CHAPTER 38: BEFORE THE DECISIVE GAME!

After Claudia got out of his room, Sheva decided to go straight to the bed, switching off all the lights there and forcing himself to sleep. Even though he wasn’t that sleepy or tired, the boy knew that the second game would take a toll on him later, so it was good to preserve some energy first.

Unfortunately, the cheap hotel that he stayed in didn’t provide the quiet surroundings for him to take a nap at noon. No matter how much he shut his eyes, the buzzing sound of the bustling market outside forced him to stay awake. In the end, Sheva himself didn’t know how he managed to fall asleep, but once his alarm rang, he could feel that his head was dizzy, caused by the poor quality of his sleep.

"Urgh..." Sheva groaned weakly, fumbling for his phone to shut down the alarm. He shut his eyes once again after doing so, feeling like his head was killing him. After recovering for a while, the boy finally took a glance at his phone, checking the time displayed there. "13:22, huh? There is still one and a half hours before the game begins..." He mumbled.

He spent the next few minutes just rolling over his bed lazily while also checking his phone. He went straight to the tournament’s website, trying to see the current standings. "So, Claudia and I are the top two with the perfect score, followed by three players with 3.5 points, huh? Not bad... At least, Claudia still has a chance to catch up after losing the game later..." He thought to himself.

Yeah, Sheva had already thought that he would win the game later. It wasn’t arrogance, but a confidence brought by the fact that Sheva figured out after training with the girl for a while. He and his chaotic playing style were exactly the kryptonite of Claudia’s solid and positional style, and he knew that the little girl got flustered easily once things didn’t go her way. That was the mental problem that she needed to fix, but until then, Sheva would keep exploiting this weakness mercilessly.

Of course, that didn’t mean he would underestimate the girl. Hell, doing that was equivalent to suicide, not only on the board but also off the board. He shuddered at the thought of having Claudia pouting at him once she knew that she was getting underestimated, and it would be even worse if he somehow lost it all. No, he would still treat everything carefully, yet his confidence was currently at its peak, so Sheva didn’t really worry about her that much.

He groaned once again, stretching his stiff body before going straight to the toilet. After washing his face and tidying himself up, he checked his room one more time. It seemed that Bagas didn’t go back to take a rest like him, and the fat boy was probably still in the hotel with Master Irfan, building a connection with the two legendary figures who visited earlier.

’Yeah, that should be it.’ Sheva nodded his head, agreeing with his little thought. ’That is so Bagas...’

The moment he left the hotel, though, he found Anna and Claudia also going in the same direction. It seemed they had also just woken up from their short nap, and by the grumpiness shown on the little sister’s face, he could guess that they also had the same problem here.

"Sup." Sheva greeted the two girls in front of him casually. "How is your sleep?"

"Bad." Anna smiled wryly, followed by a little annoyed huff from her sister. "I don’t know how the hotel managed to keep itself afloat when they couldn’t even deal with the noises outside of the room. Their customers must be a bunch of saints."

"I tell you that Master Irfan is the worst at picking a hotel to stay," Claudia grumbled grumpily. "Remember our time in Budapest?"

"Of course, I remember." Anna smiled wryly, probably remembering a bad memory here. Sheva was curious, yet since it was not a good memory, he didn’t ask, not wanting to make them relive their horrid experience before the game started.

"Anyway, how is your preparation for the next game?" Sheva asked Anna quickly, changing the topic. "Are you ready?"

"More than I will ever be." Anna nodded firmly. "This is the match that I have been waiting for." She clenched her fist hard, full of determination.

Her reaction was a little bit exaggerated, but it was understandable considering her next opponent. She would play against another Indonesian player here, a young man at the same age as her with the name Gerry Mandagi. The boy’s rating was slightly higher compared to hers, 2314. However, they both had a history here. During the national tournament for the age below 16 last year, instead of playing in the girls’ section, Anna went straight to the open one, and the player who beat her in the decisive match was the same Gerry that she would face later. She had been holding a grudge for a long time, and this was the best time to release it.

"Don’t worry, you’ve got this in your bag." Sheva patted the girl’s back firmly. Then, he turned around at the little girl who was going to be his opponent next, and a mischievous smile suddenly curled on the corner of his face. "What about you? Ready to face defeat?"

"It should be me who is asking you that, right?" Claudia scowled unhappily at his tone. "Just watch yourself! Don’t let me catch you slacking off! Hmph!" She huffed annoyedly before scampering away quickly, leaving Sheva, who was trying to hold back his laughter, and Anna, who just sighed exasperatedly at him.

"Do you really have to antagonize her like that?" She asked with a deep sigh. However, the amused smile on her face showed that she enjoyed this little banter. "Her mood will only be worse except if she could win the game, you know?"

"Oh, I know." Sheva grinned mischievously. "Don’t worry, I will prepare a cup of chai tea to console her later. I am sure everything will be okay."

Hearing that, Anna could only shake her head in exasperation. "You are impossible, you know that, right?"