Chapter 006: Rising to Fame After a Single Battle

The reporters were all taken aback, momentarily failing to grasp the meaning behind Lin Feng’s words. But soon enough, realization dawned on them.

Pfft—!

The journalist who had asked the question couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He was a veteran, having attended thousands of press conferences, but not once had anyone ever answered a question like this.

So, as long as he conceded, Lin Feng would start hurling insults?

But did he really dare?

Wang Chunsheng’s lips twitched as he glared at Lin Feng, his eyes sharp as knives. In his heart, he had already blacklisted this audacious “little brat.”

“So, you mean you want to insult Coach Wang?” The experienced reporter seized the opportunity for a scoop and pressed on.

Lin Feng nodded earnestly. “Yes.”

“Why?” the reporter continued.

“He’s disparaging my ability,” Lin Feng pouted. “Just because he’s old and holds seniority, doesn’t mean he can slander people at will. If words could be spoken so carelessly, then I could just as well say Coach Wang’s wife’s pregnancy is a sham—frankly, I don’t think he’s even up to that!”

Pfft—!

At these words, every reporter present couldn’t hold back any longer. They’d already stifled their laughter at Lin Feng’s earlier “May I insult someone?” But now, they simply could not resist.

This kid’s tongue was sharp enough for stand-up comedy.

But the reporters loved this style—after all, it made for sensational headlines.

As for Wang Chunsheng, his face was ashen. He slammed his fist heavily on the table. If it weren’t for his official status and the setting of the post-match press conference, he would have started cursing on the spot.

“Calm down, Wang. Don’t stoop to a child’s level!” Shen Ziqiang, seated beside Wang Chunsheng, quickly tried to smooth things over. The two had been teammates on the national team in their youth, with a friendship spanning decades. Though now rivals, their private relationship was far less tense than on the court.

“Shen, don’t blame me for overstepping, but you really need to keep your players in check,” Wang Chunsheng snapped. “That was a personal attack—if I report this to the Basketball Association, you know what the consequences will be!”

“Take it easy, Wang. I’ll definitely talk to him when we get back,” Shen Ziqiang said, shooting Lin Feng a performative glare before changing the subject. He turned to the journalists, “If anyone has more questions, ask them now. Otherwise, we’ll be leaving—we’ve got a red-eye flight to catch!”

The journalists knew better than to fan the flames of Wang Chunsheng’s anger. They asked a few routine questions about the next match’s outlook and tactics, then the press conference came to an end.

…

The next day, reports on the fifth game of the CBA finals dominated the front pages of every sports section.

“Divine Weapon Descends! Jiangning Jaguars Clinch Last-Second Victory Over Beicheng Tech!”

“116 Seconds, Five Three-Pointers: The Super Sub’s Miraculous Buzzer-Beater!”

“From Unknown to Unstoppable! Rookie Delivers the Winning Blow! Jiangning 2-3 Beicheng!”

“The Spoiler! Twenty-Year-Old Shatters Beicheng’s Championship Celebration Single-Handedly!”

“Comeback! Buzzer-Beater! Jiangning’s Young Gun Ascends to Legend—Call Him ‘God Feng’!”

“700,000 New Followers Overnight! The Next Superstar—Lin Feng!!”

…

The avalanche of reports catapulted Lin Feng’s name into the public eye. #LinFengBuzzerBeater# soared to the top of Weibo’s trending topics.

In a single night, Lin Feng became a sensation.

From a benchwarmer who barely saw court time, he had transformed into a bona fide basketball star. His growing legion of fans even dubbed him “God Feng.”

While people everywhere were abuzz over Lin Feng, he was lying contentedly in bed, tallying up the “spoils of war” from last night’s victory.

Having completed the rookie mission, he’d earned 3 skill points, 100 gold coins, and 100 experience points. Coupled with the earlier newcomer’s gift pack, he now had a total of 6 skill points and 200 gold coins.

Skill points could be used to improve the abilities of any superstar he had “kidnapped,” while gold coins could be spent in the system’s shop on kidnap cards and various items.

At the moment, Lin Feng had only kidnapped Stephen Curry, so the skill points could only be assigned to him.

He summoned the superstar profile in his mind, and the stats for basketball legend Stephen Curry appeared:

Speed: 75
Stamina: 72
Two-Point Percentage: 59%
Three-Point Percentage: 61% (Open Three-Point: 82%)
Free Throw Percentage: 93%

Note: Each skill point increases an attribute by one.

With 6 skill points in hand, Lin Feng thought for a moment, then invested them all in three-point shooting. With that, Curry’s three-point percentage rose to 67%, and his open three-point percentage soared to a terrifying 88%!

Having spent all his skill points, Lin Feng went to browse the system shop.

Lucky Aura (User enjoys extremely good luck for three minutes): 200 gold coins
Curse Aura (User suffers extreme bad luck for three minutes): 200 gold coins
Stamina Aura (User’s stamina is maxed out for three minutes): 200 gold coins
Speed Aura (User’s speed is maxed out for three minutes): 200 gold coins
Memory Aura (User’s memory is maxed out for three minutes): 200 gold coins
Imitation Aura (User’s mimicry ability is maxed out for three minutes): 200 gold coins
…

The shop’s front page offered all sorts of incredibly powerful auras, but these were all consumable items. Lin Feng only had 200 gold coins, so unless there was a special need, he had no intention of buying any.

The shop had five pages, but from the second page onward, every item was marked “Insufficient funds, cannot purchase.”

On the third page, Lin Feng spotted the kidnap card, priced at 1,000 gold coins—far beyond his current balance of 200. Clearly, this was a luxury.

“Looks like kidnapping another superstar won’t be easy,” Lin Feng yawned, exited the system, and prepared to doze off a little longer—the team had only just returned to Jiangning in the early hours, and he was still tired. But when he picked up his phone to check the time, he was dumbfounded.

There were over a hundred missed calls, and his Weibo notifications had maxed out at 999+.

“What the hell is going on?” he muttered.

After the post-game press conference yesterday, Lin Feng had taken the bus to the airport with his teammates. He’d turned off his phone before boarding, and by the time they arrived in Jiangning, it was three in the morning. Exhausted, he went straight to bed at the hotel without powering his phone back on.

Mom (7)
Dad (12)
Brother Feng (4)
Old Fourth (5)
Wenwen (3)
Olin (1)
…

Staring at the long list of missed calls, Lin Feng felt dizzy. Was he wanted by the police? Why was everyone looking for him?

When he opened Weibo, he was even more stunned.

He’d had just over ten thousand followers before, but now his follower count had exploded to 820,000, and was still climbing by dozens every minute.

“Is this really my Weibo account?”

He pinched his thigh hard, grimacing in pain.

So he wasn’t dreaming!

Scrolling further, he saw that his most recent post had over a hundred thousand comments and an astonishing four hundred thousand likes.

Ironically, the post had been made after the fourth game of the finals, when Jiangning was trailing 1-3 in the series. Lin Feng, who had spent the whole game on the bench, was feeling dejected afterwards and wrote:

“If one day I become a superhero, I’ll ride on rainbow clouds and save the team!!”

…