Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"University of Shanghai?" Andy muttered. "They're college students, right?"

The boys turned silent before collectively sighing in frustration.

"Duh," Jet retorted. "Goodness. Why do you always say stupid shit?"

Andy clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his neck.

"It's just a surprise," he defended himself.

"It's not," Shang said. "Lina told us that this place hosts high school and college teams. It's not surprising for the University of Shanghai to be here."

Jet subtly pointed to one of the players. "He looks like he's been through three divorces, though. Does college really age you badly?"

"You're lucky that they aren't able to hear us," Shang said, slapping the back of Jet's head.

Meanwhile, Kai continued looking at the University of Shanghai's varsity team.

He didn't know much about the collegiate league, but he knew that the University of Shanghai was the frontrunner in the city and one of the top schools in the country.

"I bet they're also preparing for the Nationals," Jet said. "They ended up in 6th place last time."

"6th place, huh?" Kai muttered.

"Yeah," Jet confirmed. "They're pretty good—especially those three guys right there."

"They're a famous trio of their team," he continued.

Kai narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the 'trio' that Jet was talking about.

"The one in the center is their literal center, Donghai. The one next to him is Zicheng. Then the shortest one is Jiho, who is an import from Korea. They're inseparable on the court. They have one of the greatest synergies I've seen in an amateur basketball team."

"How do you know all of this?" Kai asked.

Jet shrugged. "Dylan told me to watch out for them. I guess he already knew that they were going to be here."

Andy shook his head in amusement. "As expected—Dylan knows everything."

"Yeah, except playing basketball," Jet chimed, causing the four of them to burst into laughter.

However, in the silent and tension-filled room, their chuckles were heard right away, causing the others, along with the players of the University of Shanghai, to turn to them with furrowed eyebrows.

Kai quickly nudged their sides, which made them silent.

Fortunately, the college players turned their attention back to the court, causing the four to sigh in relief.

At that point, the high school teams from Jilin and Shanghai stopped playing as the older players stood in the middle of the court.

Donghai smiled as he looked at the young players.

"How cute," he said in a loud voice. "There are so many determined kids in this place. I was like that once, too."

Zicheng noticed some players from Juren High and waved at them.

"Chaoxing," he greeted. "You guys are here again?"

Chaoxing bowed his head and nodded politely.

Jiho turned to the other players with crossed arms. "Are you all preparing for the Nationals?"

Yiming cleared his throat and took a step forward since he also had his eyes on trying out for the University of Shanghai.

"No, sir," he politely said. "Some of us are here to train for the next season."

The college players turned to each other in surprise before chuckling to themselves.

"Well, we're preparing for the National University League," Zicheng boasted. "We can't be bothered to go to the other courts, so why don't you stay aside and watch us train, huh? I'm sure you'll also gain some knowledge from our training."

Yiming pursed his lips and didn't say anything further, but Chunlei, with his big mouth, decided to answer without any hesitation.

"We were here first, though," he nonchalantly said. "As far as we know, this is a court for everyone, so one cannot make reservations. If you want to play with us, then that would be alright. However, we can't just leave since we're already here."

Chaoxing watched Chunlei, impressed by his resistance.

"Well, well, well," Donghai chuckled, an amused yet annoyed expression on his face. "I see that young players these days do not have much respect. During our generation, we bowed our heads to our seniors and did whatever they said."

"The outdoor courts are too hot while the indoor courts are all occupied, so we need to use this court for our preparation. You see—we can't afford to waste any more time," he continued.

Chunlei held back his annoyance. "Well, if you couldn't afford to waste any more time, then you should have come here earlier."

With that, Chunlei turned away from them and dribbled the ball from the free-throw line before shooting it into the hoop.

It effortlessly made it in.

"What a show-off," Jet scoffed as he looked at Chunlei.

"He's really good, though," Andy muttered. "And I like that he didn't allow those college players to get the court. He's right when he said that they should have come earlier."

"We're not done talking, kid," Zicheng said, feeling more annoyed.

Chunlei ignored him, so Donghai went before him and jumped up high to block the shot that he had just thrown.

The court turned silent as Donghai reached incredible heights. His jump was already high, and paired with his tall height, he appeared just like a bird.

"What the heck?"

"How did he jump so high?"

Kai narrowed his eyes at the tall player. Kai inferred that he was taller than Yuze. However, his jump was just as high as Yuze's.

"It's not that high," Kai muttered. "He's just tall and has long limbs."
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"What was that?" Shang asked when he heard Kai muttering.

Kai shook his head and continued watching the scene before him.

It didn't just end with Donghai's jump. He blocked the ball but gripped it at the same time—a skill that was only possible if a player had big hands and a great grip.

In this case, it seemed like Donghai had both.

As he descended to the ground, Donghai continued holding the ball with one hand.

At that point, it seemed like Chunlei was moderately threatened.

A smirk made its way to Donghai's lips.

"Share the court, huh?" he asked, amusement heard in his voice. "I guess we can do that."

"So, why don't we play a short game, little kids?"