Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Lina pressed on the next slide, and the players turned silent once the next set of photos were shown.

Kai's photo was in the very middle, and the players' gazes immediately focused on him.

The 16-year-old applicant really didn't appear his age. However, that was actually pretty hard to tell since his eyes were covered with his bangs, and he had a scraggly stubble. All in all, only his nose was a prominent feature, straight and tall.

Lina cleared her throat and zoomed in on the three players at the bottom.

"Roy Zhang," Lina started off. "Let's talk about him first."

Shang clicked his tongue as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Is there even something to discuss about this guy?" he asked.

Jet nodded in agreement. "Aside from his decent physique, there's really nothing good about him."

"He played dirty all throughout," another player added. "He even elbowed my ribs in the process, so it's still sore until now."

Lina clicked her tongue. "I agree with everything you said. His friends aren't any better, too. I even wonder why they tried out for the team."

"I heard something from one of the applicants," Kun said, capturing their attention.

"It seems like these guys aren't good news. They tried out because they think our team is easy to get into," he continued.

Yuze's frown deepened. He knew their team wasn't the best in the city. In fact, it was one of the worst, if not the worst, in terms of ranking.

However, that doesn't mean they would just take any person that applies for the team.

That was the reason why they still had a second-string team despite their small number of players.

"Let's rule them out," Lina said. "I don't think they'd contribute anything to the team."

Yuze nodded. "I agree. Take their applications out."

Lina willingly did so while the other players smiled in satisfaction.

"This player left during the middle of the set," Kun said, pointing at Alen's picture.

"I didn't know what happened, but he seemed to be a decent player in those few minutes," Shang noted.

"Yeah, it's a shame he went away in the middle. His friend, Mingze, seems like a complete amateur, though," Jet added. "But he was the kindest of this bunch, so I'm giving him brownie points."

Yuze listened intently to his teammates. However, his mind was already on the player in the very middle of the slide.

Yuze didn't know how to feel about this certain player. He couldn't deny that his physique for his age was one of a kind, but he felt that something was....strange about him.

"Yuze?"

Kun's voice made Yuze snap out of his thoughts.

"What?" Yuze asked, lifting his head.

"We're talking about this guy now—Kay Guo," Kun said. "What do you think about him?"

"I heard he's a troublemaker," Jet said, making the other players turn to him again.

"How'd you know that too?" Shang asked.

"I told you—my brother knows quite a lot. Apparently, this Kai guy went to Sunshine Arts school too...and he's worse than that Jinping guy in terms of track record," Jet said.

"Oh, he also played basketball before?" Kun asked.

"That—I don't know," Jet said. "I don't think I've seen him in any of the games, but who knows?"

"How'd your brother know him then?" Shang followed-up.

"Look, I don't know much, but I think this Kai guy was pretty famous in his past schools," Jet answered.

"Schools?" Kun frowned in confusion, only knowing of his reputation in Sunshine Arts.

"He transferred a lot."

Kun sighed as he massaged the bridge of his nose.

"I knew his physique was too good to be true," he fake cried.

Lina clicked her tongue and nudged his shoulder.

"Can we stop talking about his background and more about his basketball skills?" she asked.

"Right," Shang chuckled. "Well, I felt like he wasn't anything special. It's kind of strange, though. I was breathless after guarding him for five minutes."

"Yeah, I felt like he stood out but didn't at the same time," Jet chimed. "He was on Shang's tail and left him closed, so it was harder to control the pace of the game."

"So...is he good or not?" Kun asked.

Jet and Shang turned to each other, silently communicating with their eyes.

"I don't know," they simultaneously said.

Kun sighed in frustration. "Well, that's a lot of help," he sarcastically said.

Shang scratched the back of his neck. "We're just being honest. He's not good, but he's not atrocious."

"What about you?" Jet asked. "From an audience's perspective, how'd you find his skills?"

They waited for Kun's answer, but the third-year player merely smiled.

"I also don't know. I was sleepy during the third set," he admitted.

The other players shook their heads in disappointment.

"Anyway, how many players are we planning to recruit? We have nine in the first-string team, and we need at least one person to register for the Winter Cup," Kun said, changing the subject.

They all turned to their team captain.

"As many as the skilled players are," Yuze vaguely said.

"Then, it's not a lot," Kun said.

Yuze sighed, sitting, before leaning his elbow against the table.

"I already have two players in mind," he said.

"However, I'm unsure about one person."

Even if their captain didn't explicitly reveal the names of these people, the players somehow already knew of their identities.

Then, Yuze turned to Lina, the atmosphere suddenly turning serious.

"What do you think of Kai Guo's potential?' Yuze suddenly asked.

Lina's breath got caught in the back of her throat, and for the first time in a while, she became speechless.

She had always read other people's potentials pretty quickly, but for some unknown reason, Kai was hard to decipher.

The players turned to their manager, also anticipating her answer.

After a while, she let out a deep breath and then looked into Yuze's eyes.

"His potential—it's unreadable."