Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Haobin smirked as he watched the video on his phone.

It wasn't taken too well. In fact, it was shaky and didn't even show Kai fighting against the perpetrators.

Moreover, he couldn't really turn on the sound because it would show that Roy and his friends were the real perpetrators in the situation.

Nonetheless, it seemed like Coach Jin didn't seem to be fond of Kai, which was already enough to make Haobin elated.

He wasn't sure when he started hating Kai, but after finding out that he excelled in his studies as well as in basketball, he felt pretty bitter.

It was too good to be true!

How could he be smart and athletic while still maintaining an easygoing personality?

There was no way.

With that, he walked away from school with a small smile, knowing that he just took away one of those aspects from Kai Guo—the one aspect that he seemed to have loved the most.

***

Kai clicked his tongue as soon as the video was finished.

Who could have been the person behind it?

"Kai Guo," Coach Jin started off.

Lina's eyes widened as she quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"Roy and his friends were harassing me," she said, causing the team to turn to her with wide eyes.

"They did?" Zeren asked with wide eyes. Then, he turned to Kai. "Why didn't you beat their faces to the ground?"

Lina shook her head. "The video is muted for a reason. They were constantly throwing hurtful words at me and my disability," she continued, not minding oversharing if it meant getting to protect Kai.

Coach Jin pursed his lips.

"This is still a violation of the student handbook," he said.

Yuze let out a deep sigh. "The video shows that Kai didn't do anything against Roy and his friends."

"Yeah," Kun nodded in agreement. "He's only dodging their attacks—which looks very cool, by the way," he said, even fist-bumping with Kai to show his appreciation.

Kai shook his head but reciprocated the fist bump nonetheless.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Coach Jin's frown continued to deepen.

He didn't think that the situation would progress as such.

Aside from him, Kai was also surprised.

His teammates were actually defending him!

"I don't know who sent this to you, Coach," Lina continued. "However, it seems like it was sent to target Kai when he didn't do anything wrong."

"I can vouch for what had happened because I was personally there," Lina said.

"Yeah, Kai didn't do anything wrong!"

"He was just defending Lina!"

"We can't afford to lose Kai in the upcoming games!"

Kai looked at his members and felt his heart swell with happiness. He knew that he was in an unfavorable situation. However, hearing his teammates regard him as a key player of the team made him feel like he had really improved.

Coach Jin pursed his lips, obviously not expecting the situation.

He let out a deep sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose.

He then bit his lip to prevent himself from saying any curse words.

"Just—just get back to practice," he sighed dejectedly, causing the team to rejoice.

Lina sighed in relief and went to where Kai was.

Kai smiled at her in gratitude.

"Thanks for defending me," Kai said.

Lina shook her head. "It's only expected. You're a part of the team. We really can't afford to lose you."

Yuze also joined their conversation and patted Kai's back.

"You did a good job," he said.

The others also reassured him that he didn't do anything wrong as they proceeded with their drills.

What surprised Kai was that Jinping even went up to him.

"Aren't you an expert at fighting?" he asked.

Kai looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"You shouldn't have been caught if that was the case," Jinping sighed.

Kai was confused as to why Jinping was scolding him.

However, with his next words, he realized that Jinping wasn't as bad as he seemed.

"What would we do if you couldn't play in the next game?"

***

"I can't believe we're here on a school day," Yani said, running her fingers through her hair as she waited for their turn to enter the court.

The cheerleading team once again decided to watch the game between the Shizi Dogs and the Xing Stars—one that would determine who would play against the Feng Foxes in the semi-finals.

"You were the one who asked us to come with you," Suzy deadpanned.

Yani clicked her tongue. "Only because the Xing Stars are playing!" she exclaimed.

Suzy shook her head in amusement.

Just then, she saw a familiar person pass through her peripheral vision, so she quickly hid behind Yani.

"Wait, what?" Yani asked, confused.

However, Suzy continued hiding behind her until the familiar man was gone.

"What is he doing here again?" she muttered.

Meanwhile, Bao, Alen, and Mingze, who had formed a bond with each other, were already in their seats, munching on some popcorn as they waited for the game to commence.

"Are the Yin Yang Knights going to play today?" Bao asked.

Alen shook his head. "No, they're already in the semi-finals. The top two teams in the loser bracket will have a game after this one."

"Hmm, it's strange then," Bao said. "We have more people than usual."

Indeed, the court was nearly a full house, with two whole bleachers being dedicated to the Shizi Dogs.

Alen looked around and shook his head.

"When Kai said he wanted to change the team, I didn't think he would be able to do it," he muttered.

"Now, I can't believe I'm seeing it happen in real-time."

Sir Muchen scratched the back of his head as Sir Dao sat beside him once again.

Sir Muchen wore the team's official color, which was pink, to show his support for them. Meanwhile, Sir Dao wore orange, making him stand out from the crowd.

"I thought you didn't want to come to these games anymore," Muchen muttered.

However, the old man was still able to hear him.

Sir Dao clicked his tongue. "Of course, I need to be here! It's Coach Jin's first game with the team."

Muchen pursed his lips and didn't bother responding.

Just then, the crowd erupted into loud cheers, causing all of them to focus their attention on the court.

The two teams made their way to their respective benches, their presence commanding everybody's attention.

Zedong kept his gaze straight, not even bothering to look at the Shizi Dogs.

Yuze did the same, and it seemed like the battle of nerves between the two teams had already started.

Kai stood behind Yuze, his eyebrows furrowed as he prepared himself for the game.

Sir Dao covered his ears as the students around him screamed for the Shizi Dogs.

However, as his eyes focused on Kai, he couldn't help but frown.

"Those socks," he muttered.

They were sports socks that had a subtle tie-dye print on the edges. They looked very familiar, which made him feel strange.

"Didn't I buy those for my daughter?"