On The Next Level

Kai smirked as he walked to the court where the first-string players trained, holding onto a crumpled piece of paper. 

The other players were now gone, but Dylan was right when he said that Yuze and Kun stayed longer on the court after their practice.

"You rejected another girl?" Kun exclaimed, slapping his friend's shoulder. 

Yuze shrugged. "I don't like her." 

"You don't like anyone! You only like basketball," Kun sighed, feeling disappointed. It was their last year, and his handsome friend had yet to get a girlfriend! 

Yuze shrugged, not even rebutting what Kun had said. 

He was right. 

He cared a lot about basketball.

Their conversation was cut short when a looming figure stood before them. 

Kun felt like a shadow engulfed him. Yuze was already covering him from the light, but now, he was occluded by two tall towers, making him feel smaller than he actually was. 

Yuze frowned as Kai stood before him with a proud smirk. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Kai didn't say anything and merely gave Yuze the piece of paper—the proof of their registration for 'League of the Legends.' 

"What is this?" Yuze's frown deepened as he scrutinized the piece of paper.

"Our jerseys," Kai simply said. "We need it to join the league." 

"You joined the second-string league with only six members?" 

Kai didn't respond.

"Battle of the Handsome Balls?" Yuze asked, placing the paper nearer to his face. "What kind of league is this?" 

Kun, too, leaned closer to look at the proof of registration. He couldn't help but chuckle as he read the title of the league. 

"Ah," Kun said. "You joined a smaller league." 

Then, he continued reading the contents of the paper, his eyes widening when he saw where it was going to be held. 

"Richgate? Isn't this where you—" 

Yuze cut Kun off before he could finish his sentence. 

"This is not an official school league," Yuze said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "So, technically, you don't need the official school jersey for it." 

"That's not what you said in the beginning, didn't you?" Kai smirked. 

"You told us to join a league. You didn't specify what kind of league we needed to join," he added. 

"And with that, you made a promise—you'll provide us our jerseys once we join a league." 

Yuze pursed his lips since he knew that Kai was right. He was too hasty with his words.

"You're not going to go back on your word now, are you? Or are you going to chicken out on a promise?" Kai taunted, knowing that Yuze took pride in his values.

Yuze hesitated for a moment. However, with Kai's taunt, he felt like he had no choice but to cave in. 

"Fine," he begrudgingly said. "When is your league going to start?" 

"This weekend," Kai smiled, surprising the two third-year players. 

"I'm surprised you were even allowed to join it," Yuze muttered. 

"It doesn't matter," Kai cheekily said. "What matters is we were still able to join it."

"Alright," Yuze sighed in resignation. "I'll have them done by Friday." 

"Sweet," Kai said. His deadline for the weekly mission was also on Friday, which meant he would finally be able to upgrade his level and use his usual progression system. 

With that, Kai walked away from the two first-string players. 

Once Kai was out of the vicinity, Kun turned to Yuze with one eyebrow raised. 

"You're actually going to provide them with the official jerseys?" Kun asked. 

"I never go back on my word," Yuze said. 

"But we don't have any budget for their jerseys," Kun remarked.

"I'll pay for it," Yuze said. 

"Are you going to ask your dad for some money?" Kun hesitantly said. 

Yuze quickly shook his head. "No. I have some allowance saved up. I'll use that instead." 

"You're actually going to such lengths for the second-string team this time around," Kun observed, making Yuze sigh. 

"I still don't like that Kai guy," Yuze suddenly said. 

"But for the first time in years, the second-string team is actually taking the initiative to join a league." 

"Must be that Kai guy, huh?" Kun said, looking into the distance. 

"Yeah," Yuze muttered, his mind straying to Kai Guo's enthusiasm. 

For some reason, Yuze felt like this year would be different. 

He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

***

Friday finally arrived, and the second-string members were outside of the court, huddled in a corner with a black plastic bag in the center of their circle. 

It was right after dismissal time, so other students were on their way home. 

However, they couldn't help but stop when they saw six boys squatting on the ground like a bunch of troublemakers. 

When they saw Kai Guo, their prejudices merely strengthened. 

"Goodness. What is the basketball team up to these days?" they muttered as they rapidly walked away from the group. 

However, despite of the judgmental stares and whispers, the second-string players kept their gazes on the black plastic bag. 

Dylan, with sparkling eyes, brought out the first jersey. 

"00," Dylan whispered like it was a magical treasure. "Do you want this one, Kai?" 

Kai froze when he saw the double zero number. For this particular quest, the number on his jersey would correspond to the XP he was going to gain. 

He didn't go through all the trouble just to have a '00' upgrade. 

Kai merely shook his head, causing Dylan to smile. 

"Great," he said. "I want this one." 

Then, he brought out the next jersey, and much to Kai's disappointment, the jersey was numbered '0' this time.

"Is Yuze joking with us?" he couldn't help but ask, earning him a slap on the back of his head from Dylan. 

"You should be thankful that Yuze kindly got these made in such a short amount of time," Dylan said. 

"How can their be a double zero and a zero in one team!" Kai complained. 

"Whatever," Dylan said, handing Sunny the jersey with the number '0.' 

"Yay," Sunny said. "Now, it corresponds to my scores in my exams!" 

Tony turned to him in amusement. "I don't think you should be proud of that." 

"Whatever," Sunny said, handing the next jersey to Tony. "Have this one then, Mr. Valedictorian."

Tony caught the number '1' jersey. 

"Thanks," he smiled as he observed the article of clothing. 

The other two jerseys were numbered '2' and '3' respectively. 

Kai didn't want to settle on a single-digit jersey, so he waited until the end. 

He held his breath as Dylan brought out the last jersey from the black plastic bag. 

Then, when he saw the number '16,' he was finally able to smile. 

"Oh, it's the largest number among all of the players, even the first-string ones," Dylan said. "I don't want this. It's too far from one." 

Kai smirked as he took the jersey from his hand. 

"I'll take this one then," he said with resolution. 

Dylan turned to him with raised eyebrows, surprised that he didn't get a smaller number. 

"Are you sure?" Dylan asked. 

"Very sure," Kai smirked before suddenly being taken to another virtual reality experience.

There, he saw his white background change into a yellow-orange one. 

[Current level: Noob (99)] 

[Skill: Simple Fake]

[XP: +16]

[New level: Novice (15)] 

[Congratulations on your promotion!] 

[You are rewarded with an extra quest where you could gain more XP!]