บท 39: Stay Inside The Comfort Zone
Kai arrived at the court, shaking his head after the ridiculous interaction. He couldn't believe that Suzy accused him of being a pervert when he never even touched a woman intimately in his whole two lives!
The five players who urged Kai to get the ball waited in anticipation of his arrival.
They flocked to him like ducks to a single breadcrumb and yapped questions left and right.
"Was she pretty?"
"Did she talk to you?"
"I'm surprised you didn't faint when you were that close to Suzy Mei!"
"Congrats, buddy! You got close to Suzy more than I ever will in my entire lifetime!"
"What did she smell like?"
Kai sighed as they continued to ask questions.
"It wasn't a big deal," Kai shrugged. "Let's just go back to the game."
They stopped as soon as Kai said those words.
Then, while the five other players were still recovering from the shock of Kai calling his interaction with Suzy 'not a big deal,' Kai stood below the ring and attempted another shot.
It went in effortlessly.
He clicked his tongue. If only he could also do it during actual games.
Meanwhile, Dylan shook his head, glancing at Kai with a proud expression.
"I have to admit—although he's pretty ugly, he has a lot of charisma," he admitted.
Alen nodded in agreement. "I heard that he has lots of girls come over to his house."
Mingze gasped softly. "That must be why he isn't fazed by Suzy Mei's beauty! He must have had girlfriends that are on her level."
They sighed collectively, feeling a new sense of admiration for the tall first-year player.
Kai sighed softly when he saw that the other players were still in the same positions.
"Come on. Let's play," he urged, making them snap back to reality.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Dylan exclaimed once he heard Kai's deep voice.
Tony nudged his side.
"What are you doing? You're the captain here," he whispered.
"Ah, right," Dylan muttered. "Let's play!" he said, repeating Kai's words.
With that, the second-string players went ahead with their game. Kai was hoping to finally level up or gain some new skills. However, that wasn't really possible since he needed a jersey before he could fulfill any of those.
They continued their game, and it became increasingly evident that Kai was the best player among them—which said a lot about the team.
Even the football players from the distant field looked at the team with pity.
"I was planning on telling them off for being so noisy, but they only train once a week, so I'll just let it pass," the football captain said before going back to their own practice.
As the sun set and the skies became darker, the players plopped onto the hard, dirty ground, out of breath from the "intense" training session.
Meanwhile, Kai calmly sat on the ground, not even looking fazed in the slightest.
Dylan turned to him in disbelief. "Why do you still look okay after all of that?"
Sunny nodded in agreement. "That was one of the toughest sessions we had in a while! Why the heck does it feel like I've run more than ten kilometers?"
Kai shook his head. That was probably because they actually did. The ball slipped out of their hands multiple times, and they took turns running after it.
Kai, however, strangely didn't feel tired. His stamina in his old body was pretty good despite his disability. He did a lot of household chores, so he knew how to preserve his energy.
It seemed like the skill passed onto this life since he genuinely didn't feel tired after running around for two hours. Moreover, this body of his was truly a masterpiece. With how his bones and muscles were built, it was only expected that he'd have better stamina than the rest of the boys.
Dylan, still out of breath, chugged his water before speaking.
"So, how did you guys find our first training?" he enthusiastically asked.
"It was fun!" Mingze exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting to get into the basketball team, and when I saw my name, I felt genuinely nervous. However, I'm relieved that I get to play with you guys instead."
The older members turned to each other in pleasant surprise. However, their smiles quickly dropped when Kai spoke.
"I discovered the reason why the team doesn't qualify in leagues," he said.
The five other players turned to him, but he paid them no attention. Instead, he continued laying down the facts on why the team was stuck in the second string.
"It felt like I played a running game instead of basketball."
"It was still pretty fun. However, we obviously lack the foundation of skills. At this point, we really won't get into a league."
Sunny pursed his lips. "Why are you so hung up on the league anyway? Is it because of what Yuze had said?"
Kai smirked. Of course, Yuze's taunting was a huge part of the reason why he wanted to get into the official second-string league.
However, at the same time, he genuinely wanted to get his jersey so he could complete his mission.
And for that to happen, he needed to join a league.
"Yeah, it's impossible for us to join anyway," Dylan remarked. "So, just let it go, Kai. It's not going to happen."
"I can't help but agree," Tony chimed. "We've been staying in our comfort zone for so long, so I feel like joining a league is quite literally out of our league."
The other players started nodding in agreement, causing Kai to sigh in frustration.
Then, he brought out something from his pocket—a poster of some sort. It was crumpled but looked newly-printed. Then, he placed it on the ground for everybody to see.
"League of the Legends: Battle of the Handsome Balls?" they read in unison, confusion evident in their voices.
"What is this?" Dylan finally asked.
"A league we could join," Kai said. "The minimum number needed for registration is five players, and it's open for all schools and, frankly, for all teams. So, I registered our team."
A small chuckle bubbled up from Sunny, causing the others to join until they burst into full-blown laughter.
Kai, on the other hand, didn't find anything funny about the situation. So, he waited until their giggle episode ended.
"Aww, this is a good one, Kai," Tony said. "You almost made me believe that you registered us for a ridiculous league."
Kai smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Oh, I'm not joking."
"I actually registered our team."
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