Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai's heart skipped a beat in a way that basketball could never do. He realized that the world was actually giving him signs instead of mocking him.

Lina narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Why is it that I'm hearing you have multiple girlfriends? We only haven't seen each other for a few months, and you've already found someone new?" she asked. "I rebooked my flight earlier only to be greeted like this!"

Kai smiled and let her continue rambling. However, as soon as she was done, Kai didn't waste any time and walked closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and putting a chaste kiss on her lips.

That rendered her speechless, and it instantly melted her.

She shook her head. "You think I'm going to forgive you with just that?"

He sighed. "What do I need to do for you to forgive me?"

The line was so cheesy that Kai would have cringed if he heard it from someone else. However, it is true that you swallow your words when you're the one involved.

"Win the championships?" she asked with a small smile.

"Hmm," Kai muttered, placing his fingers under his chin. "That's pretty difficult. But for you, I'll do it."

Lina's face suddenly turned serious, causing Kai's smile to slightly drop. "Can you really do it?" she softly asked.

A small smile returned to Kai's lips, and then he nodded. "Yes," he muttered. "I think it's possible."

Lina's smile widened. "I believe you too."

Then, Lina placed her hands on his hips, sending fluttery feelings in his stomach.

"You've improved so much again. I don't know how it's possible," she said.

Kai couldn't help it now. He wrapped his arms around her and twirled her around. Lina yelped in surprise and placed her hands on his shoulders.

She looked around, embarrassed. However, she saw the inquiring looks of the others, with some whispering among themselves.

Then, she began to smirk victoriously.

"Is that Kai Guo?"

"Another one of his girls?"

"I think that's his girlfriend, though. I've seen her before in one of his pictures."

Lina continued to smirk, silently saying—'yes, this is star player Kai Guo, my boyfriend.'

He placed her down and held onto her hand. "Do you want me to show you around?"

She nodded and intertwined her fingers with his. "Can I taste the infamous banana muffin?"

"I hope there's some left," Kai muttered, glancing at his watch. "It would have run out by now."

However, they still wanted to try their luck. The two walked to the hotel hand-in-hand.

Kai opened up the topic about the new members of the team.

"How are the Shizi Dogs holding up?" Kai asked.

Lina shrugged. "We're unbeatable so far in the Winter Cup. Jinping and Andy have improved so much because of my training regimen. The new recruits are good, too. You played a part in bringing in the students that originally wanted to go to Yin Yang or Feng Arts."

Kai raised both eyebrows. "How's Coach Guanyu then?"

Lina chuckled, remembering a memory. "We had a practice game, and we killed them! Not literally," she added. "But it's a different hierarchy out there. We're actually on top now."

"Aside from that, there are more players wanting to join the team, so the second string is also full. Dylan would have loved to see it."

Kai smiled, remembering how he got to where he was. He started with the second-string team and was now at the Global Games.

"Anyway, back to Coach Guanyu," she said. "He told us, and I quote, 'I thought we would have beaten you easily without Kai now. But, you've recruited the young players I've been eyeing,'" she chuckled.

"The funny thing is we didn't even recruit them. They voluntarily came to the school."

Kai nodded, listening to every word she said. Hearing her voice was enough to make him giddy. So, having her tell stories like this had already made his day.

"So, that means we'll definitely be playing in the Interhigh Nationals, right?" Kai asked.

Lina nodded without any hesitation. "Honestly, even with Max on the roster of Yin Yang, we could still beat them—especially if we have you on the team. Feng Arts is still strong. However, some of their strongest players had graduated. Chunlei's improved a lot, too, though."

Kai nodded to himself. He was curious to see how much his past opponents have grown, too.

"There's this one recruit, though," Lina suddenly said, capturing Kai's attention once more.

"His name is Caishen," she continued.

Kai chuckled. "His name is similar to mine."

She nodded, a small frown forming on her brows. "He plays similarly, too."

Kai stopped for a moment, turning to her and tilting his head to the side.

"Similar to me?" he muttered.

She pursed her lips before nodding in agreement. "Caishen has been studying you since last year. He has been playing basketball for a long time but said that he never found his real style until he watched you play."

"I see," Kai said.

"Now, he's determined to play with you to prove that he's the best in that playing style," she concluded.

"Hmm," Kai hummed. "I'm even more excited to meet him then."

"Well, you don't have to wait for long," she sighed. "The rest of the team are going here tomorrow."

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise. "They are?" he asked. "It's expensive, though."

Lina shrugged. "If you only knew…"

"The principal declared a 'Kai Guo Day' for the entire school. We don't have any classes in three days. Along with that, he decided to pay for all of the expenses for the Shizi Dogs to come here."

Kai's eyes widened. "The principal did that?"

She nodded with a chuckle. "Well, he said that you were the reason why Shizi High had become so popular in the first place. The school had an increase in enrollment of 250% compared to last year! The facilities are being renovated, too."

"So," she continued, "tomorrow, you will be able to see the new recruits."

"What do you think?" Kai suddenly asked. "You've seen the both of us play. Who do you think is better?"

Lina smiled up at him, her eyes not showing any doubt.

"That's an easy question," she said. "It's him."