Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Hey, do you think Grace likes shorter guys?" Ailun asked, pestering Max as they trained.

Max sighed as he continued with his reps.

"Why don't you ask her?" he deadpanned.

During the morning, Coach Guanyu looked stricter than usual, so the guys thought that they were going to have a new teammate.

However, it seemed like they had a new assistant manager instead—a first-year student named Grace.

Ailun instantly took a liking to her. However, she was on the taller side, even a little bit taller than Ailun, which made him doubt his charisma.

"Hey, I can't do that. We just met," he said, shyly scratching the back of his neck.

"Then, you should train harder," Max said. "Maybe then, you could grow taller."

Ailun's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Wait, is that really possible?"

Meanwhile, in Shizi High, the Dogs also started gathering after their class.

Although they had been seeing each other nearly every day, it still felt like an official start to their year.

"Yuze! I've missed you," Jet exclaimed as soon as he saw the tall captain.

Yuze rolled his eyes but patted Jet's back nonetheless.

"We met the other day," he deadpanned.

"It doesn't matter!" Jet exclaimed.

"Kun has been pestering me around all morning, telling me that you've transferred to a new team."
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Yuze smirked as Jet continued rambling.

"But how could that be? You love the team more than anyone else! You wouldn't leave us on your very last year."

Yuze shook his head in amusement.

"Yeah," he muttered.

Just then, Lina arrived at the court, smiling after she had handed out all of the fliers she had printed.

"Well, you're in a good mood," Shang remarked, peeling some carrots and munching on them like a bunny.

Lina weirdly looked at him, but Shang merely smiled.

"These are the carrots I grew by myself. Do you want some?"

Lina stepped back. "I'm fine," she muttered.

"What's gotten you so happy?" Jet asked, joining their conversation.

"A lot of boys are interested in joining our team!" she exclaimed. "We're going to hold a try-out this Wednesday."

"Hey, that's great!" Shang exclaimed. "You sure need more players since Gongwen already transferred to another city."

Lina let out a deep breath. "You're right," she said. "Now, we're down to nine players. That's not even enough for a practice game among the team."

"Well, I do hope that there are decent players in the people you've scouted," Yuze said.

"Hmm," Lina said with a wide smile. "It's time we start taking our team composition more seriously!"

Just then, the door busted open, and Jinping came in with loud steps.

That caught all of their attention. It seemed like rage and disappointment emanated in his every movement.

"There's nothing to smile about!" he exclaimed.

Shang's eyebrows raised in surprise while still chewing on his carrot.

"What's gotten his briefs in a twist?" he asked, causing Jinping to glare at him.

"This is a serious matter," Jinping deadpanned.

Yuze clicked his tongue and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What is it?" he asked.

Jinping closed his eyes before revealing what he knew.

"Kai didn't come to class this day," he said, making everybody's eyes widen.

"Wait...what?" Lina asked in disbelief.

Jinping sighed and raked his fingers through his hair.

"Bao," he called.

The chubby boy who was sitting with the second-string team trudged to where they were and fiddled with his fingers.

Lina, knowing that Kai was great friends with Bao, asked him softly.

"What happened to Kai?" she asked.

Bao continued playing with his fingers as he answered.

"Well, he didn't come to class today," he timidly said. "He had never missed a day of class last year, so I know that something strange has happened."

"He's been late plenty of times, though," he added. "But even then, he also informed me when he was running late. However, I didn't get an update from him today. It almost seemed like he disappeared from the face of the earth."

"Or," Jinping chimed. "He actually transferred to a new school. That's the only plausible answer."

Lina froze, and Yuze, too, found himself speechless.

Lina trusted Kai very much, so she wasn't too nervous about what school he was going to choose.

In her mind, Kai had already chosen the Shizi Dogs. He had never shown any actions that would prove otherwise.

"Is that really true?" Lina muttered, her voice breaking in the end.

Somehow, it felt like her heart was breaking in two.

Yuze, too, looked down at the ground and let out a deep breath.

"We're back to square one," he muttered.

He knew that the Shizi Dogs hit a jackpot with their rookies this year. Moreover, his past teammates had also significantly improved, which heightened their chances of victory.

However, even then, he couldn't deny that Kai played an integral part in that change.

Yuze could even feel something shift with Lina ever since Kai had arrived, so with his departure, Yuze was sure that they were going to lose a lot of things.

"That bastard," Jinping muttered, unable to stop himself from cursing him out.

"I swear, I'll beat him up when I see him again."

Jet placed his hand on Jinping's shoulder, appearing like he was on the verge of tears.

"Don't do that," he said. "We don't need another player gone if you get caught fighting."

Jinping clicked his tongue, feeling at a loss.

"I told him not to leave," he whispered, suddenly feeling all motivation leave his body.

The Shizi Dogs stood there for a moment, none of them bothering to break the silence.

Then, some light shone on them, causing them to focus their attention to the door,

The door opened, casting light upon the players.

Then, a tall player entered inside, his hair messy and his jersey top inverted.

He sniffed and coughed loudly, reaching out to pat his back to get the phlegm out of his throat.

Kai, sounding like he had gone through three hurricanes, cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Am I late?"