Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Chapter 272 Huishi Alligators vs. Shizi Dogs (4)

The buzzer was heard, and the teams went back to their respective benches.

60-39.

The Huishi Alligators were silent, in disbelief of such a large gap.

"21 points," Qiang muttered, feeling anger consume him.

Kris, as an older figure, turned to him with concern and squeezed his shoulder.

"You're tired, right?" he asked. "You should take a break for the third quarter."

"I'm not tired," Qiang said. "I can still play. I need to stop him!"

Kris sighed and turned to the bench of the Shizi Dogs. "You're going to sit the next quarter out. Kai's probably not going to play, too."

Qiang raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. "I'm going in if he's there."

Kris shook his head at the first-year player's stubbornness.

Meanwhile, the Shizi Dogs couldn't shake off their smiles as they went back to their bench.

Kai sat on the bench and drank some water when Jet suddenly pushed him, causing some of the water to spill from his mouth and onto his clothes.

That led the team to burst into laughter.

Kai glared at the older player. "What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed.

Jet smiled and wrapped one arm around Kai's shoulder before ruffling his hair.

"When you told us that we can depend on you, it seems like you weren't lying."

The annoyance on Kai's face was replaced with a smirk.

"Of course," he said. "What did I tell you, guys?"

"Cocky bastard," Jinping said. "Anyway, what did you take? Have you really been taking steroids?"

Kai clicked his tongue. "Of course not!" he exclaimed.

Jinping shook his head and clenched his fists. "I fear that I'm losing Eva the moment that she sees you."

Kun chuckled. "Oh, I think you already lost her, bud."

"Seriously, though," Kun said. "What did you do, Kai? Even Yuze can't keep up with you sometimes."

Yuze's face hardened while Renren chuckled at him.

"I can, though," he muttered.

"I really didn't do anything special," he said. "I just trained like you, guys—probably more than what is recommended."

Jinping bit his fist and looked up at the ceiling.

"I trained too, though. I see that the universe has favoritism," he muttered.

"I also didn't expect you to be so good! I thought you were a noob when we first met," Andy said.

Kai shook his head. "Gee, thanks."

"I don't buy Kai's answer," Jet said with narrowed eyes, appearing suspicious.

"Then, don't," Kai said, sticking out his tongue at the older player.

Jet clicked his tongue. "Then, if you're not going to share with us your basketball secrets—why don't you share with us the secrets of your face?" he excitedly asked.

"The secrets of my face?" Kai asked, confused.

"Yeah," Jet chimed. "Who's your plastic surgeon? If he can make me look like you, then I would love to have that procedure, too."

Kai slapped the back of Jet's head while the others shook their heads at his ridiculous comment.

"I didn't do anything," Kai said. "You saw our house. Do you think I can afford plastic surgery?"

Jet massaged the back of his head, which was already feeling sore.

"Besides, did you think he had time to get plastic surgery when we saw him every day without wounds?" Lina asked, annoyance heard in her voice.

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"Why are you the one annoyed?" Jet muttered. "And who knows? His bangs were as long as the line to Suzy Mei's heart. He could hide it from us if he wanted to."

Then, Jet sighed. "So, that means that you're naturally handsome."

"It's so unfair," he said, causing some of the players to nod in agreement.

Coach Muchen smiled in amusement as the players conversed.

"As much as I would love for you to continue your conversation, let's talk about the next quarter," he said.

The players focused on their coach, bringing back their game faces.

"Kai, I'm taking you off this quarter," he said.

Kai's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm fine, though," he said. "I don't even feel tired."

Coach Muchen nodded. "I know that," he said. "You're still sweating significantly less than the rest of the players. However, Lina requested that you don't play for three consecutive quarters."

"Why not?" Kai asked with puppy eyes, making Lina hold her breath.

At that moment, she almost caved into what he wanted.

However, she shook her head. "You're still recovering from an injury," she said.

"Honestly, I'm still surprised with how energetic you are, considering you just got hit by a car."

Kai sighed and nodded in agreement.

With that, the referee blew the whistle, and Mark Li's voice rang through the venue once again.

"Half-time is finished!" he exclaimed.

"We currently have a 21-point lead in favor of the Shizi Dogs."

"That's still so crazy for me," Ailun said. "How much was our gap with the Alligators last year?"

"Ten points," Max answered, his expression serious.

"Oh shit," Ailun and Fabin said in unison, feeling more disbelief as they internalized Max's answer.

"I feel strange," Qiang muttered as he wiped his sweat away with a towel. His heart was beating unusually fast, and although the half-time consisted of five minutes, he still felt the strain from the first half.

His breaths were shallow, and he wiped sweat from his forehead as he tried to regain his composure.

To his relief, Kai decided to sit out the third quarter.

This decision, however, did not sit well with many of Kai's fangirls.

As the other players made their way to the court, some girls who were near them weren't afraid to voice out their disappointment.

"Come on, Kai! We want to see you play!" a group of girls called out, waving enthusiastically from the bleacher area. Kai, sipping water, looked puzzled by the attention, unsure how to react.

Kun, also sitting the third quarter out, shook his head in amusement.

"You have so many fans now," he said, nudging Kai's shoulder.

Kai shook his head. "They just want to see me play."

Then, he gathered up his jersey from the hem and lifted it up to wipe some of the sweat on his temples.

Lina froze as soon as she caught a glimpse of Kai's body.

However, she wasn't the only one amazed.

"Holy abs!"