Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

The other players murmured in surprise, amazed that Kai had the courage to make such a bold suggestion.

"Did he just say that?"

"Is he asking for a death sentence? How could he say that in front of a professional team!"

The second-string team, who was watching from the back, turned to each other with proud smirks.

"Way to go, Kai," Dylan said. "I hated how Zeke said that the high school league is just a piece of cake."

Meanwhile, Calvin smiled and shook his head.

"That guy actually has a lot of courage. I like him," he said.

Guri clicked his tongue. "He has too much! He's cocky."

Riley shook his head in amusement. "Is that statement really coming from you?" he teased.

One of the workers walked to where the Shenyang Sharks were.

"You don't have to listen to his suggestion," he assured. "You know kids and their courage these days—they're quite unstoppable."

Zeke held out his hand, making the worker close his mouth.

"It's okay," he muttered before turning to Kai once more with a small smirk.

"Alright," he said, causing chaos to erupt in the court.

"He agreed to it?"

"Does that mean we'll have the opportunity to play with them?"

"Ooh! I want to play. I want to gauge how a national team plays."

"You're probably going to get destroyed in seconds."

Hong cleared his throat. "However, since we don't have all the time in the world, we will only have one quarter."

Kai nodded, already excited since they had accepted his suggestion.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He finally sat, awaiting further instructions. The Shenyang Sharks gathered in a circle before Zeke broke away and stood closer to the players.

"We'll pick who will be playing with us," Zeke said, making the players hopeful and excited.

Kai glanced around and saw that most of them wanted to get picked.

"We have five schools, right?" he asked. "We'll pick one player from each school. Don't worry. We won't pick your benchwarmers. We want your best players to play with us," he continued.

Some players sighed in disappointment, knowing they wouldn't be able to play with the Shenyang Sharks any more.

Zeke turned to the Longyu Dragons first.

The Dragons didn't even have to suggest a player since Zeke had already uttered a name.

"Calvin Wu," he said. "Get down here."

The other players turned to Calvin in awe, still amazed that they were in the presence of an Elite Five member.

It was also amazing how Zeke already knew his name. It was a testament to Calvin's skills and the fame of the Elite Five across all age groups.

Calvin didn't hesitate to stand and go down to the court with the Shenyang Sharks. His teammates cheered as he stood next to the team.

With his height and build, he didn't look too out of place, making the other players exclaim in amazement.

Then, Zeke decided to ask for suggestions from the other teams—those whom he didn't know much about.

The schools sent out their best players.

Then, when it got to Wennuan High, Kai couldn't help but frown.

"Luke!" his teammates exclaimed.

Luke bashfully scratched the back of his head as he stood and joined the makeshift team. He met Kai's eyes for a second, and there was no doubt that it seemed like he was looking down on Kai.

Kai's jaw clenched in annoyance.

Then, as Zeke arrived in front of the Shizi Dogs, the players decided to send out Yuze.

"Yuze, you can do it," Zeren said with clenched fists and bright eyes.

However, Zeke held out his finger and pointed straight at Kai.

"Since you were the one who suggested this game, come right down," he said, looking into Kai's eyes.

Kai pursed his lips to hide the smirk that threatened to arise from his lips.

He looked back at Yuze, who just nodded in agreement.

With that, Kai trudged down the court and stood in line with the 'star' players of each team.

He stood next to Luke, who was around three inches shorter than him.

Luke squared his shoulders to appear bigger, but alas, he still looked mediocre next to Kai.

"I'll referee," one of the players from the Shenyang Sharks said, placing a whistle over his neck.

Zeke, on the other hand, dribbled the ball slowly as he made his way in front of the high school team, seemingly intimidating them.

"As Hong said, there would only be one quarter—ten minutes. The same rules apply. Full court. Got it?" he said.

"Yes, sir," the players on the court exclaimed.

Zeke smirked. "Now, we don't do these games for free," he said. "As a professional team, we also have a talent fee."

"With that, this game wouldn't be without a prize."

"What do you have in mind, sir?" Calvin respectfully asked.

"Not much," Zeke said, pacing back and forth in front of the players.

Then, after a while, he stood right in front of Kai.

"I just want an apology from this guy," he said, gesturing towards Kai.

Kai raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And what do we get if we win?" Kai asked.

Zeke let out a chuckle in disbelief. Kai actually thought they even had the chance to win!

"Hmm," Zeke hummed, placing his hand under his chin. "I guess I could provide all of the players in the room some new basketball shoes," he started off, causing the players to exclaim in excitement.

Kai, too, was elated about the prize.

Although he had already bought new basketball shoes with his own money, it wouldn't hurt to have another one, right? Besides, since his shoes were on the cheaper side, they had gotten worn out through the break due to Kai's rigorous practice and workout.

He felt like he needed to change it before the start of the Interhigh Preliminaries.

"I'll also give another prize," Zeke said, causing the players to stop talking and focus their full attention on the Olympic player.

"For the highest scorer in the team, I'll be granting you a special favor—anything you want. A signed basketball. An exclusive selfie. Just as long as it wouldn't be a hassle to my schedule, I would be able to provide it," he smirked.

"Although I doubt you guys would be able to beat us," he muttered.

With that, he dribbled the ball on the floor once more, startling some of the players.

"Everything clear?" Zeke asked, still looking into Kai's eyes.

Kai's gaze didn't waver as he responded.

"Crystal," he said.

Zeke smirked.

"Let's start."

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM