Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai didn't want to fight with anyone.

In fact, he wasn't familiar with fighting at all! Unless he was the one getting beat up, then it was impossible for him to engage in a physical fight.

However, he also didn't want his hard-earned money to go down the drain just because of a bunch of brainless idiots.

So, he held onto his pocket and buried the money deeper into it, causing the four boys to burst into laughter.

"Looks like we have a tough one here, guys," the loudest guy, who was undoubtedly their leader, said in an amused tone.

"Well, he is pretty large," he muttered. "But there's four of us and only one of him!"

With that, the two boys behind his back tried to attack him with their fists. The alleyway was dark; however, with adrenaline pumping through his veins, he was able to anticipate the trajectory of their movements, causing him to move away at the very last second and evade their punches.

The two boys were surprised for a moment. However, Kai felt another attack coming from behind him, so he once again evaded it using his instincts.

He breathed heavily, but he pursed his lips to mask the sound. He didn't want to appear like he was struggling to fight against them.

His pride as a troublemaker was on the line!

Kai glanced around to look for a route to escape. He couldn't afford to waste any more time since the sports store was going to close soon.

"Look, just let me go," Kai said. "I have 17 yuan spare. You can take that, at least."

The four boys stopped for a moment, glancing at each other before bursting into loud laughter.

"17 yuan? That can't even feed two of us with that amount of money," their leader said. "We need that thick stack of money in your pocket."

With that, the four boys attacked him simultaneously. However, Kai expertly evaded all of their attacks.

Although he had no idea about fighting, he could somewhat see their movements with his keen senses. This body must have grown accustomed to fighting to be able to see such nuances.

The four boys were getting tired, and Kai took the opportunity to finally run away from the dark alleyway. However, it seemed like they still had a lot of energy left as they followed after Kai.

With long strides, Kai ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding in his chest since he couldn't find the end of the alleyway.

"Lesson learned," he muttered.

"Dark alleyways are a red flag."

Just then, he felt a strong force behind his back.

He stopped for a moment as one of the boys threw himself at him like a monkey, wrapping his arms around Kai's neck and trying to get him to stop.

Kai cursed under his breath since the man on his back seemed to be the heaviest of the four boys. It felt like he was carrying a boulder!

Nonetheless, Kai clicked his tongue and continued running, hoping to make it into a bright and person-filled place so these lunatics could finally leave him all alone.

'Should I elbow his face?' he thought.

Then, he shook his head. He couldn't get into fights now that he was a part of Shizi High's basketball team.

'But they don't seem to know who I am,' he pondered, the devil and angel in his mind overtaking each other's thoughts.

However, when he saw the light at the end of the alleyway, he decided to go with his angel.

"Shit," he heard the boys curse behind him. "This dude is fast as hell."

Only a few more steps.

Finally, after what seemed to be a three-minute run, Kai was greeted by a street light.

However, his relief was quickly replaced with disappointment when he saw that the bright streets didn't have any people! Almost all of the establishments were also closed at this point!

He forgot that the city wasn't as populous as his past home and that most people were already at their respective houses this late into the night.

"Lucky day," the man on his back said, wrapping his arm around Kai's neck and squeezing tight.

Fortunately, Kai was able to hold onto his arm before he could squeeze the oxygen out of him.

"Oww, oww, oww!" the man on his back exclaimed.

Kai turned around to see whether the other three had caught up to him, only to see them tiredly jogging over to where they were, breathless and sweaty.

"S—stop right there," their leader threatened. However, it didn't sound threatening at all.

Then, the boy with a buzzed head and a scarred eyebrow raised his head, his eyes widening when he finally saw the face of the person they'd been chasing for a hot minute.

"Kai?" he exclaimed, causing Kai's eyebrows to raise in surprise.

Kai paused, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as the boys suddenly flocked to where he was. However, instead of mischievous looks, admiring looks adorned their faces.

The man behind his back also craned his neck to confirm Kai's identity, making him almost kiss Kai on the cheek.

Kai cursed and finally pushed him away, his ass hitting the ground with a loud sound. However, it seemed like he wasn't in pain at all. In fact, his ass was able to cushion his fall, so he stood as if nothing happened only seconds after.

"It's really Kai!" the one who fell on his ass said.

Kai stepped back, but the four of them followed.

He was planning on making a run for it, but the next words they said made him halt in his spot.

"We've been waiting for you for a long time!" their leader said, walking up to him and giving him a hug.

Kai's eyes widened as he quickly pushed the guy away.

"What are you doing?" Kai asked.

He frowned in confusion. "It's us—Aang, Chang, Gang, and Wang!" their leader exclaimed.

"Aang?" Kai frowned. "Like the Airbender?"

Aang's eyes widened as he gave Kai another hug. Fortunately, he broke the hug quickly this time.

"That's what you said when we first met. You still remember us, after all."

Kai pursed his lips and took another step back, but it seemed like these guys were adamant about following him as they stepped forward.

"Where have you been? Did you really go to Shizi High like you said?" Chang asked.

"You should have gone to Sunshine High along with us," Gang said.

"Did you forget? Kai got kicked out of Sunshine," Wang whispered.

"Right," Gang awkwardly chuckled. "Sorry, bro!"

"Umm, sorry. Are we close?" Kai asked amidsts the loud chaos.

Aang placed his hand over his heart. "How could you forget about us? We used to be tight."

"Not really," Chang muttered. "We just wanted to be like you, but you never gave us the opportunity to get close to you."

"We're close!" Aang exclaimed. "You even treated us to a meal once for helping you beat up a group of ten boys!"

Kai pursed his lips before shaking his head. He was grateful that their plans of mugging him finally came to an end. However, at the same time, he didn't want such a group of rowdy boys to be idolizing him.

He scratched the back of his head and glanced at the sports store, only to see the young worker flipping the sign, signifying they were already closed.

Kai sighed and shook his head, feeling disappointed.

"They're closed," he muttered.

It seemed like Aang was able to hear those words, so he quickly suggested something.

"Do you need to buy something from the sports store?" he asked.

Kai nodded. "That's what the money is for. I need to buy a basketball."

"Basketball?" they exclaimed in shock. As far as they know, Kai was jackshit at basketball!

However, since this was the person they idolized, they were willing to support him all the way.

"What's stopping you then?" Aang asked. "Let's go and buy one right now."

"The store is closed," Kai deadpanned.

"And?" Aang asked.

"A closed sign is just a sign."

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