Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

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[5 shots= +50 XP]

[Official game loss: -5XP]

[Current level: Intermediate (79)]

Kai sighed as he stared at his current rank. He knew he should be happy since he was getting close to achieving a new rank.

However, he couldn't shake away how Lina looked at him a while ago.

She seemed extremely hurt and disappointed.

What was worse was that Kai didn't even know the reason why!

Moreover, his teammates wouldn't even tell him what he did so wrong.

"Why won't you tell me?" he asked Yuze.

Yuze pursed his lips. "Just go home and rest, kid. Don't bother Lina for now."

"Did she tell you something?" Kai asked.

Yuze didn't respond, so Kai assumed that Lina indeed said something to him.

"You messed up," Jet said from behind him, causing Kai to turn around and look at him with raised eyebrows.

"You also know about this?"

Jet looked away from him and acted like he didn't even hear Kai's question.

"I didn't think you'd be like that," Kun added.

Kai sighed in frustration. "Am I the only one who doesn't know what I've done?" he exasperatedly asked.

Jinping pursed his lips and walked over to where he was, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Even I won't think like that," he said, making Kai even more confused than he already was.

"Someone should just tell me so I know what I did wrong," Kai exclaimed.

Yuze turned to him. "Be quiet," he snapped.

"It's best you find out about it from Lina."

"On a second note, don't bother her at all from now on."

With that, Kai pursed his lips, still feeling frustrated.

"What the heck?" he muttered.

***

Monday quickly came, yet Kai still couldn't be happy.

Even when plenty of people approached him to say that he did well during the game, he couldn't find it in himself to smile genuinely.

Then, he saw Lina from afar, so he tried to approach her.

However, it seemed like she had noticed his presence, so she quickly stood and walked to their classroom.

Kai frowned as he shook his head.

Well, it seemed like she was still ignoring him.

He stood there for a moment. However, as the bell rang, he had no choice but to go to their class.

Some of his classmates threw him kind smiles while others looked at him with hostility, probably disappointed with their loss.

However, again, Kai couldn't care less.

He passed by Zeren, who was giving him the nastiest glare.

Kai frowned in confusion as he walked past him.

It was as if he had done something wrong to Zeren, too!

The day continued with Zeren still throwing Kai with nasty stares.

Even down to the last class, where Sir Dao had decided to give a surprise quiz, Zeren didn't try to hide his disdain for Kai.

"Alright," Sir Dao said. "We'll have a surprise quiz for today. Bring out one-fourth sheet of pad paper."

The class groaned. However, with a single glare from Sir Dao, they all decided to comply.

"Good," Sir Dao said. "There will be twenty questions to be flashed on the screen. You'll have one minute for each question. Afterward, we'll check your papers to see who has been paying attention in class."

Zeren sighed deeply before raising his hand. "Don't you think this is unfair for the basketball team, sir? We just had a game last night. We even saw you there!"

Sir Dao clicked his tongue. "It's not an excuse, Zeren. The quiz will continue."

Sir Dao flashed the questions on the screen, and Kai found them surprisingly easy. It was something he had learned before, and Sir Dao also mentioned some of the questions during his discussion.

So, he answered with ease.

However, it seemed like most of his classmates were having a hard time, so he empathized with them.

"Last question," Sir Dao said, making the class sigh in relief.

"Now, pass your papers to the front. Late papers will not be accepted," Sir Dao said.

Kai passed his paper to the front, and Sir Dao took it before redistributing it to different people.

"We're now going to check your papers," Sir Dao said. "Write your names as the corrector on the papers you've received."

Zeren clicked his tongue when he saw that he received Kai's paper.

He barely managed to answer most of the questions since they had been training harder than usual for their game with the Feng Foxes.

So, he assumed that Kai was going to get a low score, just like him.

"The answer for number 1 is A," Sir Dao said, making the class surprised. It was the least expected answer of all!

Zeren shook his head. He didn't even think of that option!

Then, as he looked at Kai's paper, he saw that he answered A, so he reluctantly corrected it.

"Lucky," he muttered.

"For Number 5, it's A."

"For Number 9, it's D."

"For Number 11, it's C."

Zeren raised his fist when he finally got the correct answer. It was his first correct answer out of all that had been rationalized.

However, he quickly frowned when he saw that Kai got the correct answer once again.

"What the heck is this?" he muttered.

Sir Dao continued dictating the answers, and Kai got every single question right.

"Lastly, for Number 20, it's B."

"No way," Zeren muttered as he shakily checked the last number.

Did this dude actually get a perfect score?

"That's it," Sir Dao said. "I'm expecting high scores since I have briefly mentioned the topics in this quiz."

The class let out nervous chuckles, knowing that they didn't do so well.

"Now, before returning the paper to their original owners, let me see who had gotten the highest score."

"Who got a perfect score?" he asked, raising one hand with a smirk on his face.

Sir Dao was definitely not expecting anyone to get a perfect score. He was lying when he said he had mentioned all of the topics!

It seemed like the class wasn't expecting to see someone with a perfect score, too.

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However, Zeren suddenly stood, causing them to exclaim in amazement.

Zeren reluctantly went to the front and gave Sir Dao the paper.

"Who could it be?"

"Probably Haobin or Bao."

"It's Haobin."

"Definitely! He's the smartest in class."

Haobin tried to suppress his smile as he heard his name circulating around the room. He forgot some of the answers he wrote on the paper, but he had high hopes that he was the one who got the perfect score.

Sir Dao's eyebrows raised in surprise as he received the paper from Zeren.

"I see that someone has been paying attention," he smirked, chuckling in amusement.

However, as he looked at the paper and the name written on top of it, his smile quickly dropped.

"Who got the perfect score, sir?"

The class began to pry. However, Sir Dao couldn't find it in himself to speak.

Then, he looked at the tall guy sitting in the very back corner of the class.

His gaze was on the windows, and it seemed like he was deep in thought.

"Kai Guo...," Sir Dao absent-mindedly whispered.