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Chapter 195: Death Is Coming
🕑 Added 2025-06-25 14:56:19 +0000 UTC“Oh? Nike’s that fast now?” Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, a little surprised as he listened to Xiao Zhong’s update.
“Pretty much. The shoes won’t hit the shelves for a few more months,” Zhong Muchen explained. “But you’re heading into the All-Star Game, right? Nike’s hoping you’ll debut their specially designed sneaker for you during the event.”
Ah—so this was the plan. Use the All-Star spotlight to roll out Lin Yi’s exclusive sneakers.
Still, Lin Yi had to admit… it felt surreal.
Was it finally time? His signature shoe?
Honestly, he suddenly didn’t feel like wearing his Kobes anymore.
Farewell, my beloved Kobes.
Nike, to their credit, had gone full throttle with the rollout. The design team, led by Augustus Caesar, was practically living at the office, trying to meet deadlines. They weren’t about to waste the All-Star moment. The plan was to launch Lin Yi’s “Death Series” in style—right on the Dallas stage.
Nike had done a full biometric workup on Lin Yi months ago—foot size, ankle structure, pressure points, everything. Lin had assumed the sneakers wouldn’t drop until summer. But clearly, the swoosh wanted to strike while the iron was hot.
And Lin? If they were handing him the torch, he had no intention of just holding it—he planned to set the stage on fire.
Zhong Muchen sent over some early design samples. Lin Yi scrolled through them with growing excitement. They looked... sleek. Aggressive. Clean.
What stood out most was that Nike had leaned heavily into guard-style shoes, even though he was technically a center.
Caesar had taken some inspiration from the Kobe series templates—Lin’s personal favorites—and made improvements from there. Lin had gotten so used to that style that building his line off it just made sense.
“These might be the least ‘center-looking’ center shoes I’ve ever designed,” Caesar had joked.
Even Lin’s sneaker philosophy matched his game—versatile, deceptive, not bound by position.
Then Lin paused, staring at the custom logo.
“Wait a second... isn’t that the character for ‘forest’ from my name?” he asked.
“Bingo,” Zhong Muchen grinned through the call. “Caesar said it had to have Chinese flair. And since ‘Lin means forest, he asked a well-known calligrapher in China to write it out by hand. They scanned it and used it as the central design motif.”
Not bad. Not bad at all.
More and more people overseas were falling in love with Chinese characters—even if most had no clue what they meant. Lin still remembered that foreign girl with a tattoo on her hip that just read: “dog.”
Culture gap.
“Oh, by the way,” Lin added, squinting at the design. “What are those two little crosses under the forest symbol supposed to be?”
“That? They’re crossed swords,” Zhong replied. “Nike felt that Chinese martial arts deserved a nod, and nothing says kung fu like swords. Plus, if you look closely, the crossed blades form a ‘Y’—as in the ‘Yi’ from your name.”
Lin laughed.
Okay, that’s slick.
Even if it unintentionally looked like it meant “double trouble,” the aesthetic was undeniably sharp.
The best logos are simple and unforgettable—and this one nailed it. It had a story, a style, and a cultural hook. Total win.
Nike even made two exclusive colorways for the debut: a deep blue to honor the Knicks, and a fiery red as a tribute to Lin Yi’s Davidson days.
The only condition? No leaks. Nike wanted the first public appearance to happen during the All-Star Dunk Contest.
Lin agreed. He’d go all in. If the All-Star Game was a stage, he’d be the showstopper.
...
February 5th.
Back at MSG, the Knicks were hosting the Milwaukee Bucks.
Don’t laugh, but the Bucks had a shot at sneaking into the playoffs. The East wasn’t exactly terrifying this season, and they were grinding hard to stay in the race.
Brandon Jennings came out guns blazing.
He’d always believed he was the standout from the 2009 draft class. After his famous 55-point game, he didn’t think much of Curry, and not Lin Yi.
Tonight, he wanted to remind the world.
Too bad Lin Yi didn’t get the memo.
If he had, he might’ve responded with something like: “Delusions are a real condition, bro. You might wanna get that checked.”
Jennings still made headlines—but not for the reasons he hoped.
In the second quarter, the Bucks were pushing the pace. Jennings shook off Louis Williams with a slick crossover and burst toward the lane.
And then he saw Lin Yi in the paint.
Instead of pulling up or dishing it, Jennings made a fateful decision—he went full throttle. Took flight with a one-handed tomahawk attempt like he was writing his poster.
And that’s when tragedy struck.
BOOM.
Lin Yi met him mid-air, read his intentions, and with one palm, swatted the ball—and Jennings—into oblivion.
The block was so clean, so powerful, that Jennings didn’t just miss the dunk… he flew.
Launched straight out of the paint and into the free-throw line. He lay there for a few seconds, flat on his back, wondering what alternate timeline he’d just entered.
The crowd at MSG erupted.
Twitter lit up.
And Lin Yi? He just jogged back on offense, stone-faced, like it was business as usual.
Madison Square Garden erupted.
The crowd was on their feet, roaring like a storm had just hit the court. The Bucks’ players looked rattled—embarrassed, even. That block wasn’t just a highlight. It was a full-blown poster, a career-altering moment.
Lin Yi’s “brutality index” in fans’ minds had just spiked by at least 9000 points.
“My God! Lin Yi might’ve just scarred Jennings for life with that block!” Yu Jia shouted, his voice cracking from the adrenaline. “He sent that poor guy into another dimension!”
“Jennings was way too reckless,” Su Junyang chimed in with a smirk. “He forgot Lin Yi averaged twelve blocks last month, and tonight? That’s the price you pay. For a guy who keeps calling himself the best rookie from 2009—well, I think reality just hit him in the face.”
“Actually,” Yu Jia added with a chuckle, “I heard Nike’s calling Lin Yi’s signature shoes the ‘Death’ Series... and tonight, Jennings got front-row tickets to see Death”
Su couldn’t help laughing.
The crowd was absolutely losing it.
MVP! MVP! MVP!
The chant echoed across the Garden like a drumbeat, wild and relentless. That one block felt even more electric than a dunk. Lin Yi wasn’t just swatting shots—he was swatting souls.
The arena’s jumbotron kept replaying it in slow motion—Jennings mid-air, eyes wide, Lin rising like a skyscraper, one massive palm rejecting the dunk with cruel finality. The ball flew. Jennings flew. The fans flew into hysteria.
Even the referee had to pause the game to check if Jennings was… okay.
Physically, he was fine.
Emotionally?
Ruined.
Jennings didn’t want to get up—not because he was hurt, but because he was mortified. Still, with his teammates’ help, he eventually stood up, wincing, trying to play it off like it was an injury. He hoped for a bit of sympathy.
Instead?
Booooooooo!
Knicks fans rained down jeers. Jennings could only pretend to stretch his back like it was part of the plan.
It wasn’t.
And the nightmare wasn’t over. Jennings went full ghost mode for the rest of the game—bricking everything. He shot 0-for-14 from the field, scraped together 2 points from free throws, added 4 assists and 3 rebounds, and most importantly… added a lifetime supply of trauma.
After the game, facing the media, Jennings tried to stay composed.
“My idol, Kobe Bryant, once said that missing shots isn’t the problem,” he said, cheeks red. “It’s giving up that’s the problem. I’ll bounce back.”
Lin Yi, hearing the quote later, raised an eyebrow.
“If it were Kobe? He’d go 0-for-14 and still take the fifteenth shot.”
To Lin, pretending to be “Mamba” was serious business. Jennings pretending to echo Kobe was blasphemy.
As a devoted fan of the most accurate, stylish, and ice-cold man in LA—not you, Paul Gasol, but you're cool too—Lin Yi wasn’t letting any fake-Kobe energy slide.
The Knicks ended up cruising past the Bucks.
Knicks: 35-14.
And that one block?
It shook the internet.
Clips of Lin Yi's swat shot straight to the top of YouTube (and every other sports feed), with fans flooding the comments:
"That wasn’t a block. That was an exorcism."
"RIP Jennings. Gone but not forgotten."
"This man IS the ‘Death’ series."
Even Jennings' fans went silent. The few brave ones who still mentioned his 55-point rookie explosion against Curry… quietly logged out.
At this point, no one even dared to compare Jennings to Lin Yi.
Or even to Curry.
The tide had turned.
Jennings was devastated. That guy had erased years of self-belief in one swat. And just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, he found out his teammates were reposting Lin’s block on social media... with fire emojis.
Betrayal.
Meanwhile, Nike?
Absolutely loving it.
They hadn’t expected Lin Yi to hand them the perfect promo moment for his "Death" sneakers, but they weren’t going to waste it.
On their official homepage, a bold banner went up the next day:
DEATH IS COMING.
A still shot of Lin Yi’s hand slamming down the ball, Jennings frozen in horror mid-air. Below it? A sleek preview of the Death Series sneakers.
Marketing gold.
Internally, Nike execs high-fived each other. That summer signing of Lin Yi? Suddenly, it looked like a bargain.
Lin Yi wasn’t just putting up numbers. He was a walking headline every night.
And the craziest part?
He hadn’t even reached his full potential.
...
February 6th.
While the internet was still replaying that block from every possible angle, the Knicks were already preparing for their next big test.
Lin Yi?
All smiles.
Because this wasn’t just another game.
It was his level-up moment.
