Chapter 212: Breaking the World Record for the Sixth Time

Chapter 212: Six Times a World Record

"A brand-new world record!"

The event MC was the same one as before, and seeing Meng Fan deliver such a grand gift to the competition right out of the gate, he was so thrilled his voice nearly cracked: "Meng Fan has once again shattered the world record he set himself! 841 points, a full point higher than the previous record!"

A full point higher—did that even make sense?!

The audience certainly wasn't going to nitpick the phrasing, but the viewers in Meng Fan’s livestream were far more pedantic.

Of course, like the live audience, they were just as excited.

Soon, the second attempt of the first round began.

The shooting concluded.

Every eye in the arena was fixed on Meng Fan and his machine, including the ten other Kings of the City who had finished at the same time. As soon as it ended, they swarmed toward Meng Fan’s machine to check the final score.

842 points!

Another damn full point higher!

"He’s broken it again, he’s broken it again!"

The MC’s excited voice rang out once more: "Meng Fan has refreshed the world record again! This is his third time breaking the world record, and the second time he has surpassed his own mark! This time, he has raised the world record by a full point yet again!"

The third attempt of the first round... 843 points!

The corners of the MC’s mouth twitched. Before he could even speak, the audience chanted in unison: "Meng Fan has raised the world record by a full point again!"

The ten Kings of the City were stunned.

This was absolutely intentional!

Raising the world record by exactly one point every single time!

What kind of competitor was this?

He was the Sergey Bubka of the arcade basketball world!

Meng "Sergey Bubka" Fan?

Meng "Sergey Bubka" Annoying!

During his career, Bubka broke the men's pole vault world record 35 times, raising it by just one centimeter each time, earning him the title "Mr. One Centimeter."

And Meng Fan was raising it by one point every time!

The most critical part was this: arcade basketball scores aren't just one point per ball; they are split into two-pointers and three-pointers. What did that mean?

It meant that during the competition, Meng Fan was calculating and controlling his score, proving he still had plenty of gas left in the tank.

Terrifying, right?

No, what they found most terrifying was that such a player was actually this good at math!

To calculate exactly how many two-pointers and three-pointers were needed to hit a specific number, just to raise the record by exactly one point.

Was Meng Fan’s calculation ability that strong?

No.

Meng Fan was honestly just lucky.

When he reached the final 20 seconds of the fourth stage and needed to cap his score, hitting three-pointers just happened to result in one extra point; all he had to do was adjust by one shot.

Would anyone believe this was just luck?

The first round of the provincial final’s individual tournament ended just like that, in an incredible yet brutally simple fashion. Meng Fan naturally advanced to the second round in first place. As for the others... it seemed no one cared, except for those who advanced themselves.

Because of Meng Fan’s "mischievous" record-breaking, the other ten Kings of the City were completely off their game, scoring much lower than usual.

They all had an intuition—or rather, it was plain as day—that Meng Fan would continue this nonsense in the second round. The provincial championship had nothing to do with them; it was already Meng Fan’s.

Unless he broke his hands—no, both hands—there would be no surprises.

The gap in strength was just too vast!

Forget the provincial finals; it would probably be the same script at the national championships!

He was a monster!

And Meng Fan did indeed follow that script. In the second round of the individual tournament, which began after three o'clock, he refreshed his record with every single shot. The only slight deviation was that he didn't raise it by exactly one point every time; perhaps his "Luck +1" didn't trigger once, and he raised it by two points instead.

When it ended, the brand-new world record for the seven-ball arcade machine was 848 points!

The MC’s passion had cooled by the afternoon, and the audience had become somewhat numb. But this was a different kind of numbness; at least they could still roll their eyes in unison, and they only erupted into thunderous cheers when Meng Fan made a "mistake" and raised the score by two points.

So, you do have moments where your math fails!

The atmosphere in the arena was quite amusing.

Of course, when the MC announced Meng Fan as the champion of the Zhejiang Provincial Individual Finals, his voice was still passionate, and the audience gave him enthusiastic applause and throat-straining screams.

No matter how annoying Meng Fan might be, you couldn't deny he was a beast.

According to the MC, Meng Fan had completely dominated the competition; he possessed absolute authority in the world of arcade basketball!

One tournament, six attempts, six world records!

"This is more than just dominance; he is an eternal hegemon, peerless and supreme, shaking the world, unrivaled, looking down upon the masses, arrogant yet unique, invincible... in short, a god! The god of arcade basketball!"

The MC was in full-blown hype mode.

"Ding!"

Meng Fan received a notification: he had earned 1 Championship Honor Point.

The individual tournament was the final event, as before, so once it concluded, the provincial finals moved on to the awards ceremony and group photos.

"Thank you, thank you."

Meng Fan accepted the provincial championship medal, followed by other prizes, including 20,000 yuan in cash and a pile of jerseys, sneakers, and other sponsor merchandise.

Meng Fan shook hands with the organizers, the runners-up, and the other contestants, remaining polite to everyone.

"Meng Fan, how are you feeling right now?"

"Do you have anything to say about the national finals in December?"

"Is it true that you intentionally raised the world record by only one point each time?"

"Are you still holding back your true strength?"

"Will you continue to break the world record at the national finals?"

"Host Meng, does Su Qingcen know you participated in this competition? Did she cheer for you?"

"Boss Meng, I heard you are a guest at Su Qingcen’s Hangzhou concert tonight. Will you be performing sand art again?"

After the awards, the long-waiting reporters swarmed him.

There had been several media outlets at the Hangzhou stop, but the provincial finals naturally drew more. Some had come specifically for the world record holder, and they hadn't expected to witness the spectacle of the record being broken six times!

Among the media this time, besides sports and social news outlets, there were entertainment reporters!

Amidst the forest of microphones, Meng Fan immediately spotted the CCTV-5 logo. The treatment at the provincial finals was indeed better than the city qualifiers; they even had a dedicated reporter from the national sports channel—or perhaps they had come because of the world record.

Even without a CCTV-5 reporter last time, he had made it onto their sports report; this time, it was surely a lock!

(End of chapter)