"Hello, everyone, welcome to the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022! I am Sarah, and you are currently with me in Chennai, reporting live on how the best fighters in our country are faring in this cruel battlefield!"

NK61: MY GODDESS!!! PLEASE, MARRY ME!

VaishyCat: She has a boyfriend already, you weirdo!

CoolkidAri: Bah! Who cares about her ugly ass boyfriend?! I am sure he uses some sort of dark magic to bewitch my goddess!

L8monede: Mommy, please step on me!

Hilda99: Um… Why does the live chat room suddenly become this weird?

Sarah couldn't help but feel the corner of her mouth twitching as she caught a glimpse of what her viewers said there. Just like usual, all of her fans went crazy the moment they saw her, to the point that they overwhelmed the original chess viewers on this channel. She also silently apologized to the original audiences of this channel for bringing her weirdo fans here, catching them off guard.

'Well, hopefully, Bagas could be patient dealing with them.' She muttered inwardly, praying for her boyfriend's sanity.

"Right now, two players who have already secured the first point for our men's team and women's team are already here with me, so we can ask some questions to them." She decided to go straight to the topic rather than dilly-dallying with her audience. "Let's give our warmest welcome to Adrian Sheva and Laysa Latifah!"

Hilda99: Wooo! Finally, we are talking about chess!

Froggies: Hell, yeah! They both rock!

JojoAvT: Come on, Sheva! Come on, Laysa!

While the chat room exploded, both Sheva and Laysa entered the camera's point of view quickly, getting dragged forcefully by Sarah. Well… That was the case for Sheva, as he had some sort of allergy to a camera. Laysa herself didn't have any shyness here, just waving at the camera cheerfully. She was in a good mood after having just crushed her opponent mercilessly in the women's section.

"Hey, guys! Laysa here!" She grinned goofily, acting like a YouTuber. "And I am here with…" She nudged at Sheva's waist violently, making the boy cough a little.

"Sheva here…" He grunted lowly, couldn't even muster half the energy that Laysa had right now.

"Thank you, both of you, for that wonderful introduction." Sarah smiled at them innocently, making the viewers swoon over her. However, Sheva himself had already known the girl for a long time, and he could notice the hint of mockery in her eyes at him.

'Oh, so this is how you want to play your game, huh?' He muttered wryly. 'Fine, just wait until later, okay?'

"Okay, first things first." Sarah ignored Sheva's glare at her and went straight to the topic. "This is the first Olympiad for both of you, and you two also deliver the first win for the country. Tell us, how do you feel right now?"

"I feel great, of course!" Laysa chirped happily. "I know you cannot really tell since I usually smile a lot, but can you see that my smile this time is a little bit wider?" She spread her mouth once again to the point that Sheva felt the muscle pain even though he wasn't the one who did that. "On a serious matter, though, my win is great not only for me, but also for my team. Even though I left them first, I also didn't forget to take a look at their games, and I am sure that they wouldn't have a problem with their opponents! Even Little Ia would be able to come back with a win, for that, I guarantee!"

"…Well… I am not trying to be cocky here, but I also feel the same." In the end, Sheva had no choice but to sing in the same tone. It would not be good if he showed any disapproval of Laysa's take, as it would only create a crack in the team. "It is always important to start the tournament perfectly, because we cannot ensure that our journey will be as smooth as it is right now when we are meeting a stronger country. At least, if we want to get a good result, I think we have to sweep all of our weaker opponents in the earlier round like this."

This remark at least got a positive response from the audience. They all kept talking about how good the situation inside the team was, and the confidence that both teenagers portrayed here.

After that, they chatted a lot about the game they played earlier, with Laysa trying to explain her strategy and several lines she considered during the game, while Sheva also provided one or two sentences to help. Honestly, it was quite surprising to see Laysa focusing so deeply on chess when, usually, she was the embodiment of a golden retriever.

After a while, Sarah finally noticed that they had been chatting for a long time, so she decided to end the interview soon. "One last question, though." She smiled mischievously. "Not a lot of people know about this since both Master Susanto and Master Irene, as the leaders of the team, haven't talked to the media yet, but in your mind, what is your target in this tournament? Where do you want to bring the country in the standings?"

Sheva froze instantly when he heard that question. The first ever mission that he got from the system suddenly reappeared again in front of his eyes, yet the boy didn't know whether he should say that out loud or not.

Laysa, though, didn't have any reservations in that regard. "Me personally? I hope that we can enter the top 10 in the final standings." The girl answered nonchalantly. "I know it looks almost impossible, but our initial rank is at the 19th position of the table, so I don't think climbing nine steps through heaven is something impossible to do."

Sheva could feel the corner of his mouth twitching when he heard that. This was a bold declaration from the girl, and although he knew that Medina would scold her mercilessly after this, the statement showed how confident Laysa was with her current team. However, this also put Sheva in a difficult situation, as right now, if he didn't match her answer with the same ambition, it would look like the men's team was far weaker here.

So, even with a wry smile on his face, Sheva still said his answer confidently, "As for me… Top 15. I have my eyes on that spot."

It was such a short answer, but enough to explode the entire live chat room.

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.