Chapter 493: A Special Way of Selling Out

Chapter 493: A Peculiar Way of Selling Out

November 22nd was a rather slick date, a day worth celebrating for die-hard fans and sports enthusiasts alike.

On this day, Meng Fan’s first personal album was released. The album’s title was rather casually chosen, sharing the name of its lead single: *Dreaming*.

At the same time, the International Judo Federation finally issued a penalty announcement regarding the South Korean judo team.

Yes, punishment had been handed down!

The near-total withdrawal of athletes from the Busan World Judo Masters had cast a dark shadow over the Korea Judo Association. In truth, it had little negative impact on the IJF itself; on the contrary, the IJF had gained considerable applause by stepping forward to support Meng Fan and publicly expressing understanding and backing for the athletes who withdrew.

But the crux of the issue lay elsewhere. The leaked recording of the conversation between Kim Haebin and Park Jaehae exposed the scandal of South Korean judo—and even the Korea Judo Association—plotting to use underhanded tactics against Meng Fan. Subsequently, Kim and Park were found to be implicated in numerous criminal evidences, with a wide-reaching impact that included several athletes and officials of the Korea Judo Association. This time, even if the IJF had immediately condemned the actions, it could not completely distance itself from the affair, nor could it earn any applause. It bore responsibility for oversight, and two of the implicated officials held positions within the IJF itself!

Leaving that aside, such a heinous incident in the judo world inevitably tarnished the IJF’s reputation. Coupled with the revelation that the South Korean judo team had so flagrantly violated the spirit of sportsmanship in targeting Meng Fan, the world’s attention was fixed on South Korea’s second major entertainment scandal in recent years. Many also watched the IJF, including various sports organizations, eager to see whether it would penalize the South Korean judo team.

Moreover, global resentment toward South Korean sports had been simmering for a long time and ran deep. Thus, it was no longer merely a matter of watching; there was also considerable pressure from public opinion pushing the IJF to act.

As a result, nearly a month after the incident, once South Korea had fully confirmed the arrest of the implicated athletes and judo officials, the IJF finally issued this announcement. Before that, the Korea Judo Association had naturally engaged in much lobbying, but it only managed to delay matters slightly.

The IJF’s penalty was a one-year suspension for all South Korean judo athletes (barring them from participating in any IJF-sanctioned events), along with lifetime bans for the four athletes and two officials found to be involved in the doping plot against Meng Fan, and a lifetime prohibition from holding any IJF position.

An organization like the IJF could not, of course, cite criminal facts as grounds for punishment—those matters were outside its jurisdiction—so it could only invoke the spirit of sportsmanship. As for the doping plot against Meng Fan, which involved conspiring to add banned substances to his food, it was merely a premeditated scheme. While criminal authorities could not convict on that basis, the IJF could use it as a reason for sanctions.

To be fair, this was essentially the harshest penalty the IJF could impose. It could not ban all South Korean judo athletes for life, nor could it suspend them for more than two years without harming the IJF itself. Another possible penalty was to cancel any IJF events hosted in South Korea, but since all athletes were already suspended, that measure would be meaningless—South Korea would not host any IJF competitions within that year anyway.

After the penalty announcement, the entire judo world—and indeed most of the sports world—rejoiced, except in South Korea. The resentment truly ran deep. Aside from their American benefactors, how many countries and regions had suffered unfair treatment from South Korean athletes in judo and other sports?

Whenever South Korea excelled in a sport, they managed to redefine global perceptions of sportsmanship at international competitions!

What a relief!

How many sports figures danced with joy, having waited so long for such a sweeping punishment!

Alessandro Del Piero, the Italian footballer from the 2002 World Cup, called his former teammate Paolo Maldini.

“Hurry up, we’re waiting for you! Buffon, Vieri, they’re all here! Come on, come on! If you don’t show up soon, we’re popping the champagne!”

“My God! Do you know I’m on vacation in Portugal? I just got off the plane, I’ll be right there! Hahahaha, what a coincidence—Morientes is coming to Rome, I’ll bring him along!”

The official Twitter account of the Canadian speed skating team updated with just a smiley emoji. That single emoji garnered countless likes and comments, all of which, naturally, related to the previous Winter Olympics.

The joy in Japan, both online and offline, was no less than in China. The atmosphere was excellent. Amidst all this excitement, a rather amusing phenomenon occurred: sales of the Japanese edition of *Strange Tales of the Mountains and Seas* surged dramatically.

Why?

Because of Meng Fan, of course!

This major incident in South Korean sports was deeply tied to Meng Fan. Although it remained unconfirmed whether the damning evidence had been handed over by him, everyone couldn’t help but suspect him.

Why had Park Jaehae repeatedly claimed his account was hacked? Why did Kim Haebin later say the same? Why did rumors circulate that a hacker helped Meng Fan release a “list of apologies”? Why... there were too many clues!

Since no one could pinpoint the culprit, the “blame” naturally fell on Meng Fan.

Anyway, even if Meng Fan hadn’t done it, he deserved immense credit.

For someone so meritorious—making us this happy surely counts as merit—a “reward” was necessary. The best way was to buy Meng Fan’s products. In Japan, he had only one product: the *Strange Tales of the Mountains and Seas* manga volumes.

Buy them!

Even those who didn’t usually read manga or had no interest in Meng Fan’s work were spurred to purchase. That day, sales of Meng Fan’s manga volumes were likely to skyrocket by hundreds of thousands!

This showed the Japanese public’s attitude toward South Korea.

Meng Fan had only one product in Japan, but in China, he had others. Today also saw the release of his personal album and the original soundtrack for *Spirits Underground*.

The official Weibo account of the WE esports club posted a giveaway: “Purchased 1,000 copies of Iron God’s first new album *Dreaming*. Retweet this post to enter, while supplies last! PS: Welcome Iron God to the esports scene!”

This post instantly reminded esports fans of the 2012 Korean Dragon-Tiger Cup match, and the retweets poured in.

Even earlier than WE, the Chinese speed skating team had posted about Meng Fan’s new album. If any sports team had felt the sting of South Korean sportsmanship most keenly over the years, it was undoubtedly the Chinese speed skating team.

Soon, members of the speed skating team followed suit, retweeting and adding their own album purchases.

The weightlifting, wrestling, and judo federations couldn’t lag behind either, joining the giveaway trend.

Then came celebrities who knew Meng Fan or didn’t. After that... some official accounts or individuals eager to participate in the giveaway began “complaining” online—because when they tried to buy the album online for the giveaway, they found it was sold out!

Yes, out of 50,000 physical copies, 40,000 were sold online. Aside from those snatched up by quick-fingered fans or die-hard supporters, the rest had all been bought up by these giveaway retweeters!

This peculiar way of selling out completely baffled Shi Shiwu!

(End of chapter)