Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

Kai, on the other hand, was definitely familiar with the Winter Cup. Huolan High also joined every year, and Kai made sure to watch every game that they partook in.

"For all the newcomers, I\'m going to explain the mechanics of the Winter Cup," Lina started, grabbing a chair and sitting in front of the board.

She held a small stick and pointed to the title of the tournament.

"Winter High is a high school basketball event that takes place every year during the first semester of the school year. It\'s open for all high schools in Jilin City, and they also have a separate league with the same name for second-string players," she started off.

"It\'s definitely not as large-scale as the Interhigh Preliminaries or the Interhigh Nationals, but almost all of the schools in the city still partake in the event. It\'s sort of like a warm-up for the Interhigh Preliminaries, and schools use this time to monitor their opponents and figure out each team\'s playing style."

"I\'m proud to say that Shizi High\'s basketball team has joined every year since its establishment," Lina smiled.

"And we also lost each year," Kune chimed, making Lina click her tongue out of annoyance.

"That doesn\'t matter. What matters is that our team still has some fighting spirit despite being part at the bottom ranks each year," she said.

Zeren raised his hand in inquiry.

"If I may ask, in what place did you finish last year?" he asked.

"Hmm," Lina hummed. "If I\'m not mistaken, it was the 11th?"

"12th," Yuze answered.

Lina chuckled awkwardly. "Right. We placed 12th out of 15 schools."

"You might think this is low, but it\'s really a miracle that we didn\'t end up in the last place last year," Lina said.

"The team had quite a lot of injuries from all the practice games we\'ve booked, and before we knew it, our players were not in great conditions. Therefore, the fact that we placed 12th even with all our injuries means that we\'re improving each year!" she exclaimed.

"That\'s right," Kun said. "Let\'s not get discouraged by our previous ranking and do our best to enter the single-digit ranking for this year!"

The players all exclaimed in agreement.

"Continuing on," Lina said.

"The Winter Cup is your standard tournament that has a double elimination rule. Therefore, teams are only going to be eliminated after they are defeated by two teams," she continued.

Kai nodded. It was good that the Winter Cup had a double elimination system since it meant that they still had a chance to advance to the finals even if they lost one game.

"The schools in the roster are divided into two subdivisions—the North and the South. Our school is currently located in the South along with Feng Arts High. Meanwhile, Yin Yang and other notable schools are in the North. Therefore, we only have the opportunity to play with them during the semi-finals when the East and the West are finally combined."

Kai cleared his throat to capture Lina\'s attention. Their second-year manager looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"If that\'s the case, then does that mean that Shizi High has never played against Yin Yang High before?" he asked, knowing that the school couldn\'t go as far into the semi-finals with their past roster of players.

"Correct," Lina said.

Kun scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, it would be an honor to play with Yin Yang High. However, it just feels impossible right now."

"It\'s not impossible," two people said at the same time.

Yuze and Kai turned to each other in surprise. Meanwhile, the other players started teasing them for what had just happened.

"You two are more similar than I thought," Kun teased.

Yuze glanced at Kai and shook his head as he took note of his unkempt appearance.

"I\'m not similar to that guy," Yuze grumbled.

"Yuze\'s in denial! Yuze\'s in denial!" Kun continued to tease. "In fact, he was the one who wanted Kai in the first-string team but pushed the accountability onto Lina since he was too shy."

Kai turned to Yuze with wide eyes, ready to tease him, but Yuze cleared his throat and shifted the conversation back to the original topic before the teasing could continue.

"Although the Winter Cup isn\'t as highly regarded as the Interhigh Preliminaries and the Interhigh Nationals, it is still a great time to train our skills and play with various talented people," Yuze said.

"Moreover, this tournament awards cash prizes to the winners, so we can use that money to improve our amenities and for our future training outside of the campus."

"With that in mind, all of you better take this tournament seriously," Yuze warned, looking intensely at the players.

"Yes, captain," they simultaneously agreed.

"The Winter Cup will be starting next week and will continue on for around two to three months until the end of the year," Lina continued to explain. "Most games will be taking place during the weekends, but they sometimes occur after school hours, too."

"Anyway, I will officially register our team in the committee tomorrow after my classes. Then, I\'ll get back to you by Wednesday for an intensive training program that will prepare you for the first game of the Winter Cup."

"Yes, ma\'am," Kun said, quite nervous yet excited for what was about to come.

"We can\'t accompany you tomorrow, though," Kun quickly added. "Yuze and I have mock college entrance exams, and the attendance is mandatory."

"It\'s alright," Lina shrugged. "I can just go on my own."

"No, you can\'t," Yuze said before turning to the other members of the team.

"Yuze, I\'m fine," Lina sighed. "I can take care of myself very well."

Kun clicked his tongue. "Remember the last time you went to register the team on your own?" he asked, causing Lina to cast her head to the ground.

"One of you will accompany Lina tomorrow," Yuze said.

Without hesitation, Zeren raised his hand.

"Me! Me!"

However, they were surprised when another person volunteered.

Kai cleared his throat.

"I\'ll go with you."