Chapter 192: Another Good News from Sheva!
"What? The BNI side wants to have one female player to go with you?!"
It was just another day at Irfan’s house, yet the news that Sheva brought was too explosive for everyone to handle. The people who had the greatest reactions were definitely the female members of the group: Irene, Medina, Claudia, and Anna. Those four had pretty exaggerated expressions on their faces, with some having their jaws dropped while the others slamming the door and staring at Sheva in utter disbelief.
Well, this was definitely the proper reaction that Sheva expected to be. After all, this was a chance for them to play in such a high-ranked tournament. Even the male members of the group, Arfan and Novendra, stared at them in envy. However, there was still one problem here. Sheva said that only one could go, and since there were four of them, this could lead to a cutthroat civil war among them.
"Yeah, Mrs. Dina called me last night, saying that I should ask for one of my female friends to join." Sheva sighed helplessly. "She said that since the BNI group has already sponsored one, they could allow one female player to join me in every tournament. This is good for the company’s PR, as it would give the public an image that they also support women’s sports."
The other veterans there, like Irfan and Master Susanto, nodded in understanding. They had already been in this industry for a long time, and those two knew how the game worked here. Everything was for a PR, and honestly, they couldn’t fault the company for thinking about that. Hell, if anything, they should be grateful here, as the players really got what they wanted the most, a chance to show off their abilities in a high-ranked tournament.
Overall, this was probably an exchange that tilted into the players’ side, as the company itself didn’t get anything significant in return.
"So, how do you want to decide this?" Master Susanto asked.
Sheva opened his mouth, but words seemed to stick on his throat as he could feel four murderous gazes directed at him. This was enough to make the boy freeze on the spot, and honestly, he really didn’t want to turn around and look at the source of this unpleasant feeling at all.
"Okay, girls, stop intimidating Sheva like that. You are not helping your case at all." Irfan interrupted with a tired sigh. Seeing that Sheva was still frozen on the spot, he finally decided to take over this situation first. "Okay, you girls wait here. I will have a talk with Sheva first."
"What?!"
"That is unfair!"
"Yeah, let us listen to his opinion!"
The three women shouted instantly, with only Irene remaining silent here. However, it was clear from her frown that she was also dissatisfied with Irfan’s decision to take Sheva from the room. However, the man was unfazed. He just crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking at them with an unimpressed gaze.
"What? You want to put pressure on Sheva so that he will choose you? Then, what would you do if you were not the chosen one? Making her feel more guilty?"
This time, they all blushed in embarrassment, throwing away their faces so that Irfan couldn’t see them all. Indeed, the four females of the group caught the keyword of Sheva’s explanation here, and that was the fact that SHEVA could invite one of them to join him. Yeah, the decision lay in Sheva, so it was important to influence her mind right now.
Hell, Claudia even gave her best puppy-dog eyes to him, something that Sheva had never seen from the girl before. The gaze was enough to melt him on the spot, and if not for Medina’s fierce glare or Anna’s sweet smile, he would fold like a wet paper under Ia’s action.
Irfan could only sigh helplessly as he saw this. The man realized how big this chance was for their careers, but this was not the best way to pick. So, he took the responsible man out of the girls’ eyes first; a necessary move to keep everything fair and objective.
"So, how do you want to choose this?" Irfan asked after dragging Sheva out of the living room.
"Urgh... Well... At first, I thought I would choose between Anna and Claudia, but it would be cruel if I picked one of them for the other." Sheva said guiltily. "Also, it would feel wrong not to pick Sister Irene or Sister Medina, as I am sure they also deserve this chance. Still, whoever I choose would be a wrong choice in the eyes of the others, so I don’t know how to pick one here..."
Irfan sighed once again as he could see the dilemma in Sheva’s eyes. Well, he also pitied the boy, getting entangled with four women who wanted a piece of him. Uh... No, that sounded so wrong. Anyway, for thirteen years he had been marrying a beautiful woman and the love of his life, Irfan still couldn’t understand the way his wife thinks, and now, looking at Sheva’s situation, where he was eyed by four hungry female beasts...
"How about this," In the end, he took pity on the boy. Irfan whispered something, and Sheva’s eyes lit up instantly at the idea given to him. It was a feasible idea, and the fairness of it was guaranteed. Still...
"Will they be willing to listen, though?" Sheva couldn’t help but feel worried.
"They have to." Unlike the boy, Irfan was confident with this method. "It is not like they have any choice. If you pick one you like, they would be more unwilling, thinking that you are impartial to one of them. This way, they would fight for their chance, and whoever won would be your pick based on their merit. Fair, right?"
Sheva nodded silently, still pondering over the idea. In the end, he asked the man once again, "Master Irfan, how about you announcing this for me? I mean, I am not sure they would treat this seriously if I were the one who spoke out."
Irfan pondered for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. After this, they returned to the living room, where the four female members of the group were quite restless, bothering all the men in the group with their nagging. It was such an amusing sight to see Master Susanto, the best chess player in the country, being berated by Medina for his messiness.
"Okay, everyone!" Irfan suddenly raised his voice, attracting all the attention in the room. The four female protagonists there also snapped their heads at him, waiting impatiently for the result of the discussion behind their backs. Fortunately, Irfan was not someone who was easily intimidated, as he ignored the gazes and just announced, "Since there is only one spot to grab, let’s do a mini tournament! Four of you, double round-robin rapid tournament! Whoever wins will get one spot in the Biel International Chess Festival next month! How about it?!"