"Whoa… Those are some nasty comments over there…" Sheva whispered in disbelief, scrolling through his phone to read what the internet had to say about their current situation. "Master Susanto, are you sure you don't need to say anything here?" He turned to the team's leader questioningly.

It was dinner time here, and they decided to order two boxes of pizza from the nearby chain food restaurant to eat in their hotel room. Not only because they were exhausted already from such a long day, but they also needed to discuss this matter thoroughly, and that was something that was not appropriate to be talked about in a restaurant. No one would say it out loud, though, but some of them were also tired of the local food here. Even though it was good and pretty suitable with their taste, a lighter variation was definitely needed at some point.

As they enjoyed their pizza, though, Bagas also explained this matter carefully while also showing some examples from the internet. Novendra's face turned ugly when he read some of the comments there. Even though he knew that he hadn't done well in this tournament, what those internet trolls said was a bit too much here. Hell, one person even accused him of bribing the official so that he could get a spot in this team, and that was a heavy accusation that could ruin a player's whole career if not handled well.

However, Master Susanto didn't look worried at all. Even though he was the main object of people's scrutiny, the man still acted as if nothing had happened outside. Hell, he still had his legs crossed while enjoying the show on TV, with a piece of pizza and a cup of hot coffee on the table next to him. If the people there didn't know anything about him, they would've thought that Master Susanto was here for a vacation, not to play in the Olympiad.

"Don't worry too much about it. This is not the first time Master Susanto has received this kind of treatment." It was Irene who explained this matter. "There were some periods in the past where he didn't play great and had to be under a lot of criticism from the media. At that time, it was more brutal because those came from the national newspaper, so everyone pretty much knew about his bad performance. You know what Master Utut said to him?" She smiled mysteriously.

"Um? Master Utut is involved?!" Some of the youngsters there widened their eyes in surprise. This was probably the first time they heard this story.

Well, it was understandable for Master Utut to get involved when the young Master Susanto was in trouble. After all, Master Susanto was the successor that Master Utut was waiting for, so it was important for that legendary figure to take care of Master Susanto when the man was still quite immature, just like what Master Susanto did to the youngsters nowadays, like Sheva and the others.

"Well, I could still remember vividly that day, when Master Utut suddenly said to me and Master Susanto," Irene said with a gaze wandering far, reminiscing about the past. "He said that to be big, you have to be able to swallow all kinds of things by yourself."

Sheva and the others just looked at each other confusedly, not knowing what Irene meant by that.

"To put it simply…" Irene explained, noticing the confusion on Sheva's face. "As a national athlete, you have to know that you are being watched, no matter how unpopular the sport you are playing is. So, as you deal with trouble, you always have to hold a strong sense of responsibility. That is the only way for people to trust you more in the future, and Master Susanto knows about it as well. That is why he doesn't look angry at the comment about him on the Internet. He knows that this is the consequence of him playing badly, and the only way to get out of this situation is either to play better and get an immediate result or step down under the pressure, and I am sure that you know which one he would choose in this situation."

Well, Sheva could understand that point of view. It was the kind of mentality that, rather than getting entangled in the debates on the Internet, where he himself didn't know who was speaking, it would be better to prove that they were wrong based on the result.

Even if Master Susanto screamed till he lost his voice, it wouldn't change the fact that his record was bad in the last couple of days, and that would only drain his energy. So, the best way to deal with this matter was to put his focus on the next game, ignoring all the noise while also trying to get a better result slowly.

However, to do that, Master Susanto would really need to have a thicker skin here. Sheva could still remember when they got attacked by the internet trolls in Biel when both Anna and Medina lost against Yu Yangyi, and even if they were prohibited by Bagas from reading what the internet said, it still put their mind in anxiety over the fact that people talked shit about them.

It wasn't the easiest thing to do, as right now, Novendra was on the verge of snapping on the corner of the room. His face was red, and Sheva could even see the imaginary smoke coming out of his ears. In the end, Medina had to chase him away from the room, letting the man cool his head off before he could do anything that he would regret later.

DING!

Suddenly, some of their phones rang simultaneously, indicating that they all got the same notification here. All of them grabbed their phones immediately, knowing that this meant the next matchup was finally out. All the women's team members were excited to see if they could extend their good performance further, while the men's team was anxious to bounce back after suffering a painful defeat against Poland.

However, their reaction changed 180 degrees after they realized who their next opponent was.

Men's Team: Indonesia VS Serbia

Women's Team: Indonesia VS India

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.