Chapter 372: Doubting One's Existence
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Yin An had a dazed expression on his face when he left the washroom. A while ago, he had expected that deranged drunkard to come over and hit him. Yet in the blink of an eye, before he'd had any time to react, that guy had fallen.
"Little junior brother, is... is leaving him there really all right?" Yin An was worried.
Fang Zhao calmly replied, "It's fine. There are people headed for the washroom; they are the other party's friends."
"How do you know?"
"I heard it."
Yin An: "...All right."
The others didn't notice any difference when Yin An returned. It was already getting late, and someone suggested that it was about time to return to the hotel. Coming out to have fun was fine, but it couldn't be too late. Prof. Carter wouldn't restrict their personal activities as long as they didn't get out of hand. Otherwise, Carter would mercilessly kick them out of the project team.
Yin An wasn't in the mood to continue drinking. "Let's go, let's go. Have a good rest when we get back so that we will be in the right mind to look for inspiration."
When the group exited the bar, a police car had just pulled up. Yin An tensed up and glanced at Fang Zhao. Noticing that Fang Zhao didn't have a single shred of panic on his face, he thought to himself, This little junior brother's mental strength is indeed rather impressive.
Yin An's assistant didn't pay too much attention to Yin An's worried expression after they returned to the hotel. Yin An was always like this after having too much to drink. Perhaps he might even be consolidating his inspiration and composing in his heart.
After his assistant left, Yin An immediately went to search the internet to see if there had been any news in the vicinity of the bar before heaving a sigh of relief. Thinking back, he felt that Fang Zhao was indeed a youngster. Fang Zhao was impulsive, but Yin An didn't think that Fang Zhao was wrong. After all, Fang Zhao had done so to protect him.
"Sigh, I must properly lead this little junior brother along in the future." Previously, Yin An had only decided to look out for Fang Zhao on account of Carter and Mo Lang. Now that Fang Zhao had helped him, Yin An was much more sincere about it.
The next day, Yin An went to check the news after waking up. His unease finally dissipated when he saw that there still was no report of an incident at a bar. It seemed like, just as Fang Zhao had said, it wasn't anything big. There hadn't been a splash even after one night, so there was no longer any need to worry.
But Yin An's smile had just appeared when it froze in place. He saw a push notification for sports news, and one of the articles showed the previous days Spartacus Cup Games results, including the photographs of the top three in the heavyweight boxing competition, which had just concluded yesterday.
"Heavyweight... boxing competition.... silver medalist?"
In disbelief, Yin An searched this silver medalist Danny's photograph on the internet. Recalling the deranged drunkard they had come across last night... They were too similar!
If that was true, that would mean...
On their first day after arriving in Mazhou, this little junior brother had knocked out the Spartacus Cup Game's heavyweight boxing silver medalist!
He suddenly felt that this little junior brother would be hard to lead along and that the pressure was really great.
At the same time, in a certain private hospital...
The current Spartacus Cup Games heavyweight boxing silver medalist Danny had just woken up in his hospital bed. Waiting on him were two police officers as well as his club's manager.
"Danny, do you still remember what happened yesterday? Was it someone trying to harm you?" The club manager had already come up with quite a few rival names.
Danny kneaded his forehead vacantly and shook his head. "What happened?"
The club manager briefly recounted yesterday's incident.
After losing the finals yesterday, Danny had been in a bad mood and went with a friend to drink. Danny had quite a lot to drink and went to the washroom midway. That friend of his waited for some time but felt that something was up, so he went to the washroom to check. He had never expected to find Danny lying on the ground. When the friend went over to ask what had happened, Danny only said, "Someone hit me," then lost consciousness.
When that friend heard that someone had hit Danny, all sorts of conspiracy theories sprouted in his head, and he immediately made a police report. When he regained his senses, he felt that it had been a little inappropriate, so he contacted Danny's club manager.
The club suppressed the news. This was also why Yin An hadn't seen any news related to the incident.
The checkup at the hospital discovered that Danny had injuries, but they were a result of the competition. Other than that, there weren't any other big issues.
There weren't any cameras near the washroom, and nobody knew what had happened, as it hadn't caused a big disturbance. The police couldn't summon all the people that had been at the bar, so they could only wait for Danny to wake up before asking about the concrete details.
Mazhou permitted competition, but it forbade malicious competition. Athletes that did such things in private would be punished severely when they were found out. This sort of thing was especially susceptible during the duration of the Spartacus Cup Games, so the two police officers were here and couldn't be driven away even if the club manager wanted them to leave.
"We have some questions to ask you regarding yesterday's incident. We hope that you will cooperate," one of the police officers said.
They hoped that Danny could properly recall what exactly had happened yesterday. If this was a malicious revenge incident, they would have to intensify their investigation. But if it was a private matter, as long as Danny didn't pursue the matter, the police officers wouldn't need to do anything more.
The club manager also wished to know who had hit Danny. Although Danny had drunk a lot yesterday, he still shouldn't have been knocked unconscious just like that! He was the club's trump card, after all, and a silver medalist at this year's Spartacus Cup Games. The last person to try to strike Danny when he was drunk had spent an entire month lying in hospital!
Danny picked up the wet towel at the side and wiped his face as he tried recalling the previous day's details.
"I went to the bar for some drinks yesterday. Afterward, I went to the bathroom… When the others saw me, they ran away."
When Danny had gone to the washroom, he had thrown quite the drunken fit inside. When the other people in the washroom had seen Danny acting this way, they had left immediately, since there wasn't only just one washroom in the bar.
"So there weren't any others in the washroom at that time?" one of the police officers asked.
"I guess so."
"What happened after? Who did you meet?"
"After that… I think I bumped into someone."
The two officers and the club manager became more alert. "What did the other party look like?"
"I don't remember... I think it was an oldie. There was quite a bit of white hair."
The two police officers made eye contact. There were too many people that dyed their hair white. This point wouldn't pinpoint much.
"You don't remember anything else about the other party's appearance?" the police officer queried.
Danny shook his head.
The police officer continued, "What happened next? Try to think hard, especially the minute details."
"After that? I was lying on the ground." When he recalled this, Danny started to doubt his own existence. Had he actually been knocked down so easily yesterday? And to the extent where he couldn't remember how he had been knocked down!
The club manager frowned. He couldn't think of anyone who could knock Danny out so easily. Even the champion of yesterday's boxing competition couldn't do it.
However, the two police officers caught onto a detail in Danny's words.
"Wait a minute, did you say 'lying'? Were you lying on the ground when you were knocked out?"
"I haven't finished yet," Danny said.
"Continue, recall the small details. Don't skip anything!"
"Mmhm, he even helped flip me over."
"...And then?"
"It seemed like I vomited."
One of the officers nodded. "You did. Furthermore, when your friend found you yesterday, you were lying face up."
"Yes, I remember that the person flipped me over after I fell."
The two officers continued probing for details, but Danny really didn't remember much. When he didn't think much of a person, he wouldn't really make an effort to remember the person's appearance. Regardless of whether he was drunk or sober, he was the same. If he didn't think the person was worthy of being remembered, he wouldn't waste any brain cells on it. Only afterward, when he had been knocked down and had started to doubt his existence, had his memory become more profound. However, it still wasn't clear, and the only impression he had was the white hair that had flashed past.
Furthermore, the more he remembered, the more Danny's spirit took a beating.
He had lost the match yesterday and had felt extremely indignant. He had nearly won the gold medal, so anyone in his situation wouldn't feel good. But now, the indignation in his heart had thoroughly been wiped clean!
This sort of transformation was like blaming everyone but himself all the way before discovering that "It turns out that I am the failure."
With such a huge drop in his mental state, what gold medal, what final loss, what indignation, all of these were chucked aside.
Currently, there was only one line revolving continuously in Danny's head. So it turns out that I am lacking?
The two police officers watched the crestfallen Danny lying on the bed and clutching his head. This huge man now looked as though he had been extremely wronged.
"Cough! We have a rough understanding of the situation already. According to what Mr. Danny has said, the other party didn't seem to have any strong malice. First, he didn't cause you any bodily harm. Second, the other party helped flip you over to prevent you from choking on your own vomit when you were lying face down... We will continue to investigate this matter, and if you remember any important clues, you can contact us."
As long as it wasn't a malicious revenge case regarding competitive rivals, Danny's case wouldn't be considered a big deal in Mazhou. It was no different from some drunken brawl across the street. Furthermore, at first glance, this matter had been instigated by Danny, and him getting hit was normal.
The two police officers left quickly after that. The club manager had similarly complicated feelings as he watched Danny lie in bed, hugging his head and contemplating his existence.
So there wasn't any conspiracy theory?
Then who exactly hit me?
That white-haired and confused fellow?
As Danny lay in the hospital, doubting his own existence, the one who had cast this shadow on his heart was accompanying his seniors to search for inspiration at the competition grounds.
Yin An had brought Fang Zhao and the others to watch a tennis match.
To fully experience the atmosphere of the sporting competition, they didn't use a VIP box or special viewing terrace. Instead, they sat together with the ordinary spectators.
Today was the finals of the Spartacus Cup Games men's singles tennis. This was a match that had a very high viewership.
On one side was the old veteran Dumol, who was currently ranked eighth in the world. He had only rushed up explosively this year and had never entered the top 20 in the past. At this year's Spartacus Cup Games, he seemed to have performed exceeding well and had swept through the previous rounds of matches, defeating many strong opponents along the way and making it into the gold medal match. Today would also be the last match in his professional career.
On the other side was a young tennis athlete who hadn't fallen out of the top three rankings in the past few years, Mitisy. He was a handsome lad and was nicknamed the "Prince of Tennis." There were also fans who affectionately called him "Xiao Mi."
Mitisy had won many championships. The only championship he lacked was the Spartacus Cup Games gold medal. After so many iterations, he had gotten a silver medal every time, and slowly during the Spartacus Cup Games, he had jokingly become referred to as "The Perennial Runner-up."
Among these two, one would retire after this match, while the other said that he would retire if he still couldn't get the gold medal this time. Thus, the attention placed by the media on this was especially high.
Fang Zhao took deep breaths, experiencing the complicated mixture of smells consisting of sweat, odor, snacks, and fragrances when Yin An turned to ask him, "Who do you think will win?"
"I can't tell," Fang Zhao answered seriously.
He had watched some previous competition videos of both parties and had analyzed the two competitors' states. Fang Zhao really couldn't say who would win.
"Haha! That is only right!" Yin An chuckled. "You will never know when a miracle might occur, and you will never know what might happen next. I just love this sort of plot. Because every time a turnabout occurs, countless musical notes enter my head. This feeling of my head being filled with music is a magical feeling. As a composer, you should understand, right?"
Fang Zhao nodded. "Mmhm." The symphony in his head had never stopped.