"Indonesia VS India matchup? What ridiculous thing are you trying to cook again, Bagas?" dina asked incredulously. "Not to ntion that it is just a coincidence that we got three pairings against them in this round, but to call that a matchup? They didn’t even have their best players! While I admit that Praggnanandhaa and Arjun are talented, they are still one level below compared to their best players! If we played against them, they would’ve whooped our ass already!"
In her mind, India’s best players besides Vishwanathan Anand were still Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala, the two seniors who had been fighting alongside Vishy for so many years. While yes, the prodigies climbed faster than ever, even winning so individual dals in the last Olympiad, dina still thought that they needed a few more years to dethrone those veterans and beco the best in their country.
Of course, Sheva didn’t agree with that assessnt. He knew full well how monstrous two of the four prodigies were, and tomorrow, the boy would also get to know the third one. In his mind, their strength was enough to beco the new pillar of the country, and they just needed an opportunity to showcase that.
Also, he disagreed with how dina said that the Indian team would whoop their ass. Even though they would lose, Sheva didn’t believe that he alone couldn’t steal a point from them. However, that was a different story for the future. For now, he saw his friend was in a problem, and as a good friend, it was his task to make sure that he fell into a deeper hole.
"Exactly what I said, Sister dina! He just wants to use this as a publicity stunt to grab the attention of the viewers from both countries!" He accused Bagas without hesitation, inwardly gloating over his best friend’s misfortune.
"Oh, shut up, will you?!" Bagas glared at Sheva for fishing in this muddy water. "Yes, this is a publicity stunt, but you have to know, Sister, that this is Mister Sagar’s idea! I just follow it all along!" He tried to defend himself.
dina let out a relieved sigh when she heard that. While she felt like Bagas was unreliable, the woman knew Sagar Shah’s reputation, so if the man asked for this, it must be to help the Indonesian players rise more in the international community.
’Yes, that should be it.’ dina nodded at herself. ’What a great man, Sagar Shah. Should I ask to get interviewed by him? Maybe, ask Bagas to ntion it to him?’ She pondered.
Looking at dina’s thoughtful expression, Sheva could only twitch the corner of his lips, knowing that she got distracted right now. Anna was also chatting with Vaishali behind him, so it was up to the boy to bring the conversation back on track.
"So, what do you want?" Sheva asked his best friend. "If you just want to tell us about this, you can wait until we are out of the venue. So, what is the catch here?" He grasped the point of the conversation quickly.
"Smart!" Bagas clapped excitedly. "It is simple. This kind of pairing is rare, so we want to have the six players involved in this matchup take a photo together and post it on social dia. This will encourage more cultural exchanges in the future, and it will also give us more exposure in the short term."
Well, the first part was a bit far-fetched, as if it were an excuse that was forced to be put on lip service. However, the second one was real. A group photo with the group of the most talented players in the world would be sick and give a lot of exposure for them all.
Sheva couldn’t help but take a glance at the others first. It had been just ten minutes since dina’s ga was over, so most of the gas were still going on in this venue. He could see that Claudia was thinking hard against his opponent, while Laysa and Duta were unseen from his side. However, since they weren’t here yet, that ant they hadn’t finished their gas, so Sheva and the others could use this ti to take that group photo while also waiting for the rest of the group to finish it all.
"Where is my brother, by the way?" Vaishali, who had been chatting with Anna, suddenly chid in. "While Mister Sagar’s idea is great, I cannot see Arjun willing to be dragged into this ss. My brother is going to force him, right?" She asked as a matter of fact, knowing full well how her brother and his friend would act.
"You know your brother really well, Sister Vaishali!" Bagas gave a thumbs-up. "They are currently with Mister Sagar and my girlfriend, waiting outside. Let’s go!"
Well, they didn’t need to be told twice to follow Bagas to the dia booth. There, they could see Sagar Shah, Sarah, and the two Indian prodigies waiting while also chatting about sothing. The mont Sagar saw Sheva and the group coming, though, his eyes lit up before he greeted the boy excitedly.
"Sheva! It has been a long ti since I saw you, right?! Look at you, doing great and crushing everyone in front of you! It seems that my vision is still correct here!"
"Thank you for the praise, Mister Sagar." Sheva smiled politely before slipping into the crowd once again. He also gave a short nod to Pragg and Arjun, slightly embarrassed to approach them again after his declaration to avenge Anna earlier. Fortunately, those two didn’t really ntion it, just waving at him cheerfully.
Although the group was awkward with each other, Sagar really showed his skill here. The man kept chatting with everyone equally, forcing them to interact with each other. He was a very good moderator, guiding the players to go with the flow that he set. Hell, even dina, who was a little bit shy to et him, had already gotten out of her shell, now chatting freely with Anna, Vaishali, and Sarah.
"Okay, everyone! Let’s get this quick!" Sagar started to guide everyone to get a better shot with his cara phone. "Sheva, Pragg, you are taller, so let Arjun be in the middle. Girls, you are in the front! Give your best pose! Ready?! 1! 2! 3! Cheese!"
SNAP!
As the photo was taken, Sheva let out a relieved sigh unconsciously. Then, his eyes wandered around, and when they t Arjun’s, his fighting spirit suddenly burned once again.
’Tomorrow, there is a huge chance that I will et him.’ He thought to himself. ’This is not just a revenge ga, but also one that determines my title. As long as I am not losing, the GM title will be mine! Co on! I can do this!’
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