Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"We're done for," Jinping said, his eyes focused on the court.

They watched as the eight players played among themselves.

However, it didn't even look like a game.

It just looked like they were little kids who decided to play ball.

"What is that guy doing?" Shang asked. "It looks like he's humping the ball."

Jet clicked his tongue. "I think he's trying to dribble it under his legs, but he just looks ridiculous."

"And what about that guy?" Jinping asked, nodding in his direction. "He keeps on scratching his crotch! It seems like he's more interested in another type of ball."

Lina glared at Jinping. "You're really dirty."

"Dylan even plays better than them," Kun remarked. "Which already says a lot since Dylan's still not part of the first-string team."

"I don't think he minds, though," Shang remarked. "Although he is criticizing this new player."
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"What do you think, Kai?" Shang asked.

Kai pursed his lips and continued watching their game.

Lina, who was right by his side, was also silent all throughout.

"I don't think it's looking good for us," Kai said.

"It feels like most of them aren't passionate about basketball at all. It would be different if it seemed like they were putting in effort, but I could tell that they didn't prepare well for this," he continued.

"It's almost as if they tried out for the team not to play basketball but for other reasons—maybe because of Lina or because of the recognition that we've started getting after the Winter Cup."

"We don't even get much attention," Jet muttered. "What are these boys even doing?"

Yuze sighed and massaged his temples as soon as the game was finished.

12-14.

The winning team cheered. However, for the original players, it didn't feel like a moment for celebration.

They had played for a total of twenty minutes, but they didn't even manage to score above twenty.

Yuze walked back to the court to speak once more, disappointment evident in his stance.

"The team will deliberate, and we will post the names of those who have made it on the bulletin board," he half-heartedly said to the group of boys.

The applicants nodded, and they finally went on their way.

As soon as they were gone, Yuze went to the bench and hid in his arms.

The other boys looked at him with amusement.

"Yuze's really showing his cute side these days," Jet chimed. "I like it!"

Yuze lifted his head and glared at Jet.

"I bet you won't like it if we end up getting eliminated first during the Interhigh Preliminaries," he deadpanned.

Jet pursed his lips.

"One flaw we had in the Winter Cup is that we lack players for rotation," Lina said.

Kun nodded in agreement. "I'm also not at par with the current starting players, so we need someone with better skills than me."

"Hey, don't say that," Jet said. "Although, I feel the same."

"The boys a while ago didn't appear better than I did," Kun continued. "I'm afraid that we'd just have more benchwarmers at the end of the day."

Yuze hummed, agreeing with their sentiments.

"I only said that we would be deliberating for formal purposes. I really don't plan on recruiting any of them," he said.

Lina clicked her tongue. "As much as we really need more players, I can't help but agree with what Yuze said."

"So, are we just going to stick with this current line-up?" Jinping asked.

Lina sighed and raked her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know," she muttered.

"Let's rest for now and talk about it tomorrow."

The players nodded, standing from the bench to go to their respective homes.

Kai went to Lina and nudged her shoulder.

Although she had acted as usual during the training, Kai could see that she had a lot on her mind.

It also seemed like she was still thinking about Zeren, whom she hadn't had a chance to talk with after he transferred to Feng Arts High.

"How are you going to get home?" Kai asked, wanting to walk her home.

"Oh, my dad is picking me up," she softly smiled. "Do you want to come say hi to him?"

Kai scratched the back of his neck before shaking his head.

"I'm good," he said. "I think your dad doesn't want me to say hi either," he muttered, making Lina unable to hear him.

"Well, there he is," Lina said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kai waved his hand goodbye. "See you!"

With that, Kai was left all alone.

He stood outside of the school gates for a moment, suddenly craving for some ice cream.

He reached through his pocket and saw that he still had some spare allowance, so he decided to go to a nearby convenience store to satisfy his craving.

Kai went to the very back and looked through the selection of ice cream before picking out the strawberry-flavored one in the shape of a bunny.

He picked it up and went to the counter to pay for it. The small guy manning the counter looked at the ice cream and then at Kai before shaking his head.

The contrast between the ice cream and his appearance was very jarring.

Kai grabbed the ice cream and sat outside of the store, where he looked around and enjoyed the scenery.

He tried coming up with ways for the Shizi Dogs to recruit new players, but nothing came to his mind.

If only a player who had a great foundation, especially at shooting, appeared right before his eyes, then he would be very thankful.

Just then, he heard chaos from inside the convenience store.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to shoot your trash in the bin! It creates a mess!" the small guy from the counter screamed.

Kai frowned and peeked his head inside.

He couldn't see the perpetrator, but he could see something flowing through the air—a chip bag that had been tied.

Then, the chip bag landed inside the full bin, in the very middle, causing some of the trash to be flicked outside.

"See! I told you it would make a mess!" the worker screamed once more.

"Hey, come back here!"

Just then, someone familiar passed through Kai's vision, holding an opened bag of chips as he ran out of the convenience store and to the street.

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise as he continued watching the guy from afar.

"Potato boy?"