Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

The teams were already lined up outside of their waiting rooms.

They glanced at each other, trying to gauge each team's improvement.

Yiming focused on the Shizi Dogs the most. He frowned when he saw that there were new members on their team.

He nudged Zeren's shoulder and nodded in the Shizi Dogs' direction.

"Do you know those two?" he asked.

Zeren squinted his eyes to get a better look at the two new members.

"The lanky one is familiar," Zeren said. "I think I've seen him around in school, but I've never seen him play before."

"I don't recognize the import," he said.

Just then, as Yiming and Zeren continued observing the Shizi Dogs, Lina's attention was captured.

She turned to them, her eyebrows raising in surprise when she saw Zeren looking toward their way.

Zeren was also surprised. Then, she waved her hand to greet him, but Zeren merely looked away.

Lina clicked her tongue as she faced Yuze.

"Who does he think he is?" she muttered. "He followed me around like a dog when he was still in Shizi High, but now, he wouldn't even look in my direction."

"We'll be starting in three minutes!" Mark Li exclaimed from the court, which made the teams go serious.

"Where is that guy?" Lina muttered.

Just then, they heard loud footsteps and heavy breathing from behind them.

His footsteps were so loud that almost everyone turned to him.

Then, it seemed like a collective gasp resonated in the room.

"Who the heck is that?"

"A new player?"

"Do we know someone that handsome?"

"He's probably not good," Jet whispered to Andy. "Handsome guys aren't good at basketball."

Andy was frozen, his eyes wide as he watched the boy line up behind them.

"I'm not late, am I?" he awkwardly smiled.

Jet's eyes comically widened.

"You—"

Yuze was also surprised. He believed that he was a handsome individual—looking into the mirror every morning proved that point.

However, the guy in front of him was incredibly handsome! Like those celebrity basketball players that everyone would rave about.

Renren was also wide-eyed. Jinping, on the other hand, covered his mouth with his hand.

"I can't believe this," he muttered.

Undoubtedly, the most shocked of them all was Lina, who was at the very back, so the boy was just right in front of her.

The young man looked down at her and smiled.

"Hey there," he said.

Lina felt like her heart stopped beating.

Ailun, Fabin, and Max also couldn't take their eyes away from him.

"Is that really...him?" Fabin asked before turning to his two friends.

"It says so on his jersey," Ailun said. "They have the same height and build, too, but I doubt it. He doesn't look like that! He can't look like that!"

"Right, Max?" he asked, nudging his shoulder.

However, Max was as frozen as the chicken that you forgot to defrost when your mom was already in the driveway.

"Oh no," Fabin said. "Max just became more infatuated!"

Zeren felt like his whole world came crashing down.

From the very beginning, he knew he could beat Kai in one aspect—his looks.

He wasn't very attractive, but Kai just looked like a caveman back then.

However, Zeren couldn't say anything about his looks anymore.

Lina was about to confirm if the man was really who she thought he was, but one of the workers was already directing them to the court.

"Now," Mark Li exclaimed. "Let us all welcome the teams that will be competing for the title of the champion! This year, we have 16 schools who registered—a record-breaker!"

Just then, the doors opened, and the teams went to the court while their captains held their banners.

The sold-out venue screamed as they were graced with the presence of talented players.

"Let us give a hand to them!" Mark nearly shouted, earning more screams from the crowd.

The Shizi Dogs were one of the first teams to come in, and much to their surprise, there was one side of the bleachers who wore pink, signifying their support for the Dogs. Discover hidden stories at empire

The people went hysterical as they lined up on the court.

As Max appeared, his name was chanted by his countless fans.

It was a situation that felt surreal for almost all of the players.

Mark Li chuckled into the mic as the screams died down.

"Wooh," he said, wiping the sweat on his temples. "I thought I was in a concert for a moment. You guys have heated the place up!"

As Mark continued with his introduction, the crowd began to settle down.

However, at that particular moment of calmness, someone stood out in their eyes.

Truly, humans were humans...

...and humans were attracted to very pretty things.

So, when they saw a handsome boy's side profile, they couldn't help but whisper among themselves and discuss his identity.

"Who is that? He's dang good-looking."

"He looks pretty young, too, even with his tall height."

"Hey, isn't that Kai Guo?"

"Eyy, you must be out of your mind. That can not be Kai Guo."

"True. That guy is taller and has a bigger body."

The venue was filled with speculations, wondering who the mystery guy was.

A lot of the girls, and even some of the men, had already become his fans—even when they hadn't watched him play at all.

Meanwhile, those who were positioned at the back end of the players squinted their eyes as they looked at Kai's backside.

"Did Kai get a haircut?"

"I think so! His sideburns aren't up to his ass now."

"That's such an exaggeration."

"Did he cut his front bangs, too?"

Eva, who also didn't manage to get good seats, clicked her tongue in annoyance since she could only see Kai's back.

She held onto her friend's hand. "Can he turn around for a second?"

Her friend nervously chuckled. "I don't think that's needed," she said. "I'm fine with this view. His back view is pretty appealing."

Suzy, too, who was sitting at the back along with the other cheerleaders, narrowed her eyes at Kai's backside.

"This is a first for you, right?" a cheerleader from the Huishi Alligators asked.

"Hmm," Suzy hummed, not really paying attention since she was completely focused on Kai.

"Turn around," she muttered.

Then, just like someone answered her prayers, Kai turned around.

And at that moment, it felt like the world halted.

The people at the back finally saw Kai's face, and those at the side and the front saw the name on the back of his jersey.

Just like that, chaos broke out.