Where the Noise Cannot Reach

Chapter 1: I’ve Got Some Insights
Xu Ling suddenly opened his eyes, his head splitting with pain. Everything around him was unfamiliar, like a dream: a spacious single bed, a Kobe dunk poster on the wall, and a bulky Nokia flip phone on the table. He rubbed his eyes, trying to recall what had happened.
“Wasn’t I brushing videos in the dorm? Where is this…?”
Xu Ling’s eyes glanced over and suddenly noticed a card on the table besides the flip phone. He picked it up and saw written boldly: Eli Xu, Texas Tech University, class of 2006. （Eli Xu, Texas Tech University, 2006 freshman）
Texas? 2006?
What the fuck.!!!
The usually steady Xu Ling, faced with this massive change, first thought it was a prank.
Xu Ling got out of bed, not even noticing that his line of sight was higher and farther than in his previous life. He just rushed to the window and yanked open the curtains. Blinding sunlight flooded in instantly. He squinted and was shocked to see that outside the window was not the familiar campus tree-lined path, but a few palm trees swaying in the wind, with distinctively styled single-family homes in the distance. This was definitely not any place in China he knew!
He started gasping for air, his heart pounding like it was about to leap out of his chest. A prank? Which friend could pull off a prank on this scale? He rushed to the only mirror in the room—a full-length mirror on the closet door. The figure in the mirror froze him completely. It was a completely unfamiliar face, with some Asian features but more defined ones, lighter hair color, and a physique clearly taller and more robust than his previous one.
This wasn’t a prank, nor was it a dream.
He recalled those novel plots he’d seen online, the outrageous “time travels.” A strong, icy sense of despair enveloped him instantly. He had really come to a completely unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar time, even an unfamiliar body.
Afterward, Xu Ling returned to the dorm.
He began recalling things before the time travel. As the historical total points king in CUBA, after leading his team to the national quarterfinals only to fall to Peking University, his CUBA career ended. Though his talent was limited with little hope of playing in the NBA, entering the CBA draft and playing professionally for a few years would be easy. As the player recognized as having the best scoring ability in CUBA history, he was called the college Curry, though his style was actually closer to Kobe’s—only that during college his shooting range extended farther, and due to insufficient height, he ironically got tagged with Curry’s name.
What could be done about it? Players with precise shooting were equated to Curry, just like those with explosive driving were called LeBron James, and those who loved isolation plays were called Kobe. These were stereotypes in the basketball world that couldn’t be avoided.
Xu Ling only remembered that after the loss, he started preparing for the CBA draft, then late at night while bored brushing videos, a beam of light fell on him.
And then, this was now.
He was still Xu Ling, but the original owner’s memories of this body clearly told him he hadn’t gone back to the past but had transmigrated into someone else.
The current Xu Ling was from Hong Kong, China. Due to early development, he was prophesied by experts in Hong Kong’s basketball desert as the ‘Hong Kong KG’ and prematurely locked into the inside position. As a result, from age 15 he didn’t grow much taller, his height eventually settling at 198 cm. Though he had a 212 cm wingspan, this talent was still too inadequate for playing inside.
Even Charles Barkley himself said: “There will be another Michael Jordan, another Larry Bird, but you won’t see another me.”
Can you question him?
Larry Johnson and Zion “MILF’s Friend” Williamson’s situations all prove Sir Charles was right.
Xu Ling took the wrong path, but he still trained diligently, dominating Hong Kong high school basketball with his talent, ultimately drawing attention from college basketball at last year’s U.S. invitational tournament, and smoothly landing in NCAA Division I after high school graduation.
After sorting out his past and present lives, Xu Ling thought his skills paired with this current body might have great potential in the future.
But who could easily let go of everything from their previous life?
In immense confusion, Xu Ling picked up the mobile phone, flipped it open, and after fiddling for a bit, anxiously opened it wanting to find something, only to discover the only game on this phone was Snake.
“This damn primitive society!”
Then, the dorm door was suddenly pushed open.
“Hey, I’m Roderick Craig, your roommate. Brother, what are you playing?”
A booming voice came in with a gust of wind, making Xu Ling look up sharply. A burly figure appeared at the door, nearly two meters tall, carrying a huge Nike backpack, casually spinning a basketball in his hand, with an enthusiastic smile on his face, his wheat-colored skin looking especially healthy in the sunlight.
Xu Ling wasn’t unused to overly friendly people, but given his situation, it was hard for him to stay calm.
So he just managed to reply: “Uh, hi.”
Craig didn’t notice anything off, tossed his backpack and basketball aside casually, and started unloading things from the suitcase at the door, his mouth not idle: “You look a bit dazed, brother. Just arrived and not used to it? No worries, I’ll help you sort it out. I see you’re playing with the phone, what’s up? Is there something wrong with that phone?”
“No problem, everything’s normal.” Xu Ling snapped back and politely introduced himself, “Xu Ling. From China, you can call me Eli.”
As soon as Xu Ling responded, it was like opening a floodgate.
Craig enthusiastically talked about recent pop culture, 《Pirates of the Caribbean 2》’s battle for the key, 《American Idol season 5》’s champion—these Xu someone could still somewhat understand while dazed, 《Pirates of the Caribbean》? That was the representative work of the American star who accused his ex-wife of shitting on his bed, 《American Idol》? Wasn’t that just a talent show?—but right after, this guy asked if Xu Ling had a “MySpace” account.
“You don’t have a MySpace account?” Craig’s eyes widened like he’d heard something bizarre, “Bro, you gotta register one quick! That’s the hottest thing right now! Everyone’s connecting, sharing music, posting photos there. Wanna find band gigs? MySpace! Wanna see hot girls’ photos? MySpace! Brother, you deserve to have this!”
Xu Ling’s mind was a total mess, completely unable to keep up with Craig’s rhythm. MySpace? It sounded like a combo of QQ, Weibo, and something else, but could one social media platform really handle all that?
It sounded like an app that was jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
“I’ll make an account when I have time.” Xu Ling brushed it off, then steered the topic to what these theoretical jocks should be talking about most, “What do you think of this year’s NBA Finals?”
Though when this year’s NBA Finals started, Xu Ling was still young, as a basketball fan, he had some general knowledge of the modern NBA.
He’d thought Craig would get even more excited, but instead, he said with a grim face: “Black! Fucking black! David Stern robbed Dallas!”
What did this have to do with Stern?
That’s what Xu Ling thought at the time.
Then this guy exposed his fan allegiance in one sentence: “That bastard just wants to prop up D-Wade! He doesn’t like Kobe! He doesn’t like high school players! But let me tell you, D-Wade winning the championship this way means nothing! Even if he three-peats, he can’t match Kobe! That guy should apologize to basketball! He needs to win a real ring!”
Xu Ling nodded; now he got it.
A Kobe fan, that explained it.
Unfortunately, Xu Ling was from the “Man, what can I say” generation; even with limited knowledge of Kobe, hearing 《Paul Walker send-off song》 would make him shout “Man!”.
So he knowingly asked: “Why? Hasn’t D-Wade already won the championship?”
Craig said seriously: “If you let Kobe shoot 16 free throws a game, he’d lead the Lakers to the championship!”
Xu Ling naturally knew Dwyane Wade had insane free throw attempts in these Finals, but facing the specific numbers, he realized he’d still underestimated Wade.
For a horizontal comparison, SGA who got blasted by Thunder victim fans after the 2025 Finals only had 69 attempts over seven games, while Wade had 75 in six games in the 2006 Finals. This free throw explosiveness was too horrifying; in NBA history, the only one with more in the Finals was Elgin Baylor in 1962.
Then, Xu Ling changed the subject: “Alright, you might be right, Roderick, but the outcome can’t be changed. Do you have anything else today?”
Craig was stunned: “Uh, nothing much, do you have any plans?”
“Let’s go out for a walk.”
Xu Ling hadn’t shaken off the transmigrator’s PTSD; he hadn’t fully accepted everything yet, but the fragmented info, short videos, and social media dopamine addiction from twenty years later had tormented him to the point he couldn’t stand the dorm’s 2G network anymore.
Two freshmen who came to Texas Tech University （abbreviated as TTU hereafter） because of basketball ended up at the school’s gymnasium after wandering around.
Tomorrow, the school basketball team would officially assemble, giving the freshmen some buffer time.
Currently playing in the gymnasium were mostly school students.
Roderick Craig spun the basketball on his fingertip and suddenly suggested: “Hey, Eli, how about bullfighting? Good way to warm up.”
Xu Ling’s eyes flashed. In his previous life, he probably would’ve politely declined—188 cm height facing this robust nearly two-meter opponent was too disadvantaged. Even as CUBA’s historical scoring king with exquisite technique and godlike shooting, the talent gap was hard to bridge against physical talent disparity.
But the next second, the corner of his mouth curved up slightly.
“Sure.”
He agreed almost without hesitation.
Craig passed the ball over; Xu Ling extended his right hand, fingers closing to grip it firmly. The basketball felt a size smaller in his hands, with an unprecedented solid control feel.
Craig raised an eyebrow in surprise: “Whoa, Eli, those hands… don’t look like a center’s hands!”
Xu Ling didn’t answer, just lowered his center of gravity slightly, his gaze gliding past Craig’s shoulder toward the distant rim.
“Eli, what position did you play in China?”
“Center.”
Craig felt sorry for him; though they hadn’t matched up yet, just from physique it was clear Xu Ling was a rare guard-forward prospect.
At the same time, he thought this bullfight was in the bag.
Though their builds were similar, he was a small forward.
A one-on-one between similarly sized small forward and center would be a one-sided slaughter.
“Do you know the rules?”
“What rules?”
“Well… forget it, do whatever.” Craig, not wanting to bully a foreigner, gave Xu Ling the opening possession.
Xu Ling wasn’t polite and even asked: “How many points for a three-pointer?”
“2 points.”
“Started yet?”
At that moment, Xu Ling was standing a meter or so beyond the three-point line.
Craig stood with hands open undefended, smiling brightly: “Go ahead!”
Xu Ling made no prep moves, just raised and shot.
At the release instant, he could confirm his muscle memory was still there, his shooter’s instinct on release intact, but wingspan changed, height changed—this shot felt awkward, power a bit too much, but the arc was right.
Craig looked at the ball and yelled: “Brother, even if you can’t dribble, you don’t have to”
“Bang swish!!!!!”
Before Craig finished, the ball hit the backboard and bounced in.
Incredulous, Craig shouted: “Lucky shot!”
Xu Ling said sincerely: “I have a little knack for shooting.”
“Alright, no more going easy next!” Craig decided not to give Xu Ling shooting space anymore.
Xu Ling got the ball again; as Craig’s defense closed in, Xu Ling used a standard hesitation dribble to push back the defense, eyes faking right to confuse Craig’s judgment.
In just an instant!
Xu Ling dribbled left one step and pulled up for a jump shot.
“Swish!!!”
Craig started feeling off and asked: “Aren’t you a center?”
Xu Ling felt a wondrous sensation in his heart.
In his previous life self, even with huge shooting threat, perfect mechanics, shaking the defender, the opponent could catch two of his steps in one, and with height and wingspan gap, not exaggerating, even with a body ahead there was block risk.
But now, he clearly felt Craig’s speed was a beat slower than his, his explosiveness superior, not to mention their heights roughly equal while his wingspan was better.
To Craig’s question, Xu Ling humbly replied: “Yeah, I know my talent isn’t standout in the United States, so I specially trained face-up offense this summer. What do you think?”
Craig felt like he’d swallowed a fly, extremely uncomfortable.
But he still had to act tough.
“Is that so? This time I really won’t go easy!”
They played two games, each to 15 points.
The first game had some suspense. Xu Ling was initially adapting to this unfamiliar body; several flashy dribble attempts nearly miscued, letting Craig close the score to 8-10 at one point. But when he dropped the showboating and went back to instinctive jump shots and simple drives, the situation flipped instantly.
The rest of the game became one-sided domination. Xu Ling’s pull-up jump shots were nearly unguardable, combined with first-step explosive drives, leaving Craig helpless. The second game was a total rout; Craig’s prized physical confrontation seemed clumsy and futile against Xu Ling’s rhythm and technique.
That night, after showering back in the dorm, Xu Ling lay on the bed, water washing away sweat but not the churning thoughts in his mind. Staring at the blurry shadows on the ceiling, for the first time since transmigrating, he didn’t pray ‘this is just a dream’.
His fingertips still seemed to retain the basketball’s feel, muscles recalling the unfamiliar stretch and power of the jump shot. A completely different desire, like an undercurrent beneath a dormant volcano, awakened within him.
At this moment, this thought was growing wildly inside him with scorching heat.
New book period, seeking votes, seeking follows.