System activated!
Host: Su Feng
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 16
Height: 1.88 m
Weight: 71 kg
Current skill level: High‑Intermediate
Shooting: 28
Passing: 14
Dribbling: 28
Strength: 18
Equipped shooting skill: None
Current iron points: 1
Iron needed to unlock the next system stage: 15 000
A translucent screen materialized before his eyes, as if the universe itself had pressed "start." Su Feng blinked, stunned.
"Could this… be the legendary plugin?"
His thoughts spun. "System… iron points… what does all this mean?"
"Hey, System! Can you explain this in more detail?"
Deep down, though, he knew: he'd already faced surreal trials—rebirths, saving lives with impossible shots, attending different schools across timelines. A virtual system? Just another chapter in his extraordinary journey.
What always set him apart, in any life, was his unshakable calm. While others panicked, Su Feng analyzed.
"With a name like 'Feng,' I'm not destined to be just another big fish waiting to be caught…"
He smiled, recalling Rukawa Kaede—the "Maple" of Shohoku High—who turned games with his icy talent.
"Become a basketball star, enter the NBA, and marry Bai Fumei?" he murmured. "Why not?"
A new spark lit in his eyes. The game had begun.
...
To make sure the image that had just appeared in his mind wasn't an illusion, Su Feng restarted the picturesque backup several times after picking up the basketball.
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
In the past, Su Feng's biggest frustration was that whenever he pulled off a stylish sequence of moves, the result would be a miss.
But now, Su Feng was even smiling because of his picturesque backing—and his missed shots!
This kind of happiness... ah no, who could possibly understand this kind of pain?
Additionally, Su Feng discovered that as long as he concentrated on the system in his mind, the interface would appear before his eyes. In the lower right corner, the system displayed a message: Visible only to the host.
However, since the system lacked a detailed description, Su Feng quickly realized something during his exploration...
If he missed intentionally, the iron value wouldn't increase!
"So, if I consciously aim poorly, I can't increase the iron value. This iron value requires me to shoot naturally, and if I miss, it will go up..."
As expected, finding a loophole in the system wouldn't be that easy, so Su Feng refocused all his attention on shooting.
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"Ding! Iron value +1!"
"..."
"The next stage of the system requires 15,000 iron points. My god, I've been shooting for so long, but I've only missed 54 times? Since when am I this accurate?"
Su Feng almost wanted to cry. After practicing for a while, his shooting touch had mysteriously improved...
Who do you want me to talk to?
I really just want to miss shots!
I want to be the Iron King!
Don't stop me! Don't take the Iron Man title from me!
"Fifteen thousand iron points... How long will it take to rack them up?"
Su Feng, whose competitive spirit had been ignited, suddenly felt the fire in his chest shrink into a flickering flame.
But giving up wasn't an option. With other activities, Su Feng could quickly lose interest, but when it came to basketball, he could play for days and nights without getting tired.
"Looks like I need to follow the Sakuragi method—20,000 shots in a week?"
However, as Su Feng's shooting touch kept improving, he began to realize... this TM might take more than 20,000 shots!
When Su Feng was completely focused on how to use more difficult shots to happily rack up missed attempts, suddenly…
"Your positioning is solid, but your shooting speed is way too slow. With this kind of shot, if you take 10,000 attempts, I'll block 10,000 of them. And by the way—this court is mine."
Following the direction of the voice, Su Feng looked over…
And then, he was petrified.
It was obvious.
Su Feng had always been calm, never easily startled. But this time, he wasn't just startled—he was truly shaken.
There's a difference between being startled and being genuinely shocked. After all, the Chinese language is deep and nuanced.
This is so ridiculous.
Too much TM!
The reason for Su Feng's frozen state was simple: the person standing before him was someone he knew. Though this person looked younger…
Was it really him?
It was!
Was he the same man from Philadelphia 26 years ago?
Yes!
26 years ago, wasn't he just a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old kid, brimming with potential?
Yes!
Even back then, among a crowd of athletes, wasn't he still incredibly talented—unparalleled in the basketball world?
Yes!
His fans had a saying: 8 represents faith, 24 symbolizes 24 hours of relentless work, the angel and the devil of Los Angeles. Friends come and go, but only the championship banners rise to the rafters.
Ahhhhhhh… Those banners had obviously been moved by the air-conditioning!
He held the NBA record for the most missed shots in history.
He was a defining figure in the basketball memories of countless fans from the '80s and '90s.
You could love him, hate him, or criticize him—but the one thing you couldn't deny was his legendary status.
If Magic Johnson revolutionized basketball and Nash perfected the No-look pass, then this man took it a step further, developing his own No-pass-look style!
Mamba was the name that fans revered, but to Su Feng—and to many others—he was also affectionately called the little blacksmith.
The Northern God of the NBA.
The man who had hammered home 14,481 massive shots with his Thor-like determination.
The Iron Shadow of the NBA's Iron Kingdom.
The Saltman of 81 points.
His name was legendary. His story was known far and wide. No one could claim ignorance—everyone knew the King!
His name was Kobe. His surname was Bryant.
Kobe Bryant.
The Iron Warlord, the Angel of Los Angeles.
Su Feng refused to believe this was a dream.
Because he was a fan.
A devout believer in the iron-forged greatness!
Even now, Su Feng felt as though everything that had happened the night before had been an illusion.
Frozen in place, Su Feng slowly put down the basketball in his hand, stepped toward Kobe, and reached out to touch his head.
"It's really you..."
Kobe: "?????"
What the hell? Why is this guy acting so GAY right from the start?!
Kobe, visibly annoyed, pushed Su Feng's hand away and said firmly:
"I don't know you, and I don't want to repeat myself—this is my court!"
Yes! Yes! This is the Kobe I remember!
Su Feng was thrilled—not only was he meeting an old friend, but he was meeting his idol.
It had to be fate!
I am Su Feng, and I am destined to play basketball in this lifetime.
"However, I don't see any sign claiming this court is yours," Su Feng said, now recovered from the initial shock, looking at Kobe with amusement.
Now, it was Kobe's turn to hesitate.
Yo, this guy's got some nerve.
And then, Su Feng said something that left Kobe completely speechless.
"Kid, I see you have great potential. If you want to prove this court is yours, fine—let's settle it one-on-one. If you win, I'll acknowledge it's your turf."
Su Feng grinned at Kobe.
For the second time, Kobe showed an O'Neal question-mark face.
Is this for real?
He… wants to challenge ME?
Didn't he know that in Philadelphia, Kobe was known as the King of One-on-One Basketball?
Su Feng: Yes, that's right. You heard me.
Cough. Back to reality.
So, here was the real question—was Su Feng so star-struck that he couldn't move? Was he just trying to get a photo with his idol through this one-on-one match?
Oh, absolutely not.
Half an hour earlier, Su Feng had discovered a fascinating detail about the Iron Value System—the accumulation of iron value would increase according to training intensity and competition difficulty.
Now, Su Feng wanted to put that theory to the test.
Because, don't forget—Kobe, like Su Feng, was only a high school senior at this point, just 16 years old.
But that didn't mean he wasn't already on the fast track to the NBA.
Su Feng firmly believed that although Kobe wasn't an NBA player yet, he was already close to the edge—right on the verge of making that leap.
So, if Su Feng played one-on-one against Kobe, would the system automatically recognize this as high-intensity training? Would it boost Su Feng's iron value accumulation to a level far beyond his current one?
The answer… would soon be revealed.