CHAPTER 62: CRAZY REACTION

1877.

That was not a bad rating. However, for winning the entire tournament with an almost absolute result, honestly, Sheva thought he would get more than that. Hell, at one point, he even considered the idea of crossing the 2000 threshold in one go. However, there was no precedent for such a thing, so he had to be content with his current rating.

Fortunately, though, he didn’t voice his dissatisfaction out loud, or all the people here would want to beat him on the spot. Hell, the moment Irfan announced his rating, silence fell in the room as everyone stared at him in disbelief. It was after about half a minute that someone suddenly broke the silence here, and then, cheers erupted from all across the room.

"Damn, 1877?! Are you kidding me?! That is even higher than my own rating!"

"That is because you are trash, Old Man!"

"Hey, no need to be offensive!’

"Still... 1877? This should be an unprecedented event, right?"

"I don’t know... Do any of you know Magnus Carlsen’s or Garry Kasparov’s initial rating in the past?"

"Well, it doesn’t matter! What we should’ve talked right now is Sheva, right?!"

"Yeah! You crazy bastard! Winning an event as an unrated player?! Are you trying to become a legend or what?!"

For a moment, Sheva was frozen in his chair, clearly dumbfounded by the people’s reaction here. He didn’t expect that the rating he thought was pretty low would make the others go crazy like this.

Yeah, somehow, Sheva had been staring at the sky for too long, completely forgetting that he was still just a seedling who hadn’t grown up maturely yet. He, who had a system inside his head, always felt uncomfortable being a low-rated player, forgetting that even most of the elite players started at a rating of around 1500. His case was a rarity, and for a player who had only competed in one tournament, this rating was far more than he deserved.

’I need to be more humble and down to earth, huh?’ Sheva muttered to himself. ’Since when did I grow this arrogant?’

Of course, he didn’t voice it out loud. However, when all the people there saw his state, they all nodded in understanding before giving him a room, not wanting to overwhelm the poor boy more than necessary. It seemed that everyone here had some sort of misunderstanding, thinking that Sheva was overwhelmed by the sudden attention here. Well, not that Sheva would complain or correct them, of course, since he himself was not fond of being crowded like that.

After the commotion died down, all the attention finally went back to Irfan again, with some of the older members smiling sheepishly and apologizing to the man for interrupting them rudely like this. Fortunately, Irfan himself was quite a chill guy, so he just waved it off nonchalantly as if this was nothing.

"Well, if you are this crazy over Sheva, then, in theory, the next person I will call should make this room explode, right?" He smiled playfully, eliciting chuckles and laughter from the other. "Because... Our third player in that tournament has just cemented her name into Indonesian chess history as the youngest ever WGM coming from this country! Let’s give our loudest cheer for the future women’s world champion, Anna Marisa!"

"OOOOOOOH!"

"Fuck, you did a good job, Anna!"

"Don’t curse like that! Also, good job, Anna! A WGM?! Are you kidding me?!"

"That means she is one step away from being an IM like Master Irfan, right?"

"Stupid! Don’t make it sound easy! She would need another three norms to get that!"

"Bah! With her talent, it shouldn’t be that hard!"

"Come on, Anna! Stand up from your chair and greet everyone!"

"OOOOOOH!"

Just as Sheva expected, the reaction here was even crazier than when his achievement was announced. After all, besides the fact that Anna had just gotten her title upgraded and broken a record for the country, she was also a pretty girl, and it was natural for all men around there to hype her like she was the second Virgin Mary descended from heaven. The girl herself was also embarrassed by the attention she got here, but she was still standing up and greeting everyone politely.

Sheva also saw Sarah’s surprised expression from afar. It seemed that the girl didn’t expect her new friend to be a talented one. However, from the gleam in her eyes, Sheva could see that a gear was turning inside her head, thinking about something either brilliant or insane, or both, probably.

If Sheva had to guess, though, since Anna had just broken a record, her name would rise astronomically, so it would be a good idea to invite Anna to her streaming section. Not only would she be able to increase her followers by riding on the girl’s uprising fame, but this would also help Sarah introduce chess to her followers. They didn’t need to understand the game completely, just enough to show that Sarah was interested in this game. That way, when she announced Bagas as her girlfriend, her audience wouldn’t go too crazy about that.

"Okay, okay, calm down, everyone." Irfan suddenly raised his voice, snapping Sheva—and many other people here—out of his thought. "Even though this is an event that deserves to be celebrated, no need to exaggerate. Just save it when she becomes the women’s world champion, okay?" He smiled teasingly as Anna’s face flushed in embarrassment.

They talked about Anna’s achievement for a little bit more, completely embarrassing the girl, although in a good way. By the end of the conversation, her face looked like a boiled lobster, clearly showing that she wasn’t used to being praised publicly like this. Fortunately, Irfan took pity on her, finally moving on to the next—and probably the most important topic today.

"So, old members, I am sure you have been waiting for this moment, right?" The IM smiled knowingly. Although Sheva and some other people there were confused, they all could see that most of the players there grew restless, getting excited over this topic. "Then, let me announce this! In the next two weeks, the Jakarta International Chess Festival is about to begin! Be prepared, this is our chance to show our might to the whole country!"

"OOOOH!"