Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Dang, he doesn't know us? And I thought that we're becoming more popular," Jet whispered by Kai's side as Yuze continued making small talk with Chaoxing.

"That's only in Jilin and the nearby cities," Andy whispered back. "This is Shanghai. I bet the low-tier players don't even know about us here."

"A girl from Juren High came for Kai, though," Renren said.

"That's different," Jet said. "She must be a true basketball fan if she discovered Kai when she's from Shanghai."

"Well, anyway," Chaoxing said, clearing his throat and finally cutting their conversation. "I have to go now. I bet my coach and the other players are already waiting for me."

"Sure," Yuze said. "We'll also look forward to playing with you, guys."

Chaoxing nodded and hoisted his bag onto his shoulders before giving each one of them a friendly smile.

As he walked away from the four teams, they couldn't help but discuss the absence of Juren's star player.

"Where is he, though?" Jet asked loudly. "I wanted to take a photo of him."

"Me too," Renren said.

Jet shook his head in amusement. "Have some dignity, man. You're the same age as him, and you want to take a picture like a fan?"

Renren clicked his tongue and started fiddling with his fingers. "It doesn't take away the fact that I admire him as a player, though."

"Not going to lie, I want to see him up close, too," Yiming said. "I've only ever seen him in games."

"I hope he comes soon," Zedong said, joining the conversation.

Just then, Chaoxing turned around and spoke, capturing their attention once more.

"Don't worry," he said, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Jian will come soon," he continued.

They turned to each other with intrigued and excited expressions.

Shang raised his hand. ''When would that be?" he asked.

Chaoxing continued to smile as he shrugged, leaving the others confused.

"I don't know," he said. "However, he'll come for sure. You'll feel it when he's here."

Then, he glanced at his phone before muttering something under his breath. "Well, I really have to go now! My teammates want to play a game."

With that, he waved his hand and walked at a faster pace toward the door.

Chaoxing finally arrived at their housing facility, feeling satisfied with the amenities inside.

"I missed this place," he said, capturing his teammates' attention.

"There you are," Jimmy said, his tongue. "Where have you been? You're the one who has the key card to our room."

"Sorry," he chuckled, bringing it out of his pocket. "I nearly forgot. Where's coach?"

"He's already in his room since you took so long," Jimmy deadpanned.

Chaoxing shook his head in amusement as he opened the door for his two other roommates. Their room was supposed to be for four, but they reserved a spot for Jian in the event that he came.

"Well, I had a talk with those guys. One of the teams is the Feng Foxes," he said with a smile.

Jimmy placed his bag on the floor before plopping onto the bed. "You've seen Chunlei, then?"

"Yup," Chaoxing said. "He's got a good aura. I want to play with him, but their team is not going to the Nationals this year."

Jimmy's eyebrows raised in surprise. "They're not? Who's going then?"

"The Shizi Dogs," he briefly answered.

Jimmy frowned. "The Shizi Dogs? Who the heck are those?"

Chaoxing shrugged. "I didn't know, too," he said. "However, I talked with their captain, and he seems pretty nice. Quite professional, too."

Jimmy clicked his tongue. "Well, what did you tell him?"

"That we're looking forward to playing a game with them," Chaoxing responded as he continued unpacking his things.

Jimmy scoffed, an amused expression replacing his usually annoyed one. "Why would you even tell them that? "We're not going to play with them any time soon. I bet they'd be eliminated before they could even play with us."

"I know," Chaoxing smirked.

"Then, why did you give them false hope?"

Chaoxing turned around with an amused smile.

"To be polite," he answered.

***

"Dang, Jian Niu has his own schedule, huh?" Jet asked. "He's in an entirely different league."

"That he is," Chunlei said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "He's already a mini-celebrity all over the country. Even all his social media accounts have at least a hundred thousand followers."

"Must be nice," Shang longingly said.

"However, he doesn't practice," Chunlei continued.

They turned to him with raised eyebrows. Kai, too, was intrigued.

"Isn't that only a rumor, though?" he asked.

"I thought so in the beginning, too," Chunlei responded. "However, it seems like it's true. He doesn't train along with his teammates. After junior secondary school, he didn't enroll, and that was when others have said that he honed his skills."

"He trained with his team regularly for a year, but then it gradually decreased. I heard he only stays for a maximum of fifteen minutes for their daily training now."

Kai and the others frowned.

"How is he so good when he doesn't train, then?" Kai asked, still confused.

Chunlei shrugged, not knowing the answer.

Coach Ben sighed and cut their conversation short.

"Some people are just born to become basketball stars," he said. "Sometimes, you cannot beat hard work with talent."

Kai's frown deepened at Coach Ben's conclusion. However, before he could argue, Coach Ben had already instructed the Feng Foxes to go to their respective rooms.

"Let's go, too," the coach of the Alligators said. Discover exclusive tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"We're heading out now," Coach Yixing said.

Coach Muchen nodded and faced the Shizi Dogs.

"Well, it's also time for us to go to our quarters. I'm going to allow you guys to rest for an hour, and after that, we'll head straight to the training grounds."

The Shizi Dogs nodded and were about to follow after the other teams.

However, Lina's voice stopped them.

"Where are you guys going?" she asked. "That's the main entrance."

"Yeah," Jet said. "That's where we're going to enter, duh?"

Lina shook her head. "That's not where we're going, though."

"We're going here," she said, pointing to a much smaller entrance just adjacent to the large building.

"Eh?"