Chapter 84: Chapter 73: America’s #1, King

As expected, Li Wei became the number one prospect at 247Sports’ New York Station and secured his 5-star player certification. It was only natural.

In fact, his ranking was far higher than that of a typical 5-star player.

「Monday. Franklin High School cafeteria.」

"You’re the fucking man! Dude!" Travis’s booming voice sounded like he wanted the entire Franklin K. Rein High School to hear. "You’re the number one high school player in the country now! Number one in the whole country!"

"Keep your voice down, Travis. The cafeteria’s a public place," Li Wei said, though he had no intention of actually making Travis shut up. "Besides, it’s just a combined ranking from a few organizations. It’s nothing to take too seriously."

"Nothing to take seriously?" Travis snorted like a bull. "Dammit, dude, I’m not trying to be prejudiced, but you guys from Asia are all too damn humble."

"If I were you, I’d print out this screenshot and slap it on a t-shirt," he said. "Dammit, this is number one in the whole country!"

Since his change of topic was so abrupt and oddly specific, Li Wei suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Fuck, Travis," Li Wei said. "If you dare wear a shirt like that, I swear I’ll make your ass attack the sole of my shoe."

"Speaking of which," he continued, "has anyone seen Coach Miller? I haven’t seen him all morning."

Before anyone could answer, a blast of upbeat East Coast rap music filled the air.

Coach Miller strutted in, hoisting a boombox on his shoulder. Incredibly, he was wearing a jacket with Li Wei’s face printed on it, followed by a few players from the B-team.

All eyes in the cafeteria were on them. Li Wei, meanwhile, was thinking about how to slip away unnoticed.

’Holy shit, this is so embarrassing.’

However, the moment he stood up, Travis and Craig grabbed his legs. They hoisted him up, and working together, propped Li Wei onto their shoulders.

"Li Wei!" Coach Miller shouted. "King! King! King!"

Gradually, others in the cafeteria started cheering along. Some of the football players even jumped onto the tables, stomping their feet and clapping wildly.

It took Li Wei quite some time to escape the cafeteria.

Even though he’d been enrolled for a month, he still hadn’t gotten used to life at an American high school. These people were terrifyingly extroverted, which made Li Wei feel a bit uncomfortable.

He was fine with a little bit of showing off, just enough to make a point. Anything more grandiose just felt embarrassing.

Today’s "surprise" from Coach Miller and the football team had clearly blown past his threshold for private satisfaction, skyrocketing straight into the ’flee in a panic’ zone.

However, just as he was leaving the cafeteria, Li Wei ran head-on into the Dean of Studies of Franklin High School, knocking the man right over.

Li Wei had a good impression of the dean. It wasn’t just because the man had a kind face and a gentle demeanor; more importantly, he had taken the initiative to help Li Wei apply for a scholarship.

’Though Li Wei still hadn’t managed to remember his name.’

"Sorry, Dean," Li Wei said apologetically, pulling him up from the floor. "I didn’t do it on purpose."

"Of course, it’s understandable, Mr. Li Wei." The dean’s angry expression immediately softened when he saw who it was. "Coach Miller has always been, well... how should I put it... a very enthusiastic person."

"Yeah," Li Wei glanced back toward the cafeteria, still visibly shaken. "I guess I still need to get used to the... enthusiastic lifestyle here."

"On another note, we do have some good news for you, Mr. Li Wei," the dean said, crossing his arms. The more he looked at Li Wei, the more pleased he seemed. "The Mellon Foundation has approved your evaluation. Barring any major surprises, you will receive a scholarship of approximately 30,000 USD to cover your university tuition."

"Thank you, Dean," Li Wei said, overjoyed. "By the way, there’s something else I’d like to discuss with you. I plan on signing up for nine other AP courses next year, in addition to Calculus and Macroeconomics..."

In the United States of America, you could self-study and then take the exams for college credit. Since Li Wei had a lot of free time at home recently, he had already finished studying several other subjects that interested him.

"However, the money will be deposited into your guardian’s account in 5,000 USD installments each month for six months," the dean said. "As for taking the AP exams independently, come with me. Let’s discuss it in more detail..."

After some discussion, the dean had no objections and agreed to Li Wei’s request.

As far as Franklin High School was concerned, Li Wei was now the face of their school. The better his results, the happier they would be.

"But can you handle it all?" the dean asked as he registered Li Wei. "You have training, games, classes, and self-study, plus you have to make time for community service."

What Li Wei didn’t tell him was that he didn’t actually need to train. He could become infinitely stronger just by sleepwalking with Don Quixote at night.

’But maybe I can slip away from Don Quixote at night and go for a walk on my own? I’ve been in New York for so long and still haven’t really explored the city at night.’

Li Wei thought to himself after school that afternoon.

Ordinary handguns couldn’t even harm him anymore. Besides, the intervals between his sleepwalking sessions with Don Quixote were getting longer, often with rest periods of ten to fifteen days.