Chapter 149: Genius
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Meng Fan responded with a smiling emoji. “I hope I can be your first reader.”
Ah Yin’s reply was very simple. “Yes.”
It was difficult for men to keep a conversation over three sentences, uhm… Except for Mr.Sleepy.
Right after talking with Ah Yin, he coincidentally received a message from Mr.Sleepy. They chatted about some details from the manga, and the conversation was only shut down when Meng Fan tossed a “you talk so much but how much of the script have you written”.
Speaking of which, Mr.Sleepy was actually very proactive toward the manga adaptation of “There’s A Spirit Underground”. Before collaborating with Meng Fan, he had already written several manga adaptation scripts for himself. After working with Meng Fan, he would contact Meng Fan at least three times a day to discuss the manga adaptation. After conversing, he would change the script several times. Presently, he had already organized and readjusted ten chapters for Meng Fan.
After uploading, at least during these last few days, Mr.Sleepy’s enthusiasm still had not simmered down. It might have to do with the response to the manga. The reviews for the manga was very positive in addition to the insane amount of collectors on the opening day. Aside from the reviews from the fans, there were also positive reviews from other authors as well.
In the last few days, Mr.Sleepy attracted a lot of envy from people in the same profession. First, they were envious of Mr.Sleepy finding such a good partner. For a stream to reach 200,000 collectors, this kind of partners.h.i.+p was so uncommon. They would be satisfied with just 1/12th of that.
Secondly, they were envious of Mr.Sleepy’s adapted content. Being able to keep the existing story was only part of it. The key was that he was able to partic.i.p.ate in it and oversee it himself. This was related to the copyright autonomy and related to Mr.Sleepy’s profound change toward the adaptation.
Third, they were envious of the flood of praise and popularity the manga received after being uploaded. Although manga adaptations did not receive the criticism that movie adaptations did, it was still easy for the original author to resent them and drive away new manga fans. But both parties had eaten up the manga adaptation for “There’s A Spirit Underground” and found it difficult to find any problems.
Although there were only three chapters released, it had already been considered to be the strongest manga adaptation by many in the industry!
Well, at least this was what Mr.Sleepy had heard.
Of course, there was some truth to this. At least after the manga was uploaded, several publis.h.i.+ng platforms had already reached out to discuss the publication of the manga adaptation. There was even an animation director who expressed his interest as well.
All of this made Mr.Sleepy full of pa.s.sion.
It was just that he couldn’t stand the trauma of being envied.
Meng Fan also felt pa.s.sionate. He couldn’t dictate what happened to Mr.Sleepy once this pa.s.sion burned out, but to him, at least Mr.Sleepy could now support himself enough to produce up to fifty chapters without missing a word.
The next day was a Sat.u.r.day, so there was no basketball tournament. The school’s basketball quarterfinals would start next Monday, but this weekend, Meng Fan had other compet.i.tions to tend to. The Hangzhou qualifiers for the CGL basketball compet.i.tion would start either Sunday or tomorrow. The venue would be at the same arcade as last time.
The organizers had already messaged Meng Fan, advising him to familiarize himself with the venue’s machines.
Meng Fan had already been to the venue a few times before the compet.i.tion. As for the official machine, Meng Fan just a.s.sumed they were new machines or something, so he didn’t give it too much thought. However, Da Fei sent him a Wechat today, asking him to familiarize himself with the machine with him. He had mentioned that the machines for the compet.i.tion were different from before. The height of the basket and its distance between the person who was shooting the ball were all different.
This came unexpectedly to Meng Fan. He was still very focused on this compet.i.tion since winning this meant he could win a champions.h.i.+p honor point. Plus, he had a very high chance of winning. He couldn’t lose because he was a stranger to the machines. Hence, he made the decision and took a cab to the compet.i.tion venue at 9:00 in the morning.
Meng Fan ran into Da Fei at the entrance. The Pink Hat guy was not present, but Pao bro was. Pao bro looked left and right and was a bit disappointed when he did not see the maid army.
It wasn’t even 10:00 when they arrived, yet the arcade was bustling already. Most of them gathered near the shooting machines.
Da Fei took his “admission” ticket to the card punch and joined the lineup. Meng Fan stood on the side and observed the new machines. The shape had changed a lot. They were stamped with a large CGL basketball tournament logo, and the basket height and distance had also changed as well. The entire machine appeared to be wider, seeming more suitable for an official tournament.
Of course, such a large machine was not suitable to be placed in an arcade. The added s.p.a.ce and increased performance of the machines were dispensable to the non-players of the compet.i.tion. And the added dimensions were a big burden for the arcade. Venues were expensive!
The size of two compet.i.tion machines was the same as three regular ones.
Although it was a good change, he still had to familiarize himself with it.
As they lined up, an hour had already pa.s.sed before Meng Fan and Da Fei could have their turn, and they could only score three games too. Meng Fan tested it and found no problems. He played for two games and stopped, giving his spot to Da Fei.
“You’re not shooting anymore?”
“Mhmm. I just got a call about something, so I’m gonna head out first.”
After finding out that there were no problems, Meng Fan did not lineup again. He gave Da Fei a heads up and left.
Pao bro looked dismayed. “When the h.e.l.l did he answer a call?”
Da Fei smiled. “Do you know what a genius is? Geniuses are the people with the most repet.i.tions! He could control all of the organs in his body to partic.i.p.ate in this repet.i.tion! Their eyes are cameras; their mouths are voice; their ears are recorders; their hands are photocopiers, and their brains are computers!”
Pao bro was even more stunned. ‘What are you saying? I choose to cras.h.!.+’
Da Fei shrugged. “He’s a super genius, so a few repet.i.tions are enough.”
On the way back, Meng Fan received a call from Qin Jiao.
“My friend said they received your poster, and they’re very satisfied, saying that its price was worth it.” Qin Jiao paused for a moment and spoke. She was a little suspicious. “I saw the poster you submitted to him. Your drawing skills were very good. It was much better than what I saw when you last submitted! You’ve improved very much! But I want to ask; why is your improvement so big?”
As Meng Fan’s professor and because Meng Fan’s mother was her teacher, Qin Jiao paid more attention to Meng Fan than her other students. During the last month, the greatest change in Meng Fan wasn’t his att.i.tude toward school, and his eagerness to lose weight; it was his drawing skills!
They improved so quickly!
Although Qin Jiao did not learn manga, and her teachings weren’t about drawing skills but rather scenery and character design, but as the deputy director of the animation department, she was no stranger to manga and its techniques. She had long ago noticed the ma.s.sive change in Meng Fan’s drawing skills, and what his current skills could mean!
How could anybody change this much in one month’s time? It would be like a two hundred pound fatty suddenly winning a bodybuilding compet.i.tion, and at a national level too, at least!
Meng Fan long knew of Qin Jiao’s suspicion. In fact, he was already restraining himself from revealing all his drawing techniques. He had already thought of the most straightforward response. “I was never serious before, and I could still draw like that. Now that I’m serious and hardworking as well, of course, my improvements will be great.”
“Who are you trying to fool? Is this something that could be achieved through hard work and a serious att.i.tude?”
“Then… I just might really be a genius!”