Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"The Shizi Dogs have taken a one-point lead! These five boys are making history!" Mark exclaimed, feeling the most excited he had ever been since the start of the game.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats.

Yuze, not wanting to let the momentum go, shouted encouragement from the court, his voice cutting through the noise.

"Let's keep this lead!" he exclaimed. "Push it further!"

The Shizi Dogs' bench was alive with excitement. For the first time, they had surpassed the Foxes.

However, they knew it wouldn't be easy to keep the lead, so all of them were on their toes.

Chunlei clicked his tongue as the screams for the Shizi Dogs intensified.

As the ball was passed to him, he was determined to show everyone the original move that Kai had done.

With a thunderous pass to Yiming, he moved with an almost unstoppable force, sprinting down the court. Kai was hot on his heels, pushing himself to keep up.

Chunlei executed his signature move, a lightning-fast shift to the right. For a moment, it seemed like he had disappeared. But at the last second, he faked left.

Chunlei smirked. Kai wouldn't be able to keep up with him, for sure.

However, the world slowed down when he still met Kai's eyes.

He was there, anticipating his move.

"What?" Chunlei's eyes widened in surprise as Kai intercepted the ball, turning the tables on him. Kai took the ball and, with a swift, clean motion, shot it in himself.

"65-68! The Shizi Dogs are on a roll!" Mark's commentary mirrored the crowd's energy.

Renren quickly took control of the ball next. He saw an opportunity that was only possible because Kai had managed to suppress Chunlei.

Renren executed a pick-and-roll with Yuze, creating space. He passed the ball to Andy, who was positioned perfectly at the three-point line. Andy took the shot, and the ball sailed through the net.

"65-71! Andy nails another three-pointer!" Mark's voice was almost drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Zeren's jaw dropped, wondering where Shizi High had found a player like Andy.

Where has he been hiding all this time?

He thought he was the only rookie shooter in the entire school!

As Andy sank the shot, he clenched his fist and raised it in the air, feeling the overwhelming support of the crowd.

Then, he focused his gaze back on Zeren.

"Thank you for leaving the team," he said in a teasing tone, causing Zeren to purse his lips in annoyance.

At that moment, he couldn't help but glance to the side. There was a strange sensation in his heart as he saw his past teammates not cheering for him anymore.

Then, he glanced at the bench of the Foxes.

"Shoot it!"

"Pass the ball if you're not going to do anything!"

Feeling the weight of the moment, Zeren darted to their side of the court by himself.

He took another shot, but he was hasty. The ball bounced off the rim, and the scramble ensued.

Coach Ben cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, Kai managed to grab the rebound.

However, Zeren, having enough of the annoyance he was feeling, jumped up at the same time as Kai.

Kai descended, but Zeren was occluding his way.

"Watch out!" Kai heard from the crowd, but it was too late.

He stepped on Zeren's foot and landed on his knees.

He fell to the ground, clutching his head. As he lifted his head, a bleeding wound was visible above his eyebrow.

The crowd gasped in shock when they saw the blood dripping down his head.

However, Kai didn't want the momentum to be ruined. So, he grabbed the ball from the floor once again and ran to their side of the court, taking advantage of everyone's shock.

He shoots a lay-up, and some blood dripped to the court as the ball also fell to the ground.

65-73.

However, even with his impressive shot, the crowd remained silent.

Kai frowned and looked around the court.

The people gasped when they saw that the blood had started dripping down to his eyes.

"Kai, over here, has an injury. I believe we should stop the game," Mark said, looking around the court.

Kai frowned and wiped his head with the back of his hand. He looked at it and was shocked when red liquid painted his skin.

"Blood?" he muttered.

He was bleeding?

However, Kai wanted to keep going. He could barely feel the scratch!

He knew just how important momentum was for the game, and he didn't want to let it go.

When a team has momentum, he knew that the players tend to play more cohesively and make better decisions. The positive energy could also intimidate the opposing team, causing them to make mistakes.

So, Kai wanted to keep their pace.

However, Coach Ben must have also noticed that the momentum was leaning toward their side, so he called for a time-out.

Kai clicked his tongue and had no choice but to go back to their bench.

"What is wrong with him?"

"This is the first time I've seen a player keep playing even after he's bleeding!"

Miss Cherry looked at the boy with concern. "Is he alright?" she asked.

Sir Dao clicked his tongue. "Oh, that boy had gotten into way rougher scruffles than that one. He'll survive."

Miss Cherry tuned him out and continued looking at their bench with concern.

Meanwhile, the other players of the Shizi Dogs nagged at Kai for continuing the game despite being injured.

Lina clicked her tongue as she applied an ice pack to his wound.

"It's a good thing that it's just a superficial cut," she said. "I was surprised when you lifted your head and had blood running down your eyes."

With that, she placed a bandaid over the wound.

"You know that your safety is the most important thing, right?" she asked, concern still heard in her voice. "We didn't have any time-outs left, so I wasn't able to use any."

Kai pursed his lips. "I'm fine, though. There was no foul, so I had to keep going."

Yuze clicked his tongue. "What even went through your mind that time? You should have stopped."

Kai smirked. "You know full well why I didn't stop."

Yuze sighed and shook his head. "I've really met my match," he whispered. "You love basketball more than I do."

The other players looked at each other with curiosity.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jet asked.

Yuze sighed once more.

"If the game would have continued, then we would have won."

Kai's smirk widened as he looked at the perplexed looks of his teammates.

"A hundred percent," he confirmed.