At four in the morning in Los Angeles, Black Mamba's shadow was no longer alone. A neighbor had quietly arrived in the city and become his neighbor.
Inside Paravilla Stadium.
A handsome East Asian player was drenched in sweat as he struggled through an 80-kilogram bench press.
17...
18...
19...
Aaaah!
20...
Just as Li Chen finished his tenth set of bench presses, he felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He didn't want to move at all.
Just then, a mechanical voice sounded in his ear.
[Notice: Host has surpassed his limits and acquired the passive talent, Resilience.] [Talent Skill: Resilience (Passive)] [Skill Rank: S-rank] [Skill Attribute: Helps maintain composure in adversity and bring out one's full potential.] [Note: The only one who can defeat you is yourself. Defeat yourself, young man.]
Seeing that he had acquired a talent skill, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Li Chen was from Earth. Somehow, he had crossed over to this parallel world called Blue Star and become the new owner of this body.
At the same time, he had awakened a system.
He still hadn't figured out what the system was called.
He only knew that before every basketball game, the system would randomly grant him an S-rank Skill.
If he was named the game's MVP, that initial S-rank Skill would appear on his character screen.
Then, he could use money to raise its rank from D-rank to A-rank. As for S-rank, he had to rely on his own hard work and training.
As for Resilience, it had come from the newbie gift pack. It had been A-rank at the time, but after a long period of training, it had become S-rank.
After acquiring this talent skill, Li Chen didn't use money to upgrade it. Well, he had to admit he was broke.
But that didn't stump him.
As luck would have it, he had crossed over in 2002.
That was when Yao Ming was first making his mark in the NBA, so NBA teams were all hoping to land a big fish and were willing to give players of the Yellow Race a few meager opportunities.
So Li Chen rode that wave, going from team to team.
Usually, he got three-day contracts.
With so many kinds of S-rank Skills, he hadn't gotten any particularly eye-catching abilities during that period.
So no other teams had taken a liking to him.
Still, Li Chen hadn't come away empty-handed.
His gain was unlimited access to training equipment at all the teams.
Through sheer resilience, Li Chen had finally trained Resilience, his passive talent skill, to S-rank.
Panting, Li Chen gazed up at the ceiling and thought to himself, Today's the last day again.
I hope I get an S-rank Skill that's at least decent today, Li Chen thought to himself. He didn't have many options left.
He opened his stats panel again.
[Name: Li Chen] [Team: Los Angeles Clippers (seven-day contract)] [Positions: Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward] [Height: 199.8 cm] [Weight: 90.3 kg] [Wingspan: 210 cm] [Age: 21] [Skill: Resilience (Passive Talent Skill)] [Rating: 70]
Seeing the rating, Li Chen froze for a moment. Why had his rating suddenly gotten so high?
And why did he feel that his abilities were so lousy?
After thinking it over, Li Chen opened his personal stats.
[Shooting Ability: 50] [Dribbling Ability: 41] [Passing Ability: 39] [Rebounding Ability: 30] [Defensive Ability: 30] [Speed Ability: 62] [Strength Ability: 70] [Basketball IQ: 85] [Physical Attributes: 99] (S-rank Skill bonus)
Seeing this, Li Chen suddenly understood. His basketball IQ and strength had pulled up his average.
His actual ability hadn't improved much.
Li Chen let out a long breath, then sat up.
Who cared if his stats were low? He just had to train! Besides, he had a system. There was no reason to feel discouraged. Li Chen silently encouraged himself.
By then, his S-rank passive talent skill, Resilience, had already begun to take effect.
Just as the skill's note said: No one could defeat you. The only one who could defeat you was yourself.
At the same time, Li Chen felt strength coursing through his body, so he went on to do ten sets of basic strength exercises, including squats, deadlifts, and push-ups.
Half an hour later, Li Chen let out a long breath, then began explosive-power training, followed by core-strength training, and finally functional training.
When he had finished all of that, it was 6:15 in the morning.
He was feeling hungry, so he put on his jacket and returned to the place he was renting. After eating something, he went back to the Training Gym and started shooting practice.
First, he practiced two-point jump shots for half an hour, then worked on spot-up threes. An hour later, he dropped to the floor.
Li Chen planned to rest for an hour and a half, then begin his official training for the day.
At nine in the morning, the Training Gym doors opened, and the Clippers players began filing in.
"Hahaha! See? I told you Chen would be in the Training Gym. Odom, you lost. Remember to pay me after practice."
Elton Brand said smugly.
"Hmph! Elton, I'm not the kind of guy who welshes on a bet." Then Odom grumbled, "Fuck, some people just don't know their place. They know they don't have what it takes to play basketball, yet they still pretend to work hard. They're only hurting themselves and everyone else."
Hearing Odom's pointed remark, Elton Brand raised his brows and snapped, "Hey, Odom! Don't look down on someone else's efforts."
"Odom, that's enough." The team's star, Corey Maggette, rebuked him disapprovingly.
Seeing the Clippers' top two players both turn on him, Odom's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Hey, hey, hey! We're from the same country!" Odom shouted.
Clearly, Odom was being discriminatory.
Corey Maggette and Elton Brand both frowned.
"Odom, basketball has no borders. Don't make inappropriate remarks like that."
"Chen may not have much talent, but he works hard. Those of us who love basketball should respect that."
"Corey Maggette's right," Elton Brand said loudly.
People were often kind to those who worked hard despite lacking talent. Corey Maggette was like that, and so was Elton Brand. Even the other Clippers players, though they said nothing, admired Li Chen.
Nearby, Wang Zhizhi stared in a daze. He had never imagined that this fellow countryman, whom he had never even heard of, would earn the respect of these foreign teammates in a foreign land.
Should he follow Li Chen's example? But that would be far too exhausting. His body really couldn't take it.
At that moment, Wang Zhizhi truly felt how incredible Li Chen's physique was.
"Whatever." Odom scoffed. Basketball was nothing but a way to make money.
Odom couldn't be bothered arguing with Corey Maggette and the others.
Just then, Li Chen, the subject of their argument, slowly walked up to Odom.
Seeing this, Odom paused for a moment, then widened his eyes. "Hey, Eastern Kid, what's this? You wanna fight? I'm game."
Li Chen smiled and shook his head. "We Easterners are known for being courteous. How could we possibly resort to hitting someone?"
Hearing this, Odom's large face filled with contempt. He muttered, "Wimp."
"Although I won't hit anyone, I'm going to take your starting spot and make sure you can't get on the court."
Before you continue