September 15, 2014.
University of Kentucky training hall.
"Beep-beep--!"
With the sound of the whistle, the game ended.
Zeng Xingyang on the bench quickly grabbed a white towel and handed it to a teammate who just came off the court.
He then quickly ran to the sideline to high-five both teammates and opponents.
Zeng Xingyang did his best to show that he was part of the team.
But actually, despite the intensity of the scrimmage, Zeng Xingyang had no time on the court.
After the courteous high-fives, Zeng Xingyang returned to the bench, sipping water with his head tilted back to hide his unease.
Watching those teammates chatting in groups, lively and festive, Zeng Xingyang felt a bit envious.
They had great physical talent, played well, and had many friends.
Zeng Xingyang didn't originally have this name, nor was he from this world.
In 2024, he was a die-hard basketball fan, long-time corporate drone working 996 hours.
Having just turned 35, he worked diligently.
One night in October, while working late, he suddenly died at his desk.
When he woke up, he found himself in this world, then participated in the Kentucky Wildcats team tryouts.
"Zeng, I've heard that the team roster is pretty much set, and once Coach Calipari returns from vacation next week, it will be announced. Neither of us is on it, have you heard?"
A voice beside Zeng Xingyang spoke up, it was Blair, a black guard from the team, his tone very dejected.
"I don't know," Zeng Xingyang replied helplessly, "If I'm not on the team roster, then I'll just have to focus on my studies."
The competition for the University of Kentucky's team is extremely fierce; often such tryouts don't even add any non-scholarship players to the roster.
"This year's recruits are really impressive—Karl-Anthony Towns, he can shoot threes even at his size, and Devin Booker completely outplayed me—their talent is just too much. I can't compete, I wonder if transferring schools would still be an option," Blair sighed.
As a Four-Star High School Student, if Blair wasn't at Kentucky, other schools would still welcome him.
As for Zeng Xingyang, he figured no school would let him continue NCAA play, no matter where he transferred.
After all, he wasn't a special basketball recruit and didn't have impressive stats in the American high school league.
Zeng Xingyang got into the University of Kentucky from his home country, and compared to basketball specialists, he's more like an academic genius who can't be a scientist. He's great at exams, and his scholarship was earned by academic excellence, not basketball.
Zeng Xingyang's parents both earned modest salaries and had borrowed quite a bit for his overseas education.
The financial pressure of family life and studying abroad was already huge, and if transferring schools were involved, his family wouldn't continue supporting him.
The University of Kentucky allowed him to participate in the team's month-long tryouts because they valued his impressive physical talents—height of 2.01 meters, wingspan of 2.18 meters.
Apart from Zeng Xingyang, those participating in the team tryouts were pretty much all well-known across the nation as Five-Star and Four-Star High School Students.
If Zeng Xingyang still wanted to play professional basketball, this tryout was his final chance.
If he missed this tryout, it would be very difficult for him to play professional basketball in the United States.
Seeing there weren't many people left on the court, Zeng Xingyang stood up and walked to the court with a basketball.
If he wanted to stay at Kentucky, he needed to give it his all and make the most of every single moment.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Zeng Xingyang practiced shooting alone on the basketball court, back and forth, chasing the ball.
As time went on, his teammates left the gym one by one until he was the only one left.
Zeng Xingyang thought if the University of Kentucky chose players based on physical testing like in the CBA from his previous life, he'd be fine. Unfortunately, this wasn't a place deciding who could play based on testing.
Zeng Xingyang's position was a swingman; he could play as a shooting guard or small forward, with decent dribbling skills, but couldn't break through high-intensity defense.
His shooting wasn't very accurate either, but his defense was passable due to his height and wingspan. Overall, his abilities were very average, no standout features, though his attitude was positive.
This level of skill made him non-competitive among American college players. In Kentucky, even going to a weaker team made it hard to stay, so the odds of staying at Kentucky were very low.
No matter the training and effort, sweating it out in the face of absolute talent and power disparity seemed ineffective.
Stars like those Five-Star High School Students in the team rarely did any special extra training, but they could spin a windmill dunk standing still or make three-pointers effortlessly. These were things beyond his ability.
However, Zeng Xingyang didn't want to compromise easily; in his past life, he retreated and gave up in challenges with life and career, ultimately achieving nothing.
In this new life, he intended to gamble everything for a chance.
After about ten minutes of shooting practice, Zeng Xingyang grabbed the ball and rushed inside the three-point line for a dunk!
The dunk wasn't spectacular, just very plain and simple.
Zeng Xingyang couldn't perform complicated aerial dunk movements, his abdominal strength and bounce were average.
After the dunk, Zeng Xingyang continued with his shooting drills.
Zeng Xingyang was very absorbed in this feeling of striving for his dreams; he longed to stay on the court.
As a child, Zeng Xingyang dreamed of standing on the court, facing off against NBA superstars, enjoying the spectators' cheers.
More than once, he fantasized about making a game-winning shot on the court, being the hero his team relied on.
Sometimes even while walking down the street, he couldn't help but form a shooting gesture with his hands....
After a continuous half-hour of extra training, Zeng Xingyang collapsed on the ground once more.
"Clang!"
Out of nowhere, a sound echoed.
Suddenly a string of words and numbers projected in 3D appeared before his eyes.
Zeng Xingyang shook his head; his first thought was he was so exhausted he was hallucinating.
Yet, it didn't seem like a hallucination. Zeng Xingyang focused hard and took a closer look.
[Shooting: LV1]
[Experience: 113/500]
[Note: LV10 is highest, reference: slightly more accurate than Stephen Curry]
As someone who in a previous life couldn't be separated from smartphones, scrolling TikTok, and reading novels habitually, he quickly understood what this was.
"System?"
Besides the initial "clanging" sound, there was no legendary mechanical voice interacting with him.
"Are you there?"
After calling out several times, the system still didn't respond with a voice.
Zeng Xingyang had to figure it out on his own.
The system attributes display was very simple; just by silently thinking, it would appear for Zeng Xingyang.
LV1 indicated his shooting level?
Gaining 500 experience would level him up?
Was experience the number of successful shots?
To verify his idea,
Zeng Xingyang stood up, shooting from outside the three-point line.
The form was very standard.
The rhythm was also great.
But in reality,
"Clank!"
It didn't go in.
The experience remained 113, it didn't increase.
Why?
Zeng Xingyang pondered again, thinking it might only count if the shot goes in.
Zeng Xingyang tried again from the arc with a three-point shot.
"Clank!"
Still didn't go in.
It must be from too many shots, feeling a bit tired, not that his skills were too poor.
Another try, took a shot.
"Swish!"
Finally went in.
Zeng Xingyang looked at his shooting experience, and the number had become 114.
So, it only counted if the shot went in.