Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"I—is this real?"

The newbies from Juren Champions, who joined their captain to watch the game, couldn't believe their eyes.

Chaoxing was also in a daze. He still hadn't glanced at the scoreboard. However, it was there—obvious. He finally looked at the score, feeling like something had blocked his throat.

"Ten points," he muttered. "It's a ten-point gap?"

The crowd was also in disbelief.

"Is the world ending? How can this unknown school beat the Longyu Dragons?"

"The Longyu Dragons were predicted to enter the top five this year, too!'

"Wah, that guy is amazing. How many points did he score? 40?" Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire

"More than that! He's really amazing."

Nina and Rolan, despite rooting for the Shizi Dogs, also couldn't believe their eyes.

"What happened during their training camp?" Nina muttered.

"I expected them to have a chance," Rolan added with wide eyes. "However, I didn't expect them to beat the Dragons with a ten-point gap."

"What are we going to do? How are the Shizi Dogs so good?"

Kai went to their teammates on the bench, who were already celebrating.

Yuze couldn't hide his smile. He gave each player a high-five, even going as far as hugging Renren.

Renren was surprised at first, but he accepted it and also wrapped one arm around Yuze.

"Don't leave me out of this!" Kun exclaimed, joining their circle.

Meanwhile, Jet and Andy held hands and pranced around. However, when they realized they were holding each other, they quickly recoiled out of disgust.

Lina couldn't contain her excitement. Her first instinct was to hug Kai. The boy's eyes widened, but he didn't complain. He patted her back with a wide smile.

"You were awesome," she said, showing him two thumbs up.

Coach Muchen joined in on their conversation, giving Kai a shoulder squeeze.

"Goodness, young man," he said. "You scored nearly half of the points."

Kai continued to smile as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. It wasn't an easy game—it even made him sweat. However, he still wasn't tired. In fact, Kai already wanted to play another game. That was how excited he was.

As the Shizi Dogs continued to celebrate, Kai felt a figure loom beside him.

Their conversation naturally stopped when he saw Calvin standing beside him. The others also turned to the two with curiosity.

Calvin stood there for a while, not saying anything before he offered his hand to Kai.

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise, causing Calvin to chuckle. "Just take it," he said.

Kai shook his head in amusement and took his hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"I lost," Calvin admitted.

Kai felt his heart race in excitement.

He really did it.

One member of the Elite Five has been beaten.

"Did you, really?" Kai asked, not wanting to boast in front of the formidable player. "I think you gained more from this game than what you've lost."

Calvin didn't refute his statement. Instead, he squeezed Kai's hand harder. It didn't hurt. Instead, it felt like an act of acknowledgment—maybe even of gratitude.

"Calvin!" Guri exclaimed with dried tears and a red nose.

Kai covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing.

Calvin smiled and turned to Kai. "Well, we're going," he said. "Coach Hope is treating us."

Kai nodded and watched as Calvin left to go to his team.

From afar, he could see their petite coach glaring at Coach Muchen.

Muchen looked around to see if she was looking at anyone else. However, he couldn't be mistaken. She was definitely looking at him.

He pointed to himself, causing Hope to roll her eyes.

Muchen turned to Shang, appearing confused.

"What did I do?" he muttered.

"Exist," Shang confidently answered, earning him a slap on the back of the head.

Calvin joined his team, now with a genuine smile. Fenhua stood beside him and tried to place one arm around his shoulder. However, it didn't quite work due to their height difference.

Calvin couldn't help but laugh, causing Fenhua to click his tongue and sulk.

"I hate you," Fenhua muttered.

"You don't mean that," Calvin said. "If you did, then you wouldn't have gotten mad at me earlier."

Fenhua couldn't resist the smile that appeared on his face. After a while, he placed his hand on his shoulder instead.

"You did a good job," he said.

Calvin pursed his lips and nodded. "Thanks," he muttered. "And I'm sorry."

"What for?" Fenhua asked.

"For making you feel like you couldn't be trusted. I could have asked for help sooner, but I was afraid."

"I get it," Fenhua said, removing his hand from his shoulder. "However, I think you know now."

Calvin nodded with a small smile.

With that, the two silently walked with their teammates, leaving the court where they tasted such great defeat.

However, someone's sniffles distracted them. The two formidable players turned around and saw the younger player, Guri, still crying his eyes out.

"Goodness," Fenhua said, covering his eyes. "I don't want to see that."

Calvin chuckled and pulled Guri closer to them. "Why are you crying?"

Guri's lips trembled.

"We lost!" he exclaimed. "And it's all because of me. If I would have been able to stop Kai, then we would have won."

Fenhua clicked his tongue. "You're quite brave to think that. If Calvin wasn't even able to stop him, what makes you think that you could?"

Guri's sniffs significantly lessened.

"What are we going to do now, then?"

"Nothing," Calvin said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "We lost. It is what it is."

"However, it's not the end for us. This is just the group phase. We can win the other matches, and we're still guaranteed to make it to the top four of our cluster."

Fenhua nodded in agreement. "Seeing the match list, I think we would be able to do just that."

"But what about Kai?" Guri asked. "I need to be better than him in the next game!"

Calvin chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't think you should see him as your rival now."

"Why not?" Guri asked with a small frown.

"The only people who could stop him are those remaining from the Elite Five."

"Only them—the other four."