After a long day of school and finishing up my last period. And still getting roasted and getting stared at by my classmates, I got out of school at 3:45 pm.
As I walked home, I was still in a daze. Still in shock and thinking about the system that I saw. And how it didn't appear again after I left the school's gym.
"maybe it was a hallucination," I said to myself trying to come up with an explanation.
At 4:00 pm I arrived home and saw my dad's nostalgic car in the driveway. I walked up the steps of my porch to get to the door. I drugged and searched in my backpack to get my keys to unlock the door. I inserted the keys into the lock and heard a "Klink"
Which made the door unlock so I pushed the door open. The very first thing I saw was smoke not of a fire but…cooking. And The only person that cooks in my house is my mom which means, it's my mom's cooking!!!
I took a big breath, letting the smell from my mom's cooking hit my nostrils, I smelled onions, spices and maybe onion. I walked into the kitchen. I saw my father laughing and talking to my mom, smiling.
ALIVE
I ran to him and gave him a tight hug, my father was caught by surprise.
"Whoa there their kiddo you looked like you missed me"
My father chuckled, my mother looked at my dad worriedly and gave a look telling him to do something. I'm pretty sure it's probably because I acted differently, especially about what happened in the morning.
"Liam talk to him please," my mother told my dad. My father took a deep breath.
"Milo what happened in the morning, your mother and I are worried about about you." My dad said in a serious and worried tone
My dad looked at me with a worried expression. I tried to think fast on a believable lie and I hurriedly said "I… was just cherishing you guys more. And I already told Mom about what happened. I had a dream where I lost you guys and was so alone, After losing you in a car accident. and how much I missed both of you, which made me change how… I look at things how I look at you guys" I said towards them with my tone stayed steady but showed emotion and showed cracks in the last part of my lie.
My dad and mom looked at each other and looked like they didn't know what to do so they just accepted my story.
dinner was quiet and tense, I finished my plate of dinner and said thanks to my parents. I quickly changed to go to my nearby park. After a 15-minute walk to my local park
While I walking toward the park I was wondering why I had a pair of Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2k5.
I looked at my feet the shoes looked worn but clean, I probably got them a couple of weeks before I took over this body. I didn't feel guilty it's my body now and this body was me so it's okay for me to take over this body. I thought in a sad tone to myself.
I was thinking about that internally until I was 10 feet away from the basketball court. I noticed 2 people 1v1 and I stopped and watched them. I saw one of them dribble and do a contested middle to hit all rim and I stopped looking and walked towards the empty half.
And the second my foot touched the empty half of the court.
DING
A voice rang out in my head with a robotic voice
"Would you like the system to appear on command from now on"
I looked in the distance stunned then, a blue light opened up in the air and a pixilated screen popped up in front of me. I stared at it shocked and confused.
It showed 2 options "yes" and "no"
I muttered "yes" then the screen showed green on the "yes" button and took that page off to show many categories.
I clicked on the one that showed the player card and it showed my stats and information.
Milo Malone
Height: 5'10
Weight: 168 pounds
Stats:
[Attribute] [Rating]
Physical attributes
*Athleticism: 58
*Speed: 60
*Verticle: 57
*Strength: 55
*Stamina: 62
Basketball attributes
*shooting (Mid-range): 59
*shooting (three-point): 54
*free throw: 61
*ball handling: 63
*Passing vision: 60
*perimeter defense: 56
*interior defense: 52
*rebounding: 53
*basketball IQ: 74 (increased by future/foreign memories)
Intangibles
*work ethic: 78
*Confidence: 59
*leadership: 56
*Overall rating: 63 OVR
I read all the information to realize one big thing… I'm trash. I'm a 63 OVR and I've played 2k I'm so damn trash. I never thought I'd be this bad.
After being humbled I looked at the other options and saw that I can put experience points to raise my attributes.
I read the screen floating in the air with more details.
XP LOG
Calming parents without panicking
+50 XP
Emotional control under stress
+25 XP
Mental reflection during a walk
+25 XP
Observing low-level 1v1 game
+25 XP
First system connection
+50 XP
Total XP Earned
175 XP
"What is this" I muttered to myself
Then something else appeared on the screen
{system}
"Proceeding toward upgrade menu"
"Huh," I said in confusion. I don't know what's happening I'm shocked and don't know what to do but just follow the instructions.
I see many options and the system asks to to put my experience points into specific attributes. I review my options.
Speed: 60 -62 (Cost: 200 XP)
Ball Handling: 63 - 64 (Cost: 100 XP)
+ Save 100 XP
Strength: 55 - 56 (Cost: 50 XP)
+ Save 150 XP
Basketball IQ: 74 - 75 (Cost: 200 )
After thinking hard about my decision I selected speed. Because I think that will make me look better and finish faster, and will add flash to my game.
{SYSTEM}
"Speed upgraded: 60: 62"