36: Two lines of progress

Lin Feng looked at the text message from Taylor on his phone screen, and his heart rate underwent a slight change.

Unexpected.

But also within the realm of reason.

This was Los Angeles, the entertainment center of the world, the central vortex of the vanity fair.

A rising basketball star who performed a game-winner at the Staples Center attracting the attention of a pop queen was part of this city's script.

He didn't reply immediately.

His fingertips hovered over the screen as his brain worked rapidly.

The other party was Taylor Swift.

A woman standing at the peak of global pop music, a talented woman known for being emotionally rich and daring to love and hate.

“Like a true artist.”

This evaluation was quite sophisticated.

She didn't say he played well or that he was handsome; instead, she used "artist" to define his performance tonight.

This was a form of equal, even slightly scrutinizing, appreciation.

If he replied with too much of a fan mentality, he would immediately lose the upper hand.

If he replied too coldly, he might miss the opportunity.

He needed a response that matched the word "artist."

Lin Feng's fingers typed a line on the virtual keyboard.

“Thank you, it's my honor to receive praise from a true artist.”

He looked at the sentence and felt it was a bit too humble, lacking his own attitude.

Delete.

He typed again.

“You are also beautiful, like a beautiful song.”

Too frivolous, like a novice flirt.

Delete.

In Lin Feng's mind, he recalled his journey from the bottom of the CBA to the spotlight of today.

He recalled the paranoia about basketball Kobe had mentioned to him.

He recalled his focus when he took that fadeaway jumper.

He recalled the split-second decision during that final pass.

What was that?

That was his everything.

He found the answer.

His fingers tapped steadily and quickly on the screen.

“Thank you for the praise.”

“Art comes from life, and basketball is my life.”

Send.

No redundant compliments, no deliberate flattery.

Just a calm statement, yet it clearly stated his position and attitude toward basketball.

This was a kind of confidence.

A composed confidence stemming from strength.

He put the phone aside and waited.

He knew that if the other party was truly interested in him, this reply would be enough to pique more of her curiosity.

“Buzz.”

The phone vibrated.

Even faster than he had expected.

Lin Feng picked up the phone; it was a new message from Taylor.

“It seems our arts have something in common.”

“I hope for a chance to talk in person.”

Direct and proactive.

It completely matched the outside world's descriptions of her.

A small curve formed at the corner of Lin Feng's lips.

He knew that this line had been firmly established.

But he didn't agree immediately.

Now was not the time.

The game had just ended, and he was at the center of the conversation; meeting a pop queen too eagerly would be infinitely magnified by the media.

More importantly, he wanted to hold the initiative in this relationship.

He didn't reply to the message but locked his phone and placed it on the nightstand.

Let the bullet fly for a while longer.

He tapped the screen and switched to another chat interface.

At the pinned position was a cute rabbit avatar.

Yoona.

The chat box was filled with a string of celebratory emojis: fireworks, trophies, champagne... they almost took up the entire screen.

Below the rain of emojis was a message sent in Chinese.

“You won! I'm so happy for you!”

Followed by an emoji of an arm waving forcefully in encouragement.

Through the screen, Lin Feng could imagine the usually cold and aloof national goddess now acting like a little girl, holding her phone and rolling around on her bed in excitement.

This pure joy, unadulterated by any interests or calculations, allowed his nerves, which had been tense all night, to completely relax.

A warm current surged in his heart.

He replied: “Get some rest early.”

He thought about it and added another sentence.

“I will keep winning.”

This was not just to soothe her, but also a promise to himself.

Soon, the other party replied with an emoji of an obedient nod and a moon for “Goodnight.”

Lin Feng put down his phone and let out a long breath.

Two women, two completely different feelings.

Taylor was like a shot of strong liquor—pungent, stimulating, and full of the desire for conquest; drinking it could ignite the blood in one's entire body.

Yoona was like a glass of warm water—clear, pure, and able to soothe all fatigue and restlessness; she was a peaceful harbor deep in his heart.

After handling these two important information lines, Lin Feng sat up from the bed.

The joy of victory and the favor of beauties did not make him lose his head.

He closed his eyes and began to review tonight's game.

That fadeaway jumper was a perfect replica of Kobe's technique, proving his talent in technical learning.

But the scenes of being continuously restricted by Butler's physical strength in the first half were still vivid in his mind.

The final game-winning assist was certainly brilliant, praised by the media and fans as the choice of a "big heart" and "high basketball IQ."

But Lin Feng knew best.

The reason he chose to pass, besides seeing Gasol's open shot, was the deeper reason that he didn't have absolute certainty that he could put the ball in the basket under the frontal pincer attack of those two mountains of flesh, Griffin and Jordan.

His physical confrontation ability was still his biggest shortcoming.

Under the intensity of regular-season defense, this problem had already begun to be exposed.

If it reached the playoffs, facing even more brutal muscle-clashing and defensive physicalities, this weakness would be infinitely magnified.

He had to become stronger.

Not just in technique, but also in physique.

Lin Feng's will moved slightly.

A translucent blue interface, visible only to him, unfolded before his eyes.

【charm basketball system】

The interface design was very simple, without flashy values or a mall.

There were only a few core functional modules.

His gaze fell on the [Skill Unlock] column.

【Shintaro Midorimas Full-Court Three-Pointer】 (Unlocked)

【Unlock Condition】: Complete the first deep intimate link with the ss-rank charm target ‘Yoona’.

This skill gave him a nuclear-weapon-level perimeter threat at the shooting guard position.

And below this skill was the next skill slot waiting to be unlocked.

There, it was all gray.

Next to the gray skill icon, there was also a line explaining the unlock condition.

【Aomine Daikis Formless Shot】

【Unlock Condition】: Complete the first deep intimate link with an ss-rank charm target.

Aomine Daiki!

The ace scorer of the "Generation of Miracles" from "kurokos basketball"!

The man who possessed physical coordination beyond common sense and could shoot the ball in from any posture and in any inconceivable way!

His “Formless Shot” was the ultimate answer to cracking high-intensity physical confrontation and double-teaming!

If he could get this skill, Lin Feng was confident that he wouldn't have needed to pass that final ball tonight.

He could have confronted Griffin and Jordan in mid-air and then scored in a way they couldn't understand!

Lin Feng's breathing became a bit hurried.

His desire for this skill was stronger than ever before.

His gaze fell once again on that unlock condition.

“Complete the first deep intimate link with an ss-rank charm target.”

He was already well aware of the system's definition of a “deep intimate link.”

And as for “ss-rank charm targets,” only two candidates meeting the standard had appeared in his life so far.

Lin Feng picked up his phone.

After unlocking the screen, it stayed on the chat interface with Taylor Swift.

“I hope for a chance to talk in person.”

That proactive invitation seemed to possess magic, echoing in his mind.

Lin Feng's gaze lingered for a long time on the name he had just saved in his phone contacts— “Taylor Swift.”

He knew very well that as long as he replied with a “Sure” now, the next opportunity for a “deep link” would be almost within reach.

Unlocking 【Aomine Daikis Formless Shot】 would be just around the corner.

But in his mind, another cold yet innocent Oriental face emerged.

The Chinese sentence with a cheerful tone emerged: “You won! I'm so happy for you!”

A sweet trouble was about to begin.

Where exactly was the key to unlocking the next god-tier skill?