Chapter 86: Intermission (I)
It was a short break before the second game of the day would begin, and Sheva found himself sitting in another junk food restaurant again, enjoying the overly-sweet boba tea while also trying to ease the tension on his shoulder. Honestly, the boy would’ve never believed that he would be one who wasted money on junk food like this, especially when his family’s economic situation itself wasn’t quite stable. However, the temptation of sweets really threw away his logical side.
’Ah... Sweet—good, unhealthy ones, especially—after having a chess game for about two hours, sure is good for the brain, huh...’ He sighed in relief after the cold drink slipped through his throat. However, he wasn’t alone here. No, Claudia, the little girl who had just lost her game against Arfan earlier, was also there, sitting with a sulking face. Seeing her pouting like a pufferfish, he couldn’t help but poke her cheek a few times teasingly. "So, still sulking like a child?"
"You jerk!" Claudia scowled, kicking his shin under the table. Sheva winced unconsciously, but did not say any words here. He knew that Claudia wasn’t serious here. Hell, if she truly intended to hurt him, he would’ve gone to the hospital already. The girl just wanted to vent out of her frustration here. "Don’t you know that girl is sensitive?! No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend when your friend has one already! You don’t even know how to comfort a sad girl like me!"
"A sad girl? You are far from being one, Ia, and you know it." Sheva snorted. "While yes, you are frustrated from getting your ass beaten like that, but you are not sad. You are far tougher than that, especially to yourself. You will only allow yourself to feel sad for your sister, I know."
Claudia went quiet once again, sipping the boba tea in front of her to calm down her mind. In the end, she heaved out a sigh, knowing that she couldn’t fool Sheva anymore. "It is just so frustrating! I have already held him back for more than 50 moves! Full three hours! Even though I was at a slight disadvantage, everything was still under control! Just one slip! One fricking slip! And everything is over!"
Sheva just nodded silently while listening to her rant. He couldn’t blame her for feeling gutted like this. After all, the girl had just witnessed with her own eyes how cruel the chess game was. Just one slip, and all the effort she had built for more than three hours was wiped away instantly.
"I had already envisioned it before, you know?" Her voice suddenly turned weak. "Me and you, dominating the entire section before we have our fateful fight with the winner being the number one..." Her voice trailed behind. Sheva still didn’t say anything, waiting for something. Then, her depression suddenly vanished, replaced by a burning determination. "I’ve decided, Sheva! You are not allowed to lose your next game against him, you get it?!"
Sheva snorted at her sudden bossiness, knowing that it would come sooner or later. Besides the matter related to her sister, the girl was pretty much easy-going and not easily falling into sadness or depression.
"While I don’t plan on losing, you know that it is not up to me, right?" He asked back. "I mean, you play against him yourself, and I am sure you know how he could switch between being patient and decisive in a second and vice versa. It would be hard if he decided to play slow and force me into a long tug-and-war game, you know?"
Indeed, even with all the help from the system, Sheva himself was still quite a rookie in this game, and he hadn’t gotten used to sitting silently for more than three hours playing a boring and arduous game. If anyone compared all of his games, they would soon realize that Sheva always ended his game below two hours, and the longer the game went, the less accurate his game would be. If somehow Arfan noticed this, the boy wouldn’t hesitate to drag the game for a day if necessary just to kill him with boredom.
Claudia hesitated for a second, wanting to say something. However, before any word could leave her mouth, a familiar voice suddenly greeted them from behind.
"Here you two are!" When Sheva and Claudia turned around, they saw Anna having both hands on her hips while looking at them exasperatedly. "I have been searching for you both for a while! Honestly, did you forget about me or what?!" It was a joke, of course. However, Sheva and Claudia winced unconsciously, knowing full well that, indeed, they had forgotten about Anna’s presence.
"N—No, Big Sis! W—We didn’t forget about you, right, Sheva?!"
"Yes, of course!"
Anna narrowed her eyes dangerously, knowing that something was off here. Well, Sheva’s answer was a dead giveaway, since he said it so quickly. Fortunately, she let this slide and sat next to Claudia immediately, giving Sheva a chance to change the topic.
"So, how is your game going?" He asked.
Much to his surprise, though, a genuine smile bloomed in Anna’s face as she asked back, "Well, looking at my expression, what do you think happened?"
Two heads snapped at her instantly, staring at the girl in disbelief. "Big Sis... Did you win your game?!" Claudia squealed excitedly. After all, her opponent was the grandmaster from Ukraine, Vitaly Sivuk, the player who was in third place behind Suleymanli Aydin and Master Susanto on the standings right now. Winning the game against him would definitely boost her confidence.
"Unfortunately, no." Anna shook her head, deflating all the enthusiasm that her little sister felt. "But I was so close to winning it all. If only I could be calmer in the clutch moment... Maybe..." She clenched her fist tightly, letting her words trail behind.
Looking at her trembling hand, it was clear that Anna was furious right now. No one knew whether it was due to her draw result—which was most likely—or the process behind the draw itself. Sheva and Claudia could only glance at each other quietly, not knowing what to say right now.
"Oh, by the way..." Anna spoke once again, gaining those two’s attention. Then, she smiled at Sheva weirdly, sending a shiver down his back. "Thank you, Sheva. If not for your harsh reminder yesterday, I would’ve forgotten about my true self right now. Even though it is a pity that this game ended up with a draw... I am sure I will be able to bounce back in the next round. So, don’t worry about me."