Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!

"Oh, God… What kind of bad karma did I do in the previous life for you to think that I deserve this torture?" Sheva groaned weakly, staggering to his feet. "I mean, we have already visited all the shops here, right?! Hell, I even remember that we have gone to the same souvenir shop three times today! What are you searching here?!" He glared fiercely at Claudia, yet the heat was blown away by all the things the girl bought that he had to carry.

Claudia herself just looked sheepish at Sheva's rant. The girl didn't even realize that she had been running through the entire mall, and this was not a little mall, mind you. They were currently in Kringlan, the biggest shopping mall in the country.

Sheva was reluctant to go at first, wanting to stay at the hotel and take a rest. However, Claudia made a good argument about them bringing back something local to their families. Apparently, agreeing to that invitation was definitely his biggest mistake, as the boy had never expected her to be this ridiculous.

"So, where are we going again? Because I swear, if we go to the clothing department again, I will… I will…"

Hell, even Sheva lost words here, not being able to muster his worst curse in front of the girl. Not because Claudia was a girl, but because his patience had a limit. After all, who would've gone shopping at the same place over and over again for three years nonstop? Little did Sheva know, though, that this was just women's nature.

"Oh, don't be a spoilsport, Shev! Just treat this as your practice to be more patient! You need this in your game, you know?" Claudia retorted. However, at Sheva's narrowed gaze, she squirmed immediately, feeling a little bit guilty here. "Oh, also, don't you want to bring something to your mom? I bet she would be happy if you remembered her like that."

Sheva stared at the girl blankly, and at the sight of her hopeful gaze, he finally wilted.

"It is not fair, you know?" He mumbled grumpily. "Playing an emotional card like that, mentioning my mom to drag me into this shenanigan…"

Honestly, if Sheva could choose, he would rather be in another doubleheader day, fighting against the best players in the world, rather than having to accompany a girl for shopping. Well, not that he would say it out loud, of course, but this was more exhausting compared to all the games he had ever played in. Hell, this was the most tiring day he had had in Reykjavik, and today should be the last day of him being here, as later tonight, they would fly back to Indonesia.

Still, looking at the ecstatic Claudia dragging him from one shop to another, his gaze softened as he let the little girl do whatever she wanted. It wasn't like she bought and wasted a lot of money here, as they had already picked a lot of things for their family back home. She just wanted to hang out in a mall in this foreign country, sometimes comparing it with what Jakarta had.

PING!

Suddenly, a message notification rang on his phone, and Sheva stopped to check it first. When he read the message, though, he couldn't help but smile, sending a thumbs-up emoticon as a short reply to the man on the other side of the phone. The content of the message was simple, but Sheva felt like this was a challenge and a motivation for him to climb higher soon.

Praggnanandhaa: Thanks! I am glad that I still got first place after a draw against you. I'll wait until your rating is high enough, and let's fight again on a bigger stage!

Yeah, the message he received was from Praggnanandhaa after he sent a congratulations message for the Indian boy's win. He just did it out of politeness, yet Sheva somehow got a motivational pull as an answer here.

'Yeah, if I want to face against him, Gukesh, or Hans Niemann, I would need to climb higher…' He clenched his fist unconsciously. 'There is no way they would stop improving themselves after this. If so, since I am already at a disadvantage for my late start, I would need to work more to reach their height. Come on! I can do this!' The boy tried to hype himself up.

If any chess fans or chess players heard his thoughts, they would think that Sheva was a lunatic. After all, a mere 2300-rated player dared to dream of reaching those top players with an ELO rating of around 2600-2700? It was like a wet dream that would've never been achieved even in seven lifetimes.

However, Sheva knew that he was capable of doing that. A few games against those top players made him realize that they were just normal opponents, albeit a little bit stronger. However, that didn't mean they were invincible, and if he was in his best state, the boy also had a chance to dethrone them. His experience was the best motivation to keep him moving forward here.

Right after that, his phone was buzzing again, and Sheva read the new message quickly. It came from Bagas as he said for them to meet him in one of the cafes close to the airport, and that the fat boy was already there with Irene. Seeing this, Sheva couldn't help but frown, wondering what was going on here.

'How could they be in the same place right now?' He wondered confusedly. 'Bagas should still be sleeping, right? Also, what is going on with Sister Irene's meeting?'

Yeah, the reason why those two people didn't join Sheva and Claudia's shopping spree was because they had some sort of business they had to finish. For Bagas, since he stayed up late last night due to compiling the best moment of this tournament for the YouTube channel, the fat boy was determined to pay back the sleeping time he lost last night for at least four hours or so. As for Irene, the woman said that her friend's flight would be a little bit earlier, so she wanted to accompany him before they got separated once again.

Now that Bagas suddenly chatted that he was already with Irene, Sheva couldn't help but wonder, 'What are they doing there?'