Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai's hands were itching—incredibly so.

Their training had just finished, and he was feeling more upset than usual.

He had spent most of his time on the chair, throwing more than a hundred shots per session.

"Am I having withdrawal symptoms?" he muttered.

Lina, who was by her side, chuckled as soon as Kai said those words.

"Stop being so dramatic," Lina chimed. "It's only been a week. You don't want to stop playing basketball for the rest of your life, do you?"

Yuze, who was getting dressed behind Kai, froze as he felt his sore ankle. It was a daily occurrence to him, and he was almost used to it already.

It had definitely gotten a lot better, so he hadn't bothered to go back to his doctor.

"This is nothing," he muttered.

Compared to Kai, who had gotten hit by a car, his problem was nearly miniscule.

Kai couldn't help but hold onto Lina's arm. His hand was so big against Lina's extremity, so it engulfed it all with just one grip.

Lina looked at it with warm cheeks before looking at Kai with raised eyebrows.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice.

"Am I really going to sit out the practice game tomorrow?"

Lina chuckled and nodded. "It has already been decided," she said. "We can't do anything about it."

"But I'm really fine," he insisted.

"Well, I'm not," she smiled.

"What if we lose?" Kai asked with narrowed eyes.

"Then, we lose," Lina chimed. "It's a practice game, and we're going against the Knights. It wouldn't be strange if we lost."

"I believe we can win if I play," Kai said with a small, convincing smile.

"Really?" Lina asked with one eyebrow raised. "That's how confident you are now?"

"Yes," Kai said. "So help me, please."

"You've come to the wrong person," she said, placing her backpack on.

"I'm not allowing you to play."

Kai's shoulders slumped, making Lina even more amused.

With that, she placed her hand on Kai's shoulder.

Kai felt a jolt of electricity at the small contact. Lina's hand felt unusually cool, which soothed his warm skin.

"Think about it this way," she started off.

"You won't be revealing your skills until the start of the games. Wouldn't that be exciting? It's almost like we're wielding a secret weapon!"

"Secret weapon, my ass," Jinping joined in on their conversation.

"He just got hit by a car—that's why he can't play."

Lina hit Jinping's shoulder and glared at the younger guy.

"Don't say that," she said through gritted teeth. "He's already upset as it is."

"Oh, stop it," Jinping exclaimed. "He's not a baby!"

'He's my baby,' Lina thought.

"But he's already feeling sad about not being able to play!" Lina countered.

The two of them continued to argue while Kai was stuck with his own thoughts.

Then, a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Secret weapon, huh?"

***

Kai couldn't stop himself from giggling after Lina referred to him as a secret weapon.

A woman with her kids saw him from afar, and she quickly shielded her children away from Kai.

"That's why you should always listen to your mother," she said before she sped away from the laughing lad.

However, Kai couldn't care less.

With that, Kai continued his journey to the city's public basketball court.

As he arrived, he felt his hands itching once more—even more so than before.

However, Lina's warning kept playing in the back of his head, making him shake his head.

"No, no," he muttered. "I shall listen to her."

With that, he went to the gravel part of the court and attempted to fullfil his objective for coming to the court—finding a pretty rock.

He knelt on the ground and started digging through the soil.

"Let's see," he whispered. "A pretty rock, huh?"

Kai still didn't know why his system was asking him for a pretty rock in the first place, but it seemed like a fairly easy mission to gain 15 XP from.

"Aha!" Kai exclaimed as he brought up a green limestone.

[Rejected. Not pretty enough.]

Kai's eyebrows furrowed at his system's new notification.

"What the heck?" he asked. Nonetheless, he decided to continue his search, his eyes lighting up when he saw a crystal-like rock under a large boulder.

"Here!" he exclaimed, feeling confident.

[Rejected. Resin charm detected]

"Fuck off," Kai muttered.

Then, he came across a black rock that had white details, almost as if it was covered in powdered sugar.

"Surely, you'll like this one. It's very unique."

[Rejected. Dried-up dog poop detected]

Kai's eyes widened, and he quickly let go of the 'rock' before dousing his hand with sanitizer.

"Goodness," he sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

Like his words, the mission didn't go easy for Kai.

The skies had gotten dark, and he had to use his phone flashlight to help him look for a beautiful rock. Experience tales at empire

He wondered if he should go home and look again tomorrow, but his pride wasn't going to let him.

Kai was too immersed in finding the pretty rock.

Then, after what felt like years of searching, Kai saw something glistening under the streetlights.

His eyebrows furrowed as he walked to where it was. He shone it with his phone's flashlight and saw that it was a red stone—almost like a gem.

Kai picked it up and felt its weight. It was definitely different from all the other rocks he had touched.

"This one?" Kai hesitantly asked.

His system didn't appear for a few seconds.

[Accepted.]

[+15 XP]

[Current level: Premier (134)]

He smiled to himself and was about to place the rock back in its place. However, he felt that it was too pretty to be disregarded. With that, he placed the stone in his bag and stood up.

Kai was planning to leave when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"Are you done with your stone searching now?"

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise as he swiftly turned around.

He froze for a moment as the man before him smirked.

"How long have you been there?" Kai asked.

Chunlei smirked as he dribbled the ball once. "For a while now. I was calling you earlier, but it seems like you couldn't hear me."

Kai scratched the back of his head. He was so immersed in finding the stone that he failed to notice the presence of another human being on the court.

"So?" Chunlei asked, tossing the ball to Kai.

Kai let go of his bag and caught the ball with perfect ease.

"Are you up for a game?"