Yuze had no choice but to allow Kai to play as the fifth member of the newbie team. The others, still confused about Alen's outburst, only snapped back to reality when they were faced with the tall and muscular first-year student.
"I'll be the Small Forward," Kai said without hesitation. It was his main position before he got injured, so he was confident he'd be able to do it the best among everyone on the team.
However, it seemed like his teammates didn't care at all.
"Who cares what our positions are?" Roy asked. "We just need to shoot the ball as many times as we can, right?"
"That's not how the game works," Kai coldly said.
"Suit yourself," Roy said, a playful smile on his lips. His two friends also seemed like they didn't care much about basketball positions.
Only Alen's friend was the one taking him seriously, but then again, it also appeared like he wasn't that great at basketball based on what Kai had seen.
Yuze passed the ball to Roy and blew the whistle. There were only a little more than five minutes left into the game, yet there was still a two-digit point gap between the teams.
Roy tried to pass it inbound to his friend, but a varsity player quickly intercepted it and sprinted to the court for another fast break. He shot the ball with ease and was bombarded with high-fives not long after.
Kai's eyebrows furrowed as he gauged their dispositions. It seemed like they were more fired up than ever after Roy made his stupid comment. Aside from that, it seemed like his current teammates only plan on using him as an accessory.
They didn't pass the ball to him at all!
So, the best bet for Kai was to play defense.
Shang, the current tallest guy on the team, went face-to-face with Kai. Shang's eyebrows raised in surprise since he didn't expect someone to be guarding him. Then, a smirk emerged from his lips, silently challenging the tall newbie.
"Could you even see me with those bangs?" he teased, but Kai ignored him.
Shang dribbled the ball and stepped back, readying himself for a mid-shot. However, with Kai's keen eyes, he was able to spot his attempt.
He jumped up high to block the ball, but Shang, having more experience, did a fake and dribbled to go past him.
Kai frowned but quickly recovered from the surprise to try to stop him once again. Shang, clicking his tongue out of annoyance, passed the ball to Jet instead. Fortunately, Roy was guarding Jet. However, instead of fairly guarding the ball, he slapped it out of his hand, earning yet another foul.
Jet sighed in frustration while Roy unapologetically smirked.
"Sorry," Roy nonchalantly said, obviously not meaning it.
Kun clicked his tongue as he continued to observe the newbies. "Gosh, I already hate that guy. We should just stop the game right now since I'm a hundred percent sure Yuze wouldn't recruit anyone from these guys. Right, Lina?"
Kun gently nudged their pretty manager's shoulder, but she didn't respond. He turned to her and raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Lina?" he repeated her name.
However, Lina's gaze was focused on the game, specifically on one person.
Lina's mouth was agape as she continued to observe Kai's movements. He was definitely far from being good; however, his physique, height, and overall speed were satisfactory. Lina could tell he was an amateur, but at the same time, it also felt like he knew a lot about the sport.
Kai attempted to block Jet this time, but being the point guard, the latter was extremely agile. Their height difference was also pretty big, so Jet was able to get under him after a few seconds. Nonetheless, Kai didn't give up and continued tracking the ball.
With his teammate's fouls and inability to cooperate, the gap between the two teams only seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.
Jinping clicked his tongue out of annoyance while watching from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Zeren's gaze was still focused on Lina. However, the girl's attention was only focused on one person.
Kai sighed in frustration as his teammate let the ball be taken away once again. The four other members lazily followed after the varsity players, appearing to have given up, but Kai managed to keep up with their pace and guard the ball once again.
Shang was about to shoot when Kai appeared in front of him for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
"You again?" he muttered, feeling slightly annoyed. He was quite tired from playing three sets, so his movements undoubtedly slowed down.
This didn't go past Kai.
He glanced at the timer.
One minute.
Then, he turned his gaze to the score.
60-36.
It was definitely impossible to turn the game around at this point. However, Kai knew that the objective of this game wasn't to win. It was to show the current members that they were worthy of joining their team.
With that thought in mind, Kai took a deep breath. He focused his eyes on the ball, more determined than ever. He didn't transmigrate into this body for no good reason, so he was going to exploit it to its limit.
With a fiery gaze, he stepped forward, extending his hand toward the ball.
One shot.
He needed to land one shot if he wanted to become a part of the team.