Free Web NovelChapter 90: Chapter 85: The Sorrow of a Lonely Expert
The "Brain Power Burst" show team took Zhao Yi’s record attempt very seriously. Not only did they invite a judge from the Guinness China agency, but they also invited two notaries from the government.
In addition, there was also a witness from abroad.
Bertrand Kowalski from Poland, a professional Rubik’s Cube blindfolded solver.
He ranked second in the world for single-blindfolded three-order cube solving, fourteenth in the world for single-blindfolded four-order cube solving, and twenty-first for single-blindfolded five-order cube solving.
At the same time, he holds the record for the most blindfolded solves completed in the world, successfully solving 41 three-order Rubik’s cubes blindfolded in 54 minutes and 14 seconds.
Kovalchik was curious about Zhao Yi. He was invited to participate in the "Brain Power Burst" show, but didn’t expect to come and witness a Rubik’s cube blindfolded solving record attempt.
While shaking hands politely with Zhao Yi, he paid close attention to Zhao Yi’s hands and asked strangely, "You don’t play Rubik’s cube often?"
His English had a strong regional accent.
Zhao Yi was not used to it but understood the meaning and nodded with a smile, "I rarely play Rubik’s cube."
"Why are you challenging the record then?" Kovalchik’s tone suggested that Zhao Yi was overestimating his abilities considering he didn’t play Rubik’s cube often.
"Because."
Zhao Yi pointed to his head as he spoke.
Kovalchik didn’t understand and looked around disdainfully, feeling that the challenge venue was just a show.
"Brain Power Burst" was a variety show. Despite being promoted as a scientific program by having the word "brain" in its title, many of its projects and rules were self-created and the Rubik’s cube competition rules were not perfect.
It was understandable for such variety shows to use gimmicks to increase ratings. Perhaps Zhao Yi’s fame would attract traffic to the show even if he failed to break the record.
"It must be like this!"
Looking at the cheerleading team formed by a row of students in the distance, Kovalchik’s disdain grew even stronger.
After exchanging a few words with Kovalchik, Zhao Yi took his challenge position and listened to the Guinness judge explaining the rules, taking a sip of water and flexing his fingers in preparation.
Then he made an ’ok’ gesture to show that he was ready.
The conference room quieted down.
The most important aspect of the blindfolded Rubik’s cube solving project was memory. A noisy environment would greatly affect a contestant’s performance.
The judge handed an eye mask to Zhao Yi and asked him to wear it on his forehead. "As soon as you lower the eye mask, the timer will start."
"Okay."
Kovalchik came over with a restored Rubik’s cube, then scrambled it randomly under the watchful eyes of the judge. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
After scrambling the cube, two notaries took it and input the cube’s state into a computer, immediately obtaining the minimum number of steps for restoration -- 16.
"16, is that okay?"
The judge looked at Zhao Yi.
In previous Rubik’s cube record challenges, it was sufficient to confirm that the scrambling met the rules. However, with the advent of the Rubik’s cube calculator, an awkward situation arose where the calculated minimum steps were deemed too few, potentially attributed to the contestant’s luck. The Rubik’s cube association had yet to determine the specific minimum restoration steps for the competition cube.
Zhao Yi shook his head, "That’s too little; preferably 20." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Kovalchik was getting a little tired.
He continued to scramble the cube. Several times, the results entered showed 18 or 19. After another scramble, he heard one of the notaries say in English, "He made this calculator and is really making trouble for himself."
"What?"
"Didn’t you know? Zhao Yi created the Rubik’s cube calculator." The notary pointed to Zhao Yi and explained.
Kovalchik looked at Zhao Yi in surprise.
Zhao Yi’s creation of the Rubik’s cube calculator had caused some discussion in the academic world, but it was really just well-known within the Rubik’s cube community.
Zhao-Yi.
This name was known to all in the world of Rubik’s cube. His cube calculator had a huge impact on the three-dimensional cube competitions. Almost every Rubik’s cube enthusiast would download a cube calculator.
Kovalchik was one of them, and he felt the pain of paying five dollars.
It was his first time paying for software.
"So that’s how it is!"
"He made the Rubik’s cube calculator, so the show team asked him to challenge the record. The process isn’t important; just the fact that he is challenging the record is a big gimmick!"
Kovalchik believed he understood the show team’s arrangement.
Of course.
He had no confidence in Zhao Yi’s challenge.
A show-off challenge with no chance of success.
Only professional players could play the Rubik’s cube. Amateur players had a big issue with hand speed, and the blindfolded challenge was even more demanding. Not to mention the time it took; just being able to complete the challenge was incredible.
Kovalchik tried more than a dozen times before the Rubik’s cube calculator displayed 20.
He then handed the cube to Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi carefully looked at all six sides of the Rubik’s cube and then put it on the table to indicate he was ready to start.
The judge asked in surprise, "Are you sure?"
Zhao Yi nodded.
Kovalchik was even more surprised than the judge as he needed to look at the cube for a while to remember the colors of all sides.
Zhao Yi took only a fraction of the time!
After Zhao Yi confirmed he was ready to start, the judge took out a black board and placed it between his eyes and hands.
"You can start now."
Zhao Yi pulled down his blindfold, and the timer was instantly activated.
His fingers continually controlled the Rubik’s cube, with its state continuously changing.
The speed was not fast.
Zhao Yi knew how to rotate the cube in his mind, and because he didn’t rely on his eyes, he was cautious about making mistakes; he controlled every step carefully.
Even so, the cube was quickly restored.
Zhao Yi made the last rotation, threw the cube on the table, calmly removed the blindfold and looked at the timer--20 seconds and 32.
Kovalchik took a deep breath, unable to believe what he saw.
He rubbed his eyes hard.
That’s right!
Over 20 seconds!
Currently, the blindfolded record for the 3x3 Rubik’s cube is 27 seconds, and 06. The opponent has directly improved his record by seven seconds, which is really incredible.
The reactions of the others were similar.
Judges, notaries, including Zhou Fangsheng who was standing at a distance, were all amazed, their mouths wide open. They knew very well what 20 seconds meant.
The judge suppressed his surprise and announced, "The result is valid!"
The two notaries immediately declared the results and simultaneously recited a long list of fair-related lines.
The cheerleaders who got the results at the back were already cheering excitedly--
"Zhao Yi! A real record-breaker!"
"That’s awesome!"
Wang Chengmin hurriedly waved his hand to command, "Quick, shout the slogan!"
"Zhao Yi! You’re the best!"
"Number thirteen!"
"Zhao Yi! You’re the most capable!"
"Number thirteen!"
Zhao Yi listened with a forced smile, feeling a headache coming.
In the midst of astonishment and cheers, Kovalchik came over and asked, "Do you want to try again? I feel that it wasn’t the fastest result."
He referred to the unprofessional process of blindfolded solving.
For example, at the beginning, putting down the blindfold to start turning the cube wasted a few tenths of a second, and the final action of putting down the cube also wasted a few tenths of a second.
"Yes, let’s try it again."
The judge also joined in, not because he thought it was professional or not, but because the record-breaking result was so astonishing that he worried about missing something, resulting in his own work errors.
"Did the previous result count?" Zhao Yi asked.
"It is valid!"
"No problem."
The judges and notaries nodded with certainty.
Zhao Yi tried for the second time, and it was still Kovalchik who was responsible for scrambling the cube. In the end, he chose to scramble it in 19 steps.
This was probably an attempt to test him.
Zhao Yi didn’t mind; after all, the record had been broken, and the state of the cube was no longer an issue.
Once everything was ready, he pulled down the blindfold and restored the cube.
Swipe, swipe...
This time it was much faster!
After a dazzling flurry of motion with both hands, the cube was thrown onto the table, and the timer stopped in sync. The number displayed was—
seconds and 09.
There was silence on the scene.
The judges were astounded.
Kovalchik came over to break the silence, taking a deep breath and saying to Zhao Yi, "I regret asking you to try again."
"You’ve created an incredible record, and this event may lose its competitive significance in the future because no one can break your record!"
After hearing Kovalchik’s words, Zhao Yi frowned slightly and suddenly felt a sense of boredom.
He came to challenge the blindfolded Rubik’s cube record just to try to earn Research Coin, but breaking the record using the system’s ability is very unfair to the project itself.
Well, forget it!
Zhao Yi stood up and walked towards the door.
Kovalchik stopped him and asked, "Don’t you want to challenge the blindfolded 4x4 cube? And the 5x5 cube?"
"I give up."
"Why?" Kovalchik couldn’t understand. With such an incredible 3x3 Rubik’s cube blindfolded record, challenging the 4x4 and 5x5 blindfolded records should also be highly likely.
Under the gaze of several cameras, Zhao Yi carried the lonely sorrow of a master. He sighed deeply and said, "You said it yourself; I just created a record that nobody can break."
"If I continue to challenge the 4x4 and 5x5 blindfolded records and replace every blindfolded record with my name, what about the other Rubik’s cube blindfolded players? Their professional pursuit may be to break records, but I made the records unbreakable."
"I can’t do that."
"That’s too cruel!"
Zhao Yi sighed deeply again and turned to leave the conference room.
