Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Calvin shrugged, not really minding it.

"It's alright," he said. "This training facility seems dope."

From the get-go, Kai could already tell that he was a pretty chill guy.

"Well then," Calvin smiled. "Why don't we start with the training? Looks like you guys are already warmed up."

Calvin was about to place his bags down when Fenhua held onto his shoulders.

"Let's go back to the housing facility," Fenhua said, causing Calvin to frown.

"Why?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Coach told me to follow after you since they allowed us to train here."

Fenhua sighed and shook his head. "Let's just go. The boys are all tired," he said, not really wanting to accept their defeat.

The Shizi Dogs remained silent. However, they turned to each other with proud smiles.

Calvin, despite feeling confused, nodded in agreement.

He turned around and waved his hands at the Shizi Dogs.

"Nice to meet you, guys," he said. "It would be nice to play against each other one of these days."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yuze nodded. "We'll look forward to it."

Fenhua sighed and pushed Calvin out of the court before slamming the door close.

As soon as they were out of the court, Zeren spoke.

"Well, he's actually nice," he said.

"Calvin's nice," Yuze remarked. "He's not nice on the court, though."

Kai raised his eyebrows in intrigue.

"Who does he play like?" Jinping asked.

Yuze sighed, his eyes meeting with Kai for a split second before shaking his head.

"Like Calvin Wu," Yuze deadpanned. "Now, there's no time to waste. Let's start with the training."

Meanwhile, the Longyu Dragons still couldn't believe what had happened.

"This is the worst loss I've encountered in my entire life," Guri said.

"Well, you better get used to it," Riley teased. "It seems like you have a lot of catching up to do with that long-haired guy."

"Ah," Dafu sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Why did we lose against them?"

Calvin stopped walking as soon as he heard the word 'lose.'

"Lose?" he exclaimed. "Who did you lose against?"

Fenhua sighed and finally decided to tell Calvin the truth.

"The Shizi Dogs," he answered.

Calvin's eyes almost popped out of his eyes. "What? The Shizi Dogs? Their team is good, but there's no way that we would have been defeated. It's just not possible."

Fenhua clicked his tongue. "Well, nothing is impossible in this world. They beat us because they were better."

Calvin was silent for a few moments, still in disbelief, before shaking his head.

"Dang," he said. "I missed out on all of the fun. I should have been there."

There was a slight shift in Fenhua's expression. However, he was back to his usual poker face not long after.

"Is that the reason why they have the court right now?"

Fenhua nodded. "Partially," he said. "We're also pretty tired because of all the mishaps, so it's best we take a rest. We have an entire week in this camp anyway."

"Well, how did they play?" Calvin asked, now intrigued by the team that had beaten them.

"They were good," Riley acknowledged. "Although they still have some notable weaknesses, I think they work pretty well together. They have a pretty small number of competent players, though, so there's not a lot of rotation going on."

"That's true," Dafu chimed. "However, they were much better than the other teams we previously played with during the Winter Cup."

"Any notable players?" Calvin asked, always on the lookout for players in the rising.

As someone from the Elite Five, he had a title to keep.

Therefore, he also needed to keep other players in check.

"Well, Yuze's great as always," Dafu said. "I think most of us already know that."

"Hmm," Calvin hummed in agreement.

"There's also this one guy—Zeren, I think? His three-point shots aren't too bad. He gets tired easily, though, so his form is a hit-or-miss. He can improve more if he trains," he continued.

"Last but not least, we have Kai Guo," Riley said, staring directly at Guri, who clicked his tongue as soon as Kai's name was mentioned.

"Ah, right. The viral guy," Calvin said. "Seems pretty amateurish to me, though."

"That's what I thought prior to the game, too," Riley said. "Based on the clips I've watched online, his plays have all gone ridiculously well. However, most of them stemmed from sheer luck, so I wasn't sure of his skills."

"However, he proved me wrong," Riley continued. "I'm sure Guri felt it, too."

Guri clicked his tongue. "I just haven't warmed up yet," he muttered, causing his teammates to chuckle.

"Anyway, Kai plays a lot like Guri, so that will give you an insight," Dafu continued. "He's quite unexpected, and I'm not sure where his real abilities lie."

"Guys, I love that we're reflecting upon the game, but can we please go inside? I'm freezing," one of their teammates said, making the Longyu Dragons snap back to the reality that it was less than zero degrees outside.

"Let's go," Dafu said, also feeling the cold.

Meanwhile, Calvin stayed back, where Fenhua trudged behind their teammates.

Calvin respected his teammates' opinions. However, it couldn't be denied that he trusted Fenhua's judgment the most.

With that, he decided to repeat his question.

"Kai Guo," he started off.

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"What about him?" Fenhua asked.

"I'm just curious—does he really play like Guri?" he asked, his eyes filled with intrigue.

Fenhua's breath got caught in the back of his throat.

When Fenhua first saw Kai, he immediately thought of Guri. It seemed like the two of them fit each other well—down to their heights, to their body build, and to their playing style.

However, as the game went by, Fenhua realized that Kai was unlike his expectations.

Calvin stopped and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I know that look," he said. "You don't agree with the rest of our teammates."

Fenhua sighed. "Come on. Let's just go. I'm freezing."

Calvin held onto his arms. "Just tell me," he said. "Who does he remind you of?"

Fenhua pursed his lips and looked into Calvin's eyes.

You.

However, there was no way that he was saying that out loud.

Instead, he shook his head.

"No one," Fenhua said, removing Calvin's hold from her arm and walking to their housing facility.

"He's unlike every player I've ever met."