Los Angeles was quiet at four in the morning. Doug, walked along the James Steps in the early morning and came to the small hill next to Royce Auditorium.
After a fight with Darren Collison, he was exhausted.
He lay down on the soft grass on the hillside and looked up at the starry sky that had not yet dispersed.
"I heard there's a meteor shower today."
He muttered something, but there was no sign of rain in the sky.
Doug is a sophomore student at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
He received a full scholarship in his freshman year, for which the school arranged for him to live in a special four-bedroom, one-living-room dormitory, where three other full-scholarship students also lived: unfortunately, these three did not rely on their academic performance, but on basketball.
They are UCLA's ace guard Darren Collison, super center Kevin Love, and the team's No. 3 backup point guard Russell Westbrook.
Kevin Love is a nice white big man who is low-key, calm and doesn't like to brag.
Russell Westbrook is also very simple. Apart from his dressing taste which gives Doug a headache, he meets all the requirements of a best friend.
However, Darren Collison, the NCAA five-star player and the school's star player, was too arrogant and conceited to care for any of his roommates. Furthermore, he always left the living room and common area smoky and often brought home different female companions. His hygiene and living habits were unbearable for the mysophobic Doug.
Within a year, the two had no less than 20 conflicts, big and small.
There were seven or eight physical conflicts.
The matches were always evenly matched. Although Darren Collison had stronger physical fitness, Doug was more flexible. He also learned MMA and knew where to hit the most painful spots.
As a result, the two sides have maintained a situation of being evenly matched and neither can kill the other.
Tonight, a fierce conflict occurred again.
Darren Collison put on a phenomenal performance last Sunday, scoring 22 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds, garnering the attention of numerous NBA scouts and even landing on the cover of Slam Dunk magazine. This excitement has him brimming with excitement, constantly comparing himself to LeBron James and O.J. Mayo, and declaring in his dorm room more than once: "Just wait and see! I'm going to be an NBA player soon! I'm going to be a multi-millionaire soon! You losers, just sit in front of your TV and watch me walk up to the podium at Madison Square Garden."
He is always so outspoken and no one likes him. Tonight he invited a lot of female students to his dormitory for a party and messed up the living room like a garbage dump.
Amidst the manic music, an angry Doug turned around and smeared his condom with hot sauce.
At three o'clock in the morning, a scream was heard from Collison's room.
Then the conflict began and both sides started fighting...
…
The wind blew gently through the treetops, and the plane trees made a rustling sound.
The sun's rays quietly appeared in the distant sky.
Lying on the grass, Doug felt that everything was wonderful.
Although he is a top student in the business school, he has a very musical air.
Lately, some melodies and lyrics have been popping up in Doug's head for no apparent reason.
He didn't know if it was because of the car accident: three months earlier, he was hit on the head by a modified high-profile Hummer on Beverly Hills Boulevard. He fell to the ground, and the car drove over him, but because of the high chassis, he was not crushed to death. Instead, in his daze, he felt that time had become illusory.
Finally, the pretty blonde girl woke him up, and Doug repeatedly confirmed that he was fine. Although she offered to take Doug to the hospital for a check-up, Doug was in a hurry to catch a flight back home, so he left only his business card.
From then on, whenever Doug read the news or other information, he would have the illusion that he had experienced the same thing once.
He asked many people, including Westbrook.
No one found it strange. Westbrook even explained it from a psychological perspective: "Listen, Snoopy. This is the phenomenon of déjà vu. It's the feeling that something or a scene you haven't experienced before seems to have been experienced at a certain time and place."
"Psychologists also point out that sometimes people don't need actual memories at all; their brains can create a sense of familiarity on their own."
Westbrook's appearance and his extravagant and non-mainstream dress made it hard to believe that he could speak such knowledgeable words. Doug specially looked for books on psychology, and after confirming that this was not an isolated case, he finally felt at ease.
The sky is filled with stars and the night is quiet and beautiful.
"I sing so well, I should go to Berklee College of Music."
Doug said to himself.
When he was very young, his mother, who was a singer, cultivated his musical talent. At the age of eleven, he obtained a tenth-level certificate in piano.
A pair of slender hands made a piano master praise it as a gift from God. He insisted on taking Doug as his last student.
Unfortunately, his father, Mr. Christopher Doyle, a renowned real estate developer, didn't want his son to become a classical pianist. He wanted him to study finance and become a financial tycoon. He was tired of being called a "nomadic tycoon" and wanted his son to be more fashionable than his critics. So, he sent him to the UCLA Anderson School of Management, ranked second in the world.
To be honest, Doug is a person who goes with the flow. Since he was a child, he has been accustomed to being arranged by his mother to learn piano, dance, MMA, boxing and violin. He never resists and has mastered each of them to a very high level.
He actually had no major complaints about his father sending him to Anderson College of Business.
Only.
"What will I do in the future?"
His eyes were fixed on the sky, and for the first time, he began to doubt the future.
The stars, the moon and even the slightest shadow of the sun in the sky, the quiet night sky maintains a strange balance, and the myriad stars do not flicker even once.
Even God can't give me an answer?
Doug suddenly felt a little depressed.
At this moment, a flash of fire suddenly rushed towards me.
All I saw was a hot, dazzling fireball falling from the sky.
"Oh my god! It can't really be a shooting star!"
Doug was about to get up and run away... Boom!
A scorching current of heat struck him directly, and he lost consciousness, unable to move. He was left with only scorching burns, as if he were being burned in a thousand-degree furnace.
What was even more painful than the burning was that a torrent of hot steel was flowing madly through every part of his body, including his tendons, bones, flesh, and blood vessels.
Am I about to be liquefied by the heat?
Doug was completely desperate. He couldn't imagine how sad his parents would be when they learned that he was missing.
I don't know how long it took.
Russell Westbrook's voice reached his ears: "Snoopy! Where are you? Snoopy!"
I'm not dead yet?
His gradually blurring consciousness suddenly awoke, his will to survive intensifying. He discovered that the iron torrent within him seemed less scorching. He didn't know if it was because it had melted into his body, automatically cooling down, or if his consciousness had nearly gone numb.
He tried to move his body, but found that he couldn't move at all.
At this time, Russell Westbrook saw him.
"Hey, Snoopy, you did a great job tonight. Darren's in the hospital now, along with his damn mistress. Now, we should discuss our next move. Do you think we should call his mom first, or his fiancée? Or Coach Holland? I can't wait to take his starting spot on the school team."
Russell came over and asked: "Why are you lying here? Aren't you afraid of the flu virus?"
He reached out and tried to pull Doug up.
Doug blinked furiously, trying to get him to give up.
It was pitch black, and Westbrook couldn't see Doug's eye movements clearly. He reached out to grab Doug, and just as he was about to pull him up, a warm current suddenly rushed into his palm. He felt a warm sensation inside his body, as comfortable as if he were soaking in a hot spring.
As the torrent of steel poured into Westbrook's body.
Doug's body finally regained some consciousness.
About 20 seconds later, the torrent of steel circulated in Westbrook's body and returned to Doug's body. At this time, his body had some of Westbrook's physical characteristics, and the surging energy in his body was no longer so violent, as if he could move.
Thanks to Russell, if he hadn't come over to help with the transition, he might have exploded and turned into liquid.
Westbrook shook his head and pulled Douglas up: "Snoopy, did you feel warm and comfortable just now?"
Doug shook his head, but his neck creaked from the shaking: "No."
"I feel like my body has been blessed and cleansed by God. I'm full of energy and can't wait to go to the gym and dunk like crazy."
Westbrook became more and more excited as he spoke, and then he started running... Doug could clearly feel that his speed was faster than before.
Westbrook became more and more excited as he ran, with all kinds of changes of direction, all kinds of sprints, and all kinds of jumps!
Five minutes later, he ran over, his face full of excitement: "Hey, Snoopy, see? I'm faster and stronger than before. I won't be bullied by Collison anymore. I just want to call that damn bastard to the court and let him see my strength."
"Over a year of hard training has finally paid off. Bobby was right. As long as we practice hard every day, we will definitely see a qualitative change!"
Russell Westbrook is confident and happy.
Doug wanted to smile to express his congratulations, but he found that even his smile became extremely stiff.
What is going on?
Why did Russell's physical fitness upgrade comprehensively, but I turned into a half-human, half-steel robot?