The CBA contract still lay in the drawer when Lin Mo's phone received another email—a NBA Combine tryout invitation, with the Chicago Training Center as the sender. Sunlight slanted through the window, making the three letters "NBA" seem to burn.
He finally chose a training gym not far from the middle school court, rejecting the club's proposed "system-adapted training program" and bringing only an old notebook. The trainer, a traditional strength and conditioning coach recommended by Coach Wang, pushed him into the weight room on the first day: "NBA muscles are built with dumbbells, not system swiping."
In front of the squat rack, Lin Mo stared at the 70kg barbell—15kg lighter than his training load with the national team. But without the system's "force assistance" prompts, every bend of his knees felt like unscrewing bolts. Sweat dripped onto the notebook, smudging the words he'd written: "Gobert's bench press is 110kg, my max is 85kg—a 25kg gap."
The system panel flickered occasionally: [Strength deficiency evident, recommend activating "targeted enhancement module"], but he deliberately dismissed the prompt, listening only to the strength coach's roar: "Tighten your core! Don't let your knees cave inward!" When leaving in the evening, he detoured to the Chase the Light Training Camp, where the one-armed teenager was practicing one-handed jump shots. The ball hit the backboard and bounced back, landing right at his feet.
"Brother Lin, you're not as fast as before today." The teenager looked up and smiled. Lin Mo picked up the ball, suddenly realizing: How much of his former "speed" was the system helping him predict the timing of his starts? He handed the ball back to the teenager: "Tomorrow I'll teach you the crossover step. No need to be too fast, but enough to fool the opponent."
On the way home, the system popped up a new prompt: [Basic ability polishing in progress, compatibility +0.1% (15.1%)]. This time, he didn't feel欣喜, only adding another line to his notebook: "Basketball isn't about data; it's about making your body remember the rhythm."