Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise as he turned to the side of their bleachers.

Lina inserted herself into the middle of their circle and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a satisfied gracing her lips.

"You guys are way too optimistic," she said. "It's not even a lot."

Continue your saga on empire

"Still," Kun said, scratching his head since he was still confused. "Don't you think it's strange that there are at least 50 people from our school in here? Look, even some of our classmates are watching!"

"Kun's right," Yuze said, nervously tapping his foot on the ground. "They don't even come to our practice games at school. Why did they travel here on their free time?"

Jinping smiled as he gazed at the bleachers.

"That girl came because of me," he said, pointing to where Eva was.

The boys glanced at where Jinping was pointing before proceeding to tease him.

"Eyy," Zeren said, nudging his shoulder. "So, that was the girlfriend you were talking about? She's pretty."

Jinping shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. Then, he waved where Eva was sitting, and surprisingly, the pretty girl waved back.

Jinping smirked as the others exclaimed in amazement.

"I can't believe you're dating someone like her," Kun shook his head.

However, as she shouted a name from her seat, Jinping's smile quickly fell.

"Kai, good luck!" she exclaimed.

The Shizi Dogs now looked at Kai, wondering what their relationship was. Kai merely nodded toward her direction before focusing his attention on the audience members on their side.

Lina tilted her head to the side as she looked at Eva.

"She must be a first-year like Kai, huh?" she muttered, also finding her pretty.

Meanwhile, Zeren went next to Jinping and wrapped an arm around his shoulder before patting him in a comforting manner.

"I know how you feel," he assured.

Meanwhile, Jet scrutinized the audience.

"Most of them are wearing the merch for the football team," he mentioned.

Kun looked back at the audience and frowned. "You're right. That's what makes it more strange. Football frenzies are only crazy about the Shizi Snakes and Justin Liang, isn't that right, Yuze?" he asked, nudging his tall best friend's shoulder.

Yuze shook his head at the mention of Justin Liang.

"It doesn't matter," Yuze said, looking at the ground. "This just means that we have to work even harder since more people are watching us. If we show good results for this game, then we can have a bigger audience next time."

Zeren suddenly felt excited with the thought of having a larger audience.

Meanwhile, Jet scratched the back of his head.

"That would be very difficult to achieve, though," he said, now turning to the Xing Stars.

Kai, whose gaze was focused on the four Angs and their honorary member Shang, snapped his gaze to the Xing Stars once Jet spoke.

"Look at them," Jet sighed. "They're like training machines."

Yuze crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed.

Indeed, the Xing Stars were training like they were newly-oiled machines. They moved in one direction, and they followed their coach's and their captains' orders really well. Moreover, it seemed like all of them were on the same wavelength, which made them one of the most coordinated teams in the entire city.

"It's honestly insane," Kun added. "They even have the same haircuts! They look like they've been enlisted in the military or something like that."

Zeren looked back and forth from the Shizi Stars and Yuze. Then, he pointed at their captain.

"Hey," he said. "You actually suit their team really well. All of you have a clean, buzzed haircut."

Yuze clicked his tongue and pushed Zeren's hand away.

"This is another reason for us to work harder too. The Xing Stars might not be the top school in the South, but they're still monsters on the court. They were the only team last year to ever give the Feng Foxes a hard time."

"Moreover, the guy over there," Yuze subtly pointed, making his teammates focus their gaze on the tall, tan-skinned player who resembled a military general, "Zedong is their team captain this year. He has been known for his leadership ever since he was a first-year, and now that he's in his third year, he's leading the team."

Kun shivered as Zedong glanced at them sharply. He quickly tapped his teammates to get them to stop looking at the Xing Stars.

"I got scared for a moment," he whispered.

"He's definitely a player to look out for. He's on the same skill level as their starting players, but he leads them like a platoon. He was even named after the famous Mao Zedong. His parents must have felt his leadership even from the womb."

Yuze clicked his tongue and slapped the back of Kun's head.

"Stop scaring them. Just do your best and don't make any stupid decisions. We have never played with them before, so take this chance to learn from them, too," he said.

The team nodded, now stretching as they waited for the game to commence.

Meanwhile, Kai remained still and kept his gaze on the Xing Stars.

Kai's eyebrows furrowed as he watched them train. He had already seen them train when he accompanied Lina home, and he had seen how vigorous and orderly their training was.

If Yuze was right and the Xing Stars really did give the Feng Foxes a hard time last year, then Kai realized that they must be facing a much stronger team than they had anticipated.

Just then, their captain, Zedong, met eyes with Kai. Zedong's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Kai. However, even then, Kai didn't look away.

"Interesting," Kai muttered.

Just then, Yuze pulled him to the side, causing their eye contact to break.

"Stop staring at them," Yuze reprimanded.

Kai pursed his lips and nodded.

Yuze sighed before speaking.

"Alright," he said. "Jinping seems to be having a hard time calming himself down."

Kai glanced from behind Yuze, where Jinping was sitting, and saw him with a red face and clenched fists. He constantly glanced at where Eva was sitting, but the pretty girl seemed to be ignoring him.

Kai shook his head in amusement. "I bet he's nervous to play in front of Eva."

"I can see that," Yuze muttered.

"Which is why," he started off, pausing before breaking the news to Kai.

Kai waited intently for his next statement.

"You're going to be playing on the first set as the Power Forward."