Arjun's eyes seemed to be drifting between the basketball court and the cheerleaders.
Actually, Arjun's attention wasn't really on the game, nor was it on the cheerleaders.
He kept replaying everything that had happened over the last three days.
Arjun was humming a tune that hadn't even come out in this era.
Arjun had time-traveled,he had gone from July 2021 back to June 2006.
And now, just like in his previous life, his name was still Arjun Singh, and even his upbringing was pretty similar.
A basketball-playing nerd...
In this life, he was a senior at Greenfield School, a member of the basketball team, though just a bench player who didn't see much game time.
In his past life, middle-aged Arjun was a vice president of a public company, surrounded by a house, luxury cars, stocks, and even a beautiful, sexy secretary—his life was quite the success...
Arjun lived a flashy life, with money, cars, houses, and women.
Suddenly being thrown back into his school days was a bit of a shock.
It took him a good two or three days to somewhat adjust to life as a high school senior.
At least he was younger than before, and in better shape.
Arjun was also thankful he hadn't traveled back to ancient times or even further back.
The technology in 2006 was a bit behind what Arjun was used to,the internet wasn't very fast, phones weren't all touchscreen yet, there was no YouTube, no gaming or beauty live streams, no facial recognition payments, and transportation wasn't as developed. But overall, it was still modern life, manageable.
Arjun found one advantage of 2006 over 2021.
The girls were still innocently beautiful...
After getting used to his new identity, Arjun set a new life goal for himself.
Having achieved career success in his past life, this time around, he wanted to pursue the dreams he hadn't fulfilled before.
In both lives, he had one passion.
Basketball!
The "Fusion System" was Arjun's confidence in achieving his dreams.
The Fusion System wasn't complicated,it allowed Arjun to have the combined talents and rookie-level skills of two basketball superstars.
As long as Arjun kept using the system to develop his physical talents, he would gradually grow into a fusion superstar.
The biggest barrier to becoming a professional player in his past life, "talent," was no longer an issue.
Instead, "talent" was now Arjun's advantage.
Arjun possessed the combined talents of two great NBA point guards and most of their rookie abilities.
At just 18 years old, Arjun was already 6 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 220.46 pounds, had an arm span of 7 feet 3.31 inches, a standing vertical leap of 2 feet 9.46 inches, and a max vertical leap of 3 feet 1.39 inches.
The Fusion System rated him at 78 points. It didn't immediately grant Arjun all the peak abilities of Curry and Ben Simmons, just their rookie talents and abilities.
The combination of rookie Curry and Simmons was worth more than a 78 rating, but the original Arjun brought down the level of the two superstars.
This 78 rating was similar to an NBA player's rating in the NBA 2K video game.
But for the previous Arjun, this was a high score.
As a high schooler who knew the future history of the NBA, Arjun couldn't help but marvel at his own strength now.
Only 18 and already rocking an NBA 2K-like rating.
Isn't that way cooler than being the top high school player in the country?
After playing a year in the NCAA, wouldn't he be a surefire All-Star?
Such a rating was also the confidence Arjun needed to chase his NBA dream.
Back to reality, Arjun knew he still had a long way to go before reaching the NBA.
First, he had to make it onto an NBA team.
As for playing in domestic leagues, Arjun wasn't considering that for now.
Even though Arjun is just a regular high school senior right now, he's already got his next moves all planned out...
"Arjun, you're in for the second quarter. Once you're on, focus on defense, and try to nail a few open shots," Coach Vikram from Greenfield School shouted to Arjun, who was lost in thought.
Coach Vikram didn't have high expectations for Arjun's performance,it was just a normal rotation since Greenfield's starting players were completely demoralized by Doon School.
In Vikram's eyes, Arjun was just another bench player for the school team.
Honestly, Arjun wasn't too interested in this game either.
To him, the level of competition was just too low.
Doon School was strong, but only within the national ISBL league.
His skills were already at an NBA level...
But for now, he was still a student and had to follow his coach's instructions.
Arjun stood up, shook his arms, did a couple of jumps, and warmed up a bit, getting ready to play.
He'd just use this game to get a feel for his own abilities.
As Arjun was about to enter the game, the cheerleaders on the sidelines immediately started screaming.
"Go Arjun!"
"Way to go!"
"Arjun, you're the coolest!"
"Arjun, I love you!"
Arjun was a heartthrob, the most popular member of the Greenfield School team.
Did the girls come to watch the game? Think again!
They were there to check out the players' looks.
Like how guys watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show—do they really care about the lingerie?
It's all about the models' figures.
Arjun had changed a lot in appearance recently.
He was a bit taller, his muscles more defined, and in his jersey, he looked more like a pro player than anyone else on the court.
Many young and beautiful girls were already daydreaming about having kids with Arjun.
"What's all the screaming about!" A player from Doon School was clearly annoyed by Arjun attracting screams from the girls as soon as he stepped on the court.
Arjun looked too flashy, attracting too many female fans.
It was grating for the other guys on the court.
"Vivek, shake him off later, teach him a lesson," another Doon School player said to Vivek.
"I'll try my best," Vivek nodded.
The game wasn't much pressure for Doon School.
For Vivek, it was more about showing off his talent to the scouts at the sidelines.
He needed to prepare for entering a higher professional league.
...
After a quick warm-up, Arjun joined his teammates on the court.
Greenfield School's team was noticeably shorter than Doon School's.
After Arjun's growth spurt, his height of 6 feet 8 inches made him the tallest on his team.
For a high schooler, being 6 feet 8 inches tall was definitely eye-catching.
Normally, he wouldn't play point guard at that height, but he'd been training as one since he was young, and the coach hadn't asked him to switch.
On Doon School's side, even their shortest point guard, Vivek, was 6 feet 2 inches, and they had three players over 6 feet 7 inches, clearly overpowering in terms of raw talent.
Only Arjun seemed to match up in height with the opponents.
Of course, judging from the first quarter, it wasn't just a matter of talent crushing them,their skills and tactics were also dominating, which explained the 20-point deficit.
The moment Arjun stepped onto the court, he knew today's game would be him taking on the entire opposing team alone.