Center, Power Forward, Small Forward, Shooting Guard, and Point Guard.
Lin Yi stared at the glowing panel and clicked on the experience tab to check his progress.
Center (Post Scorer & Defending): Black Iron (Training: 21,000/50,000 | Game XP: 1/30)
Power Forward (Elite Rebounder): Black Iron (Training: 6,000/50,000 | Game XP: 1/30)
Small Forward (Playmaker): Black Iron (Training: 7,000/50,000 | Game XP: 1/30)
Shooting Guard (Dribble Shooter): Black Iron (Training: 17,000/50,000 | Game XP: 1/30)
Point Guard (Sharpshooter): Black Iron (Training: 50,000/50,000 | Game XP: 1/30)
Next, he checked his badge progress:
Dream Shake (Black Iron → Bronze): Training 3,000/50,000 | Score 30 times using Dream Shake in bronze-tier games (0/30).
Rebounding Maniac (Black Iron → Bronze): Training 6,000/50,000 | Grab 100 rebounds in bronze-tier games (7/100).
Ankle Breaker (Black Iron → Bronze): Training 50,000/50,000 | Break a defender's ankles 50 times or score 300 times in one-on-one matchups (0/50, 300/300) [UNLOCKED].
Tough Shotmaker: Training 28,000/50,000 | Make 50 tough shots in bronze-tier games (2/50).
Limitless Range: Training 5,000/50,000 | Sink 20 deep threes in bronze-tier games (0/20).
Lin Yi let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples.
[Current Task: Enter the 2009 NBA Draft and get signed by at least one team. Failure = System Termination.] For original chapters go to novel⚑fire.net
Lin Yi stared at the mission and reminisced about what brought him to this situation.
He had been a regular basketball fan, just like any other kid. Got into the NBA because of Yao Ming, and became obsessed with Kobe, Iverson, Melo, T-Mac, LeBron… the usual.
Yeah, he was that kind of fan—loved whoever played well. He loved the game, played hard through high school, and, like every other young baller, dreamed of making it to the NBA.
Too bad reality had different plans. At his original height, he was barely good enough for a college intramural team, let alone the NBA. He still remembered how people laughed when he tried out for the school team.
"Man, if only I had Yao Ming's height …"
[Basketball System Activated! Scanning Host… All conditions met. Host's wish registered. Initiating transmission…]
Wait. What? Another weird dream?
Has he been playing too much NBA 2K lately?
Lin Yi felt like he was floating in some surreal world. Strange, futuristic images flashed before him, flickering like scenes from a sci-fi movie.
[Please select your height, position, and player templates.]
Wait a minute… isn't this just like 2K's MyCareer mode? Damn, I must love basketball if I'm even dreaming about this.
"Whatever, it's just a dream. Might as well go big."
He picked a towering height of 216** cm**, the same height as one of his favorite players. Then, just for fun, he selected all five positions. Why limit himself to a dream? He also chose five of his favorite player templates.
[Host selection complete. Confirming difficulty…]
[BEEP! BEEP! WARNING! WARNING! The host is too greedy. Difficulty set to NIGHTMARE MODE.]
Come on, it's just a dream! What's the point of dreaming if you don't max out your character?
[Host confirmed. You will receive a one-year adaptation period…]
By the time Lin Yi woke up, it was too late.
He had traveled back ten years.
And it wasn't a dream.
He was back in high school, staring at his much younger parents, who looked exactly how he remembered them.
Even crazier, that so-called Basketball System was real. He could summon it anytime he wanted.
During his adaptation period, he made his way to Davidson College, because he vaguely remembered Stephen Curry playing there…
And that's how things led up to today.
Lin Yi absentmindedly scrolled through his system menu.
[Skill Level System:(2K rating)]
Pink Diamond =(95-100)
NB: The overall skill rating does not mean the host's player's overall rating since the host's physique(the system only affects skills) affects the rating. The host can reach a theoretical 100 rating but is nearly humanly impossible due to physique, mentality, and other factors.
[System Notice: Since the host selected all five positions, all must reach Bronze level before Silver-tier progression is unlocked. Upgrade all positions to advance!]
So that's how it works…
Each position had its template, and leveling them up gave him elite badges. His center build had Dream Shake, power forward had Rebounding Maniac, small forward had Ankle Breaker, shooting guard had Tough Shot Maker and point guard had Limitless Range.
When he leveled up a template, he gained the skills, knowledge, experience, and awareness of an elite player in that position. But badges were game-changers—they refined specific skill sets to another level but his body had to be trained by himself to match his skills.
For example, when he unlocked Bronze Ankle Breaker, he beat Steph Curry in a one-on-one match for the first time. Sure, Steph was going easy on him, but still! That day, Lin Yi's dribbling skills were instantly ingrained into his muscle memory. After some trial and error, he estimated that the Bronze Ankle Breaker triggered every 10 possessions or so.
Lin Yi stretched and took a deep breath.
"Alright. Time to grind. Let's get the rest of these positions to Bronze ASAP."
The NCAA competition was considered Bronze level by the system, and with more than half a season left—plus March Madness—he was confident he could max out his Bronze tiers before the draft.
After tasting what this system could do, Lin Yi had no doubt—
He was all in on this second chance.