Men's Team: Indonesia VS Latvia

Women's Team: Indonesia VS Netherlands.

The opponent for the next round was finally out, and when Sheva read the list, the boy let out a deep sigh, somehow feeling relieved that the opponent was a little bit easier. Even though Latvia had several strong GMs, they didn't bring their strongest gun in this tournament, opting for the youngsters who were still climbing to the top. In terms of rating, the two countries were pretty similar here, with the lowest-rated one being Latvia's reserve member, the FM Maksims Golubovskis, who had an ELO rating of 2219.

Oh, don't get him wrong, Sheva loved playing against top countries, enjoying the thrill of fighting against a far better opponent than him. However, the team really needed a moral boost right now, and playing against a strong country would only achieve the opposite effect. Also, the boy wasn't so full of himself that he threw away his main target in this tournament just for his excitement.

No, Sheva still remembered that he was aiming for the top 15, and the boy was determined to fight for it.

Still, there was one problem, though, and that was the fact that Sheva still remembered his position in this team. So, he turned around at Taher and Arfan before asking, "So, who is going to be sitting in the hotel tomorrow? Will it be me again?"

Those two squirmed uncomfortably under everyone's gaze, trying to shrink their presence to the point that they didn't have to answer that question.

Honestly, they would like more than anything else to say no to that question. Those two were still hoping that Sheva would be able to play tomorrow. After all, Sheva's presence on the table was quite strong, and the mere thought of him playing next to them was enough to give them reassurance that everything would be alright.

It was strange, to be honest, that a rookie who had only played for less than a year managed to have that strong presence on the board. However, some players were born to be leaders, and Sheva was probably one of them here. Even though he only played on board 4, it was still enough to boost his teammates' confidence, as they all thought that everything was possible with Sheva being on the board.

Unfortunately, the decision was not up to them here. The team leader was still Master Susanto, and right now, no one knew what the man really thought. Moreover, even though he did it quietly, Master Susanto basically stood on Novendra's side when the man insulted Sheva and Arfan yesterday, so it was hard to think that he wouldn't do that again this time.

"No, don't worry, you will be able to play tomorrow, Shev." It was Medina who finally answered the question with a firm tone. This surprised everyone else, as even Irene, the leader of the women's team, didn't dare to say something like that with so much conviction. However, Medina just ignored them all and continued, "I don't know what Master Susanto smoked yesterday, but I can assure you that he is a logical person, not someone who is easily swayed by his emotions. He knows the importance of having you on the team, and it would be suicidal for him not to put you on the squad."

Well… Sheva himself also wanted to believe that. However, he didn't know Master Susanto enough to trust Medina's words blindly, especially since his impression of the man went down a little bit after how he handled the conflict yesterday.

"Medina is right here." Irene finally added, not wanting the team to doubt their leader. "Master Susanto should have given his consideration in choosing how to handle the thing yesterday, but I can assure you that he is a smart man, and he knows what he should do at this point. Please, don't doubt his intelligence."

"Well, I don't have any choice but to trust you both here, right?" Sheva smiled wryly.

"Oh, no, it is not you that doesn't have a choice here, Shev." Suddenly, Bagas also chimed in. "It is Master Susanto who doesn't have any choice but to choose you. Trust me."

"Oh?" Sheva crooked one of his eyebrows slightly, feeling intrigued. No offense to Irene and Medina, but compared to them, the boy would rather trust Bagas's words better in this situation, what with how long they had been friends. It wasn't just because of their emotional bond, but also because Sheva knew how Bagas's brain worked. So, he couldn't help but ask, "Care to explain?"

"Well, it is simple, honestly." Bagas grinned, showing off his white teeth to everyone. "You forget that the Black Rook channel's main purpose is to promote your game, so most of the viewers there are your fans. While yes, there are some who just want to support you lot for representing the country, the number is still quite a few, so when we lost so terribly earlier, the demand to put you back on the team rises again, and I tell you that it is quite intense."

"Wait! That… Could work?" Medina asked, having a frown on her face. "Could the noises on the Internet force Master Susanto to do what they want here?" Somehow, she forgot the power of the Internet when she was attacked by the trolls there during the Biel Tournament.

"Oh, of course, that will work, Sister Medina…" Sarah added with the same smile. Somehow, that smile was enough to make everyone shudder on the spot. "Also, even if that doesn't work, you forget that Sheva has quite a strong backing. You might not know this, but Mr. Wahyu Setyawan, the CEO of BNI, who is also sponsoring Sheva's journey, is also following this Olympiad. Now, imagine if he saw Sheva being put aside, resulting in the team losing embarrassingly… Well, you don't have to imagine that, right?"

The innocent tone that she asked in somehow was enough to send a chill down everyone's spine. The way Sarah and Bagas explained things gave them the image that something terrible would happen if Sheva didn't go in the next round. This made them all look at the couple differently. If before, they all saw that Bagas and Sarah were just the PR team who were here because of Sheva, now, all of them knew that those two couldn't be messed with here.

Bagas himself just ignored the stares he received, turning to his best friend and saying, "So, yeah, don't worry, Shev, you will be able to play tomorrow. Just make sure that you can win your game, okay?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.