BRAK!

Suddenly, a thunderous slam echoed through the building as the door burst open from outside, instantly drawing everyone's attention with its deafening crash. The cold wind invited to come in was battling against the heater inside, creating an unpleasant feeling for everyone there.

Sheva frowned immediately, turning around to look at what was going on there. Not just him, all the people there also did the same, leaning their heads toward the door. Even though it was already noon, there were only a few customers in this restaurant, so it was fortunate that this incident didn't bother too many strangers, especially since Sheva noticed the culprit behind this all.

"Bagas? What the hell are you doing?!" He asked, his brows furrowed deeply.

Yeah, it was Bagas who made a commotion here. The boy panted heavily, his face flushed and hands trembling, clearly the result of a frantic run to get there. It seemed that even with all the exercises that he had done to lose some weight, the effect wasn't really that visible yet.

"Ah… Ah, apologize, Uncle! Aunty! I have just rushed from the venue!" The fat boy apologized to the owner quickly, realizing his mistake. "Sorry, I make a ruckus here!" The boy bowed his head slightly, showing how sincere he was.

"Eh, don't worry, Boy! It is just a door slamming! I have lived in New York for so many years, so I am pretty used to it right now!" The owner of the restaurant, a Chinese old man with a bald head and still holding a wok in his hand, laughed from the kitchen, seeming to enjoy the flashback triggered by Bagas's action. "Just don't do it again, okay? Reykjavik is a quiet and peaceful city! No need to rush to go anywhere!"

Bagas just nodded silently, yet when he saw Sheva and Claudia sitting close to the window, his eyes lit up instantly. He went there immediately, taking off his jacket and sitting next to Sheva without even saying anything. The moment his rear touched the warmth of the plastic seat, the boy let out a relieved sigh, feeling like his soul was back in his body again.

"Ah… Thanks for the water, by the way." He took the glass of water in front of Sheva rudely, emptying it in one gulp without even letting his best friend say anything about it.

Sheva could feel his mouth twitching annoyedly at how his best friend acted. At this point, though, he had already gotten used to it, and the fact that Bagas was rushing here told him that the boy had come here and brought big news for him. So, after waiting for the fat boy to swipe the sweat first, a question finally escaped from his mouth.

"So, what is going on?"

Claudia also stared at the big man curiously, wanting to know why Bagas was rushing here. If she remembered it right, Bagas seemed to have a chat with several people from the arbiter's group, so she was curious about what kind of news he would bring here.

"Wait… Wait a moment, please…" Bagas raised his hand while also trying to stabilize his breath. Once the pant was gone, a huge grin suddenly formed on his face as he said excitedly, "Damn, Shev! Congrats!"

"Um?!" Sheva was taken aback, not expecting the sudden greeting from his best friend. Claudia also looked at the boy confusedly, not knowing what was inside his brain. At first, Sheva thought that it was a congratulation for his win against the grandmaster Idani Pouya, so he just gave a simple nod of acknowledgement here. "Um… Well, thanks. Didn't know that you would be this excited, by the way." He smiled, trying to ease the awkward situation here with a joke.

"What do you mean by that?! Of course, I would be excited for you! I mean, you made history here! You've just earned your first grandmaster norm, for God's sake! And you did it even before you got your first ever title!"

The table fell into complete silence immediately, and all eyes turned to the fat boy within a second. Both Sheva and Claudia stared at him with wide eyes, unable to believe what they had just heard.

"Is this a cruel joke? Or do my ears start to deceive me here?" Sheva's eyes still blinked rapidly, and he himself didn't even realize that his heart beat faster than normal. "Are you fucking kidding me?! A grandmaster norm?!" His voice rose unconsciously. Well, his reaction was understandable, since Bagas dropped more than a mere bomb here. No, this was the type of nuclear news, enough to obliterate his mind in a second.

"Of course, I am fucking serious here! Do you think that I would be cruel enough here?!" Bagas also raised his voice, and the grin on his face clearly told everyone how excited he was. Then, the boy took out his phone immediately, typing something on his browser before finally showing it to them both. Claudia also leaned closer to Sheva, wanting to know what Bagas was trying to show. "Here, this is the website to calculate whether you've got your norm or not. You can check it by yourself."

Sheva frowned, glancing at the phone briefly. It was a website that he had never seen before, and the interface itself was quite simple. All he had to do was just insert the details of all of his opponents in this tournament, like their ratings and nationalities, and in the last part, it also asked him to input his points there. Then, the website would do the work, giving him the information whether he was eligible for the norm or not.

The boy inputted the necessary information one by one, and the more he put them there, the more he realized how ridiculously good his performance was. Who would've imagined that a mere 2100-rated player would be able to force two draws and a win against top grandmasters, only suffering one defeat in the process? If before, Sheva thought that Bagas's news was ridiculous, now that he realized how good he was in this tournament, the boy also started to believe it too.

True enough, as he finished inputting all the necessary data and submitted it all, it didn't take long time for the website to make the judgment. There, he saw it with his own eyes, the bold text at the bottom of the table.

Congratulations! The GM norm is achieved!

Then, hell broke loose.

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