Anna took a deep breath, trying to contain her excitement. The girl didn't want to celebrate this win too crazily in front of her opponent, knowing full well that the Spanish GM was not in his best state today. This was her way to show respect, as Eduardo Iturrizaga himself was still a strong player even when he was sick.

However, right after shaking hands with the Spanish GM and rising from her chair, Anna saw Sheva was waiting for her on the sideline with a huge smile on his face, and the moment she saw that smile, the girl's heart melted immediately.

"So, how is it? I did well, right?" She smiled prettily at him, her eyes looking straight at his as if wanting to get his acknowledgement.

"Good? That puts your effort lightly." Sheva snorted. Then, his expression softened as the boy smiled at her fondly. Before Anna realized what he was trying to do, the boy patted the back of her head lovingly, then grunted something that only Anna herself could hear. "You did a fucking fantastic job. I am proud of you."

Anna could feel blood rushing through her cheeks, and if she could see herself right now, the girl would've laughed at her face, which resembled a boiled lobster a lot. Fortunately, no one saw her embarrassing state as people were still focusing on the games here, so the girl didn't really think too much about it.

Well… Or so that was what she thought.

Unfortunately, Anna completely forgot that the camera next to the table was still connected to Bagas's broadcast, and it captured every single second of their interaction. Even though it couldn't record their voices, the way they interacted with each other was enough to make the live broadcast room explode, as everyone started commenting about it.

Hilda99: Oh, Gosh! I am melting! Don't you see his gaze at Anna?!

NaruHina116: Ship! Ship! Ship!

RonaldOSIu007: You ladies are always crazy about something like this. Are you sure you are not overthinking about it? *deadpan*

Froggies: Exactly my sentiment! There is nothing wrong with them, right?

Hilda99: You men would never understand something like this!

NaruHina116: Yeah! Yeah! Oh, Gosh! I am so envious of her! I hope someone stares at me like that, too!

For a moment, the chat room was flooded with viewers who went berserk over Sheva and Anna's interaction. Irfan himself was speechless and confused here, not knowing how this broadcast could turn from a chess game into a comedy-romantic show. Fortunately, Bagas was a quick wit here, changing the connection into another camera.

"Now, with Anna Marisa's win, we have already had two victories in this round. We still have one more player here, so let's see if Master Medina could follow through her juniors' path and win the game too, or not!"

Irfan sighed in relief when he saw Bagas handling this situation like a pro, glad that the direction of the broadcast was back to the chess game again. Unbeknownst to him, though, not all of the audiences there were as brain-dead as he expected them to be. No, there were some people who still cared about the game, and the two of them happened to attend the same school in Jakarta.

"Yes, Anna! You rock!" Laysa threw a punch in the air, celebrating her rival's win enthusiastically. "Arfan, why are you so solemn like that? Celebrate a little, will you?! Those are our friends over there!" She clicked her tongue in annoyance over her friend's weak response.

"Yeah, yeah, I celebrate… Yeay…" Arfan just replied lazily, which made the girl roll her eyes in exasperation. "Anyway, don't you feel… I don't know, reluctant when you see her thriving like this? Thinking that this spotlight should belong to you?"

Laysa was stunned for a moment, then began to understand why the boy acted so gloomily like this. It was clear that Arfan was still envious of Sheva's chance to go to this tournament, and honestly, she couldn't even blame the boy here. Hell, she and the other players also felt the same, probably thinking, what did those two teenagers have that they didn't have here?

Still, Laysa had a perfect answer for that question. "Of course, I feel reluctant! Hell, if only I were there when the ladies' tournament was held, I am sure I could snatch the first spot from Anna's hand!" She clenched her fist unconsciously. "Still, you have to admit that they deserve this chance too. I mean, look at their performance in the last couple of months. They always delivered a good result, right?"

That… Was indeed the statement that Arfan couldn't deny.

In the last couple of months, Sheva's rise as one of the top players in the country was so fast that all the people in this country—even someone who didn't follow the chess news—would've heard his name at some point.

The attention the boy received, though, was definitely something that he deserved. In three of the official tournaments that he played in, Sheva had always reached the top 10 on the last standing, and even in Reykjavik, where a lot of top players in the world gathered, the boy could still hold his own ground and got the seventh position on the table. As a comparison, based on his ELO rating, Sheva's initial rank was just around 90th, so to end up in the top 10 itself could definitely be considered a miracle.

More than that, what convinced Arfan the most was the time when he and Sheva joined the other veterans to prepare for the Olympiad in the next few weeks. During that period, they often fought against each other in a training game, and honestly, Arfan couldn't believe that Sheva had grown so much stronger than their first meeting in the Jakarta International Chess Festival a month ago.

At that time, Arfan could notice that Sheva was still below him, and the boy could only force a draw in an endurance battle. However, after that, Sheva's skill improved so much that right now, to this day, Arfan found himself struggling even to force a draw against him. Every game would always be full of twists and turns, with the result turning to be a crushing victory for Sheva.

This was what made him envy Sheva here, not just for the opportunity that the boy got. The vast improvement like this was what every youngster yearned for, and Arfan couldn't believe that Sheva would be able to have that first before him.

'Sheva… Why are you so lucky… This is fucking unfair!'

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