Chapter 155: Iron Tower Great Demon King

Chapter 155: The Iron Tower Demon King

"It's actually broken!"

Da Fei, who had been squatting, plopped down onto the floor. Amidst the roaring screams, he muttered to himself, "Damn it, this is a world record, not some long-term relationship—how could it just shatter like that?"

Rubbing his numb legs, Da Fei stood up and joined the chorus of screams.

"A world record, a brand-new world record!"

The voice of the event MC cracked, breaking under the strain of his own excitement. A surge of fervor poured out as he slapped his chest repeatedly, unable to contain himself: "A brand-new solo world record for the seven-ball basketball arcade machine has been born at this very moment! Let us all shout his name together!"

He thrust the microphone toward the crowd in a frenzy.

And then...

"Meng Fan!"

"Lord Iron Tower!"

"Uh, what was his name again?"

The names shouted by the crowd were a bit chaotic. Some had seen the contestant's name, some had heard the Maid Corps' nickname for him, and others were still struggling to recall what this ferocious guy was called. After all, until now, it was his speed and accuracy that had left an impression, not his name.

"Let us shout his name together!"

The MC paused, momentarily stunned by the scene, but he was not a man to admit defeat easily. He took the lead once more, this time providing a unified, guided title: "The Iron Tower Demon King!"

He thrust the microphone toward the audience again.

The crowd was obliging enough, and they found the title "Iron Tower Demon King" to be both imposing and unique, so they followed suit and roared it out.

As for this title... even Meng Fan had to concede.

If you didn't say it, who the hell would know how it had evolved into this.

After nearly five minutes of chaos and fervor, the competition finally resumed.

Yes, the competition wasn't over yet.

The finals consisted of three rounds, and this was only the end of the first.

However, having broken the record with a score of 840, Meng Fan had abandoned the remaining two seconds of his time, so how could he possibly continue?

Because the tournament format allowed for the highest score of the three rounds to count as the final result, Meng Fan chose to forfeit his second and third attempts.

With Meng Fan opting out, the audience lost interest in watching, and the other three contestants lost their competitive spirit.

In the end, he naturally took the championship of the CGL Basketball Tournament's Hangzhou City Qualifier with his record-breaking 840 points, earning a spot in the provincial finals.

"I have to hand it to you!"

As the favorite to win, Wind God, who had lost the match, showed no resentment. He took the initiative to step forward, shake Meng Fan's hand, and offer his congratulations: "Three years ago, I stood on the sidelines watching the person who set the world record. Today, I am honored to compete on the same stage as the new world record holder. I am truly delighted!"

Meng Fan appreciated such a magnanimous opponent. He patted his arm and said, "I am happy for you, too."

Wind God paused, then burst into hearty laughter.

As the MC announced the final results, a "ding" sounded in Meng Fan's mind. The system classified this as a provincial-level competition, awarding him one Championship Honor Point.

Because it was a direct award, it did not affect the success rate of lower-level competitions, and his previously accumulated success rate remained intact.

He now had two Championship Honor Points, granting a 1% buff.

Next came the awards ceremony. The prizes for the CGL City Qualifier were quite practical—not arcade credits, but cold, hard cash.

The champion received 10,000, the runner-up 5,000, the third-place finisher 3,000, and the top six each received 1,000.

There were other prizes, too, such as basketball jerseys, shoes, and balls. Oh, and the arcade hosting the event had specially provided a "Supreme Card." It held no cash, but it allowed free play on almost all games in the arcade, excluding the claw machines.

After the ceremony, the event organizers held a friendly and cordial conversation with Meng Fan, and, naturally, there were photos to be taken.

However, Meng Fan wasn't particularly interested in chatting with them. After all, the reporters were waiting!

The previous interviews had clearly felt rushed and superficial to the journalists, and they were all preparing to start over. After all, they had originally planned for a champion's coverage, but now? This was a world record holder!

Meng Fan was well aware of this. He wanted all these outlets to report on him, hoping to seize the opportunity to complete the first sub-task of [News Figure] in one go.

As for the second sub-task, which required ten reports from national-level media, Meng Fan didn't even bother thinking about it.

Local-level was easy; provincial and municipal TV stations and newspapers counted, as did major web portals with media attributes. The scope was broad.

But national-level was different. What was national-level media? To put it bluntly, it was media starting with the words "China," "People's," or "Central"!

Those weren't things you could just get onto.

Even with a CGL tournament record, even if that record equaled a solo world record for a seven-ball arcade machine, Meng Fan didn't think it was enough to make it into those outlets. After all, the influence of arcade gaming was negligible in their eyes!

"Zhou Wei."

Wu Tong watched Meng Fan, who was caught in an endless cycle of interviews, and asked Zhang Zhou Wei, "Was he always this... fond of being interviewed?"

"Promoting and publicizing the cause of sports has always been Mr. Meng's..."

The "King of Sophistry" Zhang Zhou Wei felt he couldn't keep up the act. Although Wang Yanan very much hoped Meng Fan would end up with Jiao Yanran, that didn't stop Zhang Zhou Wei from wanting to maintain Meng Fan's image. Being fond of interviews was basically synonymous with being a show-off. How could he make it sound more high-minded? He realized it was difficult, so he decided not to be too exaggerated. "Actually, Fatty Meng has always been quite low-key. Perhaps he was just ignited by the passion of the competition... today."

Wu Tong smiled. "This kind of vibrant passion is quite nice. I'm just curious; sometimes his behavior contradicts his actual personality."

Wu Tong naturally knew Meng Fan was a low-key person, given that he had such a sister and mother, yet few people knew about them.

Regarding Wu Tong's confusion, the King of Sophistry Zhang Zhou Wei felt he could answer well: "People are a unity of contradictions!"

That was it. Who could argue with that? It was foolproof!

Meng Fan didn't overdo it. After finishing the interviews one by one, he walked away with a modest, shy smile. After all, he had broken a world record; a simple interview should be enough to earn him some coverage.

Of course, the important thing was that Meng Fan was hungry again.

"Let's go eat!"

Meng Fan slapped the 10,000 yuan in cash he was holding, and together with Wu Tong, Zhang Zhou Wei, the Maid Corps, Da Fei, and the others, he left the arcade. There was no point in going to the fifth-floor restaurant in this mall; being stared at while eating wasn't exactly comfortable. The group hailed taxis and headed to the Waterfront Restaurant outside the Art Academy.

——

PS: Sorry, I'm bragging too. Just three chapters today, I can't manage four. My head really hurts.