"Long-Range Sharpshooter"

Chapter 21: "Long-Range Sharpshooter"

After finishing his last training session with the youth team, Sun Hao went straight into the city to look for a new place to live.

Although both were in Madrid, there was still some distance between the Plata Real Madrid team and where Sun Hao currently lived.

Spain's population density was much lower than back home, and there were far more houses available.

Sun Hao didn't have to put in much effort to find a suitable place, and it wasn't too far from the new arena.

The next day, he called Fernandez to help, and then started moving.

He didn't have many belongings; the biggest item was probably the bulky desktop computer he'd just bought.

When packing, he left the computer for last, and before moving it, he happily turned it on.

By his calculations, Jocelyn should have been home by now and seen his email full of sweet words.

He could imagine her excited and shy expression, then replying with an equally affectionate email to share their longing.

But when he opened the computer, he found nothing in his inbox except a few system emails—no reply as he'd imagined.

He scrolled through it several times, then pulled out a sticky note to check the email address. Everything was correct.

Jocelyn hadn't replied to his email.

His joy had turned into empty disappointment.

Sun Hao's mood plummeted.

Was Jocelyn not home yet? Or was something holding her up?

Since email was their only way to contact each other after parting, there was nothing Sun Hao could do but wait.

Though a bit down, he didn't dwell on it too much.

After all, Jocelyn had run away from home before. Sorting things out with her parents would probably take some time.

Thinking this way comforted him a little.

After moving everything to his new place and saying goodbye to Fernandez, he went straight to report to the Plata Real Madrid team.

Compared to the youth team, the Plata Real Madrid team was far more professional in everything—from basic training facilities and personnel arrangements to training methods.

This was the pyramid effect: the higher the league, the more resources available.

But after arriving at the Plata League, Sun Hao found his situation might be even worse than when he first came to Spain.

In his first game with the team, he didn't even get a chance to play.

This was the problem he'd worried about before—an unavoidable drawback of the league promotion system: seniority rules.

Young players, even Pau Gasol, didn't get much playing time this season at Barcelona.

Unless some unexpected situation arose, most young players moving from lower to higher leagues had to start on the bench.

This was also one of the main reasons many European players matured late.

But Sun Hao had already prepared himself mentally.

As long as he had the skill, this drawback could be broken.

In history, Rubio and Doncic were typical examples.

So after being DNP'd, he wasn't discouraged. Instead, he became more motivated.

Without playing time, he seized every opportunity in team training to showcase his abilities, while also increasing his training intensity within the system.

He still remembered the smiling faces of Li Yuanwei and Yang Wei.

And increasing training intensity tired his body, helping him forget about Jocelyn not replying to his email.

Plus, with the Shooting Training Machine he'd gotten as an extra reward from the system.

After some time, he could feel his outside shooting improving day by day.

And after putting in enough effort, he finally reaped the rewards.

In his third game with the Plata Real Madrid team, Sun Hao finally got a chance to play, and as a substitute, he played a full 15 minutes.

He made 3 of 5 shots, all three-pointers, plus two free throws, scoring his first double-digit points in the Plata League.

But more than the points, what truly made Sun Hao happy was that after this game, he unlocked an outside scoring badge!

His previous training had hit a bottleneck, and this game's performance was the final push—a hole-in-one!

Long-Range Sharpshooter (Bronze): Slightly improves long-range shooting stability.

This was the third badge Sun Hao had unlocked since getting the system.

Like the first two badges, unlocking Long-Range Sharpshooter would greatly boost his strength again.

After all, his current playstyle relied mainly on three-pointers and fast breaks. He already had "Fast Break Finisher" for the latter, and now he'd filled in the three-point badge.

This made his scoring much more consistent.

After the game ended, Sun Hao saw Fernandez at the arena entrance.

That guy had secretly come to watch his game without saying a word.

"Sun, I knew you could do it."

Fernandez was still as full of fanboy energy as ever, looking even more excited than Sun Hao himself.

"Why didn't you let me know before you came?"

Sun Hao smiled, walked over, and hugged Fernandez, then casually reached up and ruffled his hair.

At some point, he'd discovered that messing up Fernandez's hair was oddly entertaining.

"I'm a little late."

"Come on, let me treat you to something to eat."

Sun Hao said, pulling Fernandez along as they headed out.

The two hadn't seen each other in a while, so it was a good chance to catch up.

They went to a nearby Western restaurant, sat down, and started chatting about their recent lives.

Sun Hao was genuinely happy for once; lately, because of the email situation, he'd been bottling himself up.

Truth be told, in all his time in Spain, Fernandez was the only one he could really call a friend.

"Sun, how are things with Jocelyn? Are you sending at least ten emails a day?"

As they talked, Fernandez naturally brought up Jocelyn.

At that, the smile on Sun Hao's face slowly faded.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Fernandez was surprised by Sun Hao's reaction; he didn't know what had happened afterward.

After he pressed for details, Sun Hao gave him a rough rundown of the situation.

"Maybe she's just in trouble—like her mom won't let her use social media to stop her from running away again?"

Fernandez ventured cautiously.

Back in elementary school, he'd had a crush on a girl, but his mom didn't approve and wouldn't even let him use the phone, so this kind of thing stuck with him.

Sun Hao gave a bitter nod.

It was pretty much the same excuse he'd used to comfort himself.

But so many days had passed now. Since Jocelyn had left her email, she had to know he'd write, and she'd definitely find a chance to log in.

After all, her parents' restrictions on her weren't absolute—it wasn't like she was in prison, watched 24/7 without a moment alone.

"Don't dwell on it. If she likes you, she'll get in touch eventually, or she'll come find you."

Fernandez added.

Sun Hao looked up at Fernandez for a long moment, then finally laughed.

This twelve-year-old was still a kid in every other way, but when it came to matters of the heart, he was even more experienced than Sun Hao.

Sure enough, a country's culture shaped its people from childhood onward.

But after the laugh, Sun Hao nodded seriously.

It wasn't wrong, really. If Jocelyn truly cared about what they had, even if she couldn't reply right away, she'd come looking for him eventually.

To be optimistic, maybe she was already on her way back to Spain.

After all, that would explain why she hadn't replied to the emails.

With that thought, Sun Hao's mood lifted considerably.

After dinner, he returned to his rented room and, for the first time in days, didn't check his email for a reply. Instead, he lay down and went straight into system training.

When he got tired from training and came out, he fell asleep not long after.

He had another sweet dream. He dreamed that Jocelyn came back to him, and because she stood her ground, her parents stopped interfering.

What's more, Jocelyn brought good news: her new movie would be filmed in Spain, giving them a long honeymoon period.

Sun Hao's Spanish improved rapidly, and he took Jocelyn to all the major sights in Madrid, having a wonderful time.

Just as they were about to enter the Royal Palace of Madrid together, the dream ended.

Time in dreams always moved slowly, and though not much happened, a good dream always left you in a cheerful mood.

When Sun Hao woke up, his spirits were as bright as a fiery red Sauron.

Still begging for recommendation tickets~ Still being pinned down by Shui Duanqiao, it's rough!

Thanks to Fun-loving Confused Egg, Awesome Little Brother Yang, Qingyu Feiyan, Autumn Big Bear, and Eternal Romance for the tips! Thank you for the support, big shots! Heartfelt kisses~