Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai continued to stare off into the distance as the Xing Stars celebrated their win.

"Xing, Xing, Xing! Shining Xing!"

Their supporters cheered out loud, engulfing the entire arena.

The Shizi Dogs looked down at their laps, hastening their movements so they could go back to their holding room faster.

Lina looked at them and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Let's go," she dejectedly said.

The Shizi Dogs carried their items and were about to leave their bench when they suddenly heard a scream from the crowd.

"You did well, my dogs!"

"Shizi! You've improved so much."

"Shizi! Thank you for making us watch enjoyable games."

The Shizi Dogs halted, looking at their part of the bleachers with wide eyes.

Their supporters, despite feeling disappointed, continued to cheer them on.

"Shizi!"

"Shizi!"

"Shizi!"

Kai looked around the venue, feeling something strange swell in his heart.

People who weren't even from Shizi High chanted their school's name.

Then, he turned to the Xing Stars, who were now looking at them with stares of high respect.

Coach Yixing even removed his cap and bowed at them.

Zedong, despite his cold look, nodded at them—as if acknowledging the Dogs as worthy opponents.

With that, they walked out of the court but with lighter hearts than before.

Coach Yixing and Zedong continued to look at their retreating figures.

"We'll see them next year," Coach Yixing said.

Zedong's expression hardened, his fists unconsciously clenched by his side.

"I'm afraid so," he whispered.

***

The Shizi Dogs sat in silence, none of them daring to say the first words.

Rather, it felt as if they didn't know what to say.

They could hear cheers from the court as the next game started, and yet it didn't overtake the deafening silence in the room.

As expected, Coach Jin had gone home, leaving the Shizi Dogs to internalize their loss without any adult guidance.

Shang, who had watched the game, felt immense disappointment from the old man. The bar was already in hell, but he didn't think he could exceed his expectations.

Zeren, who usually yapped after their games, was also silent, his eyes swollen after crying so much from their loss.

Jinping, too, wasn't pissed off like usual. He felt defeated, which dampened the atmosphere even more.

Even Yuze couldn't find the right words to say. He felt like he needed to comfort his teammates, but he, himself, needed comfort.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kai seemed the most disappointed of them all.

He ran his fingers through his hair.

"We could have won," he said, finally breaking the silence in the room.

The other players turned towards him, disappointed sighs coming out of their lips.

"Could we really?" Jet asked. "If you had entered, would things have been different?"

"It would have," Kai answered, feeling confident in himself. Just as he had gotten proficient, he wasn't given the chance to play.

With that, the atmosphere became even more awkward.

Lina, sensing their distress, finally decided to speak out.

She, too, had high hopes for this league, but she also wanted to be realistic.

"It would have been different for this game," she said, capturing their attention.

"However, it wouldn't have been any different in the next games that we're going to participate in," she continued.

Kun frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?"

Lina let out a deep breath, finally saying what she was hesitant to admit for the entire time they had been silent.

"We could have won this game with the Xing Stars....and maybe, just maybe, we would have beaten the Feng Foxes."

"However, beating the Feng Foxes wouldn't be an easy feat. It would take a lot of luck and practice—which I feel like we wouldn't be able to achieve in just a span of a week," she continued.

"Chunlei and Yiming would have already improved themselves, and if Chunlei started playing to the best of his abilities, there would be no way that we would be able to beat them."

The players continued to listen to Lina, wanting to negate her words but also being aware that what she was saying made a lot of sense.

"Then, if the world permitted us to beat the Feng Foxes, then we still wouldn't have won against the Yin Yang Knights."

Shang nodded in agreement.

Lina sighed and looked down at her hands. She was still shaking, so she clenched her fists before lifting her head and looking at the Shizi Dogs with a determined gaze.

"I had a lot of high hopes for us this league," she continued.

"And you guys honestly exceeded these expectations. I didn't think we would get this far—from beating the Xing Stars once to almost defeating the Feng Foxes."

"I want to say that I'm proud of all of you."

Small smiles began to show on the Shizi Dogs' faces, feeling comforted by Lina's words.

"However, dare I say that it's too soon."

"This league seems to be a buffer season for us—one that made others aware that we're a team to look out for."

"And now, it's over," she said.

Yuze nodded, finally lifting his head.

"The Winter Cup is over," she repeated.

She paused for a moment before speaking once again.

"However, that doesn't mean that the Shizi Dogs are over."

"The Winter Cup showed us how the other teams play. It gave us an idea how the strong ones moved."

"However," Lina said with a small smirk. "There's a league that more people tune into."

The Shizi Dogs turned to each other, already knowing the answer.

"The Interhigh Preliminaries."

"I'm allowing you this time to grieve our loss," Lina said, walking back and forth before the players.

"However, I'm not going to let you dwell on it for any longer."

"Next week, when we get back to the court, I want all of us to train our hardest and improve every aspect that we can."

"With the Winter Cup, we have proven that nothing is impossible," she smiled.

Kai looked at Lina and shook his head in amusement.

He couldn't deny that he felt down because of their loss, but her speech made him more determined.

"The Winter Cup may be our loss..."

"...but the Interhigh will be ours."