Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

The others, who were reluctant to join the Saturday training, became energetic as soon as Lina announced the benefit of the game.

"Let's do this!" Kun excitedly said as he stretched his limbs. He was right at the free-throw line, so he felt excited to beat his teammates and leave the court.

"It's unfair!" Andy exclaimed. "Some positions are more advantageous than others. Kun has the best spot," he complained.

Jet clicked his tongue. "You're literally next to Kun! Look at me and Kai. We're in the corner," he said.

Andy chuckled sheepishly before sticking his tongue out at Jet.

Lina smirked. "You picked your places, so that's where you're going to be."

"Now, let's begin!" she exclaimed, passing the ball to Jet.

Jet sighed and still tried his best to shoot, but much to his dismay, the ball went out of bounds, only touching the side of the backboard.

"Out!" Lina exclaimed, and he was bombarded with teases from his teammates.

Jet clicked his tongue and shook his head. "What was I even expecting? It's impossible to make such a shot."

Lina chuckled and gestured for him to go to the side while the others tried to shoot.

Yuze, who was by his side, sank the shot despite the disadvantageous position.

Renren, however, failed by a few margins, which led to his elimination.

"Kun, you got this!" Jet cheered from the side. "If you don't sink this one, then you're just stupid."

Kun scoffed and positioned himself for shooting. "Of course! What do you think of me? I'm not stu—"

The ball circled around the rim before falling out of bounds, causing the court to turn silent.

Then, in a millisecond, it was filled with laughter.

"What the heck? Jinping exclaimed. "You didn't even get that one in?"

Kun pursed his lips and scratched the back of his head.

Lina shook her head. "As much as it is amusing, you really need to work on your free throws, Kun," she said.

"It might cost us the game next time."

Kun smiled and nodded. "Yes, boss. I'll take that into mind."

Kun went to join the eliminated players, where he was once again teased to death.

Andy was the next one, and as expected, he shot the ball effortlessly.

Jinping also managed to get the ball in despite his initial nervousness.

As it got to Kai, the others started betting whether he was going to make it or not.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Jet asked.

Kun hummed. "I don't know. The angle is ambiguous. Not even pro players manage to get those shots in."

"True," Jet said. "But, it's a mid-range shot. Kai's really good at those."

"I agree," Shang said. "I think he'll be able to make it."

"You're saying that based on what grounds?" Jet asked.
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Shang shrugged. "Instincts."

Kai dribbled the ball and positioned himself to shoot. Lina observed his form and noted that it had, indeed, improved since the last time she paid attention to him.

"Good," she muttered. "He just needs to get the angle right."

Kai let out a deep breath as he aimed to shoot the ball.

While the others were shooting, he came up with ways to sink the ball from where he was.

Since he was in line with the backboard on the side of the court, he needed to focus on several key aspects.

First, he needed to position himself at a precise angle relative to the backboard, ensuring the ball would bounce into the hoop. Then, he should aim for the ball to hit the corner of the square on the backboard instead of aiming straight.

This will offer a predictable angle for it to bounce into the hoop.

With those in mind, Kai finally released the ball, a small smile appearing on his face when the ball precisely hit the corner of the square.

"That's right," he muttered.

The others held their breaths, feeling like Kai was about to make the impossible shot in.

And he did.

"He actually did it!" Shang exclaimed, standing from his seat.

Kun turned to him with amusement. "You were the one who believed he would make it in the first place."

"It's still ridiculous how he made the shot, though," he muttered.

Kai smirked as the ball made it in.

"What the heck!" Andy exclaimed. "That's a cheat code."

"Nah, that was amazing!" Jet chimed from the side. "Kai deserves to go home just because of that."

Lina chuckled. "As much as the shot is cool, we need to follow the rules."

"He's such an annoying shooter," Jinping said to Andy. "I recall him shooting in ridiculous angles during the game with the Alligators, too."

Andy nodded in agreement.

"The first round is done!" Lina exclaimed. "The players left are much smaller than I thought. We really need to work on your shooting," she muttered.

"Oh no," Kun said.

"What?" Shang asked, turning to him.

"This means that it's going to be a long day," Jet answered. "I really need to be exempted from this training!"

"It's already too late for that," Shang chimed.

Jet sighed and slumped on the bench.

With Yuze, Andy, Jinping, and Kai left in the game, they switched positions among themselves.

Yuze and Kai exchanged places while Jinping and Andy did.

"Here," Lina said, passing the ball to Yuze.

Yuze pursed his lips as he observed where Kai had previously shot the ball.

"He made it in from here?" he muttered.

Yuze shot the ball, but as expected, the ball bounced off on the rim.

The others exclaimed in disappointment since he was pretty close.

The game continued, and the three other contestants made it in.

However, Jinping was eliminated in the next round when he succeeded Kai's previous shooting spot.

With that, Andy and Kai became the finalists of the game.

"This game is going to take forever," Jet complained.

"Yeah," Renren chimed. "Both of them are near the middle, too. I'm afraid we're going to wait until lunchtime."

The others agreed.

However, after Andy made his shot in, Kai appeared hesitant to shoot the ball.

"Kai," Lina called for his name.

"Yeah," he muttered, finally positioning himself to shoot.

Andy watched him intently, already aware of Kai's shooting power. He was prepared to face him in a showdown!

However, as Kai released the ball, Andy's eyes widened when the trajectory was much lower than that of the ring.

"What is he doing?" Shang asked. "Is he seriously going to miss the easiest shot?"

The ball didn't make it in, and the others shook their heads as the game came to an end.

"Lucky Andy," Jet said.

"Yeah, lucky him," Shang chimed.

Kun turned to him in amusement. "You're not part of the team, so you don't even have to be here!"

Shang smiled. "Oh, right."

Meanwhile, Andy went to Kai with a confused expression.

"What was that?" Andy asked.

Kai innocently looked at him.

"What was what?" he asked.

"THAT!" Andy exclaimed. "You could have easily made it."

"Oh," Kai chuckled. "Yeah, I would have."

Andy tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Why didn't you, then?"

Kai smiled at him.

"It's because I wanted to train."