"Kobe, I've decided. I'm skipping college and taking my talent straight to the NBA!" Su Feng said to Kobe with seriousness, rationality, and resolve.

"Are you serious?" Kobe asked, surprised.

"Of course I'm serious. I want to go up against Michael before he retires," Su Feng said, using the old man as a shield.

Kobe sucked in a cold breath, because he could tell that Su Feng wasn't joking.

"You're not ready yet," Kobe said, sizing Su Feng up.

Su Feng knew that Kobe wasn't trying to hurt him on purpose; he said it because he truly valued their friendship.

"I know, but I'm going to work my ass off," Su Feng said with a nod.

"Hard work alone might not be enough..." Kobe knew that while Su Feng was already pretty strong, if he went all out in a one-on-one...

"That's why I need your help!" Suddenly, Su Feng's lips curled into a smile as he spoke to Kobe.

"My help?" Kobe frowned.

Su Feng patted Kobe on the shoulder and explained his plan in detail.

"Are you sure that'll work?" After a good while, Kobe looked at Su Feng suspiciously.

"It's the best I could come up with. And Kobe, don't worry, if I slow down in my senior year, I'll go to college," Su Feng reassured him.

Kobe nodded. "Yeah, the draft's not until next year anyway."

"So we need to work even harder, right?" Su Feng said.

"Right! We have to work harder!" Although still worried about Su Feng, Kobe couldn't help but think that it might be good if Su Feng entered the draft with him.

...

After talking with Kobe, Su Feng felt he needed to cool down a bit.

The "Road to Genius" quest was a challenge, to say the least.

But Su Feng liked this quest.

Not only was it difficult to resist the "Lifetime Injury Waiver," but also...

Su Feng's shot-blocking system wasn't just improved by playing games.

For Su Feng, his one-on-one training with Kobe was the biggest source of his shot-blocking points.

The question was, would the shot-blocking points system change after entering the NBA?

Su Feng believed that although game points would be more than training points, diligence could make up for deficiencies. The current NBA wasn't the super team league of the future.

Most teams had their star players.

For Su Feng, entering the NBA as a high schooler was difficult, and he'd probably start on the bench.

But wasn't that a good opportunity to improve?

Could training and games in the NCAA give him as many shot-blocking points as NBA-level training?

The NBA was full of opportunities!

At this time, American universities only had a few top players, and you could only choose to latch onto one of them.

But the NBA was different...

It was full of masters.

Full of skills, badges, shooting motions...

Also, as a die-hard Kobe fan and "Human Kobe Encyclopedia" who had read at least a hundred books about Kobe in his previous life, Su Feng had considered bringing Kobe, his cheat, to college.

But Su Feng could say with certainty that it was impossible.

Kobe had great SAT scores; he wasn't skipping college because of his grades.

Plus, Kobe wasn't short on cash. His dad was a responsible former NBA player who made a lot of money playing overseas, so an NCAA scholarship wasn't attractive to Kobe.

Even if a college coach was willing to take the risk of offering Kobe an under-the-table deal, it wouldn't work, because Kobe just didn't need the money...

Kobe skipped college for the same reason he said himself: he was obsessed with Jordan and the NBA...

He couldn't wait a minute longer.

Don't be surprised; when his Leo side took over, Kobe was that impulsive.

If Su Feng could talk Kobe out of it...

He wouldn't be Kobe.

So, although several systems in Task 1 were tempting, Su Feng decided to take his destiny into his own hands after careful consideration.

Even if "Unparalleled Genius" was a terrible system, as long as Su Feng was diligent, worked hard, and remembered his shot-blocking roots, plus his lifetime injury waiver, he could definitely make a name for himself in the NBA.

Well...

Of course, that was only if he got drafted.

Okay.

The injury waiver... was just too good!

"If I want to play in the NBA, I definitely need to improve my strength and jumping ability.

In short, I need to upgrade my shot-blocking system to 7.0 by the end of the summer to see what other abilities I can unlock.

And I need to grind stats like crazy!"

Su Feng, who was going further and further down the path of being a ball hog, clenched his fist silently.

"If I'm a second-round pick in '96, I'll have a decent chance.

Although the treatment of second-rounders will be worse, like Rashard Lewis, teams in the NBA are still patient with high school players."

If Su Feng remembered correctly, Lewis, who joined the NBA as a high schooler, was also a benchwarmer for his first two years. Plus, Lewis was only a second-round pick.

But the SuperSonics were very patient with him, not putting pressure on him and giving him unlimited shooting rights after he grew, helping him improve quickly.

Lewis later received a huge contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars and was one of the NBA's biggest success stories.

Su Feng decided to use Lewis as his reference, because he entered the draft only two years later than him.

Since he had decided to skip college, Su Feng was okay with starting as a benchwarmer.

"It's no big deal... because of my upgrade system, it doesn't matter if I'm a benchwarmer, as long as I work hard and train like crazy.

Of course, it would be even better if there was a cheat like Kobe on the team."

Su Feng realized when analyzing Task 1 and Task 2 that his shot-blocking system was really...

"Is this what they mean by 'I'd rather be a benchwarmer in the NBA than win a championship in the NCAA'?" Su Feng said with a smile.

...

Since he decided to choose Task 2, Su Feng naturally...

Wasn't in a rush!

The system's deadline for making a choice was March 31, 1996.

Before that, Su Feng would definitely prepare to complete the "Road to Genius" quest. If the situation wasn't good, he wouldn't be so stubborn.

After all, if he didn't get drafted, the "Injury Waiver" would just be a fleeting dream.

"I wonder if there are other ways to get the Injury Waiver, like a lottery or something..." Just as Su Feng was daydreaming, the system suddenly...

Answered him for the first time ever.

"The Lifetime Injury Waiver cannot be obtained through other channels!"

Damn!

So this system wasn't a complete idiot?

However, although Su Feng tried all sorts of ways to tease it, the system never responded to him again, even when he asked the same question in his head.

"Okay! I need to make dozens of plans first. Being prepared is my style," Su Feng thought to himself.

So, after watching the news about Jordan's comeback at Kobe's house, Su Feng felt it was necessary to call Su Weiguo after returning to his rented apartment.

Going to the NBA wasn't a small thing.

Although Su Feng hadn't fully accepted "Su Feng's" parents, as he called them more often, Su Feng truly believed that "Su Feng's" parents were the kind who worried endlessly about their troublemaking son.

Often, young people feel that their parents don't spend time with them because they don't love them enough, but in reality, parents just want to make more money so you can inherit the family fortune after you fail...

Most Chinese parents just don't know how to properly express their love for their children.

Just as Su Feng was drafting his speech, Su Weiguo asked curiously on the other end of the phone, "By the way, son, haven't you been playing basketball lately? Do you know about the NBA?"

Su Feng: "..."

Su Feng wanted to answer, "I do more than just know!"

"I was a keyboard warrior who coached every NBA team in my past life!"

But Su Feng resisted the urge to complain. "Yeah, why?"

"I've been watching sports channels lately, and they've been showing some NBA games. They're great! Hey, by the way, son, can you play in the NBA in the future? Didn't you win the school basketball championship in elementary school?"

Su Feng: "..."

I... I won a big red flower in kindergarten!

That's not the same!

But soon, Su Feng realized that this might be a good opportunity?

Because people in the country didn't know much about the NBA, and Su Weiguo seemed easy to fool...

"But to play in the NBA, a lot of players go straight after graduating from high school. If I go to college..." Su Feng said, seizing the opportunity to mislead him.

"College? It's okay. With your grades, what makes you think you can get into college? I know, you could only get 59 points in the first grade, and I had to beg the teacher to change it to 60 so you wouldn't get discouraged. If you were good at school, do you think your mom and I would have the heart to send you abroad?" Su Weiguo said with a laugh.

Su Feng: "..."

"Su Feng," you're really something!

59 points in the first grade?

Honestly, isn't it possible to get 100 points without even trying in elementary school?

Even in middle school, except for Chinese and English because the essays couldn't guarantee a perfect score, when did Su Feng not get a perfect score?

There was even a time in high school when Su Feng only got 145 points on a math test because he got one multiple-choice question wrong, and he blamed himself for it.

But anyway, Su Feng realized that being a bad student could actually be useful?

"Hey, by the way, son, is the income high in the NBA?" Su Weiguo asked curiously.

"I heard it's millions of dollars a year," Su Feng replied.

"Which is tens of millions of RMB..."

Otherwise, Su Feng would have been successful in his previous life.

"To think that before my rebirth, I was a member of an orphanage, and after my rebirth, my parents are healthy and I'm a second-generation rich kid?"

Su Feng had already believed that there were mysterious forces in this world that science couldn't explore.

That's why Su Feng was determined to play basketball in this life when the system appeared.

Because even when he lost hope in life in his previous life, only basketball could keep him going.

"If there really are mysterious forces, thank you!"

Thank you for giving me the talent to play in the NBA.

Thank you for letting me choose to do what I love to do most.

Thank you for letting me meet Kobe.

I am Su Feng, and in this life, I will turn the NBA upside down!

For some reason, Su Feng felt full of power!

The "Road to Genius" was difficult, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

"Tomorrow is the state championship tournament!"

"Win the championship! Then prepare for senior year!"

Su Feng clenched his fist and vowed silently in his heart.

...