Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai pursed his lips as soon as he heard the familiar title—the Elite Five.

It was a well-respected title in the land of high school basketball. Thousands of players from around the country strive to get such a title. Yet, only five of them were hailed every year.

What's unique about the Elite Five is that it is given but also taken away.

Bi-annually, the high school sports committee assesses the skills of all the registered basketball players around the country, and they choose the top five players to give the title to.

They do not take into consideration the school where these players come from. Instead, their current stats and talent in basketball were the biggest considerations. However, it was definitely difficult to enter the Elite Five if you were from an unknown school.

In fact, Kai didn't know of an instance where a member came from an underdog school.

Most players enter the Elite Five when they are in their second or third year, but Fang Liu was able to enter it in his first year. That spoke highly of his skill.

However, in the end, his skill couldn't change his attitude for the better.

At first, Kai just wanted to have fun and play basketball—the game he loved.

However, after hearing about the Elite Five again, he suddenly felt a fire ignite in his heart.

He wanted to become a part of the Elite Five.

"Now, let's talk plays," Lina said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Kai snapped out of his thoughts and paid attention to Lina.

"We need something that will catch them off guard, something they won't see coming."

"First play," she said, holding up a diagram on a clipboard.

Kai was amused by her preparedness and enthusiasm, finding it amazing how passionate she was.

"We'll start with a pick and roll, but instead of the usual pass to Jet, the point guard, we'll fake it and kick it out to the weak side for an open three-pointer," she started off. "This won't be fool-proof, so this is best done when they least expect it—which is the last quarters."

"And the second play," Lina continued, flipping to another diagram. "We'll run a double screen for Yuze on the wing. Once he gets the ball, he'll drive to the basket, drawing the defense in. Then, he'll kick it out to the corner for a wide-open shot. It's all about creating space and taking advantage of their aggressive defense."

Kun clapped loudly, wrapping one arm around Lina's shoulder.

"As expected, our pretty manager is always prepared," he said.

Lina slapped his arm away. "You're heavy," she deadpanned.

Kun placed his hand over his heart.

"You wound me, really," Kun muttered, shaking his head.

"Those are some plays we could do against them," Lina said, ignoring Kun. "Let's not implement many strategies for the game since it is just for practice. We don't want them learning our strategies for the Winter Cup."

"Lina's so smart," Zeren muttered, hearts practically shooting out of his eyes.

"Well, that's it," Lina said. "Time for practice. Get those twenty laps in!"

"Twenty?" the team exclaimed in shock.

"Well, I also didn't like how demotivated you guys were when the schedule was inevitably moved. Besides, we'll have more intense training from here on out! If we want to reach our goals of champions, then we have to train like champions!"

"Right?" she smiled, cutely tilting her head to the side.

She had such a bright look on her face that the players surrendered to her request.

"Let's do these twenty laps with smiles on our faces!" Zeren excitedly exclaimed.

***

The first-string players' practice had just finished, and the second-string members were almost done with cleaning the court and the basketballs.

"I mean this with no offense," Alen said, wiping the sweat from his brows. "But don't we have people who clean this place?"

"We don't," Dylan chimed. "The principal believes that sports teams should be disciplined and should clean up after themselves, so the janitors only clean the general student areas."

"Still," Kai said, shooting the last ball into the container. "The first-string team should clean up after themselves then. Why do they have us clean for them?"

Sunny, Tony, and Dylan paused, realizing that what Kai said made perfect sense.

"It has been a practice for years," Dylan responded. "We haven't thought of breaking it just yet."

Kai tried to argue, but Dylan quickly cut him off.

"Well, no need to complain further. It's all done!" Dylan exclaimed, looking proud of the clean gym.

"Yay! Let's all go home," Tony said, already thinking of the beef stew that his mom said she would cook today.

The other players started walking to the exit; however, Kai stayed behind, looking at the basketball hoops.

The five other players paused when they saw Kai standing idly under the ring.

"Kai! What are you doing? Let's go," Dylan called out for him.

Kai turned to them and shook his head, walking to where the basketballs were currently stored.

"I'll stay behind," Kai said.

"What for?" Dylan asked with a frown.

"I just...want to practice more," Kai honestly responded.

They looked at each other in confusion before eventually shrugging.

"Alright then," Sunny smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow!"

"See you," Kai said, waving his hand as his teammates left.

Once they were gone, Kai took one of the basketballs from the container.

"If you want to become champions, then you have to train like champions," he muttered, recalling Lina's words and getting inspired by them.

Even though he wasn't going to play in Friday's game, he still wanted to upgrade his skills.

While the first-string players were aiming to win the practice game, Kai was aiming to become a part of the Elite Five.

Moreover, he also wanted to reign as the champion of League of the Legends: Battle of the Handsome Balls.

So, if he wanted to achieve these goals, then he needed to train harder than ever.

The sound of bouncing basketballs resonated through the court as Kai trained by himself. Of course, he was still lacking in many ways. However, he could feel himself improving bit by bit as he persevered to overcome his weaknesses.

[+1 XP]

[+0.5 XP]

[+2.5 XP]

[+3 XP]

At that moment, the door opened. However, Kai remained oblivious to the presence of the newcomer because he was busy playing by himself.

Yuze, who forgot his wallet in the changing rooms, stopped when he saw Kai still training inside the gym.

He paused, noting the wide smile on Kai's face.

Then, he shook his head, an amused smirk gracing his lips.

"What a weird fellow."