Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Don't forget any of your belongings," Lina said as the guys loaded the van.

"Everything's here!" Shang exclaimed. "Let's just go, please. I'm exhausted."

Jet glared at him as he stretched his limbs in the cramped van. "You didn't even train, idiot! Stop complaining."

Shang sheepishly chuckled. "Ah, right," he said. "Well, let's still go. I bet my carrots and potatoes miss me."

Kai, being the last one in line, waited for the others to load their bags into the back of the van.

As he waited for his turn, he couldn't forget about the conversation he had with Lina.

He was potentially even better than Yuze.

That was huge news for him—especially after coming from the noob ranking.

He looked at his status window and saw that his rank had increased considerably in the training camp.

[Current rank: Elite (81)]

He possibly only needed a few more days before he would advance to a new level!

Kai definitely wanted to upgrade his rank just in time for the Interhigh Preliminaries.

He didn't know what kind of preparations the other teams did, but it was safe to assume that they had all drastically improved, too.

"Kai, make it fast!" Lina called, making Kai snap back to reality.

He placed his bag in the back of the van before shutting it close.

Then, he went inside but stopped when he heard his name being called.

"Kai!"

He turned around and saw Calvin running toward him. His eyebrows raised in surprise. The other players also looked at the two of them before shaking their heads.

"I can't believe those two are close now," Jet said.

Shang shrugged. "Well, they have similar playing styles. Calvin's still better, but I could definitely see that Kai could keep up with him."

"It's a shame that we didn't get to play against each other," Calvin started off.

Kai nodded in agreement. "There's still a next time," he said. "Besides, we'd meet each other soon, right? In the Nationals?"

Calvin smirked before nodding. "Yeah. Don't improve so much until then."

Kai mirrored his smirk. "I could say the same thing to you."

"Well, I just wanted to bid farewell. The team was pretty disappointed to be dispatched here in Shenyang after planning to go to Shanghai, but you guys actually made it fun. Let's play together soon!" he said, turning to the other players.

"Will do," Yuze said from inside the car. "Now, if you excuse us, we have to go."

Calvin nodded and waved goodbye as Kai entered the car. With one last nod of acknowledgment, Kai shut the door.

With that, the van started driving back to their humble hometown.

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Kai couldn't help but glance back at Calvin as the van made its way out of the training facility.

"That dude's really nice," Jet said. "He's the kindest Elite Five member I've ever met."

"Yeah, Calvin's pretty chill," Shang said. "It would have been nicer if we played with him, though."

"There's always a next time," Lina said. "Kai already has a gist of how he plays, so let's hear from him if we ever play with them again."

"We'll definitely play with them again," Kai said with a determined gaze.

The four-hour drive continued, and the Shizi Dogs filled the time with songs, games, and useless conversations.

Zeren, who was right beside Kai, seemed quieter than usual.

Kai frowned and nudged his shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.

However, Zeren didn't even bother looking at him, making Kai even more confused.

"Let him be," Shang whispered by his side. "He's heartbroken."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kai's eyebrows raised in intrigue, but he didn't pry further since Zeren appeared to be in a really sour mood.

As they neared Jilin City, Lina couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

"I enjoyed the trip so much that I forgot about what's going to happen these next two weeks," she said.

Jinping turned to her out of curiosity.

"Huh? What will happen these next two weeks?" he asked.

Shang and Jet knowingly gazed at each other while Yuze also let out a deep sigh.

"It's recruiting week," Lina finally said, confusing the first-year players.

Kai, on the other hand, already had a gist of what the week could mean since he had witnessed how the Huolan Guardians operated their team first-hand.

"Recruiting week?" Jinping and Zeren asked in unison.

"Well, as a lot of people had said before, the Winter Cup is kind of like the warm-up before the Interhigh Preliminaries," Lina started off.

"However, this is also a time for schools to look for potential players," she continued.

"Potential players?" Zeren asked. "Potential players for what?"

"For their own teams," Lina responded. "Smaller schools don't usually do this. Shizi High only ever does this for younger students—those in Junior Secondary School."

"However, bigger schools like Feng Arts, Xing Academy, and Yin Yang Academy scout certain players from smaller teams so that they would join their respective teams," she said.

Kai's eyebrows furrowed. He was also familiar with this phenomenon. The Huolan Guardians had never been the victim of such as they were always the ones who recruited 'star players' from smaller schools in hopes of making an even bigger star out of them.

"What the heck?" Jinping asked. "Is that even allowed?"

Yuze nodded. "The registration for the Interhigh Preliminaries isn't until the second week of the start of the academic year. This gives the recruiters more time to convince players to transfer schools and join their team."

"And this actually works?" Zeren asked with a frown.

"It surprisingly happens quite often," Shang answered. "It happened before with us, too. Last year, we lost a player to the Daxue Dolphins. Although, I believe he still ended up as bench player."

"However, it was a shame," Jet continued. "The team would have been stronger if he was here last year or maybe even this year."

"Hmm," Lina hummed. "Fortunately, bigger schools don't usually take an interest in us."

"However," she muttered, looking through the rearview mirror and seeing Kai's reflection.

"I wish that's still the case."

"I really do."

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