Chapter Thirty-six: Total Domination Is a Must!

“What’s so bad about it? As long as we light up the court and get the whole place hyped, won’t our morale soar? Won’t those girls be screaming for us?” The substitute players exchanged glances, feeling as if they’d boarded a pirate ship with no way back.

Training continued as usual that night…

At midnight, a voice echoed in Geng Haoshi’s mind—it was 9527: “Master, the second task of the intermediate stage, ‘Within one month, reach a sprint speed of over nine meters per second over a distance of 28 meters,’ has been activated. Please accept the task.”

“…What the hell! Isn’t it already activated? Why do I need to accept it again!” Geng Haoshi felt a wave of déjà vu.

“Wait a minute, nine meters per second? Do you think I can fly?”

“Master, I can assure you, at nine meters per second, there’s no way you’ll be airborne.”

“…”

“Master, do you know the fastest speed ever achieved on your planet?”

“…” Geng Haoshi thought: Here we go again, showing off.

“Master, the fastest runner on your planet is Usain Bolt. He can run about 10.4384 meters per second.”

“…” Geng Haoshi grumbled: You’re always so knowledgeable.

“Master, even Bolt didn’t fly. So you don’t need to worry about that.”

“…” Geng Haoshi sighed inwardly: My heart is so tired.

The night passed.

Clap! Clap!

“Get up, you slackers!”

Geng Haoshi stretched and said, “Coach, today’s the match—can’t you let us sleep a little longer?”

“Sleep? For what? It’s just a small regional match! Our goal is the National College Basketball League! So nothing changes—training every day, no exceptions!”

Though the basketball game wasn’t until three in the afternoon, from six in the morning until noon, Geng Haoshi and his teammates trained as usual. Their only rest would be from noon to three.

After lunch, Geng Haoshi and his teammates returned to the gym to rest.

“Second Brother, the game’s this afternoon—do we really have to do it like that?” He Zhikun asked anxiously.

“Kunkun, those who achieve great things don’t fuss over the details. This is just a hurdle we have to cross!” Geng Haoshi thought to himself: This first match is crucial, and who knows if we’ll even get to play.

At two thirty, in the Flying Wing Aeronautical Academy gymnasium, ten universities gathered for the pre-game draw.

According to tradition, based on the national college basketball rankings, the Autumn Joint Sports Basketball Tournament was held at the Flying Wing Aeronautical Academy, which had the highest ranking.

Manman Yu held Captain Meng Lang’s draw result. “Our first opponent is the Olympian School of Architecture.”

“They ranked 637th in last year’s National College Basketball League.”

“It’s time to show the results of your training.”

“I want you to crush them completely!”

Crush them completely?! The players exchanged glances: Last year, we were ranked 2836th.

Note: There are 2836 universities nationwide.

“What? You can’t even crush a team ranked in the six hundreds?” Manman Yu gripped her whip and swept her gaze over the entire team.

“No problem, Coach! We’ll get it done!” Geng Haoshi shouted.

Manman Yu glanced at Geng Haoshi, then glared at Captain Meng Lang.

Meng Lang shuddered and quickly said, “Coach, we will absolutely fulfill the mission!”

“Good.”

“As long as you lead by more than thirty points, that’s enough.”

The team thought: A thirty-point lead—can it really be that easy?

“If you don’t lead by more than thirty,” Manman Yu lashed the floor with her whip, “get ready for a lashing!”

“If you lose, you’re all off the team! Pack your things and leave!”

“Do you hear me?”

“Yes!” No one dared be careless.

The Flying Wing Aeronautical Academy’s gymnasium was unlike the Chen Zhi Gym at Geng Haoshi’s school, which had only one NBA-standard court. Instead, this gym had six courts in a row, so all ten schools could play their first matches simultaneously.

At three o’clock, a whistle blew, and five games began on five courts.

So it’s started just like that—surprisingly, Geng Haoshi, sitting on the sidelines, felt a sudden surge of nerves.

At that moment, a player from the Olympian School of Architecture made a jump shot. Score: 0–2.

“Captain, what are you doing? They’ve taken the lead!” Geng Haoshi stood and shouted.

Captain Meng Lang thought: The game just started, what's your problem?

“Captain, if you can’t do it, sub me in…” Geng Haoshi continued.

“Quiet!” Manman Yu barked at him.

Sigh, not allowed to play, not even allowed to talk. Geng Haoshi shook his head in resignation—when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar face.

“Hey, you came to watch too?” The familiar face was the tall guy Geng Haoshi had once hit with a basketball—and had even challenged to a match.

Perhaps Geng Haoshi had changed so much that the tall guy had to study him for a while before saying, “Are you the fatso who hit me with a ball?”

“I hit you,” Geng Haoshi replied with a cheeky grin, not the least bit guilty—in fact, a little proud.

The tall guy was puzzled. He remembered that Geng Haoshi had been allowed onto the basketball team by special permission from the dean due to an eating disorder, and thought it was just for show… “Cough, you’re still on the school team?”

Geng Haoshi tugged at his jersey, showing off the badge of Tiancheng Polytechnic.

So he really is still on the team. The tall guy thought gloomily: I was rejected at my first tryout.

Geng Haoshi seemed to read his thoughts. “We were supposed to have a one-on-one at the Autumn Joint Sports Meet,” he said, shaking his head. “But I made the team, so I can only play for the school now, not in the internal matches.”

The tall guy fumed: Is this guy bragging?

“By the way, isn’t there a school basketball game today?” Geng Haoshi continued.

“No, it starts tomorrow,” the tall guy replied, annoyed: Asking questions he already knows the answers to.

“Oh, I see.” Geng Haoshi adopted a sage-like tone. “Don’t get discouraged. Practice hard, train well, and you’ll make the team someday.”

The tall guy was about to explode: Is he ever going to stop?

Taking advantage of Geng Haoshi’s distraction, he quickly slipped away.

Geng Haoshi, about to say more, looked around. “Huh? Where did he go?”