Do You Like Basketball?

Bang!

Bang!

The basketball thudded against the floor again and again.

On one side of the indoor court, two children, one tall and one short, were training.

The shorter one was thirteen or fourteen, just over 1.4 meters tall.

The taller one was only eleven or twelve, yet he was already over 1.8 meters tall.

The two had been practicing for a while and were drenched in sweat.

Boom!

The tall boy suddenly accelerated, charged forward, leaped into the air, spread like a roc taking flight, and slammed the ball through the hoop with one hand.

Sun Hao curled his lip and clicked his tongue, unable to suppress the envy welling up inside him.

Yi Jianlian was only eleven, already 1.8 meters tall, and he could dunk one-handed.

That talent, that athleticism, and that stamina to still soar so effortlessly after training for so long...

Oh, no, endurance. Damn, it was enviable as hell.

"Brother Hao, what's wrong?"

After dunking, Yi Jianlian saw the look on Sun Hao's face and could not help asking.

Hadn't he just made an ordinary dunk?

"Nothing. I'm jealous because you're handsome."

Sun Hao said with a grin.

Yi Jianlian's face flushed slightly.

He was shy by nature. Though he was more relaxed around Sun Hao, Sun Hao being this direct...

Seeing Yi Jianlian's reaction, Sun Hao burst into laughter, secretly delighted that his teasing had worked.

Yi Jianlian scratched his head and laughed along with him.

The two of them should have been parallel lines, never crossing from beginning to end.

But a year ago, Sun Hao had suddenly bent himself sideways and cut straight across.

"Do you like basketball?"

That had been the first thing Sun Hao said to him.

He had not known what basketball was, but once he started playing, the thrill of smashing the ball through the hoop, along with the sight of girls cheering for him, had made him happy.

It was a kind of happiness others could not imagine.

Especially one week ago, when they lifted the Guangdong Junior High League championship trophy before an audience of over a thousand people.

At that moment, he had felt as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

So much so that after the awards ceremony, when the prettiest girl in the class confessed to him, he had not heard a single word she said.

"By the way, how are your preparations going?"

Sun Hao's voice pulled him back to reality.

After winning the championship, the two of them, as the team's core players, had caught the attention of the Hongyuan Youth Team. Both had been invited to attend the Youth Team's tryouts a month later.

"No problem."

Confidence was written all over Yi Jianlian's face.

Sun Hao gave him a thumbs-up.

"Let's play professional basketball together."

He then opened his hand in a give-me-five gesture.

Yi Jianlian raised his hand as well.

The two high-fived, sealing their promise.

There was a gleam in Yi Jianlian's eyes.

He was now incredibly eager to play professional basketball alongside Sun Hao.

After training ended, the two parted ways at the school gate.

Sun Hao walked on alone, looking around as he went.

As he took in the unfamiliar surroundings, his expression turned dazed.

He was not from this era.

On this day one year ago, he had been twenty-eight years old, an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut in the NCAA.

He still remembered that day. It had also been an indoor gym, where he had herded those Children of Heaven on the team—future players who might enter the NBA—like ducks.

Laps around the court, obstacle drills, dribbling through cones, suicide drills, One-Minute Rapid Fire...

As the assistant coach responsible for the team's training, at twenty-eight, he had been young and promising.

If he stuck it out for another decade or two, he might have had a chance to become the next head coach and reach the pinnacle of his life.

After practice, he had taken a nap in the locker room. As usual, he had been daydreaming when a sharp pain suddenly tore through his heart, and then he lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself here.

He had traveled back to China in 1994, into the body of a twelve-year-old child.

It had taken him a long time to adjust.

After all, going from twenty-eight to twelve meant that not only had every part of his body shrunk, but the entire environment was new as well.

Then there was Yi Jianlian, a figure second only to Yao Ming in the history of Chinese basketball.

He had never imagined that after traveling back in time, he would attend the same school as Yi Jianlian!

Of course he had to latch onto such a golden thigh. He casually created opportunities to run into Yi Jianlian, then led him into basketball step by step.

Yi Jianlian was highly talented, and with Sun Hao's professional methods, his skills improved by leaps and bounds. They easily won the provincial junior high league championship.

But starting tomorrow, the two of them would likely set off on completely different paths.

Yi Jianlian's talent was off the charts. Even without Sun Hao's help, he would represent the national team abroad at seventeen and enter the NBA as the sixth overall pick at twenty.

As for him...

He stopped walking, glanced at a clump of bushes beside him that stood about as tall as he did, and could not help sighing.

It was all because this body had not been capable enough back when it was still a little tadpole!

Though he had always wanted to play basketball, whether in his previous life or this one, it seemed he simply was not fated for it.

He... refused to accept it!

Why did everyone else who traveled back in time get a cheat system, rise against the odds, and steamroll their way to success, while he was still just an ordinary person?!

In 1995, he could go to Hangzhou to find an English teacher named Jack Ma, or invest in a programmer in Shenzhen named Ma Huateng, and become rich.

But that damn well was not his style!

He liked doing what he loved!

He raised a huge middle finger at the sky, then viciously kicked the bushes beside him.

"Are you sick?!"

But after that kick, a man and a woman hurriedly ran out of the bushes.

The man cursed at him, while the woman frantically pulled up her pants.

The two quickly disappeared from his sight.

When he turned back, he saw a square packet that had fallen beside the bushes. He silently picked it up and slipped it into his pocket.

Sigh, what was the world coming to?

After musing for a while, Sun Hao continued forward.

He had not gone far when he suddenly heard a familiar sound and turned to look right.

It was an outdoor basketball court, where a group of people were playing.

The fierce physical contact on the court, the occasional shouts and cheers, and those faces brimming with passion...

He felt his blood begin to boil.

This was what he loved doing!

To put it plainly, he loved basketball, but he had grown tired of only being able to sit courtside and watch in his previous life.

Now that he had a second chance at life, he wanted nothing else but to step onto the court and play!

He wanted to be like Mitsui Hisashi in Slam Dunk, shouting at Coach Anzai: "Coach, I want to play basketball!"

"Do you like basketball?"

Just then, a voice abruptly appeared in his mind.

That sounded awfully familiar.

It was the very line he had used to strike up a conversation with Yi Jianlian.

Who the hell was copying him?

"Of course I do!"

His mind was still thinking, but his body had already honestly answered.

"Congratulations, Host. You have successfully obtained the Basketball Demon King System."

Another voice appeared in his mind.

Just as he looked around, trying to find where the voice had come from—or wondering whether he was hallucinating—

In the blink of an eye, he found everything around him turning pale.

He had entered a blank world.

More precisely, it was not completely blank, because a floating selection menu appeared before him.

Point Guard: No. 1 position, height 1.80–1.90 meters, the organizer of the team's offense; can unlock Badges such as Floor General and Dimer;

Combo Guard: swings between the No. 1 and 2 positions, height 1.85–1.95 meters, capable of both organizing and scoring; can unlock Badges such as Floor General and Long-Range Sharpshooter;

Shooting Guard: Number 2 position, height 1.90–2.00 meters, a scorer and penetrator; can unlock Badges such as Catch and Shoot Specialist and Slithery Finisher;

Swingman: swings between the Number 2 and 3 positions, height 1.95–2.05 meters, a scorer and penetrator; can unlock Badges such as Catch and Shoot Specialist and Slithery Finisher

It was a selection menu for basketball positions, very similar to NBA 2K, except it offered more positions.

Beyond the traditional five positions, there were also Combo Guard, Guard-Forward, wing, and Big Man Swingman.

Sun Hao had played plenty of 2K, so the scene before him felt deeply familiar.

"The Host may choose a court position based on personal needs. Once selected, it cannot be changed."

At that moment, the voice echoed through the space again.

The voice drew Sun Hao's attention away from the selection menu.

He looked around once more, and slowly, he realized what he was experiencing.

He almost wanted to cry.

I finally have a cheat system!

Could it be because he had raised his middle finger at the sky earlier, letting Heaven know that he wanted to defy fate?

Probably not. If Heaven had seen it and not sent down hail to smash him, that was already generous enough.

It had to be that his love for basketball had moved the system.

There was obvious proof. The line he had used when asking Yi Jianlian, imitating the question Haruko asked Sakuragi Hanamichi in Slam Dunk, was also the system's prompt just now.

Do you like basketball?

Wasn't that the simplest and most passionate kind of love?

Now that he had a cheat system too, then...

He turned his gaze back to the selection menu. After scanning it from top to bottom, his eyes finally settled on Combo Guard.

Before traveling back in time, he had only been 1.75 meters tall. To him, that height had accompanied him for nearly his entire life.

He probably could not accept suddenly shooting up to over two meters and feeling like a utility pole wherever he went.

Everyone had their comfort zone. Stepping out of it would feel awkward.

Besides, if he were that conspicuously tall, he would probably have to report it to the authorities just to buy an egg-filled pancake.

Guard was the most suitable position for him.

On one hand, he would not need to adjust mentally to an enormous change in height. On the other, he had spent the past year practicing guard skills, so he could transition seamlessly.

The system had a Badge function, and Combo Guard had more Badges than Point Guard.

Having made up his mind, he reached out and selected Combo Guard.

After he confirmed it, the position selection screen disappeared, and an attribute interface popped up.

Height: 140; Weight: 40 kg

Strength: 16; Speed: 37; Agility: 39; Vertical Leap: 14; Stamina: 30; Basketball IQ: 51

Ball Handling: 33; Passing: 21; Dunking: 0; Layups: 35; Mid-Range: 25; Three-Point: 18

Defense: 25; Blocks: 12; Steals: 33; Rebounds: 16

With attributes capped at 100 points, his highest was basketball IQ at only a little over 50, while his dunking was an eye-catching zero.

He was the definition of a complete weakling.

Still, it made perfect sense.

He was an ordinary person, and an underdeveloped junior high student at that.

His slightly higher basketball IQ was probably related to having been an assistant coach in the NCAA in his previous life.

Below the attributes were three notes.

Note 1: Once the position is confirmed, the system will help the Host increase height and wingspan to the minimum requirements of the selected position within five years, and to the maximum requirements within ten years.

Note 2: Time consumed in this space is proportional to reality. The current ratio is 2:1.

Note 3: When the Host's abilities meet certain requirements, the system will upgrade. The time ratio will increase, and more functions and items will be unlocked.

New book release—remember to bookmark it! Muah!