Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Did you have to drag me out so abruptly?" Kai exclaimed as he was practically carried away by his friends.

"You wanted to celebrate with them," Jet pointed out. "Kun texted me that dinner will be served early for us."

"But I didn't even get to take my slipper with me," Kai exasperatedly said. "What am I going to use for the rest of our stay here now?"

"You'll live," Jet smiled. "It's just a slipper."

Andy chuckled and patted Kai's arm. "I have a spare pair if you like."

Kai nodded. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Anyway," Andy continued. "That was so freaking cool! Did you improve once again?"

Kai pursed his lips as he looked at his system.

[Unofficial win: +5 XP]

[Current level: Master (267/300)]

[New skill acquired: Sticky Hands]

Then, his eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. Not only did his XP increase, but he also managed to snag one of their skills.

"Sweet," he muttered.

"I honestly don't know what's going on with Kai," Jet said. "All I know is that I'm glad that we're on the same team. If I have a rival like him, then I would feel like shit all the time."

"Well, it's not like I already don't feel like shit most of the time, but you get what I mean," he added.

"Kai wouldn't even consider you as a rival," Shang said, chuckling to himself.

Jet turned to him with one eyebrow raised. "I know the guy with the torn ACL ain't speaking."

Shang looked overly offended, causing the group to burst into laughter. As they arrived at their living facility, they continued to laugh and tease each other.

However, they all came to an abrupt halt when they saw that all of their teammates, along with Coach Muchen and Lina, were already there, appearing concerned.

The four of them froze as the others scrutinized their appearances.

Lina's eyes even narrowed at Kai's bare foot, causing him to clear his throat and hide it behind his leg.

Yuze stood and leaned his palms against the table, appearing like an officer interrogating a bunch of suspects.

"Where have you guys been?" he asked, his voice deeper than usual.

The four of them gulped and nudged at each other. Jet nervously chuckled and took the initiative to make an excuse.

"We've been in our room," he smiled. "You know…cleaning."

Yuze's eyes narrowed further. "I went to your room, and it was empty…and smelled like diarrhea. You didn't clean anything."

Jet pursed his lips and turned to the other three for help.

"You didn't do anything unauthorized, did you?" Lina asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Like sneaking inside the main dorms?"

That made the boys even more nervous. Yuze was scary when he got angry, but Lina was the scariest when she was upset—especially when you go against her word.

With that, Andy scrambled to come up with an excuse.

"N—no," he stammered. "We just…we went outside for a…smoke!"

The other three looked at Andy with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted within the team.

"Why did you say that?" Shang whispered.

"You guys smoked?" Coach Muchen exclaimed, looking at them with furrowed brows.

"No!" Jet quickly denied.

"Then, what did you do?" Yuze asked, also appearing angry.

"I told you—we went out to smoke!" Andy exclaimed, still nervous.

Shang shook his head. "We went to the main dorms."

Jinping shook his head. "So, you guys went to the main dorms to smoke? I'm disappointed."

"No!" Jet defended once again. However, they knew that they were already in too deep.

Kai shook his head and massaged his temples.

"Goodness," he muttered. "Is anybody normal here?"

***

Meanwhile, as dinner was announced in the main building, the athletes made their way to the large dining hall.

Yiming and Chunlei were sitting at the same table when someone suddenly pulled the chair next to Chunlei.

They halted their conversation and looked up, only to see Qiang with his tray. He had a bashful look on his face, but he played it off coolly.

"I'm sitting here," he said, not giving the two of them a chance to answer as he sat beside them.

Yiming and Chunlei turned to each other with surprise.

"Why aren't you with your teammates?" Chunlei bluntly asked.

Qiang clicked his tongue as he shoved a pork bun inside his mouth. "I'm not close with them since Kris already graduated."

"Oh," Yiming muttered. Before he could comment on anything else, the seat in front of them was quickly occupied by none other than Zedong.

Yiming chuckled as soon as he saw him. "Now, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Zedong smirked as he sipped from his cola. "Why? Can't I eat with you guys?"

"You can," Yiming said. "But, shouldn't you be with your team?"

Zedong shook his head. "My closest friends had all graduated. I just came here because the coach insisted that I'm the best player to come out from the Xing Stars. He wants me to be a good example to the younger players before I officially graduate."

Yiming chuckled. "Are you going to play in college?"

"Nope," Zedong said. "I already have my eyes set on becoming a Kindergarten teacher."

The other three turned to each other in surprise.

"Well, that's something I didn't expect," Qiang muttered as he continued to observe Zedong.

"If you were my teacher, then I don't think I'd be able to concentrate," he added. "I would be too scared." Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

Zedong shook his head in amusement. "Coming from you? I bet your Kindergarten teacher was afraid of you."

Qiang clicked his tongue in annoyance but didn't deny Zedong's accusation.

The four of them, despite being from different teams, ate in comfortable silence.

However, their silence was once again interrupted when two people arrived at their table—one that they didn't expect at all.

Some even turned to their table in curiosity, wondering how such a combination came to be.

They lifted their heads and were met with a smiling face and a frowning face—very contrasting.

Chunlei's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Can we sit here?"

Yiming scratched the back of his neck.

"Umm, sure, Chaoxing."