Basketball Terminal

Chapter 6 This Life
Every morning when he woke up, Li Wei would take out a mirror to look at his face, trying to see if he was really Li Wei or Ye Runzhou. Several times when he looked in the mirror, he found that he still had Ye Runzhou's face; he hadn't had a soul travel to another world, but had just had a dream.

But when he woke up, he realized that Ye Runzhou was just a dream. Sometimes he would have many such dreams, one inside another, with his identity shifting back and forth between Ye Runzhou and Li Wei, leaving him exhausted.

At five o'clock in the morning on January 14th, Li Wei was woken up by his phone alarm and jumped out of bed. He looked at himself in the mirror by the bedside and saw a square face. It was definitely Li Wei.

Last night he didn't dream about who he was. He quickly dressed and put on his socks, gave himself a quick wash in the bathroom, put on a beanie and gloves, went downstairs, and opened the roller shutter of the laundromat. A blast of cold air hit him, instantly dispelling any lingering sleepiness he might have had. New York in January is cold, but today should be a nice day.

Li Wei took Ah Zhong with him and went for a run. He ran north along the subway line, through the morning sun and mist, until he reached Kaixinna Park. He untied the ropes and played with Ah Zhong on the grass in the park for a while.

Ah Zhong showed no interest in the other dogs that came for their morning walks with their owners, deeming them unintelligent and unwilling to stick together. He only played with people; he would play hide-and-seek with Li Wei, guessing games, and even do arithmetic. He had no interest in activities that most dogs enjoy, such as frisbee.

After playing for a while, they took a leash and ran a lap around the park before returning. Along the way, Ah Zhong controlled the pace well, walking alongside Li Wei and avoiding pedestrians and vehicles. When they ran back to the laundromat, both of them were puffing out white breath. Li Wei checked the running time, distance, and pace on the app; there had been some improvement compared to three weeks ago, but it was still far from enough.

Physical fitness is the foundation of all competitive sports; without good physical fitness, everything else is in vain. Li Wei, due to his height, was on basketball teams in both high school and college, but both were very poor teams. Aside from his height, Li Wei's physical attributes were only average.

Ye Runzhou was different. Apart from his height, his speed, agility, jumping ability, and explosiveness were all quite good. Fortunately, after the soul transmigrated, Li Wei discovered that Ye Runzhou's physical characteristics had been transferred with him. So, despite being much taller, his movements were completely unaffected, just like a 174cm guard.

A 2-meter-tall man possesses the agility, speed, explosiveness, and reaction ability of a 1.7-meter-tall person, while also retaining muscle memory; naturally, his basketball skills will skyrocket.

After seeing Li Wei's no-point challenge, his former teammates from the community college basketball team all tried it. They were all amazed at how the once slow Li Wei had become such a different person, with such fast speed and reaction time. Had he improved so much in just six months? Without exception, they all failed, managing not a single point.

Of course, the physical changes brought about by the union of two souls are only one of the secret weapons Li Wei possesses, and also the most insignificant one.

Back at the shop, Li Wei went into the kitchen and made himself a hearty breakfast. Eggs, sausages, toast, and milk—he ate them like they were free, to replenish his protein and energy. He also prepared dog food and fresh meat bones for Ah Zhong. Even his own breakfast was bought with the money he earned from the challenges. After finishing breakfast, he went upstairs to his room. His younger brother, Li Yue, was still asleep, tucked under the covers.

The two brothers shared a room from childhood. One wall of the room was lined with several rows of bookshelves, neatly filled with hundreds of comic books.

The collection primarily features Japanese manga, including titles such as *One Piece*, *Naruto*, *Berserk*, *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, and *Hunter x Hunter*, along with a smaller selection of Marvel and DC comics, and even some Hong Kong comics like *Storm Riders*, *The Blade of the Overlord*, and *Chinese Hero*. Next to the manga books are various figurines, souvenirs, and trading cards—clearly a standard manga fan's collection shelf.

The other wall of the room presents a completely different scene. Against the wall stands a large black acrylic shoe cabinet with about thirty openings, where basketball shoes of various brands and styles are neatly arranged like soldiers in transparent boxes.

Next to the cabinet were stacks of shoe boxes of various colors, and above them, on the wall, was a poster of LeBron James. It was a photo of him holding the championship trophy and the Finals MVP trophy when he won the championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Li Wei picked up a shoebox from the bottom of the poster and opened it. His younger brother, Li Yue, who had just been fast asleep, jumped out of bed as if someone had wound him up. He rushed over without even putting on his shoes, shouting, "These are new shoes! Limited edition! You can't take them, you can't!"

He reached out to snatch the shoebox, but Li Wei seemed to anticipate his move, stepping back and raising the shoebox high to dodge it. Li Yue was much smaller than Li Wei, and his efforts to grab it were in vain.

"If you don't give me back my shoes, I'll throw away all your figurines and tear up all your comics! Tear them all up!" Li Yue could only shout threats helplessly, his voice filled with despair.

It turns out that this wall of comics and figurines are all from Li Wei's collection.

"Whatever, I'll take these shoes. I need them urgently this afternoon. Thanks." Li Wei said casually, seemingly unconcerned about the comics and figurines. Firstly, they weren't really part of his collection, and secondly, he knew Li Yue wouldn't dare to do that.

Seeing that threats were useless, Li Yue plopped down on the ground and threw a tantrum, crying and complaining, "Brother, what's wrong with you now? You took my limited edition AJ11 before, and these are AJ35s that I went through so much trouble to get yesterday, a special colorway! Do you know how hard it was? I almost got into a fight with someone. Can't you just wear your old AJ11s? I'll give you those, okay? Besides, besides... besides, these are regular sizes, you can't fit into them! If you don't believe me, take them off and let me see."

Li Wei remained unmoved and said, "I checked them last night, and they're a size large that fits me. Thank you, my good brother. I said I'd repay you tenfold if I used your shoes now. Those AJ11s are only for outdoor wear. For playing in a proper indoor court, I still need a good new pair of shoes."

Li Yue stopped faking his tears and asked, "Are you going indoors? Are you going to play in a game?" Li Wei shook his head and said, "I'm going to try out for the Long Island Nets later. Their head coach texted me."

Upon hearing the Long Island Nets, Li Yue immediately perked up and stood up to ask, "Bro, are you really going to go pro? What's wrong with you lately? You're like a different person. It sounds like a dream to me. First the no-scoring challenge, then the tryouts with teams. Bro, are you possessed? Or did Mazu (the goddess of the sea) grant you some enlightenment?"

Li Wei replied jokingly, "There's a wealth of knowledge in books. I gained superpowers from reading comics and awakened the three types of Haki from One Piece. Observation Haki can predict other people's movements, Armament Haki can make the body harder and stronger, and Conqueror's Haki can intimidate the entire field. Using these three moves on the basketball court is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, a piece of cake."

It's said to be a joke, but how many truths are spoken in a joking tone?
Li Yue shook his head repeatedly and said, "Big brother, you're lying to me again. You think you can get superpowers by reading comics? You might as well say you became Superman by doing push-ups and sit-ups! Besides, domineering... let me see, show me your domineering aura and see if your arms get black and hard."

As he spoke, Li Yue pretended to touch Li Wei's arm, touching it twice before suddenly reaching out to snatch the shoebox from Li Wei's hand. However, Li Wei easily dodged, causing Li Yue to miss again.

Li Yue exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, you really have Observation Haki?" Li Wei scoffed, "Bullshit, you've been staring at the shoebox the whole time, do you think I'm blind?"

Li Yue couldn't refuse his elder brother, so he had no choice but to hand over the AJ35s he had waited in line for the day before. Li Wei also promised to repay him tenfold in the future.

"Once I get into the NBA and become a professional player, you can have as many sneakers as you want." Li Wei didn't care about the consequences and started making promises to appease his supplier brother.

Lee is five years younger than Li Wei and is still in high school, but he is already a well-known sneaker reseller in Flushing. He grew up in the United States and is a true Asian American with a yellow skin and a white heart.

Li Wei lived in China for seven years with his maternal grandparents in Northeast China and attended primary school for one year. He was brought to the United States in the second grade, and he struggled to adapt to life in New York. For nearly six months, he did not speak a word at school.

Although Flushing is full of Asian immigrants who don't speak English, the different cultural environment still had a great impact on Levi.

Li Wei's personality became withdrawn and inferior under the impact. His height and physique increased dramatically after puberty, but it did not increase his confidence. Instead, it gave him more unpleasant nicknames and made him a target for attacks.

Basketball saved him to some extent; being discovered by a coach and joining a basketball team opened up a new chapter in his life. Unfortunately, his talent was too mediocre, and he didn't achieve anything remarkable, remaining just "that big, dumb Asian guy" in people's eyes.

Comics were another way for him to escape the real world, besides basketball. He was immersed in the wonderful world of two-dimensional characters, even finding romance more interesting with fictional characters. But what ultimately led him to his tragic end was what he considered love in reality. In New York, believing in love rarely ends well.

I tried on these AJ35s, and the size is perfect; they fit my feet very well. These shoes use new cushioning technology, so they should perform well on the court.

Right now, Li Wei's mind was entirely focused on the afternoon's trial training. He had been preparing and planning for this day for a long time, and he was determined not to fail. As for anything else, he didn't care.

"Brother, why did you suddenly want to go pro?" Li Yue asked Li Wei seriously.

"Because I've figured it out. In this life, you always need to have some pursuits. Besides, I'm really good at basketball," Li Wei replied, while packing his equipment into a large canvas backpack.

After tidying everything up, I glanced at my phone. The notification bar was overflowing with messages, including from the cheerleader who asked for my number yesterday.

Since becoming a minor internet celebrity, he receives numerous inquiries daily, some seeking collaborations, others looking to make friends, and still others trying to hook up with various girls. Fame, like money, is a form of hard currency in this world.

But Li Wei's ambitions went far beyond that. He cleared away the notifications with a single click, randomly picked a One Piece manga from the bookshelf, stuffed it into his bag, and then went downstairs and headed straight for the subway station.

It's only 6 a.m. now, and the appointment is for 10 a.m., but it's always better to arrive a little earlier.

(End of this chapter)