Chapter Twenty-Three: Ah! Ah! Ah!

Geng Haoshi gripped the rim with his right hand, swaying back and forth, dangling there... Damn it! How could I miss the ball? Do you know how hard it is for me to get up here even once? Geng Haoshi looked down at the floor. “Why is it so high?!”

"...Master, it's because you're too short."

"Shut up, you useless, troublemaking, good-for-nothing system!" Damn it, should I just let go now? Or wait until my arms are stretched out? My heart's pounding! Am I suddenly afraid of heights? Not only did I miss the dunk, but now I'm stuck up here... Inside, Geng Haoshi was weeping bitterly.

"He can actually jump that high!"

"Maybe it's his shoes—they must be springy!"

"Yeah, that's probably it."

"For someone his height to reach the rim, those shoes must be out of this world!"

The teammates all started to scrutinize Geng Haoshi's shoes, eventually concluding that they must be the invention of some mysterious scientist from a secret organization. Thus, Geng Haoshi was labeled as the privileged son of an official, the scion of a wealthy family, or perhaps both.

At this moment, Yu Manman was also stupefied, thinking: This fat guy’s vertical is actually this good? Maybe he's not completely hopeless at dunking after all... This is getting more and more interesting.

Noticing the astonished looks on his teammates’ faces, Geng Haoshi wondered: Have I been hanging here too long?

He steadied himself, shut his eyes, and let go… landing firmly on the ground. "Doesn’t seem that scary after all." Seeing all his limbs were intact, Geng Haoshi finally let out a sigh of relief.

No, I can't stop here. The devil goddess of a coach is still watching me—I have to try again!

He picked up the ball, holding it tightly. Don’t you dare slip again! Geng Haoshi took a deep breath, locked his eyes on the rim, dashed forward, and leapt… The ball slipped out of his hands again!

"Damn it!" Geng Haoshi clung to the rim with his right hand, bellowing at the ceiling.

"He—he grabbed the rim again?!" one teammate gaped.

"I must be dreaming," another closed his eyes.

"I have to get my hands on those shoes!" The rest still refused to believe Geng Haoshi's vertical leap was his own.

Yu Manman settled back into the coach’s seat, resting her chin on her hand, eyeing Geng Haoshi with growing interest.

Geng Haoshi let go, landed, glared at the basketball on the court. "You! Trying to get me kicked off the team, aren’t you?"

He scooped up the ball again, dashed at the rim… leapt… and, as if bewitched, the ball slipped away yet again. His right hand caught the rim once more. "Ah! You—damn—thing!"

He let go, landed, picked up the ball, held it, sprinted, and jumped! The ball slipped away once again!

"Again! He grabbed! The rim! Again!" The teammates were utterly stunned.

No, at this rate I’ll be kicked out! Geng Haoshi was getting more and more anxious, oblivious to the others’ reactions.

He let go, landed, picked up the ball, hugged it, dashed, and leapt once more! The ball slipped out yet again!

"Ah! What the hell is going on!" Geng Haoshi’s eyes burned red, his fists clenched tight.

"...Master, are you losing your mind?" 9527 detected an abnormal surge of fat burning inside Geng Haoshi, well beyond the normal effect of "Power Accumulation."

"I’m perfectly fine!" Geng Haoshi growled, then ran toward the basket of balls at the sideline. He grabbed two balls, one under each arm.

"...Master, what are you—"

"Ahhh!" Geng Haoshi roared, charging the rim with both balls. He leapt, arms spread like a great roc, both hands lifting the balls—"Bang!"—the two balls collided midair.

"...Master, if you’d used just one ball this time, you probably would’ve made it."

Now, both of Geng Haoshi's hands were gripping the rim.

"Both hands on the rim at once?!" The team was floored—again.

He landed solidly, arms hanging at his sides... but with his posture and the strange curve of his lips, he looked eerily like a zombie from "The Walking Dead." Once more, he ran to the basket, grabbed two more balls, charged, leapt—"Bang!"—exactly like before.

And so, Geng Haoshi kept smashing at the rim several more times until the basket of balls was empty.

Excellent! Not only does he have a great vertical, his stamina’s impressive too! Yu Manman mused.

“Fatty, that’s enough. You can come over now.”

Geng Haoshi’s arms still hung at his sides. Hearing Yu Manman’s call, he turned to her with that strange, unsettling smile once again.

He grinned as he walked toward Yu Manman.

"...Master, snap out of it!" 9527 realized Geng Haoshi might be experiencing some unknown side effect of "Power Accumulation," causing a personality shift.

"Master, you’re not about to do something inappropriate, are you?!" 9527 shouted inside Geng Haoshi's mind... but Geng Haoshi just kept on grinning.

Yu Manman saw his lecherous expression and was instantly infuriated—she hated being stared at like that the most!

"Crack!" With a deafening snap, Yu Manman lashed her whip right in front of Geng Haoshi!

"Whoosh! What happened?!" Geng Haoshi looked at her, completely bewildered.

"Damn, Master, you’re such a coward! You snapped out of it that easily!" 9527 actually had been kind of looking forward to the student-teacher scene that was about to unfold.

"Fatty, you didn't dunk even once—" Yu Manman began, but before she could finish, Geng Haoshi dropped to his knees with a thud, clinging to her leg and bawling, "Beautiful coach, please give me one more chance! Don’t kick me off the team!" Tears streamed down his face.

"...Master, have you no shame at all?" 9527 sighed.