Chapter 007: The Inseparable Bond Between Literature and Sports

At that time, when Lin Feng posted that message on Weibo, there were only a few dozen comments, most of them offering consolation. No one truly believed that a benchwarmer could save the team.

Yet, to everyone’s astonishment, just two days later, Lin Feng actually did it.

Thrust into the role at a critical moment, he single-handedly rescued the team and delivered the winning shot at the buzzer!

Such a story, paired with Lin Feng’s earlier social media post, was the stuff of superhero movie scripts.

So, when fans came across Lin Feng’s Weibo message, the internet exploded with excitement.

Wu Xiaonao’s Magic Castle: "You did it! You are our superhero!"

Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee: "After watching your performance in the last two and a half minutes and your game-winner, you have my utmost respect..."

Security Guard Old Wang from the Sports Bureau: "Young man, you played well. Our director said if you win the next game, he’ll hand over his position to you."

That Night of Splendor: "Darling, darling, may I call you that???"

Lonely Expert: "You were amazing, absolutely incredible! You truly are our Jiangning team’s superhero!"

Let’s Wander Together: "I’ve been a basketball fan for twenty years, watched Jiangning games for twenty years! Never has a single match shaken me like tonight’s. Even after the final whistle, my heart is still racing with excitement. There’s always luck and chance in basketball, but I can’t believe that hitting five out of six three-pointers in the final moments is just luck. I believe behind that game-winner lies your sweat and hard work. I believe the buzzer-beater was no accident! Now, on behalf of all Jiangning fans, I want to ask: Lin Feng, do you dare to bring the championship trophy home to Jiangning?"

...

Lin Feng glanced at the top comments—some playful, some humorous, some encouraging, and some expressing the most heartfelt hopes of Jiangning’s fans.

But the message that touched Lin Feng most was from "Let’s Wander Together." It was clear he was a die-hard Jiangning supporter, and his final question echoed the desire of every Jiangning fan.

The championship trophy had been awaited by both the Jiangning team and its fans for far, far too long.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Feng replied to "Let’s Wander Together" with two words: "I dare!"

"Whoa, did I just see who I think I saw?"

"Lin Feng is online..."

"Spotted the elusive superstar Lin Feng!"

"Let’s Wander Together, you’ve been noticed!"

"Lin Feng, you’ve got guts! That’s the kind of swagger I like!"

...

The moment Lin Feng appeared, fans swarmed to capture this rare sighting, and his reply was quickly pushed to the top of the comments.

Ten minutes later, Lin Feng’s response—"I dare"—had become the most upvoted comment, with over thirty thousand likes in just ten minutes, a testament to the immense attention he was now receiving.

Among those watching Lin Feng were scores of sports journalists. When they saw his reply, the reporters lurking on his Weibo instantly sprang to life...

In less than ten minutes, major sports sections on various websites published new articles.

"Lin Feng Boldly Vows to Bring the Championship Trophy Back to Jiangning!"

"With Just Two Words, ‘I Dare,’ the Miraculous Young Star Declares His Championship Ambition!"

"Lin Feng Answers Fans: I Dare to Win the Championship! Confidence or Arrogance?"

...

With these reports, Lin Feng once again became the center of public discussion. After all, in most people’s eyes, he was being far too brash. Even when Beicheng led the series 3-1, their head coach Wang Chunsheng hadn’t dared to guarantee a championship.

Yet now, with Jiangning still trailing by a game, Lin Feng dared to say it outright, inevitably giving people the impression of arrogance.

Sure enough, the comments beneath these news stories were sharply divided. Jiangning fans saw Lin Feng’s words as a sign of confidence and morale, while Beicheng supporters and many neutral fans scoffed at him.

"So what if he made a lucky shot? What’s there to brag about!"

"Just a benchwarmer! Does he really think he’s a superstar?"

"Exactly, they’re still behind! Acting all high and mighty—just wait for Beicheng to crush them tomorrow!"

"Used to be a fan, but now I can’t stand him. Didn’t expect him to be so full of himself..."

There was no shortage of criticism for Lin Feng. In a way, his bold "I dare" reply brought a storm of negativity upon himself.

But Lin Feng didn’t care. Not only did he now possess the skills of the legendary Curry, but his three-point shooting percentage had increased by six points. With such an otherworldly shooting touch, how could he possibly worry about winning?

Back on Earth, many fans had debated how many points Curry would score if he ever played in the CBA—some guessed eighty, others a hundred. Of course, that question would never have a real answer, since Curry would never play in the CBA. But now, Lin Feng, armed with Curry’s abilities, found himself in this world. In the next finals game, he was eager to test that hypothetical—and, in the process, thoroughly silence his critics!

Just as Lin Feng was daydreaming about the next match, his phone rang. The caller ID read "Dad."

When Lin Feng arrived in this world, his memories and emotions had completely fused with the Lin Feng of this timeline, so seeing the familiar name on his phone filled him with warmth.

Lin Feng’s father, Lin Changdong, had once been a basketball player himself, spending his entire career with the Jiangning team. It was under his influence that Lin Feng had chosen the path of a professional athlete.

"You little rascal, you finally turned your phone on! I’ve been calling you all day!" The moment Lin Feng answered, his father’s playful scolding came through, clearly in good spirits.

"I only got off the plane at three in the morning, fell asleep as soon as I got to the hotel," Lin Feng explained.

"I’ll let it slide this time, since you made me so proud!" Lin Changdong laughed heartily. "I watched last night’s game—you really did inherit your old man’s talent! Those final three-pointers were just what I needed, and that buzzer-beater—what I never managed in my career, you’ve pulled off! Well done, son. All these years of raising you weren’t in vain. Most importantly, now your mother has no grounds to insist you become a singer anymore. Hmph! My son is a future basketball superstar, no need to be a singer!"

"A singer?" Lin Feng was momentarily confused, but a quick search of his memories reminded him that his mother, Guo Shuzhen, was a singer—one with a fair bit of fame. His parents’ marriage was a classic union of art and sport, truly embodying the saying that culture and athletics are inseparable.

Yet after Lin Feng was born, the couple clashed fiercely over his future. Lin Changdong hoped his son would follow in his footsteps and fulfill the dream he never realized: winning a league championship for Jiangning. Guo Shuzhen, on the other hand, wished her son would pursue music and become a singer.

They argued for years, neither willing to yield. Eventually, they struck a truce: Lin Feng would study both music and basketball, and whichever talent proved greater would determine his path.

And so, from the age of five, Lin Feng trained in both disciplines.

To the astonishment of both parents, Lin Feng excelled in both fields. After more than a decade of study, his achievements in music and sports were neck and neck. By the time he was filling out college applications, he had amassed a stack of certificates and awards that would have guaranteed him a place at any top university in either field.

This sparked yet another round of parental debate, which was finally settled by the flip of a coin. Lin Changdong won, so Lin Feng enrolled at Yanjing Sports Academy. Now a sophomore, his stellar performance in the collegiate league had earned him a spot on the Jiangning team as a semi-professional player.

Reflecting on the past, and thinking of his mother’s unwavering ambition to make him a singer, Lin Feng chuckled. In his previous life, after years of struggling in Beijing, his greatest dream had been to become a singer. Now, in this new world, though he was a basketball player, who said an athlete couldn’t also be a singer?

Especially since Lin Feng had the miraculous Superstar System at his disposal. If he managed to "kidnap" another superstar singer, becoming a professional singer himself would be a matter of minutes!

How did that saying go?

A player who doesn’t aspire to be a singer isn’t a good player!

...