Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Coach Yixing frowned as he watched the scene, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"What kind of play was that?" he muttered.

In fact, it didn't seem like a play at all—more like a blunder.

The coach's mind raced as he tried to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

The players on his bench were also at a loss.

"Did you see him jump?" one of them whispered.

"Yeah. He jumped two consecutive times without any problem."

"It even seemed like his feet didn't touch the ground when he jumped for the second time."

Meanwhile, Shang shook his head as he watched Kai tirelessly run around the court.

"His athleticism is insane," he muttered.

Zedong also couldn't help but frown. Kai's jump right now defied logic, and yet there it was, happening right before his eyes.

It didn't make any sense.

As the game continued, Coach Yixing couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of his stomach.

"Let's do another one," Kai exclaimed, holding up another number that signified a non-existent play.

Jet shook his head and settled just right below the rim.

Then, before he knew it, the ball was already in his hands. Nobody even signaled to him!

However, as adrenaline rushed through his veins, he quickly threw the ball into the hoop, successfully scoring another two points for Shizi High.

33-27.

Zedong glanced at the scoreboard and frowned. They lost their ten-point lead in the blink of an eye.

"Don't mind!" Zedong said to his teammates, acting as the calm foundation of his team. However, deep inside, he was slightly panicking.

This wasn't part of their plans.

His teammates sluggishly nodded, going back to the game to do another calculated play.

The Shizi Dogs were already on the defense, their arms outstretched and their knees bent to strengthen their foundations.

Zedong sighed and dribbled the ball as he came up with the best possible play for their current position.

The Shizi Dogs watched him intently, knowing that he was the one who would make or break the play.

Just then, Kai's words echoed in the minds of the Shizi Dogs. Before they went back to the court, Kai left them with three insights.

Some of them thought it was just for face value, yet somehow, they were holding onto his words.

"First," Kai said.

"An AI will be an AI through and through. At first, you're intrigued...amazed that it is able to generate creative ideas in such a short amount of time."

"However, the more you use it, the more it becomes obvious—it becomes repetitive. It starts using the words like 'tapestry' even when it is out of context."

"You start to predict it."

Yuze smirked as he predicted Zedong's next move. This must have been a play that involved a fake pass, so even if Zedong had acted to pass the ball to his other teammate, Yuze remained still.

When Zedong finally passed the ball, Yuze quickly caught it and ran to their side of the court for a fast break.

33-29.

"Nice," Jet said, throwing Yuze a thumbs-up.

At this point, the audience members were already paying attention, and it seemed like the Xing students were trying their utmost best to keep their cool.

However, it was evident that they were worried for their team.

They couldn't believe that their gap was only four points when it was the Shizi Dog they were playing with.

One of the students scratched the back of his head.

"I thought this was going to be an easy game," he muttered.

On the side of the Shizi bleachers, the students thought the same.

"I thought this was going to be an easy game," the Shizi Snakes fan muttered.

"...but why is watching it so nerve-wracking?"

Before they knew it, they started rooting for their school.

Kai heard some people cheer for them, causing him to smile.

Then, as they got ready for the offense, Kai's second point came to light.

"Second," Kai continued.

"AI's are smart, but they are easily fooled. They believe that what you say is reality because reality to them is purely subjective."

Zeren wanted to test the theory out. So, he decided to conduct a play of his own.

He dribbled the ball and held out the number one.

He smirked when he saw the Xing Stars looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

Why was he initiating a play all of a sudden?

Then, he heard Kai's voice.

"Here," he exclaimed since he was free right under the rim.

Zedong's jaw clenched as he quickly blocked Kai. He was already aware of his athleticism.

Zeren thought of passing to him for a second. However, there was no way he was going to pass to Kai so he could impress Lina even more!

"No way," he muttered before passing the ball to Jinping quickly.

Jinping raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting to receive the ball. However, feeling Eva's gaze from the audience, he didn't hesitate to shoot it toward the ring, smirking when he saw that they had made it.

33-31.

Zedong pursed his lips, trying to control his breathing.

Jinping turned to Eva and smiled at her, making the girl shake her head.

Then Zeren and Jinping exchanged high-fives, making Kai sulk.

"Why didn't you pass to me?" Kai asked.

Zeren merely stuck his tongue out at him as they ran to the other side of the court.

Kai clicked his tongue and quickly followed after them since he didn't want to lose their momentum as a team.

At this point, the Xing Stars were getting worried for their team captain.

As much as Zedong tried to keep his cool, his face grew redder, and he became sweatier than usual.

Then, Kai's last point embedded itself in their minds. The last two points had already proven themselves true, so they had all the reason to believe that the third point was also accurate.

Zedong continued to dribble the ball, sweat dripping from his sideburns. He looked around, but he couldn't find an opening.

He dribbled longer than usual, and the shot clock quickly depleted to only 15 seconds.

"Zedong," his teammates started calling. However, it seemed like he couldn't hear anything.

Yuze smirked, and then he glanced at Kai, recalling his words.

"Last but not least, the AI has a programmer—the captain of the ship," he started off.

"Remove the captain, and the ship will lose its way."

Kai smirked.

"Remove Zedong, and the team will lose its plays."