Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Dylan blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game. The people inside erupted into cheers as he announced the winner.

"With a score of 67-58, the game goes to Yuze's team!" he exclaimed.

The number of people inside the court increased as time passed by, surprising the players as they glanced at them.

"When did they increase?" Kun muttered.

"Aww, it ended so soon!"

"You should have told me that they were having a practice game!"

"Well, to be fair, I didn't expect them to agree. But it was so fun!"

Yuze and Kai turned to each other with wide smiles, elated that they had won the game.

They had also found another thing between them—their synergy.

They worked together during their previous games, but not to this extent. It was usually Kun that Yuze orchestrated plays with, but playing with Kai wasn't too bad, too.

Kai went to his fellow first-year players and offered his hand. "Nice game," he said.

Jinping merely looked at his hand before walking away. Zeren, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and even glared at Kai before walking to the bench to seek comfort from Lina.

Kai shook his head and also went to the bench.

"It's just a practice game," Lina sighed while patting Zeren's back. "Don't feel too bad about it. You went up against Yuze…and Kai."

"Why would you even mention his name?" Zeren whined. "I don't want to hear his name right now."

"Kai!" Lina exclaimed.

Zeren groaned louder, turning away from Lina. "Don't rub it in my face!"

Zeren expected Lina to comfort him, but the latter seemed awfully distant.

He focused his gaze on her once again and found her talking to none other than the man he was currently annoyed with.

"Congrats," Lina said, smiling up at him.

Zeren clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Gosh. I want to leave."

"I did a great job, right?" Kai excitedly asked.

"You did," Lina said. "I was particularly surprised by your teamwork with Yuze. Why didn't I think about using the two of you during the game with the Feng Foxes?" she muttered the last statement so Kai wasn't able to hear it.

"What did you say?" Kai asked.

"Hmm? Nothing," Lina smiled. However, she was already coming up with plans inside her head.

She was sure that the Xing Stars would be tougher to beat this time around—especially with Zedong finding out about their weakness.

Their practice sessions had been more secretive after their game, and Lina couldn't even see them practice in their open grounds anymore.

So, Lina knew that they were preparing harder than usual.

Their loss against Shizi had been a big topic in the city, and they definitely wanted to come back from it.

However, with Yuze and Kai having better teamwork than she had expected, Lina was ready to exploit it for the game just so they could face the Feng Foxes, possibly even beat them.

"By the way," Lina said, changing the topic. After opening up to Kai about her disability, the two of them had gotten closer.

However, Lina still felt bad about assuming that Kai was going to be disgusted after finding out about her prosthetic leg.

With that, she decided to take the extra step to invite him to their home, cook for him, and introduce him to his dad as a new friend.

"Yeah?" Kai asked, waiting for her words.

He looked like a cute puppy whose eyes were covered as he waited for Lina to continue speaking, making her turn to the ground with a small smile.

"What is it?" Kai asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

Lina shook her head and finally spoke.

For some reason, she felt pretty nervous asking him to come over to their house.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

She didn't understand why! She had invited Yuze, Kun, Jet, and Shang to her house plenty of times before.

"I was wondering..."

"Do you want to come to—"

Before Lina could finish her statement, someone tapped Kai's shoulder, halting their conversation.

Kai turned to the interrupter and raised his eyebrows.

He recognized it to be a member of the cheerleading team—one that accused him of being a pervert when he was still on the second-string team.

"Yes?" Kai asked with raised eyebrows, causing the cheerleader to look away.

"Umm," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Someone wants to talk with you."

Kai frowned this time. "What for?"

"And who?"

"She didn't want me to tell," he said.

Lina also frowned. "She?" she muttered.

She was already annoyed that someone interrupted their conversation, but to think that another girl wanted to talk to Kai made her feel even more annoyed.

"Why can't she come here then?" Kai asked.

"Look, man. I'm just a messenger. She's waiting for you in the back," he said before leaving, not even waiting for Kai to respond.

Kai turned back to Lina and shook his head.

"Weird," he muttered.

Then, his gaze softened as he focused his attention on her once more.

"What were you going to say?"

"Aren't you going to go to the girl who's waiting for you?" she asked, almost in a bitter tone.

"You were going to say something," Kai said.

Lina pursed her lips and hesitated to speak.

"Just go to her first," Lina said, making Kai scratch the back of his head.

"Are you sure?" Kai asked.

"Yeah," Lina sighed. "You can just come back here after you meet her."

"It's not going to be for long, right?" she asked.

Kai shook his head. "I guess not. I don't even know who wants to meet with me."

"Then come back here afterward," she said.

Kai nodded. "Alright, wait for me."

With that, Kai left the court through the back entrance, where he instantly saw who was waiting for him.

One of his eyebrows raised in surprise, almost not believing his eyes.

"It's probably not her," Kai muttered, continuing to look for another girl.

However, amidst his searching, an annoyed sigh came from the girl before him.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Someone," Kai vaguely said.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"It's me," Suzy said.

"I was the one who wanted to speak with you."