Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Did you see?" Jet asked.

Shang emerged from nowhere, his hair disheveled and his knee still in a cast.

"I saw," he said.

Jet looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Where did you come from?"

"Where there's gossip, there's Shang!" he exclaimed. "I knew you guys were going to be talking about Coach Jin today, so I had to come."

"Do you think Coach Jin will still come back?" Jet asked.

Kun shook his head with a wide smile. "There's a very slim chance."

Zeren scratched the back of his head.

"How did someone even discover this?" he asked. "He's a genius! I must praise the ground he walks on."

Jinping smirked and nodded in agreement.

"He's the team's hero. Now, we don't have to endure his training!" Enjoy new tales from empire

"For sure," Jet nodded. "I shall kiss him or her, whoever they may be!"

Yuze clicked his tongue as they continued to converse about their hero's identity.

"Don't you guys already know who it is?" he asked.

"Who?" the team simultaneously asked, turning to their captain.

"It's obvious," Yuze sighed. "He was the only one who messed with Coach Jin's laptop."

Just then, the gym doors open, revealing none other than Kai.

The team turned in his direction, the wind flowing from behind and giving him an otherworldly effect.

Zeren's eyes immediately widened when he realized who it might be.

"No way," he said.

Shang chuckled and nudged Zeren's shoulder. "I thought you were going to praise the ground he walks on."

"And what was that?" he continued, now going to where Jinping was. "Our team's hero? I didn't know you thought so highly of Kai!"

Jinping let out a deep breath. "You know, for someone who's injured, you seem very agile. Should I hurt your other leg, too?"

Shang chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

Meanwhile, Jet ran to where Kai was and planted a wet kiss on his cheek.

Kai's eyes widened, and he quickly pushed Jet away, causing him to fall to the ground.

Nonetheless, it seemed like the older player didn't mind.

At that moment, Lina came in with a huge smile, feeling like they had just won the championships.

Zeren immediately went to her and held onto her shoulders.

"Is it you?" he asked. "Tell me it's you!"

"What did I do?" Lina asked.

"You were the one who planned all of this! You're the reason why Coach Jin was exposed," he said.

Lina looked at the players and smiled.

"Well, I was the one who uploaded the video," she confessed.

Zeren sighed in relief. "Great. I knew it. You're a genius."

Now, he didn't have to praise the ground that Kai walked on!

"But Kai was the one who planned all of it," she continued, causing Zeren to freeze once again.

"He coincidentally found out that Coach Jin was planting cameras in the comfort rooms, so he meddled with his laptop. Isn't he the best?" she smiled.

Zeren fell to the ground, landing on Kai's gigantic shoes.

Then, he closed his eyes and let himself suffer.

It seemed like the world also wanted him to bow down to Kai!

"Anyway," Lina continued despite Zeren's dramatic act.

"I have some good news!"

The team listened intently.

"I went to the principal's office to talk about our situation, and he told me that Coach Jin would immediately be removed from the school and the team!" she exclaimed.

The players glanced at each other with happy smiles.

"Are we going to be assigned with a new coach?" Kun asked.

Lina pursed her lips. "The principal said that he would look into it. As of now, there aren't any qualified teachers. However, he will update us any time."

"This year's season is already over anyway, so we still have until next year to find a suitable coach."

Kun clicked his tongue. "I just hope it's someone decent."

"Let's think about it in the future," Lina chimed.

"For now," she said, bringing out a small envelope from her bag.

"The principal gave me our prize money!"

The team, even Zeren, sprung to life and went closer to Lina as they stared at the money.

"That's a whole lot of money," Kun muttered.

"We earned 3850 yuan from the booth while the principal gave us an additional 1,000 yuan. However, it seemed like he felt bad for our team, so he just gave me 5,000 yuan!"

"This is the best day ever," Kai said, feeling excitement blooming in his heart.

"You guys know what this means?" Lina excitedly asked.

"We can go to another city for a training camp during our break!" she exclaimed.

***n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Kai couldn't shake off his smile as he walked back home.

He passed through some students on his way, but they all moved away from them when they saw his expression.

'He must be plotting something,' they thought.

However, that was just Kai's usual face.

He ran his fingers through his hair, but it was no use. The strands still fell to his eyes. Some of them even touched his nose, causing Kai to click his tongue.

"Should I get a haircut?" he muttered.

However, he quickly shook his head.

"I should get one when I deserve it," he said.

Kai didn't feel like going home just yet, so he went to the park and sat on one of the benches.

Now that the Winter Cup season had ended, he had some time to truly reflect on himself and practice his skills.

He made a lot of mistakes during the previous league, but now, he can think back on his past strategies and improve himself to the best of his capacity.

Through that, they would have a bigger chance at winning in the Interhigh Preliminaries.

He brought out his phone outside of his pocket and scrolled through some tips and tricks on how to level up.

However, only different mangas, animes, and cartoons showed up!

Kai clicked his tongue and decided to click on one of them.

'Forever Alone in Leveling Up'

"Well, that sounds familiar," he muttered, feeling intrigued.

With that, he read the book, finding himself sucked into the charm of a fantasy drama!

"That's a whole lot of push-ups," he whispered.

"Is this really all that it takes?" he continued.

Before he knew it, the skies had already gone dark, and he had read more than 50 chapters.

"Dang," he said, finally standing from the bench and looking around his surroundings.

"So, this is why there are so many people addicted to these things. People even spend thousands for this," he chuckled.

Then, as he continued his journey home, he had one thing in mind.

To level-up.