Chapter 160: Chapter 105: First Piece of Equipment

[Task: First Championship - Complete] (Chapter 57) 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[Calculating Reward...]

[Assessing Championship Tier...]

Li Wei was filled with anticipation.

’I’ve just won a championship in the highest-level competition available to a high school student. I wonder if this will be enough to satisfy the system. Maybe it’ll give me some equipment or something.’

However, the on-site host from the NBC Television Network gave Li Wei no time to space out. The moment he and his teammates finished lifting the trophy and posing for the media’s initial storm of photos, she eagerly shoved a microphone in his face.

"King," she said, using his nickname directly. "Your individual performance in today’s game was absolutely outstanding."

"Thank you," Li Wei replied tactfully. "I need to thank our sponsors and supporters: 247Sports, ESPN, the NBC Television Network, Adidas, Gatorade... Without all of you, this great game wouldn’t have been possible."

The host watched Li Wei rattle off the names like he was reading a menu, opening her mouth as if to interrupt him.

But these were the media and the sponsors—the ones paying the bills. Interrupting him would be a bad look. So, she had to wait until Li Wei had thanked everyone he possibly could, from the television networks to the sponsors, from the audience to his uncle and Lily. Only then did she hurry to ask her question.

"Thank you to everyone you just mentioned," she said, summarizing, before handing the microphone back to Li Wei. "But I’m personally very curious. The Eastern Conference All-Stars played very differently in the first three quarters compared to the final quarter. Was that planned in advance?"

"Yes," Li Wei said. "It was a pre-arranged strategy."

"Your individual skill is undeniable," the host asked next. "Your evasive running, your leaps, your passing... But weren’t you worried that the Western Conference All-Stars would build up such a large lead in the first three quarters that you wouldn’t be able to make a comeback?"

"I trust my teammates, and I trust myself," Li Wei said after a moment’s thought. "That’s what trust is. We complement each other."

"And as you can see," he shrugged, "we won. It’s as simple as that."

After the lengthy post-game interview concluded, Li Wei, carrying the Game MVP trophy in his left hand and the Training Camp MVP trophy in his right, was escorted by security guards through a crowd of media and fans even more frenzied than before the game. He finally made it back to the locker room.

SLAM!

As the locker room door shut, half of the outside noise was instantly cut off.

"King! King! King!"

Inside the locker room, his teammates, still in their uniforms, were wildly spraying champagne that someone had managed to acquire. Seeing Li Wei enter, a running back even dumped a whole bucket of ice water right on his head.

"You little punk," Li Wei said, snatching a bottle of champagne and starting to spray it everywhere. "Where do you think you’re going!"

After the young men had enjoyed a few minutes of celebration, a team of officials came in and had them line up for a doping test.

Li Wei knew the deal. ’The official anti-doping agencies for these events have been in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies for ages. They only test for a few specific substances, and the drugs these top athletes are using are never on the list.’

Ten minutes later, the players from the Eastern Conference All-Stars emerged from the sample collection room, chatting and laughing. Although Li Wei knew that none of them were clean (except for himself, who was genuinely all-natural), it seemed this had become an unspoken rule in the sports world of the United States of America—a formality just to fool the uninformed public and international organizations.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Li Wei put on a black hoodie provided by Adidas. Surrounded by security, he headed for the press conference hall. Along the way, someone from the event’s PR team was constantly drilling him on the dos and don’ts of the interview and the key points he had to mention.

By the time he arrived at the press conference hall, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. The flashes from the forest of cameras lit up the stage as bright as day.

The moment Li Wei pushed the door open, the sound of camera shutters became a continuous roar, almost drowning out the reporters’ questions.

"Li Wei! ESPN here! What are your thoughts on Kurt Warner calling you ’a grizzly bear with the explosive power of Bolt’ during the game?"

"Li Wei! Yahoo Sports! Does that final leap of yours mean you already possess physical abilities that surpass the NCAA level?"

"Li Wei! Over here! Rumor has it that NFL scouts are watching you closely. Would you consider skipping college and going straight to the pros?"

Facing this bombardment of questions, Li Wei sat down in front of the microphone, adjusted his position, and paused for a moment.

"One at a time," he said, pointing to the ESPN reporter. "Regarding Mr. Warner’s comment, I’m honored. I just think that if you have to compare me to an animal, I’d like to think I look a little more agile than a grizzly bear."

The audience roared with laughter.

"As for the professional league," Li Wei’s gaze swept across the room. He recalled his non-disclosure agreement with John Mara and decided to dodge the question. "Right now, I just want to enjoy this victory. As for where I’m headed next, I haven’t really thought about it yet."

"So that means you won’t be choosing your university during the hat ceremony?" another reporter shouted, but Li Wei deliberately ignored him.

The press conference lasted a full forty minutes, until the press officer had to forcibly cut off the reporters who still had their hands raised.

Leaving the press hall, Li Wei barely had a moment to catch his breath before he was pulled into a temporary studio next door by an Adidas film crew.

"It’s simple, Li Wei," said the director, a heavy-set man with a large beard, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "You just need to hold the trophy, look at the camera, and say our slogan. We need to shoot a short promotional video as quickly as possible."