“By the way, William Sullivan, you said before that the school you attend is Nephalia, right?” Fortunately, after seeing Kobe Bryant, William Sullivan’s mood immediately improved.

After all, this is a living, breathing iron value... ahem, a living, breathing idol!

“Yeah, what about it?” While handing a sandwich to Kobe Bryant, William Sullivan asked in return.

“Nothing, I was just asking.”

Unfortunately, the sly smile at the corner of Kobe Bryant’s mouth had already betrayed his inner thoughts, but William Sullivan didn’t react for a moment as to why Kobe Bryant would suddenly ask him this question.

“Good luck, here’s to senior year!” Seeing that William Sullivan was getting suspicious, Kobe Bryant immediately changed the subject.

“To senior year...” However, Kobe Bryant’s attempt to change the topic only made William Sullivan even more confused.

After all, in America, what’s so special about senior year...

Because, after that, there’s still a fourth year...

...

On September 5th, after nearly three months of vacation, William Sullivan’s senior year began.

And William Sullivan soon found out why Kobe Bryant had suddenly asked him about his school a few days ago...

Because with the end of the holidays, the American high school basketball league, the NSAA, was about to kick off.

The NSAA is different from the NCAA; the NSAA is organized by state, and among them, the leagues in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky are the most intense.

William Sullivan’s Nephalia High School is in Pennsylvania, and before the start of each season in Pennsylvania, high schools from the same city organize friendly matches.

The nature of these friendlies is similar to NBA preseason games—they’re just to remind everyone to get ready for the brutal new season.

And as luck would have it, this year, William Sullivan’s Nephalia High School’s opponent in the friendly was none other than Kobe Bryant’s Lower Merion High School...

After considering William Sullivan a good friend, Kobe Bryant took this friendly very seriously, because after more than three months of hanging out, Kobe Bryant believed that William Sullivan was now definitely capable of starting for Nephalia High.

After all, last year, Nephalia High was slaughtered by Lower Merion by a whopping 58 points in the state tournament...

So, Kobe Bryant also saw this friendly as his and William Sullivan’s first real showdown in an official game.

Although William Sullivan still hadn’t beaten Kobe Bryant one-on-one, there had been a few recent matches where, if Kobe Bryant hadn’t been so careful, William Sullivan might have actually pulled off an upset.

You know, ever since August, Kobe Bryant had lifted the rule that he couldn’t block William Sullivan in their one-on-ones.

Emmmmmm, no matter how good their relationship is, Kobe Bryant would never forget the “colorful language” William Sullivan had used on him before.

Don’t ask—Virgos hold grudges.

“It’s just... it seems like this friendly has nothing to do with me.” William Sullivan thought to himself, half laughing, half crying.

Uh... wait a minute.

Maybe it does have a little to do with me.

Because William Sullivan really is a member of the Nephalia High basketball team.

Hmm...

Yeah.

Although Nephalia High’s basketball team isn’t strong, to encourage students to participate in clubs and sports, they have a first team, second team, third team, and...

A reserve team.

And William Sullivan just so happens to be a member of that reserve army.

Obviously, “William Sullivan” is also a basketball enthusiast, but his skills are just so-so, so when he confidently thought he could make a name for himself in America, get into the NBA, become a basketball star, and marry a rich, beautiful woman, fate struck him with a bolt from the blue.

From his memories, William Sullivan learned that although the reserve team could technically be considered part of the school basketball team, the actual treatment compared to the first team was worlds apart.

Basically, aside from being able to use the school gym equipment for free, the members of the reserve team were not much different from the cheerleaders.

Their main job was to hand towels and water bottles to the first team players, and shout encouragement...

In short...

There was absolutely no chance of getting on the court.

“Forget it, I’ll just go take a look... After all, besides Kobe Bryant, I know nothing about American high school basketball.”

William Sullivan felt that this time, Kobe Bryant was probably wasting his efforts.

Because when Nephalia plays Lower Merion in the friendly, at most he’ll just be a cheerleader...

Chapter 10: The Depths of Campus Schemes...

Because of last semester’s “act of bravery,” William Sullivan had already become a celebrity at Nephalia High.

During breaks, many classmates would come up to greet William Sullivan, and some of the more open-minded girls even hinted at wanting to have an indescribable relationship with him...

Of course, William Sullivan rejected all these girls with ulterior motives.

After all, as Kobe Bryant said, life is limited, and you should devote your limited life to the great cause of basketball.

Yes, William Sullivan patted his chest and swore to the heavens:

He, William Sullivan, is definitely not rejecting these girls because he thinks they’re ugly!

Definitely not!

Otherwise, may he be stri—

Ahem.

Back to the topic.