"Okay, the situation is definitely worse than I expected." Sheva sighed when he saw the dilapidated atmosphere in front of him. "I swear, I have already told you guys that this is something you should expect, right? Why is it that when reality hits you hard, you are going down so quickly?" He asked, sipping the apple juice at the table.
It was the night after the fourth round was over, and once again, they all gathered at the same Chinese restaurant they usually went to. However, unlike the last couple of days, there was no cheer or laughter here, just a suffocating depression lingering in the air.
"Here, on the house." The Chinese old man, who was also the owner of the restaurant, suddenly brought a tray with so many cups of pudding in it. "This is something that my Ma always made when we had a bad day. A consolation food, if you can say."
Sheva was taken aback for a moment, then smiled lightly at the man. "Thank you very much, Old Man Yang. We really appreciate the thought and the food here." His tone was full of gratitude.
It might sound rude to call him that, but the man insisted on this, so who was Sheva to refuse it? Instead of thinking of that trivial matter, he just picked one cup there and took a big spoonful of it, shivering a little at the cold sensation sliding down his throat.
"Oh! A mango pudding! That's good!" He blinked in surprise.
"Brother, can you stop acting like we are not here?!" Finally, Devi had had enough here, snapping at the boy a little bit rudely. "Don't you see that everyone is so depressed right now? How could you be like this?" Her tone was full of helplessness.
Sheva blinked once again, then stared at the people around him. There, Claudia was looking at him with eyes full of resentment, with the two boys also sighing helplessly at him. Anna was also smiling there, but it was definitely stiff and forced. As for Laysa and Dita Karenza, they decided to stay in their room, not wanting to go out right now.
"Once again…" Sheva spoke slowly, "I still don't understand why you are this depressed. I mean, I can see that you are affected, but not this badly. Look at you, Devi, Nayaka, you both have done well in the last round, and I know you are concerned about Duta, but can you at least show some life here? Same with you, Anna. The two draws in the last 48 hours are bad, but you look at your opponent and think, " Who around your rating could pull that? Should you be a little bit… Proud?"
Well, in theory, indeed, those three should be proud of their achievement. Still, to do that in front of their suffering friends… It seemed to be a little bit too much, right?
"Also, the defeat today is a good thing for you guys," Sheva added. "We know it's bound to happen sooner or later, and hell, Ia, Duta, this is not your first loss in this tournament, right? You are just so sad and feel left out since you are far behind compared to the others, but you just need one win to get yourself back to the others' position. Also, losing the game means your next round should be easy, so as long as you don't mess things up, you will be alright."
"That's not the same, Sheva!" Claudia whined immediately. "Although we have the same two points, how we got them is completely different! I had to lose against two strong GMs, for God's sake! It doesn't matter if my next opponent is weaker, but why is it that when I face a stronger opponent, I crumble instantly?! This is so frustrating!"
While the others didn't say anything, Sheva could see the agreement on their face, especially on Duta. He was probably the one who suffered the most here, not being able to get even half a point in his last few encounters against a top player. It was definitely frustrating for a young boy who was full of pride.
Anna also had the same reaction here. Even though she herself didn't lose the game, the last two games were too painful to recall, and now, anything that could help her get better against a stronger opponent would be appreciated.
"Unfortunately, though, this is not something you can fix easily." Sheva sighed helplessly. "The problem is a combination of a lot of things here, starting from your mental state that is not strong enough, to your endgame technique that is full of flaws. This can only be fixed with more training and experience, and no shortcut will be enough to help you guys here."
Hearing that, all of them sighed in disappointment. However, they couldn't blame him here, since Sheva was right. This kind of problem was not something that any outsider could help them deal with. No, they themselves had to overcome this mental block, either from training or enlightenment from a high-level chess game. They needed more experience, and unfortunately, that was not something they could gain instantly.
This also revealed a big flaw in Sheva's coaching career. Even though he had done well guiding them all up until now, he himself had no experience in teaching people. Hell, most of his knowledge came from the system, so he didn't have the usual trial-and-error process that could help him deal with the situation right now. That was why he currently got a massive headache, not knowing how to deal with this shit.
"Just… Go back to sleep first and deal with your opponent tomorrow." Sheva spoke again, letting out another tired sigh while leaning back against the chair. "You can slip against a stronger opponent, but if you suffer from a weaker one, you are finished. Just focus on what is in front of you first, and once you meet a stronger player, I will help you prepare better. However, I can only do so much, but the end would depend on you, so just remember that."
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