Mr Mermaid | LK Adaptation

Chapter 78

Chapter 78

This year's Champions Tournament was to be held at City-S. As a national idol, Jungkook already had a crowd of fans. The tickets for all of his events had long been snapped up. Some fans who did not manage to obtain tickets waited in droves outside the swimming hall, unwilling to leave. Heaven knows what miracle they were hoping for, or perhaps they only wanted to be just a little closer to their idol.

Lisa snapped a picture of the long line outside the ticketing window to prove that "swimming is still as popular as ever; the future is bright". After taking the photo, she mused cheekily that if she were to resell the tickets she had for Jungkook's and Jaehyun's events, she would most certainly make a small fortune.

Jungkook's time in the men's 100-metre freestyle finals at the Champions Tournament this time was 47.91 seconds, slightly worse than his best time of 47.74 seconds last year. However, this was not indicative of a problem. The time of 47.74 seconds had been achieved at the Asian Games. In fact, if his time in the medley relay then had also been taken into account, 47.74 seconds would not have been his best time either. But the Asian Games and the Champions Tournament were at completely different levels, and so it was natural that they would produce different ranges of performance. For the Chinese athletes who had already received a ticket to the World Championships, the Champions Tournament was just an opportunity for them to fine-tune their condition. The real challenge would be the World Championships this summer. Their best condition should of course be reserved for that important event.

Still, from an international perspective, 47.91 seconds was ranked third in the global ranking and could be considered a very good result. The two people ahead of him were the famous Sanger from Australia and the former Olympic champion Taehyung. Sanger was the runner-up in the 100-metre freestyle at the last Olympic Games; he was exceedingly skilled. Taehyung's condition was slipping due to his age — after all, he had already won two Olympic gold medals before; his best time this year was only faster than Jungkook's by 0.06 seconds. Besides those two, the French swimmer Samuel was ranked fourth at 47.90 seconds, only slightly behind Jungkook. There had been some unpleasantness between Samuel and Jungkook in Australia last year; of course, Jungkook was not at all concerned about such a small matter.

Among these three, the most competitive rivals for Jungkook would have to be Taehyung and Samuel. Their times were comparatively closer. Whenever Jungkook's name was mentioned alongside Taehyung's, many people could not help but recall the ruckus at that press conference a year ago. At that time, how many people had believed that "Jungkook challenges Taehyung" was a publicity stunt? And now, this Chinese athlete carried the hope of countless people, just a step away from that world-famous figure.

Perhaps not even a full step away.

When a reporter brought up the matter again in front of Jungkook, Jungkook merely smiled and said, "The one I want to challenge now is Sanger. My aim is to be world champion, as always."

The reporters were surprised at his response. It seems like Jungkook had become even cockier ...

Jungkook's fans were thrilled when they saw this interview clip: Wow, wow, wow, my young master Jungkook was crazy cool, handsome, swag! Young master Jungkook, show me your cool love! Marry me!

When RM found out, he chided Jungkook, "Why are you so loose-lipped now too? Sanger is at his peak right now. It's not going to be that easy to beat him. Now you've outright boasted and raised expectations, if you lose later, it'll be a smack in the face."

Jungkook was unconcerned. "If I'm smacked, let me be smacked. I have thick skin. I'm not afraid."

Jungkook's goal was too high and time was too short. RM did not even dare to give him any more time off. Immediately after the Champions Tournament, they returned straight back to the team and were back at the pool as soon as possible. In the past, Jungkook would have been able to take a trip back home first. This time, he desperately wanted to see Lisa, so he humbled himself to plead with Coach RM. However, Coach RM chuckled coldly, beard quivering, and asked, "Do you or do you not want to beat Sanger? If you want to, then set aside your puppy love for the moment! Your girlfriend will be there waiting for you, but the gold medal might sprout wings at any moment and fly away!"