"Congratulations, Anna!"
It was the night before the last round started, and yet, all the Indonesian players gathered in Anna's room to celebrate her new title. Hell, Bagas even had a cake here, one he brought after consulting with the old man who was the owner of the Chinese restaurant, whose store had the best cake in the town.
Anna herself sighed helplessly. She saw this coming from afar, but when she was at the scene, the girl felt that this was a bit exaggerated. Of course, she wouldn't say anything about her moist eyes or how touched she was by everyone's gesture here. No, that would be too embarrassing to reveal after acting tough in front of them.
Still, looking at Ia's shining eyes, Sheva's proud gaze, and Laysa's reluctant yet nod of approval, the smile on her face couldn't be wider than this, as she was basically buzzing in excitement.
"Thank you, everyone." She said it softly, not even realizing that tears were threatening to fall down her face.
"Hey, hey, why are you so emotional like that?!" Laysa laughed. "This is something you should be happy about, you know?! Be proud, because you are the third IM that our country has!" There was still a jealousy detected in her tone, which made Anna twitch her smile a little.
"Yes, and I am a little bit faster than you, right?" She asked her best friend playfully while also wiping the tears on the corner of her eyes. "Does that mean I won our little game this round?"
Laysa froze immediately, knowing full well what it meant. This was related to the competition that they always had, and this time, it should be one to determine who got the IM title first. She won when it came to the WIM, and yet, Anna upped her when she got the WGM title. Now that her rival was able to get one faster than her again…
"Fine, like the usual, right?" Laysa sighed helplessly. "A week of lunch, everything is on me. Don't worry, I will not break my promise."
"OOOOH!"
"Yes! That's how you should do it, Laysa! You should include me as well!" Claudia jumped immediately.
"What? You?!" Laysa sneered. "Dream on, little one! Get to my rating first, and we can talk about this later!"
"Why, you?!"
Everyone laughed their asses off at those two's antics, knowing that they were just joking around here. Even though only the insiders knew what was going on, that didn't mean they were not excited by Laysa's domineering declaration, as if she were some sort of wealthy woman descending on earth. They didn't care that it was only Anna whom she promised, since the most important thing was joining the fun here.
Anna herself just smiled, enjoying the festive atmosphere in the room. Her heart was blooming right now, not just from the title, but also from the reaction of all the people around her.
Just a few hours after she had clinched the title, the girl had been receiving so many messages, from her old coach to the players she respected like Irene and Medina. All praised her for the success she achieved here, hoping that she could go further in her career.
However, Anna also knew that with this title, her responsibility would also be greater. It was as if passing the baton, from Irene to Medina, and now to her; she was definitely the country's best women's player of her generation. Now, the question was whether she could pass their achievement and become the first woman to become a GM or not.
'Oh, well, that is definitely a problem for the future me. Now, I just need to be happy first, celebrating this success with the others.' A smile curled as she watched all of her friends going crazy, devouring the cake that Bagas bought. 'Also, I have Sheva having my back. Why would I need to worry too much here?'
Yeah, this was what Sheva's presence meant, not just for her, but also for everyone else here. The boy had already turned into a spiritual symbol, the one whose presence was enough to calm them down, no matter how bad the situation was. It was as if his presence told them all that everything would be alright, and no bad result could disappoint him here.
This was also one of the reasons why she could show an amazing performance so far, knowing that the boy would be watching her with his usual 'I am so proud' look that was enough to melt her heart.
"Still…" Devi suddenly sighed, attracting the others' attention. "How could everything pass so fast! I swear, I haven't really enjoyed the European vibe here, and this is the most beautiful city I have ever visited! It is so unfair!" She whined.
In return, Claudia just snorted sarcastically. "Ha! We are here not just to have fun, but also to do serious business, Dev! If you want to have a vacation, go with your own money!"
"Say, what?! Say that again straight to my face! I know that you also want to hang out here, right?!" Devi returned with the same heat here.
The others just sighed when they saw this, rolling their eyes secretly while also muttering, 'Here we go again…'
Still, Bagas took a note about this, knowing that for seven of them, coming to Europe, especially to Biel, was not a normal occasion. Fortunately, they had one day off after the tournament was over before the date of their departure ticket, so he could plan something fun for their last day here.
Still, that had to be their last concern right now, since the tournament was not over yet. The celebration also had to be cut short as their phone rang simultaneously, showing that the pairing for the last round was out already. Of course, the main focus was on Anna here, since the girl still had a chance to go to the podium in this section.
"So, who is it?" Sheva, who didn't have his phone right now, glanced at Duta, who was the closest to him, to take a look.
"Well, it is another tough matchup." Anna took a deep breath. "My opponent is going to be Aryan Chopra, and he comes to the last day with five wins in a row."
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