Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

The teams were then called one by one, starting with the most popular teams this time.

"Let us welcome last year's champions—Yin Yang High!" Mark exclaimed.

"Young knights of Yin Yang High, unite!

Together, we rise in darkness and light."

Kai felt goosebumps arise from his skin as the chant resounded in the entire gymnasium. He saw the joyous looks on the people's faces, and he was determined to be the reason for such smiles when the right time came.

"Next, we have our beloved foxes from Feng Arts High!" Mark Li introduced the next team.

"Feng Arts foxes, fierce and bold,

With sharp fangs, we seize the gold!"

The Feng Foxes' supporters definitely didn't back down from the Yin Yang Knights' supporters. The two schools were most likely going to face each other after the North and South individual games ended, so they took this time to show their rival school what they were made out of.

Suzy watched the cheerleaders' routines on the ground. It seemed like all of the schools aside from Shizi High had some cheerleaders of some sort.

She scratched the back of her head as she watched the players of Shizi watch the routine.

From the moment she entered Shizi High, there hadn't been an instance where their cheerleading squad performed at one of the basketball team's games.

It has always been like that since the Shizi players never managed to play more than five games in the league. So, the squad decided that cheering during their games wouldn't be worth it.

"Yeah, they're going to lose anyway," Suzy muttered, convincing herself that the cheerleading squad made a good choice.

The other teams were also introduced, and when it got to the Shizi Dogs, Lina and Shang prepared themselves to cheer to their fullest. They knew they were one of the few students from Shizi High who came to genuinely support the team.

"Now, we welcome the Shizi Dogs!"

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise after he heard their team name. He didn't know that their names were literally called 'Dogs.' It seemed like everywhere Kai went, he couldn't escape the 'dog' title. He was even called 'Mad Dog' by the streets.

Meanwhile, Lina and Shang screamed as loud as they can, yet it still sounded soft compared to the other school's cheers.

Just then, a loud shout was heard inside the gymnasium, making the people turn in the direction of the sound. It seemed like the kind of sound you would hear during a brawl or a fight!

Kai saw the four idiots who tried to mug him the other day, his face becoming pale when he realized what they were going to do.

"Who are those gangster-looking kids?"

"They are holding pink banners. Are they here to support Shizi High?"

"Well, that's new."

Then, with a loud voice, the four boys simultaneously cheered. They prepared this cheer only moments ago, and they were proud to show it to Kai, the guy they admired the most.

"Shizi Dogs. Shizi Dogs. Kai Guo is our main dog!"

"We are his bitches," Aang said with a straight face, his voice resounding in the gymnasium.

The gymnasium was silent for a moment before it burst into full-blown laughter.

At this point, Chunlei was already kneeling on the ground.

"Goodness. His friends are hilarious, too."

Max Zhou tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What's with this guy?"

Meanwhile, Yuze was about to have a stroke. One of his veins bulged from his forehead, so Kun instantly went to him and massaged his shoulders.

"Calm down! Calm down!"

***

[Incoming Weekly Mission!]

Kai sighed when he was finally given the chance to read through his weekly mission.

[Project Slam Dunk]

[Perform a slam dunk in an official basketball game.]

[Earn 50 XP once the slam dunk has been counted as a score.]

[Failure to do so will result in a 50 XP decrease.]

[Ordinary progression system will resume once the slam dunk is achieved.]

After the opening ceremony, there was a small leeway before the games finally commenced. Aang's cheer seemed to have made its way to one of the most legendary moments of the entire Winter Cup, and people were still talking about it as they waited for the first games to start.

Meanwhile, Shizi High was back in their holding room, with Kai and Yuze standing in the middle.

The tall captain narrowed his eyes at Kai. The room was engulfed in silence as Yuze paced back and forth in front of Kai.

"You're late," Yuze said.

Kai scratched the back of his head.

"You see. I have a valid reason! My grandma—"

"I didn't ask you to speak," Yuze said with a subtle glare. "I was merely stating a fact."

Kai pursed his lips.

"This is the second time you've been late. The first one was during the tryouts, and right now—during the opening of the Winter Ceremony."

"He has a habit of being late to school, too," Zeren said, adding fuel to the fire.

Kai sighed and glared at his classmate. However, he couldn't really refute him since he was right.

He was never late when he attended Huolan High, even when they lived far away. However, now that his house was near Shizi High, he found it hard to be on time.

Truly, living near your school was both a blessing and a curse.

"I already told you my rules before," Yuze said, making Kai freeze.

"I don't tolerate late people on my team."

"Yuze..."

"So, as a punishment, you're not going to play in the first half of the game," Yuze concluded.

Kai's eyebrows shot up. "But you told me I can play in the second quarter!"

"I can take it back," Yuze said. "In fact, you're not going to play as long as you're not needed."

He knew he was wrong, but he felt wronged since he believed he was late for a valid reason! He had been working nonstop for the last couple of weeks because he didn't have any money to pay for the ball.

If only they would listen to him.

Zeren nodded in agreement. "You shouldn't be late from now on, Kai. Just because you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth does not give you the reason to slack off."

Kai was even more surprised. A golden spoon? For all he knew, he was born with a plastic spoon. His grandma worked very hard for him, but it was only adequate for their basic necessities.

How the hell did Zeren come up with that conclusion? Was it because of some rumors again?

Even his shoes were a testament to the amount of money they had.

"Anyway, those do not matter," Yuze said.

"It's final. This is your punishment."

Kai sighed before shaking his head.

He could never catch a break, could he?