Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog-Chapter 332: Copycat

The door to the infirmary burst open, and the rest of the team piled in, all of them wearing grins and looking more energized than they should have after such an intense game.

"Kai, Lina texted that you’re okay now!" Jet excitedly exclaimed.

Kai and Lina sprang apart as if they’d been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.

Kai clicked his tongue, a small glare playing on his eyes as he looked at his teammates.

Kun was the first to notice, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What were you two doing?" he asked.

Kai coughed, trying to regain his composure. "Nothing. Just talking."

"Yeah, sure," Renren chimed in, smirking. He went to Lina and subtly nudged her shoulder. He was aware of Lina’s frustration with her feelings, so he felt proud as her love mentor. "Just talking really close, huh?"

Lina rolled her eyes, trying to play it off. "Seriously, can you guys ever take anything seriously?"

Kai was still disappointed. However, as he glanced at Kun, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

He seemed cheery now, and his eyes held the sparkle with a hint of mischief that it had before. "Okay, okay. Just saying, you both looked kinda... close."

Kai’s face flushed, but he quickly changed the subject. "How are you feeling, Kun? You look better."

Kun nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, I’m good. Thanks to you."

His voice was sincere, and it was clear that the events of the game had given him a boost of confidence.

The others quickly picked up on the happy mood, and the teasing started almost immediately. "Hey, stamina king," Jinping said, clapping Kai on the back. "I thought you had the greatest stamina, but you were the first one to pass out!"

"Yeah, this kid didn’t even break a sweat during our winter camp, but he fell after playing three quarters?" Jet exclaimed. "You just lost your title, Kai Guo!"

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Kai grinned, leaning back against the bed like he hadn’t just woken up from being unconscious. "Yeah, but who had the highest score, huh? That’s right. Me."

"Yeah, yeah, big deal," Jet said, rolling his eyes. "But you still passed out before any of us!"

They all laughed, the sound filling the small room and easing the tension that had been so thick just moments before.

It was good to see Kun smiling again, even if it was at Kai’s expense.

"Are you okay now?" Yuze asked, his eyes looking a bit red.

Kai slowly nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "I didn’t even realize I had passed out. As I said, I feel like I’m coming down with the flu."

"Oh," Yuze muttered. "Well, you still did a great job."

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Jet nodded in agreement. "However, I heard a lot of people talking about your last pass."

"I’m curious, too," he added. "Why did you pass to Kun at the end? The crowd seemed kinda disappointed. They thought it was a mistake."

The room fell quiet as everyone turned to look at Kai, waiting for his explanation. He didn’t shy away from their gazes, meeting each one with a steady look before he spoke.

"It wasn’t a mistake," Kai began, his voice firm.

"It was deliberate."

"There was no way that ball was going to make it to Andy. Max was all over him. If I’d passed to Andy, we would’ve lost without even getting a shot off. Kun was the only one open. I knew he could do it. I had to trust him."

Kun’s eyes widened slightly at Kai’s words, and the rest of the team nodded as they absorbed his explanation. It made sense, especially now that they’d had time to think it through. Kai had made the right call.

"Besides," Kai added with a grin, "Kun seems to like it very much. He’s back to normal now."

Kun smiled, looking more confident than he had all night. "Thanks, Kai. I needed that. I’ll make sure I do better in the Nationals. We may not have won here, but we still have a chance."

The room nodded with agreement, and everyone felt hopeful about Kun’s words.

But then, Jet’s voice cut through the excitement, bringing them back to the reality of what they’d just faced.

"You know," Jet said thoughtfully, "the Knights were supposed to pull off that move during the Nationals, but they had to use it early because of us."

The room fell silent again as everyone took that in.

"Who did you learn that from?" Lina asked with a small frown.

"Dylan," Jet responded.

"Ah," the team collectively said, already knowing that it was true. Dylan had the best sources for gossip.

"Wow," Andy said, his voice filled with awe. "We managed to let them do that? No wonder it was so difficult and confusing!"

"At the end there, Kai, your decision was right. I couldn’t see you at all, so I didn’t know where the ball would be. I almost thought you were Max for a second," he added.

Andy’s words echoed in Kai’s mind, and a strange thought began to form.

"Say that again," Kai said.

"What?" Andy asked.

"What you just said," Kai said, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

"I said—what," Andy innocently said, causing the entire team to sigh in disappointment.

"I swear, you’re so stupid sometimes," Jet said.

"Coming from you?" Andy scoffed.

Yuze clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Andy said that he thought you were Max for a second."

"Honestly," Jinping chimed. "I don’t want to boost your ego, but it really did seem like that. You followed Max to the point where it looked like there was only one of you."

"Then, after that, you were everywhere. I couldn’t even see where you were. So, it was pretty impressive how Kun was able to catch your pass."

Some others exclaimed in agreement.

However, Kai couldn’t hear their words anymore.

Instead, he was focused on what Andy had originally said—that he appeared like Max.

At that moment, something clicked inside Kai’s mind.

Perhaps, just maybe…

Was he able to copy Max’s skill in that short amount of time?

[Congratulations! A new skill has been unlocked.]