Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

You know how people say that food tasted better when it was free?

Whoever came up with that statement was definitely onto something.

On the other hand, Coach Muchen felt like he couldn't taste anything from what he had ordered. He pursed his lips as he watched the young group of boys devour the feast before them.

"Goodness," he muttered, fearing for his wallet.

Yuze nudged his shoulder. "Don't worry, coach," he said. "We can split the bill."

Muchen's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I can't do that. You're still a student."

"His allowance is amazing," Kun exclaimed. "He might have a bad relationship with his father, but he gets a lot of money—probably a lot more than you do!"

Yuze nudged Kun's side, causing the meat fall from his mouth.

The others looked at him with disgust while Coach Muchen shook his head. "I really can't do that."

"I'll split the bill," Yuze insisted. "I have way too much money, and I don't know what to spend it on."

Muchen's eyebrows raised in surprise. Then, he absentmindedly nodded.

"Must be nice," he muttered.

The group continued eating, all of them in celebratory moods.

Meanwhile, Kai was busy looking at his system.

[+40 XP]

[Current level: Grandmaster (204/300)]

[New skill: Distant Dunk]

[Description: You can perform a dunk from at most six meters away from the ring!]

He nodded to himself. If this kept up, then he would be able to reach a new level before the quarter-finals started.

He just needed to stay safe until then.

"We need to be careful for the next games," Coach Muchen said, capturing the team's attention. "I know that you guys are eating, but would it be alright to talk about the upcoming games?"

"Shoot away," Yuze said, leaving the other players no choice but to listen to their coach.

Jet sighed and placed down the slab of meat as he turned to their coach.

"Well, we have beaten our strongest opponent in the group phase," Muchen started off.

The others nodded excitedly.

"That means that we can only go up from here," he continued. "However, even with the Dragons' defeat, that doesn't mean that we won't have any formidable opponents left."

"The next five games would test our endurance. The next four are with relatively 'easy' teams, and by that, they would be beaten by the Longyu Dragons or the Yin Yang Knights without much struggle."

"However, the last team is something that nearly all teams had struggled against—even the Elite Five."

Kai leaned against the table.

"The Keystone Giants," he muttered along with Coach Muchen.

The others groaned at the mention of their name. Despite them not placing higher than fifth place for the Nationals, their names still sparked fear among the crowd.

"Well, of course," Shang groaned. "What those guys lack in skill, they lack in height. I heard Fenhua telling Calvin that he won't play with the Keystone Giants." Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire

"The Keystone Giants are Fenhua's greatest enemies," Yuze pointed out. "The height difference is too much."

"That's right," Coach Muchen said. "They are called that name for a reason. I believe it's a requirement for their team to be at least six feet tall."

The others murmured in speculation.

"However, that's not the scariest part," Muchen continued. "It's the fact that their shortest player is the same height as Kai."

The Shizi Dogs turned to Kai with wide eyes. Even Kai himself was surprised. He was already considered tall in their country, especially in their age range. What kind of people were in the Keystone Giants?

"I think you may also know this, but Keystone Academy is an international school," Muchen added. "So, most of their players are from different countries."

"Crap," Andy muttered. "Renren, you're in charge of speaking with them."

Renren clicked his tongue. "I was raised here!"

Yuze shook his head. "The last game, right?" he asked. "That's quite bad for us."

The others turned to their captain.

"Why?" Jet asked.

"Fatigue," Yuze said, causing them to nod in understanding.

"Yes," Coach Muchen agreed. "That's why I said it's going to be a battle of endurance. For the next few days, you will have a game every day. Quite inhumane, if you ask me, but they want to go through the group phase as quickly as possible."

"With that said, our last game is with the Keystone Giants—and with the physical difference, it's really going to be a tough game for us."

They all turned silent, suddenly not having an appetite to eat.

"Was this your plan all along, coach?" Jet asked. "You want us to lose our appetites so you won't have to pay much, huh?"

Coach Muchen chuckled. "You got me there," he joked.

Jet clicked his tongue. "Well, you're not going to stop me! I'm still going to eat to my heart's content. Those giants will see how smaller peppers are spicier!"

The others rejoiced, agreeing with Jet and proceeding to eat more.

Kai, however, couldn't shake off the bad feeling inside his chest.

"Giants, huh?" he muttered.

He placed down his fork and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Lina noticed his quiet behavior, so she nudged his shoulder.

"You alright?" she asked ever-so-softly.

His heart softened a little bit as he nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I just remembered something from the Giants before."

Lina's eyes showed a flash of recognition.

"Is it that player? From two years ago?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah," he muttered.

Lina pursed her lips together. "Well, we need to be more careful for that game. Do you think we would be able to handle it?" she asked, suddenly sounding nervous.

Kai felt her nerves, so he smiled, wanting to comfort her.

"Yeah," he muttered. "We beat the Longyu Dragons. We can beat the Keystone Giants."

Lina sighed in relief. "Yeah," she muttered. "We can."

However, as she turned away, Kai's smile slightly fell.

Since the beginning, his physical aspect was something he didn't doubt. It was one of his strengths. So, all he worried about was his skills. He felt that if he could push himself harder, then he would be able to do it.@@novelbin@@

However, a significant difference in physical aspects?

It was something that was out of his control.