"Yes! Come on, Brother Nay!" Devi grinned widely as she high-fived the boy; her excitement was palpable. "The first FM norm! This is your first road to glory! Good job, you have done well today!"
Nayaka's smile was bigger than ever, as he still tried to be humble here. "This is nothing… Come on, guys! Remember, our target is to walk side by side with Brother Sheva! This small result is only a small step out of a thousand big ones that I have to take!" He laughed awkwardly.
Of course, as a good friend, Duta would never let him fall into this kind of humbleness. No, the boy's job here was to make sure that Nayaka knew his self-worth, and hyping him up was the easiest thing to do.
"It might seem a little step, Brother Nay, but you still take it in this tournament. At least, you are ahead of us two in this regard." The boy spoke softly. "Also, before you, the lowest-rated player who managed to get 6 whole points out of 9 rounds before is only Brother Sheva last year, and he did it with his rating around 2390. So, you are beating his record this year, and you should be proud of it."
"…Ah? I am beating Brother Sheva's record?" This time, Nayaka's brain short-circuited, not expecting this kind of development. "You mean I get my first FM norm and I also beat Brother Sheva's record last year? Is this fucking real?" He asked, his jaw still hanging open in disbelief.
Well, not that anyone could blame his excessive reaction, since those two things had never flashed in his mind before the tournament began. Nayaka just wanted to continue his good performance from the last tournament, and who would've thought that he would do a way better job than anyone—even he himself—had ever expected?
Once they were out of the venue hall, Devi moved like lightning, getting her phone as quickly as possible to check this fact. Her eyes were shining brightly, ready to gaze over her senior. However, her smile stiffened immediately once she recognized that the fact wasn't completely right.
"You are the lowest-rated player to get 6 points here, but you are not breaking Brother Sheva's record. That was broken last night, when Sister Anna got her sixth point of the tournament. You are the third player who managed to do that." She sighed; her tone was full of regret.
Not that the girl hated Anna or something like that, especially not because Anna was her rival's sister. No, Devi was not that petty. However, it would be nice to see Sheva's student following his step, being the only two players in the world to have the same kind of record. Now, it wasn't possible due to the other senior, and while Devi was still happy, she also felt pity for this missed opportunity.
Meanwhile, unlike the girl, Nayaka somehow let out a relieved sigh. The weight of breaking Sheva's record was too heavy for him to shoulder alone, so getting Anna in this club didn't seem too bad.
"Anyway, let's try to find the others first. They should be waiting in the lobby." Duta finally spoke, snapping the other two teenagers out of their thoughts.
Well, they didn't need to be told twice before nodding along, walking out of the venue quietly. Fatigue also started to take over, as they felt their shoulders grow heavier the more they walked on.
Once they were back at the hotel, the three teenagers saw their countrymen were already there, but instead of greeting them, each one of them was so focused on their own phone, some even clutching their device so tightly.
"What's wrong, Sister Dita?" Devi asked in a whisper, not wanting to bother anyone else here.
"Oh, Devi? Duta? Nayaka? You are back already?" It seemed Dita Karenza didn't notice their arrival, as she was taken aback by their sudden appearance. However, the woman regained her calmness immediately, as she showed them all the live broadcast on their phone. "Anna is getting so close to winning her game right now. Everyone is waiting for Aryan Chopra to resign."
"Um?!" Devi blinked in surprise, not expecting this kind of development. "Sister Anna won?" She asked for confirmation, getting her phone once again to check YouTube.
She was justified in this reaction. Out of anyone else in the room, the girl was the only one who played against Aryan Chopra here, and while she managed to force a draw, the girl knew the horror that the Indian GM possessed in his game.
Now, Dita Karenza said that Anna was winning her game? This seemed to be too good to be true.
However, that was the reality in front of her right now. Once the girl saw the broadcast, even if she couldn't see the evaluation bar, she knew that Anna was having a great advantage right now.
Both players still had a rook and a knight on their own side, but the number of pawns here was the biggest difference. Anna was somehow up to two pawns, having three against one on Aryan Chopra's side. Not only that, the Indian GM was at a greater disadvantage, as that pawn was on the H file, getting too cornered and couldn't even move a square anymore.
"Honestly, the situation is clear now, and even though Anna hasn't done well in this situation in the last couple of days, there is no way she would throw this kind of situation again." Bagas's voice could be heard guiding the audience to get immersed in the game. "That pawn on the H file is so dead right now, and one move will be enough to get it killed instantly. With three pawns still getting connected to each other, it is only a matter of time before we see the historical handshake today."
Anna herself also looked so tense, with a thick vein popping on her neck. It was clear that the game really took a toll on her, and yet, she didn't want to stop here. The girl wanted more, and she had to make sure that the man in front of her would fall under her knee soon.
Well, it seemed she didn't need to wait for so long, because Aryan Chopra himself seemed to have enough here. He groaned lightly, probably regretting how the situation could go south like this. However, no amount of regret would be enough to turn back time, and the man definitely knew about it.
After a while, he sighed one more time, offering a handshake that all the Indonesian players had been waiting for. Once that happened, Anna also froze, starting to gasp uncontrollably.
That was when everyone knew that she won, and right after that, hell broke loose.
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