Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"This feels like Deja Vu," Jet said with narrowed eyes as he looked at their living situation in the smaller building next to the main one.

"Oh, come on," Lina said. "It's not that bad."

"I agree," Shang said. "The place we had last time was literally traumatizing. This is definitely better."

"That's because it is," Lina said. "It's also expensive."

"Why can't we go with the other teams, though?" Jet whined. "I want to see Jian Niu when he arrives!"

"That's because we ran out of slots," Lina said. "This place is jam-packed because of the break. They only allow up to seven basketball teams in the main hall and three teams right here for a total of ten. This facility doesn't just cater to basketball players; you have to know that."

"Besides, we didn't know that we were going to get a decent amount of money, so we weren't able to reserve this place early."

"Aside from that," Coach Muchen added. "Our school is only giving us a small amount of sponsorship. We can't afford to stay there, and I didn't want you bringing out your own money just for this."

The boys turned to each other before nodding in understanding.

"Perks of being from a small, unknown school!" Andy exclaimed. "But hey, at least we're still here. Let's cheer up."

Kai shrugged and looked around the place. "I don't know about you, guys, but this place is nice. I'm not complaining."

Lina smiled at him. "Thanks, Kai."

For a brief second, they made eye contact, and it seemed as if their cheeks reddened simultaneously. Renren and Yuze turned to each other with knowing looks while Kun quickly cleared his throat.

"Let's unpack!" he exclaimed. "We only have one hour before we get straight to training."

The others nodded and went to their rooms. Like the main dorms, each room was designated for four people. However, instead of four separate beds, these ones were bunk beds.

"I'm taking the bottom one," Kai said, planting his luggage on the bottom bunk since he didn't like high places. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

Jet scoffed and climbed to the top bunk. "For someone who jumps so high, it's weird that you're afraid of heights."

"It makes me feel better, though," Shang said. "I have something I'm better at than Kai!"

Kai shook his head in amusement as he arranged his items. Meanwhile, Andy came out of the bathroom, causing all of them to groan.

"What the heck is that? A bomb?" Jet exclaimed, covering his nose.

"Sorry!" Andy sheepishly said. "I've been holding my urge since the flight."

"Clearly," Shang said. "I hate you, man. Our room is going to stink for a while. What did you even eat?"

Kai silently covered his nose as they continued arguing.

Just then, they heard a bang from next door.

"Keep quiet, will you?" Renren exclaimed from the other room. "We're trying to take a nap over here."

They pursed their lips, still with their noses covered.

"Well, this room isn't shit-proof AND soundproof, I guess."

***

Their training had finally finished, and fortunately, it only took two hours.

Coach Muchen and Lina decided to cut the training short since it appeared like the boys were tired. They also had the court to themselves since the other teams hadn't arrived yet.

"It's still the afternoon," Coach Muchen said to the tired players. "I know that you guys want to rest, so you may go to your rooms."

"Dinner will be served around 7 PM, so go down to the shared kitchen by that time. We'll be resuming our heavy training by tomorrow, so be prepared."

The boys nodded and went to their rooms.

Jet was the first one to enter their room and quickly covered his nose. As his roommates entered, they also did the same.

Andy's bomb mingled with the scent of their sweat, so it was almost as if they were in hell.@@novelbin@@

"So, this is what it smells like," Andy said. "I didn't notice in the beginning."

"What kind of shit lingers for this long?" Jet exclaimed, but Shang quickly covered his mouth. "Don't be so loud. You know these walls aren't soundproof."

Kai shook his head, still with his nose covered. "They don't have great ventilation either. Let's open the door and wait for it to go."

However, just as he said that, Yuze came and stood in their doorway. "I knew I was smelling something strange. Close your doors, or you'll infect the entire hallway."

With that, he slammed their door shut, leaving the four roommates to suffer in silence.

"Well, did you guys know?" Andy asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "The nose gets accustomed to scents pretty quickly. So, once you are exposed to a certain scent for a certain amount of time, the nose will deem it as normal."

"That's why people with body odor don't know that they have body odor!" he excitedly said.

"Yeah," Kai deadpanned. "And that's why you don't know that your shit is the worst scent in the world."

Jet and Shang turned to each other with amused expressions, enjoying that Kai was joining their banter.

"I'm sorry!" Andy exclaimed. "If it makes you feel any better, I smell it too."

"I think my nose is failing me because it's been almost ten minutes since we've been here, and I still smell it."

Shang groaned as he plopped onto his bed. "Oh, I can't take this anymore. Why don't we just hang in the lounge?"

"The lounge is boring," Andy said.

"So you'd rather stay here and sniff your poop instead?" Shang deadpanned.

Andy was about to retort when Jet suddenly stood from his bed and suggested something. The other boys turned to him with curiosity.

"I have a better idea," he said.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stayed silent for a while to create some suspense.

"Just say it," Shang said after a while, massaging the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Well, aren't you guys curious about what the main dorms look like?"

"Of course we are," Andy said. "I saw some photos online. It has a whole court inside! Aside from the shared courts on the open grounds, they have one that appears very luxurious!"

Kai nodded, too.

Jet glanced at his watch. "It's just 15 minutes past 4," he smirked. "We still have plenty of time."

"Plenty of time for what?" Shang asked. "To suffer from this scent?"

Jet shook his head.

"To sneak into the main building."