Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

As Mr. Wang arrived at his office, the room was automatically filled with loud, respectful greetings.

"Good afternoon, sir!"

"You look great today, sir."

Mr. Wang appeared happy about the compliments, just smiling as a response.

Then, he finally got to his office, where he saw his assistant Ashley already waiting for him with a cup of coffee.

He smiled and took the cup from her hands before sitting on his chair. He took a sip and nodded in satisfaction. "Just the way I like it," he said.

Ashley smiles. "As always, sir."

"Open the blinds," the old man said.

Ashley quickly did as he said. Mr. Wang sighed and closed his eyes as the sunlight peaked through the blinds.

"Ah, we have such good weather today. I have a feeling that it's going to be a good day."

"Yes, sir," Ashley said. "The skies are forecasted to be clear today. By the way, Mrs. Wang didn't come with you, sir? There's a meeting for the upcoming Olympics. As you know, we will be this year's hosts, so we are automatically part of the roster.

Mr. Wang opened his eyes and chuckled. "Oh, Ashley. You are a very busy person, but you should look at the calendar from time to time. It's Saturday. My precious Jimmy has a game."

"She can join the meeting in another day."

"Oh," Ash said, embarrassed. She had been so caught up in monitoring the chart every day that she forgot about such an important day.

Just then, Mr. Wang received a text, causing him to burst into a satisfied chuckle.

"Well, will you look at that!" he exclaimed. "It seems that the game had just finished."

"How did it go, sir?" Ashley asked, wary of her tone.

Mr. Wang smiled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What do you think?" he asked. "Of course, my boy won! He has my genes for a reason."

Ashley sighed in relief. She knew that her boss's mood was also in line with his son's games.

"My Jimmy had just entered high school, yet he's already dominating the scene," he muttered.

"Pull up the chart, will you?"

"Ah, right away, sir," she said, casting her tablet screen to the large television before them.

"You say that it updates in real time, right?" Mr. Wang asked.

"Of course, sir," Ashley smiled, scrolling further.

"A-ha!" Mr. Wang exclaimed when he saw the familiar name. "There's my boy—Jimmy Wang!"

"He's now in the 47th spot? Is he the highest-ranked first-year student on the list?"

Ashley looked through the list before nodding. Their names were color-coded based on their year levels, so it wasn't difficult to determine. The first-year students' assigned color was yellow, and among the sea of blues and greens, Jimmy's name stood bright.

"Yes, sir!" she exclaimed. "Since the Winter Cup, he's been averaging 21 points per game. It is very impressive."

"Good," Mr. Wang said.

However, just as Ashley was about to stop casting her tablet screen, a new name suddenly appeared, also in yellow.

"Wait a second," Mr. Wang said.

Ashley halted and turned to her boss in curiosity. Mr. Wang looked at the screen with a frown, so Ashley quickly directed her gaze to it.

Then, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the 47th spot, which was supposedly for Jimmy Wang, had been overtaken by another player.

"This guy again?" Mr. Wang exclaimed, the frown not leaving his face.

"And what's this? He just scored 42 points in a single game?"

***

"Bro, you're a hot topic again," Bao said as they arrived at a street food stall.

Mingze turned to Bao and frowned. "Is it alright for you to eat here?" he asked. "Didn't your mom forbid you from eating snacks because it causes Hippopotamus or something?"

"It's Hepatitis," Bao corrected. "And who cares? My mom won't know until you guys tell her!"

"O-ho," Sunny said, wrapping one arm around the short boy. "I see that you're getting braver and braver. I like it."

Tony nodded in agreement.

Bao shook his head and turned to Kai once more.

There was a small smile playing on Kai's lips as he replayed his conversation with Lina. The way she patted his head sent comfort to his heart, and he found himself longing for her warmth once more.

"Are you listening?" Bao asked, nudging his shoulder.

Kai snapped out of his daydream and looked at his past teammates in the second string. They decided to treat Kai to some street food for making it to the Nationals.

"What was that?" Kai asked.

"You're a hot topic in the city again!" Bao exclaimed. "Well, the entire team is, but your simps increased once more."

Kai shook his head in amusement. "Well, it's only expected since I did so well in the game."

The other boys turned to each other with wary expressions.

"I think his head is getting big, boys," Dylan said with narrowed eyes.

Kai shrugged. "I'm just telling the truth."

"Oh, it's definitely gotten big," Alen confirmed, causing the group of friends to chuckle.

"It's great that you're a hot topic, though. It just increases your team's popularity. I bet everyone is going to be fighting to get the tickets for your game."

"Oh, shoot," Bao said. "I still haven't gotten mine!"

Dylan smirked as he showed the tickets. "I already have mine!"

"Where'd you get them?" Bao asked.

"From Yuze, of course. This is the perks of being in the second-string team."

"Gosh, where will I buy one?" Bao asked.

Kai brought out his wallet and gave Bao a ticket. "Here, you can have my grandma's."

"She's not going to watch the game?" Bao asked.

Kai shook his head. "You know how that old woman is. She's busy all the time."

"Well, we can't argue with that," Bao said. Then, he beamed, patting Kai's shoulder. "Thanks! I'll definitely scream the loudest for you."

[New Mission!]

June's eyebrows furrowed. He had waited for his weekly mission yesterday, but it didn't appear, so he was worried.

So, he sighed in relief when he saw that he had another mission.

[You have a new skill!]

[However, the new skill can only be unlocked once the host is aware of it.]

[Unlock the new skill by finding out what it is.]

[20 XP are on the line.]

[20 XP deduction will happen if the host fails to discover the skill until after the next game with the Knights.]