Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog-Chapter 629: Investigators

It felt like they had lived three different lives in a singular day. First, was athletes of a different sport. Second, was an audience for Julian Barker. And third, was investigators.

It was early in the afternoon, but the boys were back in their hotel room. They were in Marcus' room with their other teammates, all doom scrolling on their phones.

Kai sat cross-legged on the floor, glaring at the tablet in his hands. The others watched edits of Julian's interview this morning, finding what he said about their team disrespectful.

"There's so many articles about Kai right now," Max muttered. "Why is it that these all came out after Julian's interview?"

"Because people are idiots," Marcus said.

"Listen to this one," Jimmy said, a small smile playing on his lips. "'Star Player Kai Guo Exposed: The Shocking Truth About His Adoption!'"

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Kai groaned, leaning his head back against the bed. "I'm not adopted!"

He just had a complicated family life, but he lived with his real grandma!

Muyang shook his head. "Why is that even newsworthy? Is being adopted a bad thing?" he asked.

"It isn't," Kai muttered. "So, I don't mind it that much. It's still a lie, though," he grumbled.

Jaw-Long snickered, holding up his phone. "This one's golden. 'Kai Guo: Rude to Servers Everywhere.' Apparently, you've been disrespecting staff from local diners."

"How? We've only been eating at the buffet," Jian pointed out, shaking his head.

"I guess I didn't thank the omelet station guy loud enough," Kai muttered, earning a round of laughter from his teammates.

"It has this photo of you with a woman," Jaw-Long said, showing it to Kai.

Kai sighed. "That was when I was asking for muffins," he muttered. "Who even took that photo?"

"Wait, this one's my favorite," Zheng said, catching everyone's attention. "'Kai Guo Hated by His Own Team: Exclusive Photo Inside.'" He held up the screen, showing a blurry picture of Kai and Marcus mid-argument during their game with South Korea.

Dong laughed so hard that he nearly fell off the bed. "Well, to be fair, you did hate him before."

"Can't argue about that," Marcus muttered. "It's none of their business, though. We managed to make it this far because of it."

Kai nodded in agreement.

"And last but not least," Max announced, "'Kai Guo and His Many Girlfriends.' Apparently, you're a serial dater now."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "How on earth did they come up with that conclusion? I haven't spoken to a girl in this place!"

"My sister likes you, though," Jaw-Long teased, smirking.

Jimmy chimed in, "My sister liked him before, too. Although, I still don't know why."

"I think that one girl in volleyball also likes you," Jian added.

"Oh," Zheng added. "I was walking one day when a girl from the swimming team stopped me. She spoke in English, so I didn't understand. I gave her my number, though, but I assumed she asked for Kai's."

"But you gave your number?" Max asked.

Zheng nodded without any shame.

"You should have given mine!" Max exclaimed.

"Pathetic," Jian said, shaking his head.

"Now, I see where the rumor might come from," Caleb said, noting Kai's popularity.

Kai sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright, I see the pattern now. Great. I'm adopted, an asshole, a playboy, and the team's villain!"

"Can we debunk these, though?" Zheng asked, collapsing onto the couch beside Muyang.

"No," Kai said firmly. "They'd believe what they want to believe. That's how this works."

"Honestly, I'm getting hate because I've become relevant," he said. "It's a weird compliment when you think about it. No one writes this stuff about benchwarmers or nobodies."

"That's why nobody writes about us," Bam and Jie said at the same time. However, like side characters, nobody reacted to what they had said.

"It's always the ones who are doing something—who are someone—that get dragged through the mud."

Caleb frowned. "You shouldn't have to deal with this crap just because you're good at what you do. I've been there, too, and it's honestly annoying."

Kai nodded. "You're right—it's not fair. But life's not fair. And honestly, trying to prove them wrong all the time is exhausting. I could post a hundred photos showing me laughing with teammates, or eating politely, or a photo with my girlfriend, and it still wouldn't matter. They'd just come up with a new lie."

"So, what do you want to do?" Marcus asked.

Kai smirked. "We don't waste our energy on them. Instead, we prove them wrong on the court. Tomorrow's game? That's my answer. I'll make them shut up the only way they'll understand."

***

With her headphones in, Lina stared at her screen with a frown. She had also seen Julian's interview this morning and hated it.

Now, she was scrolling through the endless stream of articles about Kai.

Most of them were ridiculous, and she knew better than to believe gossip. But one headline stopped her cold.

"Kai Guo and His Many Girlfriends: Exploiting his Popularity for Female Attention?"

"What is this?" she muttered and clicked on the article. She knew it was going to be baseless!

Even though the two of them hadn't spoken to each other consistently for the past weeks because of their schedule conflict, they were still an official couple.

Kai didn't even know how to talk to women before they got together.

Well, that was a lie since he managed to capture Suzy's and Kimmy's attention. Still, he never glanced their way as soon as they became official.

However, Lina frowned when he saw the photos embedded in the article. There were numerous photos of Kai with girls from other sports. One from the swimming team. One from the volleyball team. There was even one from the skateboarding sport!

"Is it true?" she whispered to herself.

With a frustrated sigh, she tossed her phone inside her bag and leaned back, staring outside of the large windows.

"There's only one way to find out," she said out loud.

A voice on the intercom interrupted her thoughts.

"Flight J371 is boarding now. I repeat Flight J371 is boarding now."