"This is crazy, you know…" Medina took a deep sigh, feeling a headache haunting her head. In front of her sat Laysa and Sheva, who tried their best to avoid the woman's gaze. "I mean, I could expect this from Laysa, since she is a loudmouth brat—"

"Hey!"

"—But you, Sheva?" Medina ignored the girl's complaint and looked at Sheva disappointedly. "Really? What do you think, bragging in front of the camera like that? Wanting to act cool?" The more she talked, the more the woman was displeased with the current situation.

"Well… You cannot blame me for this, Sister!" Sheva still tried to defend himself. "I mean, Laysa has already bragged first! If I didn't match her words, it would look like the men's team is weak!"

"Hey, why are you trying to drag me into this?!" Laysa complained back. "I mean, I say that because I feel like we are strong enough to achieve the top 10! It is not my fault that you are insecure enough to feel the need to match my ambition!"

Medina could feel her chest tighten, as her breath went rapid and shallow. The woman tried her best to control her temper here, but it seemed that Sheva didn't want to let her have some peace here. The more the boy talked, the more she got triggered by it.

"Okay, Medina… Calm down… Take a deep breath… Let it out…" In the end, Irene finally dragged her before she snapped on the spot. "Yes… Calm down… Try to think of something pleasant… Come on, let's have something refreshing… I heard from someone that Kulfi is better than ice cream. How about we try it now?"

Sheva's eyes were completely on the two ladies as they walked away from the boys' room. After they finally disappeared from his sight, the boy finally could let out a deep, relieved sigh. Even though the problem he and Laysa had caused was not yet solved, at least he would be able to think better without Medina's presence here.

"I mean… It is not that bad, right?" Sarah, who had been quiet since the meeting began, asked. She also felt a little bit guilty here, since the girl was the one who threw the question first. "Even though a small part of the audience mocked him for being too ambitious and couldn't even measure the team's strength properly, in general, most of them love this response. They all feel that since this event only happens once every two years and we are clearly not the favorite, it would be better to go bold and aim high rather than playing safe just for us to still be hanging around the top 50."

"Personally, I also agree with this." Yoseph Taher, the quiet IM whom Sheva spoke the least to in this team, suddenly also showed his support. "I am not here just for fun or to gain experience. No, I am 23 already this year, so I want to aim higher. Sheva and Laysa's statement didn't conflict with my ambition, so just let it be." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, stating firmly where he stood in this situation.

Everyone was taken aback, not expecting Taher to show his stance in this moment. However, he was not wrong here. In fact, there was no wrong answer in this question. This was like a choice between a low-risk investment and a high-risk investment.

Nothing wrong with them both, it just depends on personal preference. If Sheva and Laysa wanted to go for the high-risk investment, there was nothing wrong with that choice. If anything, everyone would be ready to go down that road, knowing that indeed, they needed to be a little bit ambitious here.

The problem, though, was that Sheva and Laysa didn't even discuss this with everyone else. No, they caught everyone off guard with this statement, and most of them were not ready to aim that high in this tournament. If anything, it would only put greater pressure on their shoulder, which would only worsen their performance for the rest of the tournament.

"Sarah…" Novendra suddenly spoke, attracting everyone's attention. "You say that people love Sheva and Laysa's answer, right? Is that a genuine feeling, or is that because they had just won their games? Because if it were the latter one, I am sure I don't need to say anything once they fall, right?"

"Ah… This…" Sarah was struggling to answer the question without putting Sheva deeper into the pit hole. She turned around at Bagas and pleaded silently for help, but the boy just smiled helplessly while shaking his head, signaling her to stay quiet.

Sheva squirmed uncomfortably as all the people inside the room stared at him with complicated gazes. He didn't know about Laysa, but the boy clearly didn't enjoy this situation at all. He also tried his best to hold back the urge to throw a pillow at Claudia, who was smiling smugly at him, as if enjoying his misery.

"Okay, no need to scold them further. What's done is done, so let's just move on and think about tomorrow." In the end, it was Master Susanto who tried to defuse the tense situation. "They are just teenagers, so it is normal to brag once or twice about their ambition. That is what motivates them to keep going further, and they have the strength to back it up. Also, they just said that after winning the game, so at least their sin is forgivable. Rather than talking about that, how about we go for your poor performance, Novendra?" The man smiled dangerously at his successor.

"M—Me?!" Novendra gulped nervously. "What is wrong with me?!"

"Oh… I don't know… How about the fact that you are the only one who failed to win the first game… And your opponent's rating is just 2060!"

Novendra felt blood rush through his cheeks as the embarrassment of being called out like that was too much for him. However, this was indeed a stain on the team's perfect record, as the man failed to bring back the win as the player on table 1. Normally, this would be enough to bring down the spirit of the team. Fortunately, it happened way long after Sheva's win, so the others were not that affected by Novendra's result. Still, it was pretty embarrassing to get forced into a draw by an opponent whose rating was far lower than his, and the man had already expected to get teased a lot here.

"Oh, well… Just like our agreement before, if any of us failed to win in this round, that person will have to sit out the first game against a better opponent. So, Novendra… I regret to inform you, but you have to get ready on the bench, okay?" Master Susanto said solemnly.

Novendra widened his eyes in shock when he heard that, and in the next moment, he wailed in disbelief.

"NOOOOO!"

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