Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog-Chapter 336: It’s A Tie!

Kai frowned as soon as he heard his name.

Did he actually hear his name?

Or was he hallucinating?

However, the loud cheers and the gazes of the people directed toward his way proved his second thought wrong.

Yuze couldn’t believe his ears, too. He knew that Kai had immensely improved, but he didn’t think that it would be to this extent.

"This only means one thing," he muttered.

Kai and Max had similar, if not the same, stats all throughout the league. That, in itself, was already amazing, considering that Kai had only been playing for one year and essentially did not have any basketball experience.

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Sir Dao couldn’t close his mouth as soon as Kai’s name was mentioned.

Suzy shouted praises from her seat, but he was too in disbelief to stop his daughter from fangirling too much.

Coach Muchen and Lina, who was on the side of the court, turned to each other with wide eyes.

"K—Kai’s the MVP?" Coach Muchen asked, still in disbelief.

Lina felt her heart pounding inside her chest. "Not just the MVP," she muttered. "He’s the rookie MVP and the overall MVP."

Coach Guanyu pursed his lips as the first-year player made his way to the podium, appearing like he couldn’t believe what was happening.

And truly, Kai couldn’t believe it.

The rookie MVP? He was sure that it was his.

However, the overall MVP was something he never even dreamed of!

"Come on, boy," Mark chuckled. "It seems like he still can’t believe it. Come up to the stage quickly."

Kai nodded and joined Max on the stage.

Max, who appeared proud a while ago, appeared a bit hostile. He pursed his lips as Kai stood next to him.

Mr. Hei placed the medal around Kai’s neck, so he was now wearing two. He looked at the two round pieces of metal and shook his head.

"Congrats," Max said, causing Kai to lift his head.

There, he saw Max looking to the front without any expression. However, his eyes held a glint of determination.

"However, next time," he continued. "I’ll make sure to be the only one standing here."

Kai’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and then a small smile appeared on his face as he also faced the front, where the cameras started snapping away.

"I’ll make sure of that, too," he responded.

The cameras snapped photos of the two of them, feeling incredible aura coming from the two of them.

Jet placed his hand over his heart and wiped the fake tears from his eyes.

"He grew up so fast," he said, sounding like he was the one who gave birth to Kai.

Kun shook his head in amusement. "Yeah," he muttered. "I remember when he couldn’t even dribble properly."

Meanwhile, Yiming nudged Chunlei’s shoulder.

"You alright?" he asked.

Chunlei shrugged. "Of course," he responded. "Why would I not be?"

"Well, you’ve never snagged the MVP award before," Yiming started off.

Chunlei clicked his tongue. "It’s not like you ever did, too."

Yiming looked at his friend with narrowed eyes. Then, he smiled.

"You’re upset, huh?" he asked, already aware of Chunlei’s attitude.

"I’m not," Chunlei said, biting his lip.

Yiming shook his head and wrapped one arm around the younger player.

"Come on," he said. "There’s still next year. You can do your best until then."

Chunlei had kept his cool all throughout the awarding ceremony. However, the awarding of the MVP just did it for him. He felt his eyes stinging, so he quickly pushed Yiming away.

"Of course," Chunlei muttered. "Since when have I not done my best?"

Coach Guanyu couldn’t tear his gaze away from the two players.

He could feel it—something different.

The reason why he became a successful coach was because he knew how successful a player can be with just one glance. Their skills, their malleability, their resilience—all of these he can sense.

For some reason, he couldn’t sense it from Kai in the beginning.

Even up to this day, he still wasn’t sure what Kai Guo was truly made of.

However, one thing was certain. He needed to work harder if he wanted Max to stay on top.

With the announcement of the overall MVPs, the awarding ceremony and the Interhigh Nationals had finally closed.

Max didn’t say anything to Kai as they went down the stage.

Meanwhile, Kai went back to his teammates, who all congratulated him—even Jinping, although it was definitely something he had to force out of himself.

The crowd started dispersing while the players went to their respective families.

Yuze made eye contact with his dad for a second, but he quickly looked away and acted like he wasn’t there.

Meanwhile, Zeren hesitated about going to Kai but decided not to in the end.

Kai mindlessly walked to the side of the court, where Lina was waiting for him with a wide smile. For some reason, he just gravitated toward her without any thought—almost like an instinct.

Lina’s smile widened as Kai arrived in front of her.

"Hey, Mr. MVP," Lina started off, pushing against his chest. "Who would have thought that you would be able to snag two titles today?"

Kai smirked and showed off the two medals. "Well, it wasn’t so hard," he bluffed.

Lina rolled her eyes, but it was clear that she was still amused.

"Your head is going to get bigger, I swear," she muttered.

The two of them chuckled altogether, finding themselves unusually happy.

Just then, Kai had the urge to ask Lina out on a date.

He pursed his lips as the realization hit him. It had been there for a while, but he was too focused on the Interhigh Preliminaries to act based on his feelings.

However, with Lina in front of him, he felt as if it was the perfect time.

"Hey," Kai started off.

"Hmm?" Lina hummed, looking up at him with bright eyes.

"What’s your dream destination?" he asked, hoping for an idea where he could take her for a first date.

"Oh," Lina muttered, not really expecting the question. She placed her hand under her chin and thought for a while.

"California," she answered. "Particularly, San Francisco!"

Kai’s smile fell as soon as she said those words. Well, that was an unexpected answer. He couldn’t really take her there!

For one, it was too far…

…And he also didn’t have any money.

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"Why?" Lina asked with a cheeky smile. "Are you going to take me there?"

"Someday, Lina," he softly smiled.

"Someday."