"One point left!"
Zhao Dong walked up to Irina with a playful smirk. "Damn, looks like I missed out on a perfect night. Guess I'll have to ask you out next time."
"Congratulations, Zhao Dong, you played a hell of a game. Let's meet again soon," Irina said, giving him a hug before waving goodbye.
"See you next time."
Zhao Dong watched her leave with a grin before getting mobbed by reporters.
"Zhao Dong! Double-killing the Bulls! What's on your mind right now?" a Knicks reporter asked.
"If we can beat them now, we sure as hell can beat them in the playoffs," Zhao Dong said without hesitation.
"OH!"
A bunch of Knicks reporters and fans nearby erupted in cheers.
"You were just one point shy of a 50-piece. Any regrets?" a New York Daily News reporter asked.
"Yeah, man, that one damn point cost me a perfect night," Zhao Dong joked.
The reporters chuckled, glancing in the direction Irina had left.
After wrapping up the on-court interviews, Zhao Dong headed back to the locker room, took a quick shower, and then made his way to the press conference.
When he got there, he spotted Jordan already seated at the table, but neither Pippen nor Rodman had shown up.
"Hey, Michael," Ewing greeted Jordan with a big-ass grin.
Back-to-back wins against the Bulls—especially with Zhao Dong putting in work—had Ewing feeling good. He could see the path to finally taking down Jordan, and it had his usually serious face sporting a damn near mischievous smile.
But Jordan? Yeah, he wasn't in a good mood at all. He barely nodded at Ewing before locking eyes with Zhao Dong.
"Mr. Jordan, I'm sorry you had to drop 58 for nothing again," Zhao Dong said with a smirk. "Maybe if you didn't take so many damn shots, y'all would've had a chance."
"Shut the hell up, rookie," Jordan snapped in a low voice, eyes flicking toward the media. "You ain't got the credentials to lecture me."
"Hey, just looking out for you," Zhao Dong chuckled. "But if you don't wanna listen, that's on you."
The press conference started, and the first question went to the Knicks' beat reporter.
"Michael, after losing to the Knicks again, what's the biggest issue with the Bulls? Is it that y'all don't have Zhao Dong?"
Zhao Dong immediately cracked up. Now that was a damn good question.
He peeked over at Jordan, and—yup—dude's face twisted up like he'd just eaten something sour.
"We didn't expect him to have playmaking like that. That definitely hurt us tonight," Jordan admitted after a pause.
"So, hypothetically, if the Bulls had kept Zhao Dong, how much better do you think your chances of defending the title would be?" the reporter pressed.
Jordan's face darkened. "I don't answer hypothetical questions. That was a front office decision. Don't ask me."
"Coach Jackson, what do you think went wrong tonight? After two straight losses to the Knicks, how confident are you in defending the title this season?"
Phil Jackson kept his usual calm demeanor. "We're still confident in our ability to repeat. But we weren't ready for Zhao Dong tonight. He showed more than we expected—passing, playmaking, even rebounding, and that quick pull-up. We didn't game-plan for that."
"You think he fits better as a small forward? Does his game remind you of Pippen at all?"
"Yeah, absolutely. A point-forward role suits him perfectly," Jackson replied with a small smile.
"The Bulls seemed to ease up on double-teaming Zhao Dong late in the game. Was that because of his passing?"
"Yeah, exactly," Jackson nodded. "He's got great vision for a wing. He sees the open man immediately, and his passing is solid. We had to rethink our approach."
"So do you think double-teaming Zhao Dong is actually more dangerous than double-teaming Jordan?"
Jackson hesitated before answering. "It's too early to say. It's just one game. But Jordan's passing is just as deadly. Double-teaming either of them has consequences."
"Zhao Dong, got any other skills you're planning to show off?" another reporter asked.
"Why not?" Zhao Dong grinned.
"Like what?"
"Anything you can imagine," he said with a smirk.
"Smartass," Jordan muttered under his breath.
After the presser wrapped up, Zhao Dong headed back to the training facility and fired up the system.
[System Notification]
"Congratulations! You've completed the sixth goal of the God-level Sniper mission. You've earned a random skill point."
[System Notification]
"Congratulations! You've completed the Hall of Fame Sniping mission against Scottie Pippen. You've earned his defensive talent. Would you like to overwrite your current defensive skills?"
[System Notification]
"Congratulations! You've completed the Hall of Fame Sniping mission against Dennis Rodman. You've earned his defensive talent. Would you like to overwrite your current defensive skills?"
Zhao Dong's eyes lit up as he read the prompts.
"System, overwrite Pippen's defensive talent."
[System Update]
"Overwrite in progress... Overwrite complete."
[New Defensive Ratings]
Perimeter Defense: Upgraded to 95
Interior Defense: Upgraded to 89
Steals: Upgraded to 90
"Shit, that's crazy!"
His perimeter defense jumped from a 75 to elite status, his interior defense got a solid boost, and his steals shot up from 70 to elite as well. Now, he was locked in defensively at every level.
"System, boost my interior defense by one more level," he said, using the skill point he earned from sniping Jordan.
[Interior Defense Upgraded to 90]
Now, all his defensive stats were elite. No more weak links.
As long as he kept improving his physical attributes—mobility, speed, strength—he'd be ready to go head-to-head with Jordan for real.
"System, roll the dice on Jordan's talent," he said next.
[Initiating Lottery Draw...]
Zhao Dong glanced at the wheel of skills spinning in front of him.
Then his eyes went wide as hell.
"Wait... hold up... Jordan's fadeaway? Step-back jumper? Turnaround fade?"
"HOLY SHIT. SYSTEM, YOU ACTUALLY HOOKED ME UP?"
He looked at the rest of the options below—yeah, pure garbage.
"Figures. You gave me hope just to let me down. Whatever, spin that shit."
He shut his eyes, not even wanting to watch.
[System Notification]
"Congratulations! You've unlocked Jordan's step-back jump shot. Would you like to equip it?"
Zhao Dong's eyes snapped open.
"HAHA! Hell yeah, I'm equipping that!"
[Step-back Jump Shot Upgraded to 90]
"Damn, only a 90? System, is there some kind of cap holding me back?"
"No restrictions," the system responded.
"Ah, I get it. Not every Jordan skill was maxed out either. But whatever, once I get more skill points, I'll push it to the next level and make it a signature move. My offense is about to be even nastier."
His gold medal skills already made his low-post game and pull-up jumper damn near unstoppable. Adding a step-back to the mix?
Defenders were about to suffer.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Do you want to read Advanced Chapters?
Visit this link:
Påtreon.com/Fanficlord03
Change (å) to (a)