Ego Namikaze

[A/N: As a heads up the MC's name will change and any POV with Ego/Ego Namikaze is him now. Also speaking in different languages won't be "said" inside the speech but said in detail. So if MC says he will speak Japanese from now on or he speaks English to someone, then that's what's happening.]

Word Count: 2197

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[Omniscient POV (Japan: Tokyo)]

In a relatively rich neighbourhood, two men could be seen knocking on one house with tired looks. Their expressions were composed of the word opposite of "pleasant" and didn't want to be there at all.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Who's that?"

A man in his 50s hearing the front door being knocked at this time at night, started to rub his eyes. Getting up from the couch he walks towards the door with some anticipation. This man had black hair with some patches being white, a few wrinkles, yellow eyes and a stern face.

*Creak*

"Hello?" The man says being greeted by two people. 

One of the men speaking up started to explain the situation making the man's eyes widen in shock. Realising the severity of the situation the man walked out of the house and closed the door behind himself and left.

"How did this happen. Is the child alright?" He said shakily making the two men feel a bit awkward but still found it appropriate to answer.

"The child seemed to have been abused and is malnourished. he's currently at the hospital because of multiple scars around his body." One of them explains making the situation in the poor guy's head even worse than it already was. The mental fortitude of a man was breaking down in front of the two men as his expressions were ever-changing.

Watching the man's shaking body, the two guys stayed silent as they went into their separate cars and left towards the hospital.

[Ego Namikaze POV (Japan: Tokyo, Hospital)

'Damn, I feel numb as f*ck.' These were the first thoughts that entered my head as I woke up. Little did I know that this wasn't my body at all. My whole body has never felt as weak as it has now, which makes the situation worse.

Feeling the bandages around my body I felt somewhat trapped.

Looking around the room with confusion, I could subtly feel the outline of my hands through the sheets as I adjusted myself. With the distraction of feeling a stick as my hands, it soon "hit" my head and panic arose in my mind.

My heart started to beat fast as my breathing became erratic.

Quickly freeing my hands out of the covers I take a pause looking at the colour of my skin. I couldn't even be nervous anymore and my mind just started loading.

With an imaginary spinning circle above my head, my mind squandered a little.

'When did I become brown?' I thought wondering if my dumbass slept at a sleepover first or something. With my mind being occupied with information of "Don't sleep first with the boys", some Youtube shorts/titoks I remember starting to make me frown.

Instead of losing the n-word pass like that one chick, the only loss was my white skin.

'I lost my white privileges.' I joke to myself trying to cope with "my" body condition. The realisation that with a weak body like this and the draft just a few days later, there's no way I'd be picked.

Before things got any worse a screen right out of a video game popped out from thin air.

[NBA System Active!]

[Think 'panel' to open up your options and 'close' to close panels]

Getting momentarily side-tracked by the screen, I try to hold out my hand to touch it. But after trying to lift my arm a subtle pain hits making me annoyed.

'There is no way this is my body, I have to be transmigrated or something.' I thought willing my arms forward.

Before anything else got spire out of the minimal control that I had, a few voices could be heard getting closer. Regaining myself my attention shifts to the doors.

*Creak*

Not too long after this, three people enter the room making me confused.

I didn't know who any of these people were? They look Asian and more specifically from Japan if I had to guess, took a lot of Japanese classes and trips there. 

My dumbass didn't want to randomly speak Japanese and sound racist so I just stayed still. 

Thankfully my thoughts were soon answered as a guy rushed to my side and started to talk. I didn't pay too much attention to his features but he was wearing a suit.

"Ego are you alright, It's Granpa Tokei." He stiffly said taking a seat next to me. Trying to touch my shoulder I flinch at his attempt to "check if I was okay" which made him hesitate.

'B*tch do I look okay, I'm built like the Wimpy Kid right now.' I thought a bit annoyed. These thoughts didn't show in my expression though as I tilt my head sideways.

The name Ego felt somewhat familiar but if my guess is true I'm not "Alexander" anymore. How ironic as when I was a kid the thoughts of reincarnation were prevalent to escape my teenage depression arc.

People made fun of me being a nerd and weeb, but I'd argue it makes me busting their asses on the court more embarrassing. Personally wouldn't take a kid making anime poses as their team is getting blown out by 20+ points.

But anyway, this is transmigration bruh…

"I don't know who you are sir, also where am I?" I question trying to figure out my situation.

The man who I got a better look at, seemed to be in his 50s and had a stern "aura" around him. Homie looked stressed as hell but who am I to judge.

With widened eyes that seemed like shock, he turned his head towards the two other men in the room. 

"Just stay here alright? Grandpa will be back" He murmurs in a soft tone. This didn't last that long though with anger plain as day on his face as he stood up. Watching the three walk out of the room I started to contemplate my situation.

'That arsehole claiming to be my grandpa didn't say anything to me. Well, I'm in the hospital I assume nothing too good happened to me so I can't be mad at him.' I consoled myself but remembering a certain screen which was still there I turned my head.

'Panel…'

As I thought this, five blue panels appeared in front of me making my eyes sparkle in amazement. I've never seen anything like this.

'Did I get transmigrated into the future!' 

[Profile]

[Sleep Settings (Locked)]

[Body]

[Skills]

[Techniques]

Taking my time to read the six panels, with the Sleep Setting taking most of my interest. I soon after opened up "my" profile.

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[Profile Rank C-]

Name: Ego Namikaze

Age: 10

Position: Small Forward/Shooting Guard

Basketball IQ: A-

Prefered Hand: Both

Height: 5'5 (165.1 cm)

Wingspan 5'11 (180.34cm)

Weight: 48kg (105.8lbs)

———

'So I really have transmigrated.' I thought not really knowing how to process my situation. It's not like I had any family members back as Alexander with them passing away when I was young, but knowing my hard work didn't pay off hurts.

Now that I think about it my life was kind of a lot of doing many things without committing to it. 

I started Muay Thai when I was a kid, then switched to playing football for most of middle school as a Goalkeeper. Those were fun times but I got knee injuries and went to learn how to use a Halberd from some guy called Bjorn with a mate. Then I finally stopped at Basketball in my second year of high school.

Unironically those were some chaotic times as "life" happened to me. Obviously, it would be worse as an adult from what people say, but my mental fortitude was fragile like glass. Everything growing up was exaggerated by me.

It doesn't help that I'm unnaturally petty as hell...

'Wait how did I die? Well, that's a topic for another time..'

Closing the Profile screen, I checked my other statistics which included Body, Skills, and Technique

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[Body]

(System Notes: The "Standard" NBA player has A+ to S- in 80% of stats with Mental Strength being an exception. For some specialties like if you're a Center your Body would be S to S+ and shooting could be A- to A or worse. S+ is the limit.)

Strength: F-

Speed: E

Agility: F

Dexterity: E

Coordination: E+

Vitality: D-

Endurance: F

[Overall: F]

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I'm not really sure if these stats are bad or good for my age but my ceiling should still be pretty high. From prior knowledge of stories with similar rankings, it goes from E, F, D, C, B, A, S.

'I've got something to measure my skills, this will be like levelling up in a video game.' I thought giddily. While some people don't know the mental advantage of this besides just being able to see their stats, I know this very well.

Just the psychology of being able to rank/level up encourages someone to play and persist.

It's why something like video games attracts people so much, the gratification of seeing improvement is something anyone would like. This becomes even more pronounced when someone gets older when they grow up with technology.

I mean competitive games such as Valorant and Rocket League are good examples. This doesn't even include the casual games which have "Achievements" and "Goals" to help in their sandbox world.

After these happy thoughts, I closed the tab and opened my skills.

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[Skills]

(System Notes: Some skill grades would not match your past life because most scale off a statistic from body or training for muscle memory.)

Finishing in the Paint: C+

(Finishing ability inside the paint which includes game IQ, layups, scoops, hooks, finger rolls, etc…)

Inside Shooting: F

Outside Shooting: F

Passing: B-

(A combination of passing IQ and precision in passing the ball)

On-Ball Defence: C+

(Defensive IQ and ability to lock down your target or set position with a ball in their possession)

Off-Ball Defence: B

(Defensive IQ and ability to lock down a target or set area without an attacker having the ball in their hands or getting into your space on defence)

Dribble Control: F+

Mental Strength: A > C+

(It's your ability to go above negative thoughts, the will to overcome adversities and the ability to commit yourself to something. This can be affected by religion, the situation, help from others, reassurance from a parental figure, etc. It's a constantly changing statistic)

[Overall: C+]

———

Looking over the grades my eyes particularly pay attention to Mental Strength.

'Did it decrease because of my situation, It wouldn't be too far to say I'm pissed as hell.' I thought of seeing it drop from an A to a C+. Finishing in paint, defence in general and passing being decently graded probably attributed to them using Basketball IQ and prior experience.

The rest need some kind of coordination and many more from what I assume, so these can be worked on later. Sadly the system doesn't specify what impacts each statistic uses for all of them.

Satisfied with my skills I open up the final tab that represents my current status.

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[Techniques]

(System Notes: Some technique levels would not match your past life because most scale off a stat from body, skills or both. You can develop and create more.)

"Correct" Breathing Lv(2/5) ★ ★ ★

(Including a multitude of health benefits, your stamina usage and body tension decreases. Especially useful for training/lifting weights or keeping calm.)

Klay Thompson's Shooting Form Lv(1/5) ★ ★ ★ 

(Form 1: Using your feet to balance yourself, the base of your body all at once like a unit moves to shoot. Your whole body gets into a comfortable stance as the elbow instinctively becomes 90 degrees at the same time. The same technique can be used with only the upper body to shoot off-balance shots.

Advanced Spatial Awareness Lv(4/5) ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Defensive Breakdown Lv(2/5) ★ ★ ★ ★

(This uses your On-Ball Defence, lateral movement and game IQ to wear your opponent down by sticking close and semi-shadowing their movement. This reduces the threat of you stealing the ball a little but also saves your body from a high amount of strain with blocking made easier.)

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Staring at my techniques a smile crept up on my face. I mean look at the stuff I get to start with.

Not only does this make my foundation for Basketball completely unfair, but I have everything I could ask for. There is defence, spatial awareness and a shooting form to boot!

The addition of the breathing technique is a life saver. It will make my energy last longer and help me with training/weights that I still remember from my past life.

'This is all I could ever ask for.' I thought completely satisfied with this start.

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[A/N: Do you all think the grades, levels and stars are fair? I want some opinions]