Chapter 35: Let’s Get Started

By the time Sophia saw this message, it was already the next evening. She hadn't looked at her computer all day. Carol had come over and asked her for her help with math, so she hadn't had a chance to go online.

Carol had been working very hard recently, especially in math. She was making remarkable progress. Her parents were very happy. It was a good thing that their daughter started to study hard. So that weekend, Mrs. Carter urged Carol to go to Sophia's to study.

Sophia was surprised to see the message. Had she crossed paths with a professional chess player during her games? It was just a small online contest. How would it attract professional players to participate?

But she was very keen to play chess. She logged back into the game interface, found a table to 'sit down' at but did not click "start." Then she replied to the message, "I'm online now. I'll wait for you at table eighty-nine."

She waited a few minutes before someone sat opposite her. He sent a message to greet her, "Hello, I am the person who wrote to your blog. It's a pleasure to play chess with you."

Sophia Green simply replied, "All right. Let's get started!"

Then she clicked "Start."

Kip sat in front of his computer all day waiting for her to show up. He wanted to talk a little bit more and ask her for some personal information. But when he saw her reply, he knew what she meant. She obviously wasn't going to reveal her personal information to a stranger online.

He stopped asking questions and clicked "start." And so the game began.

Kip tried his best this game, and it lasted one hour. Finally, he was checkmated.

Kip was a little frustrated, but also rather excited. He was about to suggest another game with her when he suddenly saw her profile picture go dark.

She had logged off.

Sophia hadn't meant to go offline totally. But she heard the phone in the living room ring and got up to answer it. Fearing that the player would be waiting too long for her, she simply quit the game so that he would know that she was gone and that he should find another opponent.

It was Kevin calling. He sounded worried, "Sister, someone calling themselves a lawyer just called me. He said he wanted to talk with me about something my sister had left with him. I was afraid it was a scam… Do you have any advice?"

Sophia smiled. It looked like the lawyer she had engaged had finally made contact. "Did the lawyer say who they were?" Sophia asked.

"Yes. He said he was Jacob Williams from Cinda Law Firm. He said my sister had commissioned him to do some work for her before she died. But I… I don't trust him. Maybe he was paid by my stepmother to trap me!"

Sophia smiled, "He should be trustworthy. When does he want to meet you? I'll come with you if you like."

Kevin agreed quickly. "I'll be much calmer if you're there with me. He said to meet tomorrow afternoon. I can choose the time."

"I have some stuff to do tomorrow, but I'll let you know when I'm free." Sophia was concerned about her tournament match, but the game wouldn't take all day. She would still have time.

Kevin hung up and suddenly thought of something.

Why had he gone to Sophia first when he got the lawyer's call? It had been a completely subconscious decision. Whenever anything happened, the first person he thought of was Sophia.

They'd known each other for a little over a week. He didn't understand why he trusted her so much.

It was like trusting his own sister.

Sophia was in a good mood. Now the lawyer, Jacob Williams, had stepped in, it seemed like the matter would be settled soon.

In her previous life, she had been in bad health often because of her disability. So she had always worried that she might not live particularly long. She had accepted the idea of death a long time ago. But the only person who she had worried about was Kevin.

She went to the lawyer, Williams, a while ago, to get everything in order in the case of her death so that Kevin wouldn't have to worry about Linda or anything. She hadn't told Kevin about these things for fear that Kevin would be sad.

Williams was told that he didn't need to get in touch with Kevin unless there was any trouble after her death. If Linda hadn't caused such a problem, Kevin would never have met Jacob Williams.

Naturally, no one expected her to die so suddenly.

Sophia Green went back to her room, turned off her computer, and went to bed.

After breakfast the next day, Sophia turned on her computer and entered the game interface.

It was the first stage of the competition, and all registered accounts could participate. The rules were simple. The computer system would automatically match opponents. The winning party got the point, and the loser lost a point. If the game ended in a draw, neither party would score or lose a point. According to the points, the top five hundred players could enter the second stage.

The second round of competition will be held tonight. The third and fourth stages would be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The same points system would also be used for those too. The final would be next Sunday morning.

Sophia intended to meet the lawyer with Kevin in the afternoon. So as soon as the tournament opened, she began. She wanted to score enough points as soon as she could, then she would be free to go with Kevin this afternoon.

She clicked "start", and the system immediately assigned an opponent to her.

Sophia saw her opponent was named "M378" and felt a sense of familiarity. She seemed to have played with someone with the name of "M" before. But it was a pretty common name, so she didn't pay much attention to it and began to play chess.