It was already remarkable that Lin Miao qualified for the finals at the young age of 16.
Of course there was a sizable number of people anticipating her victory, hoping that she would keep her undefeated record.
However, many more were a bit worried. Would she be heavily impacted if she lost?
Of course, they kept the doubt in their minds.
Lin Miao spent no time worrying about problems like those. Her prediction was right: her matchup in the finals was the same girl she faced in the world championships.
Lin Miao was still as calm as ever.
She had worried about everything she could after the world championships ended anyway.
Furthermore, she managed to stay unaffected through those times when everyone else called her an extraordinary genius.
Lin Miao thought that she just needed to stay true to herself, regardless of what others say.
When it was announced that her next opponent would be the same one from the world championships, all her teammates gave off a ‘you’re definitely gonna win since you beat her last time with an injury’ atmosphere.
She had a great urge to tell them that she watched all of her opponent’s videos multiple times and thought that her opponent was stronger than her.
It wasn’t hard to admit that her opponent was stronger.
Failure is the mother of success. She thought. Losing a game is inevitable, it can help build my mental resilience anyway.
While I was studying her, she was probably studying me. Wait, what’s my speciality?
Lin Miao rewatched all her competition videos without bias. After finishing, she concluded that she would have to try very hard.
Despite this, she still woke up early the next day for her morning exercise.
The finals soon began. The audience rows were filled with cheers for her, louder than ever before.
Lin Miao looked at her opponent who seemed just as calm.
When the match started, she was immediately met with a fierce offensive from her opponent, forcing her to play passively and return all her opponent’s shots. Lin Miao wasn’t able to start a counter-offensive, leaving her opponent in the driver’s seat.
Lin Miao was not to be underestimated though. She was still agile and quick, recovering in time even from her backward leans.
It was an intense and exciting game.
The audience were on the edge of their seats.
Lin Miao remained emotionless. She didn’t study all those games for nothing.
She held on to her golden rule of holding it in as long as possible—never making a mistake.
Even though she was behind in points, she didn’t look one bit different, not at all in a hurry, but her counters were powerful.
The audience didn’t expect Lin Miao to be losing to someone she beat in the championships.
Even though she was right on her tail, Lin Miao was never able to surpass her opponent in points.
The audience was growing desperate.
Lin Miao didn’t feel the same way. After a simple intermission break, she studied her opponent’s expressions again.
In the latter half of the game, Lin Miao changed from her usual style.
Most of her matches were played conservatively, valuing security.
But she actually didn’t play like this when she was younger.
After studying all her opponent’s competition videos in the Olympics yesterday, she realized that her strategy was identical to her old one.
So, Lin Miao shocked the audience with her play after the mid-game intermission. She began to perform many smashes and took the initiative.
Up on the audience rows, the Young Master felt as if time had turned back half a decade. Her style then was identical to her play right now.
She seemed to have returned to the days when she was just introduced to the game, daring to take every shot!
Lin Miao originally intended to switch strategies only so as to not lose by a landslide. It would be too embarrassing for her to return back to the mainland that way.
However, she unexpectedly made a lot of progress and soon evened out the scores.
Lin Miao’s calm expression persisted until the end of the match, after which she froze. I won???
She won? Why does this feel so unreal?
Though she had been preparing for almost the entirety of the past year, it still stunned her. Now that she accomplished her goal, she was a bit speechless.
The Chinese Anthem blared over their heads during the ceremony. It finally brought her a sense of reality, and she accepted that she actually won the match.
Afterwards, reporters immediately began heading towards her.
Lin Miao let everything that has happened today sink in. She was truly happy.
Her views were still different from the general public. Everyone took this as a solid victory for her based on her performance at the world championships.
She wasn’t pessimistic, but it was undeniable to her that the Japanese player was incredible in her own rights. Lin Miao had already prepared herself for her loss, but she still gave the match everything she could so as to not leave any regrets.
Her comeback sparked more joy in her than anyone else.
Now, the reporters were ready to interview her.
“How did it feel to be standing on the podium?” The reporter asked.
“I didn’t think I’d be up there.” She was too excited to make up responses.
She wanted to go back, rest, and calm down. Her limbs were all soft.
So she kept her answers as concise as possible.
After the first reporter finished, another came.
Lin Miao: “…”
One after another, seemingly endless.
Lin Miao: “…”
However, since her matches had already concluded, she patiently answered many more people. It was their job, after all.
In contrast to her situation, her fans were already reveling.
So much so that when the coach showed Lin Miao the comments online, she thought that they were talking about an entirely different person. Her face turned rosy at all the compliments and congratulations.
The coach found the scene quite hilarious, purposefully reading some posts out loud.
Hearing this, Lin Miao only had one thought in her mind: she would not go on the internet, and would ignore all their comments until this wave was over.
She didn’t openly say things like she wasn’t actually good. It would definitely make her opponent feel uncomfortable.
Being defeated by someone acclaimed and someone who wasn’t skilled feels very different.
That night, she slept soundly with her gold medal under her pillow.