Omnipotent Data
Chapter 58
Uncle Wang didn’t give up.
The second ring hooped onto a toy. He didn’t manage to control his strength well for the third try. Hence, the ring flew too far and naturally didn’t hoop around anything.
Then he continued.
Although the bamboo rings in Uncle Wang’s hands were relatively heavier and less elastic, coupled with his richer experience in ring toss, he couldn’t ensure a 100% success rate. Nevertheless, his success rate was still much higher than a normal person’s.
“Yes!”
Uncle Wang tossed out the last ring.
The ring perfectly landed around a vase in the corner of the arrangement before the spectators’ nervous gazes.
“Awesome!” Uncle Chen couldn’t help but shout as he slapped his thighs in excitement.
Uncle Wang immediately beamed with joy. The spectators broke into a sea of shouting too.
Amazingly, Uncle Wang had successfully hooped six objects in ten tries. That was incredible to people who couldn’t even get anything with more than ten rings.
“OMG, he’s so good! Six out of ten! That’s terrific!”
“Unbelievable! You must have practiced a lot! To me, I’d be very happy if I could succeed three times out of ten!”
“Ha, don’t be stupid. It’s already a great feat if you can get anything at all in ten tries!”
“If he’s so good, do you think he’ll be defeated by the boy who’s competing with him?”
“Defeated? You’ve got to be kidding me. Did you not hear the boy say this is his first time playing ring toss? How good can he be?”
…
The spectators didn’t think that Cheng Nuo would win. That sentiment was obvious from the way they were looking at him. It was as though their eyes were saying, “I bet you’ll lose!”
However, it was almost a rule that applied everywhere that spectators were always wrong.
Uncle Wang’s 60% success rate had only been achieved through cheating. Nevertheless, he still believed that he had performed well. Uncle Wang walked towards Cheng Nuo with his bulging beer belly and said with a snort, “Your turn, young man.”
Then Uncle Wang whispered to him, “I suggest you give up now, young brother. It won’t look good for you.”
The rings in Cheng Nuo’s hands were lightweight and very elastic. Moreover, taking into consideration the fact that Cheng Nuo knew nothing about ring toss, Uncle Wang was certain that he would be the winner.
It wouldn’t matter whether Cheng Nuo was going to play or not, because Uncle Wang believed that there was no way Cheng Nuo could be even better than him.
Cheng Nuo gripped the bamboo rings in his hands and shot a cold glimpse at his opponent. Then he said calmly, “Uncle Wang, I have three words for you.”
“Oh?” Uncle Wang was confused. “What three words?”
“Watch and learn!” Cheng Nuo replied with a grin.
“You…”
Before Uncle Wang reached out his hand, Cheng Nuo had already positioned himself behind the toss line.
“Eh? Why did he throw without even measuring the distance?” a middle-aged woman in the crowd exclaimed.
The other people looked at Cheng Nuo and realized the woman was right. At that moment, Cheng Nuo was already standing at the toss line, making a gesture that he was about to toss. Usually, people would gage the distance to the object by steps before they threw. In that case, they would have a better estimate and would thus be able to throw the rings with more accurate strength.
But Cheng Nuo didn’t need to do that!
“Distance: 235.35 cm, Direction: 11.24 degrees NE, Width: 5.24 cm, Length: 6.25 cm…”
Cheng Nuo was aiming at a pink plastic cosmetic box. A series of statistics emerged in his mind as he was looking at it. That was followed by another line about the bamboo ring in his hand.
“Mass: 21.05 g, diameter: 10.54 cm, spring constant: 58.29 newtons per meter… wind speed: 2.14 m/s, direction: 68.35 degrees SW… gravitational acceleration: 9.825 m/s squared…”
The two sets of data were combined and manipulated in Cheng Nuo’s brain. A plan came up within a few seconds.
“Starting height: 1.24 m, direction: 68.24 degrees to the left, inclination: 12.38 degrees downwards, force: 6.84 newtons.”
“Let’s go!”
The bamboo ring flew out from Cheng Nuo’s hand and moved forward unsteadily.
All of the spectators shook their heads when they saw the trajectory the ring was following. A faint smile appeared on Uncle Wang’s face.
Apparently, judging from its movement, the ring would not land on any object.
But was that really the case? Cheng Nuo’s brain had never failed him before.
In the next instant, the looks on everyone’s faces turned into ones of astonishment as they felt a gentle breeze.
“What? Are you kidding me?!” someone shouted from the crowd.
The ring changed its direction of movement under the wind. Then it hooped right around the pink cosmetic box with a crash.
Under Cheng Nuo’s careful calculations, the ring had landed with its entire circumference facing down. Hence, the ring only bounced twice before settling down at the same place due to the reduced elastic effect.
The first try was successful!
Not only the spectators, even Uncle Wang and Uncle Chen had shock written all over their faces.
Was it luck or true power?
They exchanged confused looks.
However, they were more inclined to believe that Cheng Nuo had just gotten lucky. They thought that Cheng Nuo had been aiming for something else, but he had hooped the cosmetic box purely by chance.
Before Uncle Wang and Uncle Chen recovered from their shock, Cheng Nuo had already begun his second try.
Several lines of statistics were displayed in Cheng Nuo’s eyes, though they were invisible to the rest.
“Distance: 281.35 cm, direction: 35.29 degrees NW… mass of bamboo ring: 21.45 g, diameter: 10.40 cm, spring constant: 56.33 newtons per meter… wind speed: 2.25 m/s, direction: 68.21 degrees SW…”
“Starting height: 1.52 m, direction: 38.94 degrees to the left, inclination: 18.38 degrees downwards, force: 8.82 newtons.”
“Here we go!”
Cheng Nuo exhaled deeply and hurled out the bamboo ring.
Everyone’s eyes were glued to the flying ring.
Crash!
Again, the ring landed right where Cheng Nuo had wanted it with the help of the wind and gravity.
Two out of two!
Uncle Wang started to sweat nervously.
He quietly moved to Uncle Chen’s side and asked him softly, “Chen, are you sure you didn’t give him the better rings?”
Cheng Nuo’s high success rate had caused Uncle Wang to suspect his friend.
“No way!” Uncle Chen said, looking stern. “I gave him the normal rings. I checked them myself, I swear!”
“Then what’s going on?” Uncle Wang questioned after a short pause. “He’s just a newbie. How did he succeed in both of his first two attempts?”
“My guess is as good as yours!” Uncle Chen replied with an innocent look on his face.
Then he drew a deep breath and said, “Well, let’s just hope that he has only gotten lucky two times in a row.”
…
The second ring hooped onto a toy. He didn’t manage to control his strength well for the third try. Hence, the ring flew too far and naturally didn’t hoop around anything.
Then he continued.
Although the bamboo rings in Uncle Wang’s hands were relatively heavier and less elastic, coupled with his richer experience in ring toss, he couldn’t ensure a 100% success rate. Nevertheless, his success rate was still much higher than a normal person’s.
“Yes!”
Uncle Wang tossed out the last ring.
The ring perfectly landed around a vase in the corner of the arrangement before the spectators’ nervous gazes.
“Awesome!” Uncle Chen couldn’t help but shout as he slapped his thighs in excitement.
Uncle Wang immediately beamed with joy. The spectators broke into a sea of shouting too.
Amazingly, Uncle Wang had successfully hooped six objects in ten tries. That was incredible to people who couldn’t even get anything with more than ten rings.
“OMG, he’s so good! Six out of ten! That’s terrific!”
“Unbelievable! You must have practiced a lot! To me, I’d be very happy if I could succeed three times out of ten!”
“Ha, don’t be stupid. It’s already a great feat if you can get anything at all in ten tries!”
“If he’s so good, do you think he’ll be defeated by the boy who’s competing with him?”
“Defeated? You’ve got to be kidding me. Did you not hear the boy say this is his first time playing ring toss? How good can he be?”
…
The spectators didn’t think that Cheng Nuo would win. That sentiment was obvious from the way they were looking at him. It was as though their eyes were saying, “I bet you’ll lose!”
However, it was almost a rule that applied everywhere that spectators were always wrong.
Uncle Wang’s 60% success rate had only been achieved through cheating. Nevertheless, he still believed that he had performed well. Uncle Wang walked towards Cheng Nuo with his bulging beer belly and said with a snort, “Your turn, young man.”
Then Uncle Wang whispered to him, “I suggest you give up now, young brother. It won’t look good for you.”
The rings in Cheng Nuo’s hands were lightweight and very elastic. Moreover, taking into consideration the fact that Cheng Nuo knew nothing about ring toss, Uncle Wang was certain that he would be the winner.
It wouldn’t matter whether Cheng Nuo was going to play or not, because Uncle Wang believed that there was no way Cheng Nuo could be even better than him.
Cheng Nuo gripped the bamboo rings in his hands and shot a cold glimpse at his opponent. Then he said calmly, “Uncle Wang, I have three words for you.”
“Oh?” Uncle Wang was confused. “What three words?”
“Watch and learn!” Cheng Nuo replied with a grin.
“You…”
Before Uncle Wang reached out his hand, Cheng Nuo had already positioned himself behind the toss line.
“Eh? Why did he throw without even measuring the distance?” a middle-aged woman in the crowd exclaimed.
The other people looked at Cheng Nuo and realized the woman was right. At that moment, Cheng Nuo was already standing at the toss line, making a gesture that he was about to toss. Usually, people would gage the distance to the object by steps before they threw. In that case, they would have a better estimate and would thus be able to throw the rings with more accurate strength.
But Cheng Nuo didn’t need to do that!
“Distance: 235.35 cm, Direction: 11.24 degrees NE, Width: 5.24 cm, Length: 6.25 cm…”
Cheng Nuo was aiming at a pink plastic cosmetic box. A series of statistics emerged in his mind as he was looking at it. That was followed by another line about the bamboo ring in his hand.
“Mass: 21.05 g, diameter: 10.54 cm, spring constant: 58.29 newtons per meter… wind speed: 2.14 m/s, direction: 68.35 degrees SW… gravitational acceleration: 9.825 m/s squared…”
The two sets of data were combined and manipulated in Cheng Nuo’s brain. A plan came up within a few seconds.
“Starting height: 1.24 m, direction: 68.24 degrees to the left, inclination: 12.38 degrees downwards, force: 6.84 newtons.”
“Let’s go!”
The bamboo ring flew out from Cheng Nuo’s hand and moved forward unsteadily.
All of the spectators shook their heads when they saw the trajectory the ring was following. A faint smile appeared on Uncle Wang’s face.
Apparently, judging from its movement, the ring would not land on any object.
But was that really the case? Cheng Nuo’s brain had never failed him before.
In the next instant, the looks on everyone’s faces turned into ones of astonishment as they felt a gentle breeze.
“What? Are you kidding me?!” someone shouted from the crowd.
The ring changed its direction of movement under the wind. Then it hooped right around the pink cosmetic box with a crash.
Under Cheng Nuo’s careful calculations, the ring had landed with its entire circumference facing down. Hence, the ring only bounced twice before settling down at the same place due to the reduced elastic effect.
The first try was successful!
Not only the spectators, even Uncle Wang and Uncle Chen had shock written all over their faces.
Was it luck or true power?
They exchanged confused looks.
However, they were more inclined to believe that Cheng Nuo had just gotten lucky. They thought that Cheng Nuo had been aiming for something else, but he had hooped the cosmetic box purely by chance.
Before Uncle Wang and Uncle Chen recovered from their shock, Cheng Nuo had already begun his second try.
Several lines of statistics were displayed in Cheng Nuo’s eyes, though they were invisible to the rest.
“Distance: 281.35 cm, direction: 35.29 degrees NW… mass of bamboo ring: 21.45 g, diameter: 10.40 cm, spring constant: 56.33 newtons per meter… wind speed: 2.25 m/s, direction: 68.21 degrees SW…”
“Starting height: 1.52 m, direction: 38.94 degrees to the left, inclination: 18.38 degrees downwards, force: 8.82 newtons.”
“Here we go!”
Cheng Nuo exhaled deeply and hurled out the bamboo ring.
Everyone’s eyes were glued to the flying ring.
Crash!
Again, the ring landed right where Cheng Nuo had wanted it with the help of the wind and gravity.
Two out of two!
Uncle Wang started to sweat nervously.
He quietly moved to Uncle Chen’s side and asked him softly, “Chen, are you sure you didn’t give him the better rings?”
Cheng Nuo’s high success rate had caused Uncle Wang to suspect his friend.
“No way!” Uncle Chen said, looking stern. “I gave him the normal rings. I checked them myself, I swear!”
“Then what’s going on?” Uncle Wang questioned after a short pause. “He’s just a newbie. How did he succeed in both of his first two attempts?”
“My guess is as good as yours!” Uncle Chen replied with an innocent look on his face.
Then he drew a deep breath and said, “Well, let’s just hope that he has only gotten lucky two times in a row.”
…