspect him. Right after that, they decided to just watch some anime on Netflix while also keeping their eyes on Bagas’s broadcast so that they could see how the others fared.

To their surprise, though, everything went quite smoothly for both sides. In the women’s section, besides Irene’s game that entered a stalemate stage, the other three went into Indonesia’s favor. Medina was at a massive advantage, while Laysa and Anna were so close to winning their games. If nothing went wrong, they would’ve swept the Spanish team convincingly, bouncing them back to the top 5 once again.

Meanwhile, in the men’s section, the unexpected happened. Instead of Taher and Arfan being the ones who led the team, it was the two veterans who somehow brought the point back to snatch the win from Ireland. Even though the opponent was without their best player, that still didn’t diminish the achievement, as Novendra and Master Susanto finally showed why they deserved to be on the team.

’Man... What a hassle...’ Sheva couldn’t help but sigh. ’Master Susanto is okay, but Brother Novendra too? Even though I am happy for him, he will be so infuriating later. This is going to be a headache...’