Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

[Congratulations! You have progressed to another level]

Kai stopped in his tracks when he saw the new notification.

It was only recently that he started feeling he was a good player. He might even call himself a key player for their team!

He had also been practicing with more earnestness, and although his system was progressing quite slowly, he believed that it reflected his actual skills.

The people around him thought he was progressing quite fast, though—especially for someone who had been playing for less than three months.

[Current level: Proficient (03)]

Kai smiled as soon as it was shown that he was proficient. He knew that he still had a long way to go, especially with his offense. However, this was a great progression—just in time for their game with the Xing Stars.

[You have earned a new skill: Synergy]

[You can now gauge other teammate's playing styles and anticipate their needs!]

Kai's smile widened with his new skill. His duo plays with Yuze were a great way to create more plays and possibly overwhelm their opponents!

As he arrived at their home, Kai couldn't shake his smile off.

Grandma BingBing looked at him with raised eyebrows, wondering what he was so happy for.

However, when she saw the socks in his hands, she finally realized what was happening.

She shook her head in amusement and went back to peeling her onions.

"He's a playboy like his father," she muttered with a small smile.

***

Thursday came, which meant that the game between the Feng Foxes and the Shizi Dogs was going to commence tomorrow.

The two teams prepared with great efforts, pushing their limits to the extent.

However, the Shizi Dogs felt quite limited because of the presence of their new coach.

So, when Zeren saw that the court was devoid of Coach Jin's presence as he came in, he quickly rejoiced and even jumped multiple times.

Lina frowned in confusion as he started busting out into some fancy moves.

"What are you doing?" Lina asked.

"Coach Jin isn't here again!" Zeren exclaimed, still dancing in his spot.

"That means that we can play a practice game again, right?" he excitedly asked.

"I also missed your training regime. It makes me feel stronger whenever I do your personalized routines," Zeren continued.

Just then, Kai arrived at the court.

Hearing Zeren's celebratory remarks, Kai decided to join in on the fun.

"Oh, are we going to do Lina's routines today?" he asked.

Zeren clicked his tongue as soon as he heard Kai's voice.

Nonetheless, he responded to Kai because he was in a good mood.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Coach Jin's training routine should go to the bin."

"It's so tedious, but it makes my muscles hurt in all the wrong places."

Jinping clicked his tongue before nodding in agreement.

"It would be better if we get ice baths right after, but it would take about ten more years before the school gets to afford it."

"Hmm," Kai hummed. "He just took those routines from the internet, but he's acting as if he made it himself."

Just then, the other players stood, yet the three first-year players continued to yap their mouths.

"I saw it, too," Jinping said, nodding in agreement.

"I think we could all agree that he's just taking the easy route," Zeren continued.

"He should put in more effort if he wanted to coach the team. Lina's a far better coach than him," Kai concluded.

The three first-year players, who seemed to hate each other most of the time, finally found something they had in common—their dislike for Coach Jin.

Lina's eyes widened as they continued insulting Coach Jin, even shaking her head in horror.

"Is that so?" a familiar voice asked, causing the three first-year players to freeze.

They turned around and was met with none other than Coach Jin himself, who already appeared to be in a bad mood.

He had a laptop in his hands, which was strange since he only ever came to practice with a whistle and a stick.

Zeren cleared his throat and stepped back.

Jinping also acted quickly and hid behind Yuze's back.

Meanwhile, Kai was left all alone, receiving a deathly glare from Coach Jin.

Kai pursed his lips, expecting him to yell at them right then and there.

However, he remained calm, which deepened Kai's frown.

Somehow, Coach Jin being calm was scarier than him scolding them.

"Coach," Yuze said, finally breaking the tension.

"Hmm," Coach Jin hummed, still appearing eerily calm.

He turned to Lina and sat on a chair next to the whiteboard.

"Set up the projector," he instructed.

Lina, despite being confused, nodded and followed his instructions.

As Lina set up the projector, Coach Jin remained silent, making the players wait in silence, too.

Kun cleared his throat in order to break the silence.

"You didn't come here yesterday, Coach," he said, chuckling nervously.

"Yes," Coach Jin said, looking at his nails. "I received an important call," he vaguely said.

"It's what we're going to be talking about today," he continued.

The members turned to each other in surprise, wondering what they were going to be talking about.

"It's set up, Coach," Lina said.

Coach Jin stood and thanked her with a bow. Then, he opened his laptop and connected it to the projector.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"When I said that I wanted to be your coach, I wasn't joking at all," he started off, navigating the homepage of his laptop.

For a second, Kai saw a folder named 'FORBIDDEN,' but Coach Jin quickly displaced it to another folder before heading over to his 'school' files.

Then, he clicked on a video, which was black in the beginning, before clicking pause.

He turned to the players and crossed his arms in front of his chest, appearing more serious than usual.

"The reason why I didn't come here yesterday was because of this," he said.

The players frowned in confusion since they didn't know what Coach Jin was talking about.

"As athletes of Shizi High, you are expected to uphold good morals and conduct. Failure to comply with such can entail removal from the team," he continued.

After staying silent for a few more seconds, he finally played the video.

The players watched the scene with full focus.

The first parts of the video only seemed to be filming a wall—a very familiar brick wall.

What was stranger was that the video didn't have any sound.

Then, when the footage finally moved, Kai realized why it was muted in the first place.

Kai and Lina turned to each other in surprise.

It was the argument that happened between them and Roy.