Chapter 4: The Dunk That Broke the Internet
The night was dark.
But the basketball world was on fire.
A video spread across the internet like a raging wildfire.
Adrian Cross.
Within hours, clips of his streetball game flooded every sports platform.
A spinning dunk.
A full-circle 360 finish.
A free-throw line takeoff.
Every move looked unreal.
But the final moment of the video completely shattered the internet.
Adrian soaring from the free-throw line…
Hammering the ball through the rim…
And shattering the backboard.
The moment the video ended, comment sections everywhere exploded.
Major sports media outlets quickly replaced their front-page stories with a new headline:
"Unknown Basketball Phenomenon Shatters Backboard in Street Game — NBA-Level Talent?"
Website traffic skyrocketed.
Editors rushed back to their offices even in the middle of the night.
Servers struggled to keep up with the sudden surge of viewers.
On basketball forums, discussion threads multiplied at an insane rate.
One post quickly rose to the top:
"Who the hell is Adrian Cross? His strength is comparable to Shaquille O'Neal!"
The thread had already passed fivethousandreplies in ten minutes.
New posts continued flooding in.
Sports streaming platforms pushed the video aggressively on their homepages.
Live viewer counts jumped from a few hundred to hundredsofthousands.
On social media, the hashtag #AdrianCrossBackboardBreak quickly shot to the top of trending charts.
Within just two hours, the video surpassed 500millionviews.
One sports blogger uploaded a highlight edit with the background song TillICollapse.
The likes counter increased by hundreds every second.
The comment section was pure chaos.
"This has to be CGI… right?"
"I watched it eight times already. That strength is ridiculous!"
"I'm a college player and my coach just sent this video to our team chat. That's NBA-level athleticism!"
"He looks like a 7-footer but moves faster than guards!"
"Could he make the NBA?"
"At minimum he could dominate the G League!"
"The way he flew from the free-throw line… I'm speechless."
Across the basketball world, analysts and former players began sharing the video.
One commentator posted late at night:
"Basketball needs talents like this. I hope this kid gets a real opportunity."
The attached photo showed Adrian frozen in mid-air, rising above the rim.
Replies from former players and analysts quickly followed.
Everyone had the same reaction.
Incredible.
In a single night, the basketball community learned one name.
Adrian Cross.
And the person at the center of it all?
He was fast asleep.
It wasn't until 11AMthenextmorning that Adrian's phone suddenly began vibrating wildly on his bedside table.
The screen lit up.
Taylor Brooks 🏀
Adrian answered the video call with his eyes still closed.
The moment the call connected, Taylor's face filled the screen.
Her bright smile immediately turned into shock.
"Wait—are you still sleeping?"
She tilted the camera upward dramatically.
"It's almost noon! NBA players already finished their morning workouts!"
Adrian groaned and buried his face in the pillow.
"If you called just to lecture me, hang up."
Taylor leaned closer to the camera.
"Do you realize you're trending everywhere right now?"
"The video from last night is exploding online!"
Adrian slowly opened his eyes and grabbed his phone.
He checked his messages.
Dozens of notifications flooded his screen.
Group chats.
Mentions.
Video links.
Even the convenience store owner downstairs had sent him a message.
"Kid, you're on the news!"
Adrian opened a basketball forum.
His picture dominated the front page.
"Hidden Basketball Prodigy: Adrian Cross"
Thousands of comments were arguing about the same question.
Could he make the NBA?
Adrian scrolled through the posts quietly.
Then he exhaled in relief.
No one mentioned the ChicagoCombine yet.
It seemed Taylor and MalikaGrant hadn't revealed that information.
If the internet discovered he was heading to the combine soon…
Things would get even crazier.
"See?" Taylor said with a playful grin.
"Basketball fans everywhere are looking for you."
She leaned her chin on her hand.
"By the way… are you really going to the NBADraftCombine in Chicago?"
"Yes," Adrian replied calmly.
"I fly to the U.S. the day after tomorrow."
He sat up in bed as sunlight filtered through the curtains.
"Then you definitely need an agent," Taylor said seriously.
"I know someone who could help—"
"No."
Adrian answered almost instantly.
Taylor blinked in surprise.
"That fast?"
"I have my own plans," Adrian said firmly.
He knew one thing very clearly.
A great agent could multiply a player's value.
A bad one could destroy a career.
Right now, no agencies had contacted him yet.
But Adrian was confident.
Once he showed his true abilities at the combine…
The top agents would come looking for him.
Taylor chuckled softly.
"Well, at least you've thought about it."
"Oh right—Malika asked if you want help booking a training gym in Chicago."
"No need," Adrian said while getting out of bed.
"I already arranged everything."
"You're hanging up already?" Taylor complained.
"I spent an hour doing my makeup for this call!"
"I need a shower."
"Hmph!"
After a few playful exchanges, the call ended.
Adrian walked over and pulled open the curtains.
Sunlight flooded the small apartment.
Standing in the warm light, Adrian smiled.
Chicago.
The Chicago Combine.
The gateway to the NationalBasketballAssociation.
He clenched his fist.
His knuckles cracked softly.
For the first time since arriving in this world…
Adrian felt a spark of excitement.
The real stage of basketball…
was waiting.