Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai groaned as he was bombarded by his system.

Why was it waking him up so early when his alarm hadn\'t even rung yet?

Kai shook his head to get rid of the notifications and focus back on sleeping.

He was drained yesterday, so he felt like he needed a lot of rest just in time for the opening of the Winter Cup!

Wait…the Winter Cup opening?

Just then, Kai sat straight on the bed at an otherworldly speed, rendering his bed sheets a mess.

He cursed under his breath as he opened his phone, only to see that it was already fifteen minutes past 8 AM!

He was supposed to be at the city\'s gymnasium by 6 AM!

Without saying a word and while ignoring his system, he ran to the bathroom to quickly freshen up. He then got dressed in his basketball uniform, and threw a jacket on top of it before racing out of his bedroom with his socks still folded on the edges.

"Kai," Grandma Bingbing greeted once she saw him. "What time did you get home yesterday? I waited for you all night!"

Kai turned to his grandmother in distress. "Why didn\'t you wake me up?"

"Well, I assume that you had a long night," Grandma smiled. "Besides, I did try to wake you up, but you kept muttering \'fuck off,\' so I decided to leave you alone."

He sighed in disbelief. He must have cursed his system in his dreams!

"I need to go now," he said, finally lacing his shoelaces before bolting out of their house.

"Your breakfast!" Grandma called. However, Kai was already out of the door in no time.

Grandma Bingbing shook her head in amusement before proceeding to eat breakfast by herself.

"More for me!" she giddily exclaimed.

***

Jilin City\'s Public Basketball Court

The gymnasium buzzed with anticipation as they waited for the beloved players to enter the court. The floors were newly polished and squeaky clean, which signified the start of another basketball-filled year.

The venue was tightly-packed, with only some seats left vacated. It seemed like more people were tuning in this year after a player from the city was able to make it into the Elite Five!

Surely, the crowd wasn\'t as large as compared to the Interhigh Preliminaries, but for the Winter Cup, where most people pass on watching, there was a significant increase in viewership!

The scent of popcorn, soda, and dumplings wafted through the air, adding to the excitement of the atmosphere.

In one corner of the gym, a group of students clad in red cheered enthusiastically. Below them was a group of cheerleaders who waved their gold pom poms high in the air, wanting to intimidate the other teams of their existence.

Across the court, students from different schools wore their respective school colors, wanting to show their support for their team.

Among the crowd, a young boy sat perched on his father\'s shoulders, his eyes wide with excitement as he looked at the shiny basketball in the middle of the court.

Meanwhile, a group of players\' girlfriends waited near the floors with sports drinks in their hands, wanting to hand it to their boyfriends who probably weren\'t even going to break a sweat because they mostly sat on the bench.

All in all, everyone\'s competitive spirit waved through the air, setting the excitement for the opening of the first high school basketball league of the academic year.

Outside the closed basketball court, there were 14 tables laid out—one for each different school for the banners they had prepared. This was a ritual during the opening of the games, as all teams in the city were gathered.

It was also a popularity contest of some sort.

Lina and Shang were the ones manning the table, yet it seemed like their table didn\'t need to be handled by someone at all!

"Let\'s just go in," Shang sighed. "No one\'s taking these banners! My handsome face is already on display for the people to see, yet they\'re still ignoring our banners. I think that says a lot for Shizi High\'s team…"

"...or maybe you just did a bad job at editing these banners," he said, looking at the pink, sparkly banner that Lina had meticulously prepared.

"Shut up," Lina groaned. "I worked really hard on this design. Look at all the other banners! We\'re surely going to stand out."

"Yeah," Shang deadpanned. "It\'ll be like a single sparkly pink banner in a sea of primary and secondary colors! We\'re almost like a pink eye virus!"

Lina clicked her tongue. "Well, you should have made them yourself if you were going to complain like this."

"No can do," Shang smiled. "I\'m monitoring the growth of my carrots these days. They seem to be growing really well, and I could not be more excited!"

Lina smiled in amusement before looking at the other tables that surrounded them. The table on their right was none other than the Feng Foxes, while the one on their left was Yin Yang High.

"And it\'s gone!" a shrill voice from Yin Yang\'s table exclaimed, capturing Lina\'s and Shang\'s attention.

"I\'m sorry, guys. The banners I\'ve made are all out," Fei, the new \'manager\' of Yin Yang High, said in a sweet tone, making the boys who were in line sigh in disappointment.

"Can we have your autograph instead?" they asked like rabid dogs. Lina even recognized some students from Shizi High queuing up for Yin Yang\'s banners.

"Who\'s she?" Shang asked.

"Their new manager," Lina said. "Although, she\'s more like a marketing tactic. We attended the same Junior Secondary School together. She\'s a year younger than me, but I don\'t recall ever seeing her in any of the basketball games."

"Well, Yin Yang has always been known for their pretty managers. I wish we would be known for that too," Shang teased, causing Lina to slap the back of her head.

"I don\'t have any paper with me," Fei regrettably informed. Then, she glanced at Shizi High\'s table, a sweet smile still on her face. However, underneath the facade, Lina could see a cunning look in her eyes.

"Can I have some of your banners?" she asked.

Lina frowned in confusion. "For what?"

"So, I can give them my autograph," she chimed.

Lina felt her eye twitch before holding onto the banners she had made.

"That\'s not our problem, is it?" she asked, trying to hold her contempt inside.

Fei pouted and turned away from the two of them.

"So stingy," she said.

"It\'s not like anyone\'s going to take those banners anyway."