Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 375: Socializing (I)

"Good job, Sheva..."

"... Thank you!"

"Anyway, what is your future plan?"

"Yeah, where will you play next?"

"I don’t know, I will take it slow first!"

"Hey, can I get a photo, please?"

"Sure!"

Those were the common words that Bagas had been hearing as he accompanied Sheva before the closing ceremony was held. The boy couldn’t help but let out a low whistle, though, impressed that his best friend could be so good at pretending to act nicely like this. Bagas knew that Sheva was not exactly a social butterfly, so for him to answer all the concerns and questions from the strangers here was definitely a big thing.

’Oh, well, you couldn’t help it, though.’ Bagas snorted in amusement. ’This is definitely the consequence of winning. Everyone wants to get close, wanting to reap some benefit from the contact with you. Just bear with it, because I am sure that everything would be escalated into a far crazier level after we go back home.’

Yeah, after all, winning a gold medal was a big thing, especially in the Olympics. Bagas couldn’t help but shudder when he imagined what kind of grand recipient Sheva would receive once they landed in Jakarta tomorrow. That would definitely be a spectacle to be seen.

After interacting with a few more people, Sheva finally managed to escape, and the boy didn’t even hesitate to use Bagas’s big body as a shield to hide himself. The boy’s hair was disheveled, and Bagas could also see that one button on his shirt was off. The most tragic thing, though—which also was the most amusing thing, in Bagas’s opinion—was that Sheva glancing around warily and got ready to escape if another round of people greeted him again.

It seemed that people here really traumatized him, as he was starting to get jumpy at the thought of interacting with the others.

"This is horrible..." Sheva panted. "How could someone enjoy this circus?!" He moaned weakly, eliciting a chuckle from Bagas.

"Are you talking about the ladies? Because I am sure that they have the best day of their life right now." The fat boy said with eyes glinting in amusement.

Indeed, it wasn’t just Sheva who was forced into socializing. As the underdog team that achieved the impossible, the women’s team was also surrounded by people who wanted to chat or just have a photo with them. However, there was a glaring difference between them and Sheva. They really enjoyed getting to meet new people here.

Laysa was seen getting dragged by Vaishali as Pragg’s sister was trying to introduce the girl to the other Indian players. Anna chatted with some girls, while Claudia also followed shyly from behind, just exactly like how a little sister acted when the big sister’s friends were around. However, even for Anna, who was also a quiet girl, she didn’t have any social anxiety, going with the flow pretty flawlessly here. As for Irene and Medina, they were no strangers to a high-level meeting like this, so they had a few acquaintances to catch up with.

"A bunch of monsters, they are," Sheva muttered under his breath. "Anyway, just say that I go to the toilet or whatever it is when someone asks about me, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Bagas crooked one of his eyebrows slightly. "Even if it is your acquaintance?" He asked once again for confirmation. Well, not for that, per se, but because the boy indeed saw someone that Sheva knew approaching him from afar.

"Shev! Here you are!" Praggnanandhaa, the Indian genius, had his eyes lit up when he finally found his friend. "I have been searching for you for a while! Where have you been?! If not for Bagas’s big body, I would never be able to find you!"

"Puh~Leaze~! Don’t say big body in that tone again, okay?!" Bagas clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. However, it was clear that no heat was found in his tone.

Sheva himself was surprised to see that Bagas and Pragg seemed to know each other. However, it was just for a moment before Sheva brushed it off quickly. He knew that Bagas was the definition of a social butterfly, always able to make friends with everyone. It was no wonder that he could also befriend Sheva’s friends, since Sheva’s social circle was quite small.

"Well, you seem like a dead fish right now, so I won’t bother you too much. I’d like to invite you for dinner tomorrow, and my sister has also invited your friend as well! Don’t worry about going alone! Oh, Bagas, you are invited too! Don’t forget to come too, okay?"

Without even waiting for a response, the boy disappeared immediately, just like a wild Pokémon wanting to escape a trainer. Sheva and Bagas could only stare at each other helplessly, silently wondering what was going on here.

"Damn, I thought you were the most extroverted person that I know, but he outmatches you by a huge margin, you know?" Sheva couldn’t help but throw a joke. "Look at him, wandering around and chatting with anyone he sees as if everyone here is his acquaintance. Social anxiety sure fears him."

"That’s a good joke." Bagas snorted.

Pragg was not the last one who found him, though. However, the next one to come was enough to shock Sheva to the core. It was not just a normal player. No, out of nowhere, he was approached by the entire Norwegian team, including Magnus Carlsen himself. Sheva could feel his jaw drop, and Bagas himself was in awe, not expecting that the big shot would be visiting them directly like this.

"Hey, miracle boy! How are you doing?!" Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, Sheva’s opponent a few days ago, was the one who broke the silence here. "I should’ve visited you after your little episode, but seeing that you have been thriving, I don’t really want to distract you from anything else. Still, I didn’t expect that you would be this good. Congratulations, by the way! You really use me as a stepping stone!"

He spoke so fast, and his Northern European accent also made it difficult to understand. However, that was the least Sheva cared about right now. His gaze was still completely on Magnus Carlsen, and his brain seemed to crash out at this moment.

Seeing this, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen couldn’t help but smile, and with a teasing tone, he said, "Well, let me introduce you to my good friend. I am sure that you know about Magnus Carlsen, right?"