The Almighty Ring

“Trash of class nine! Tremble under the shadows of your betters!” Xu Hao, the sixth class forward bellowed as he raised his hands, taunting the ninth class. He caught the ball from an errant ninth class and leaped up. His legs were so powerful that he easily went over the ninth’s class defense’s head-levels and passed the ball to a team member. When Xu Hao got under the ring, that player passed the ball back to him. With a powerful, unstoppable jump, he caught the ball in the air and slammed the ball into the loop.

*Beeep*

The referee blew his whistle, signifying the end of the second round. At that point, the score was 77-13. The lower score obviously belonged to the ninth class.

“Guys! Don’t give up just yet! Here, have some water!” Sun Mengmeng squeaked as she ran towards the basketball team and handed out refreshments. Even having a large group of girls cheering them on did not seem to be doing much.

It was a huge blow. In only two rounds, the sixth class had successfully broken the ninth class’s spirit. This was not even a match. They were on an entirely different league. How could a bunch of nerds and geeks play against NBA class players?!

“Oh man… I don’t think we can do it…” Wang Chen groaned. His sports t-shirt was utterly drenched in sweat. You could not find a single dry spot on him! Due to the cold weather, you could visibly see steam puffing out the top of his head like a steam engine!

“What a load of bull crap! Is there anyone in our class who actually plays basketball?” Zhao Feng grunted.

“Watch it. Wang Chen and the guys have already done their best. They are our best. We can only count on them. No one else could even dribble without tripping over their own feet!”

Sun Mengmeng sighed. That was how most “honor classrooms” were. Students may perform rather well academically, but they would be atrocious in P.E.

“Yo! Trash! Are we still playing?” Xu Hao, the same guy who had taunted the class earlier on bellowed. When he was only greeted with silence, he gathered a few of his “gang” and walked towards the ninth class students. In all other tests, the sixth class would utterly decimate them.

That was why they had such a vendetta against the “honor class” students. At least the sixth class was better than them at something, and they would capitalize on that to humiliate the ninth.

“You!”

Zhao Feng shot up to his feet and pointed a quivering finger at Xu Hao.

“What? Unhappy? What can you do about it?”

Xu Hao arched an eyebrow tauntingly and laughed.

“Fatty boy, if you want to settle the score, come to the floor and play!” said Xu Hao as he stared down at Zhao Feng. As he turned around, with his back facing Zhao Feng, he said, “I’ll squeeze the living shit out of you, fatass!”

“WHAT- You–”

Zhao Feng had enough. However, just before he wanted to do something about it, Jiang Fei stepped in between them.

“Xu Hao… Was it?” said Jiang Wei calmly. He never wanted to be involved in any of the class activities. However, Zhao Feng was his brother-in-arms. He would never allow his own brother to be belittled by a bully.

“Look who is it… The infamous ninth class geek. What do you want? Mop the floor with your face?” said Xu Hao as he turned around and laughed, not taking Jiang Fei seriously.

“Hey, geek. If you want to play ball, you should have practiced. We are not having fun here, understand? We are having a real match. Nobody would want to play with your games! So why don’t you turn your cheeky butt back to your games, where no one would want to play with you!”

Li Qiang, another good basketball player from the sixth class, teased Jiang Fei. In truth, he was afraid that if Jiang Fei would escalate the situation into a match in the digital realm. Jiang Fei was famous in the school for his talents in digital games, including digital sports!

“Real games huh? Fine. We’ll play. I’ll see you on the floor!”

Jiang Fei smirked. Coincidently, he had the Cat Spirit Boots of Accuracy on. Also coincidentally, this match was the perfect place to test it out!

“Jiang Fei? Are you sure you’re up for it?” Sun Mengmeng pulled Jiang Fei aside and asked worriedly. She had a good reason for asking, since Jiang Fei had never once been seen exerting himself in anything.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a game. Right?” said Jiang Fei with a faint smile.

“In that case, go for it.”

Sun Mengmeng nodded. Since the score was already a landslide, what was the worst that could possibly happen?

“Brother Fei, are you really sure you’ll be good?” said Zhao Feng worriedly. He too, had good reason to be worried for his friend. After all, the sixth class had just taunted him. Playing right into their hands and getting humiliated was the last thing he wanted Jiang Fei to submit himself to.

“Relax. Since when have I ever embarrassed myself?”

Jiang Wei smirked and patted Zhao Feng’s shoulder assuredly.

*Beep*

The referee blew his whistle to kick the third round off.

“It’s time. Jiang Fei! Which position would you like?” Wang Chen asked.

“I don’t care. Just pass me the ball when you get the chance.” Jiang Fei replied with a broad smile on his face.

“Is this guy really playing?” Yang Ming asked curiously.

“No clue. Even if he can’t, how would it change the points either way?” Wang Chen rolled his eyes. He did not care about the match anymore. It was already beyond saving. Be it Jiang Fei or anyone else, it would end up the same.

“Come on! Let the sixth teach you what basketball is!” Xu Hao bellowed as he passed the ball to the rear player.

“Everyone! Move up! Crowd the front. Let’s crush them!” After trashing the ninth class for two consecutive rounds, Xu Hao had lost all expectations of his opponent’s abilities. The moment the ball entered his palms, he slipped across the court like a hurricane.

“Haha! Hey geek! Let me see your—WHAT THE!”

Xu Hao was laughing just as he was about to get close to Jiang Fei. One moment, he was there. The next moment, he had vanished from his sight!

“Thanks for the ball!”

Jiang Fei appeared behind the rear player; the ball now in his hands!

“KOBE!”

*dunk*

Jiang Fei easily dunked the ball, scoring 2-points!

“What the heck just happened?” The point guard cried out. Before he could do anything, the ball had mysteriously disappeared and was already halfway across the court, in the geek’s hand!

“Phew. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Jiang Fei smirked confidently.

Increasing one’s movement speed by 3 points was nothing much in the realm of the game but in real life… That was a huge boon! Three meters in one second was inhuman! That, and the extra agility buff the boots provided made Jiang Fei an actual NBA player!

“Guys. Watch out for that kid. He’s fast!”

Xu Hao frowned. Something was definitely wrong with the geek. The 2-point throw was nothing much compared to the overall score, but Jiang Fei had come as a huge blow to his ego. The entire team had not even started moving, and the ball had been snatched away in an instant.

“WOOHOO! THAT’S MY MAN! BROTHER FEI! WHOOP THEIR ASSES!” Zhao Feng screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Jiang Fei! Jiang Fei! Jiang Fei!” All the girls of the ninth class started to cheerFei.

Who would have thought that they would be harboring a professional player! That fact alone was enough to send the girls of the ninth class into fits of excitement.

“WATCH IT!” Xu Hao yelled as the point guard did a backhanded pass. That time around, none of the players dared lower their guard. They returned to their standard strategy and spread out.

“Hmm…” Jiang Fei frowned. It had been easier in the beginning since everyone had seriously underestimated him. Now, everyone was on full alert. Having his movement speed buffed was good, but it would be hard, or rather, impossible for him to challenge five of them alone. He needed help. He needed his team to work together!

“Listen. Stand and guard outside the circle. Ignore the loop!” cried Jiang Fei.

It was useless…

The enemy’s point guard was too tall and strong. Even if all of Jiang Fei’s team rushed forward as one, they would not be able to get past their defense, much less get near the opposing hoop! There was just no room for them to make a stand.

“Give me the ball!” cried Jiang Fei as the opposite point guard held him up. At that moment, Xu Hao had pulled himself out of the crowd and was able to slip past the ninth class’ point guard and grab the ball, despite Wang Chen having the entire team defending that position. They were just too weak!

“YEAH!” cried Xu Hao as he was about to take a shot. He knew that Jiang Fei was not the same person he had in mind. He was a threat, and the sixth class dared not look down on him.

“GIVE ME THOSE THREE POINTS!” cried Xu Hao. He took two quick steps back to create breathing space between Yang Ming and himself before jumping and taking the shot!

“SCORE!” Xu Hao yelled out again, confident as the ball left his palm.

“In your dreams!”

Just as Xu Hao was grinning with confidence, Jiang Fei swiftly rushed behind Yang Ming and got between Xu Hao and the hoop. It was only a distance of about roughly four persons, yet Jiang Fei was able to reach that spot in a split second.

*Wham*

Before the ball could even reach to the hoop, Jiang Fei had furiously slammed the ball away.

“What in the world… BROTHER FEI IS JUST TOO COOL!” Zhao Feng cried out with excitement, as if he was the one who had just performed that stunt.