Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog-Chapter 431: An Unfamiliar Territory

Ashley was up late at night while looking at her chart. From sixteen teams, there were eight teams left. By the next two days, the semi-finals would finally push through.

She bit her lip in nervousness as she looked at the upper bracket of the list. Since most teams had dropped out, the rankings didn’t move so drastically. However, as always, one person was an issue for Ashley.

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"This kid," she muttered.

It was only the round of eight, and he had already broken through the top ten and was now in sixth place.

Sixth!

Before she knew it, she researched Kai Guo all night.

She saw some clips from Jilin, and it seemed like he was still a pretty bad player then. That would mean that his record was predominantly from the Interhigh Preliminaries and the ongoing Nationals.

Now, that might not sound too impressive to the normal citizen. However, for Ashley, who had analyzed dozens of players before, it was a really big deal.

Most players garnered points throughout the year, and that included the accredited leagues in their respective hometowns. For example, since Fang Liu wasn’t able to make it to the Nationals in the past year, he made up for his ranking with the official off-season league.

Meanwhile, players like Zheng Zhang, Calvin Wu, and Max Zhou played in as many games as possible to gather points and cement their names in the ranking. Jian Niu was also consistent, scoring over forty points in most games. So, even if he didn’t play in every game, his rank was still safe.

On the other hand, Kai Guo only had two leagues to do this!

Ashley shook her head as she shut her laptop, already feeling stressed.

"Mr. Wang isn’t going to like this," he muttered.

***

For the first time since their very first game, the Shizi Dogs were bound to play in the Water Court.

They were in the VIP area as they waited for the preceding game to finish. Currently, the Ying Eagles were playing against the ranked-tenth team.

Earlier today, the Champions had already secured their place in the top four as they beat the ranked-eleventh team with a whopping 30-point gap.

The Shizi Dogs vs. Huolan Guardians game was scheduled next, and there were roughly five minutes left before it started.

Kai stood and leaned against the railings as he observed the filled bleachers. He wondered if the seats would still be filled once it was time for their game.

Then, Kai directed his gaze forward, where he saw the Juren Champions watching the game seriously. Even Chaoxing had a serious expression as he watched the Ying Eagles in their element.

Well, they were going to be their next opponents.

The two had some sort of rivalry ever since, with the Champions always reigning in the end. However, that didn’t mean that the Ying Eagles didn’t put up a great fight whenever they played against each other.

Jimmy nudged Jian’s shoulder. "Do you think we can beat them this year, too?" Enjoy more content from novelbuddy

Jian wordlessly nodded, not even thinking about it.

Lina, who was earnestly watching the timer, clapped, capturing the team’s attention.

"Alright," she started off. "Two minutes left. Let’s head down and get ready."

The team nodded, all appearing serious. Even Jet and Andy weren’t bickering as much.

They knew that the game they were going to play wouldn’t be an easy one. The last tough team they had to beat was the Longyu Dragons, and now, it was with another elite team. Their nerves had increased a thousandfold compared to the previous games.

However, Kai appeared way too relaxed for his own good.

As they walked, Yuze observed him and frowned. Then, he cleared his throat, capturing Kai’s attention.

"What’s up?" Kai asked.

Yuze pursed his lips. "Aren’t you nervous?" he asked.

Kai paused to think about his question. He didn’t think too much about it. However, as he dug deeper into his emotions, he realized he wasn’t nervous—at least, not like his teammates.

Instead, he was…excited?

Kai shook his head. "I am," he said.

Yuze sighed. "It sure as hell doesn’t look like it," he said.

Kai chuckled in amusement. "Why? Would you rather see me shake in nervousness?"

Yuze scoffed. "You know what I mean," he said. "We’re going against the Guardians—an elite team. One loss, and we’re out of the league."

"I know," Kai said. "However, didn’t you teach us to see things positively? Once we think we’re champions, then we’ll become champions."

Yuze pursed his lips. At times like this, it was pretty hard to believe. However, Kai’s words comforted him a bit. With that, he nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Champions," he added, the word sounding like a distant dream.

Kai watched him with furrowed eyebrows. Then, he glanced down at his ankle. It was tightly wrapped in a bandage, so Kai couldn’t fully assess its state.

"Hey," he said. "Are you sure you can play today?"

Yuze smirked. "Why? Are you confident you can beat them without my expertise?"

Kai shook his head. "No, we need you," he honestly said. "However, if you’re still in pain, I would suggest you don’t push yourself."

"Will that guarantee our victory?" Yuze asked.

Kai pursed his lips and didn’t answer.

Yuze sighed. "Don’t worry about me," he said. "I’m fine. I’ve been doing this for three years. You’ve only done this for one. Besides, it has been four days since our game with the Giants.

The soreness had significantly gone down.

"Touche," Kai muttered.

"Come on," Lina said, halting their conversation. "It’s time for us to go to our bench."

The Shizi Dogs nodded, appearing even more serious than before.

They arrived at the court, and screams erupted. They were surprised to see that the seats were nearly filled to the brim! This was the greatest number of audience they had since the start of the Nationals.

That made the players feel even more nervous, though.

Lina, too, felt her heart racing as she glanced at the bench of the Huolan Guardians. They seemed very much relaxed. It was ridiculous since it was also a first for their particular roster to advance to the Nationals.

However, they were a lot more composed than the Shizi Dogs.

"This is going to be a tough game," Lina said, capturing the others’ attention.

They listened to her as she continued to speak.

"The Huolan Guardians hasn’t advanced to the Nationals in four years. However, that doesn’t mean we should feel relaxed."

"In fact, we should feel even warier."

Yuze nodded in agreement, his brows furrowing. "Always be on your toes," he instructed. "Don’t get cocky, but don’t be too nervous."

"This team is a team that we’re most unfamiliar with."