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墨書 Inktalez
I felt my heartbeat suddenly stop. Are we really going to stop at the semifinals of the North China Region? I turned my head to look at Jiang Lingfeng and A Fei, who expressionlessly walked to the corner for the throw-in. Three seconds left? Yes! The game is not over yet. As long as we don’t abandon or give up, as long as there’s still one second left, we cannot concede defeat!
The audience had already started celebrating early, and Kuda Square instantly became a sea of joy. I looked back at Shuai Dong and Pang Hao; they were sitting there with blank expressions. Song Huajing and Lu Lei were shaking their heads helplessly. “Jie, don’t think about anything else. Our game is not over yet; focus on playing!” A Fei held the ball outside the three-point line when Jiang Lingfeng suddenly signaled for a timeout to the referee. According to tournament rules, an additional thirty-second timeout can be called during the final moments of the game. A Fei put down the ball and ran toward our seating area, and I slowly walked over.
The entire crowd was waving their arms in celebration, creating a scene comparable to a victory in a formal ba match. But I knew we were not the protagonists. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a P Team Member walking off the court, casually clapping and even giving a shoulder bump. Seeing all this, I helplessly sat down on the players' bench. “Team members, we are on the brink of elimination. Maybe our journey in the Street Basketball Championship will end here…” Jiang Lingfeng stared blankly at the floor. A Fei and I couldn’t help but lower our heads upon hearing this. Yes, our trip to Beijing might end here. “But we haven’t been defeated yet!” Jiang Lingfeng suddenly raised his voice, his tone strong and powerful, startling me. He slowed down his speech and continued, “We are only two points behind; there’s still time left in the game, so we cannot concede defeat! Do you hear me?” The last three words struck my heart like a knife.
“Captain, how do we play for the last attack? There’s not much time left, so we might have to shoot right after receiving the ball,” A Fei asked. Jiang Lingfeng looked at the Flower Board: “We can only take a gamble…”
The referee blew the whistle signaling the end of the timeout, and we stepped back onto the court. A Fei stood at the sideline ready to throw in the ball while our team skillfully positioned themselves. A Fei tossed the ball high into the air; according to regulations, timing starts when a player touches the ball after it’s thrown in by their teammate. So Jiang Lingfeng quickly ran toward where the ball would land. After catching it, he passed it to me before his feet even touched the ground. I took a step back to beyond the three-point line; at that moment, I had no time to hesitate, so I shot immediately! With a beep, the timer hit zero just as I released the ball.
The ball arced beautifully through the air and swished through the net! A buzzer-beater! I had completed a Zero-Second Counter Kill! At that moment, I felt like I was suffocating; my mind went blank until Jiang Lingfeng and A Fei rushed over and hugged me tightly while screaming. It finally registered that we had made it to the finals of North China Region! That’s right! “We are the strongest!!” I shouted with my eyes tightly shut, feeling overwhelmed with excitement as I let my emotions run wild. Shuai Dong and Pang Hao also rushed over to hug us together.
The entire audience fell silent; some fans were even sobbing in sadness. I saw despair in P Team Member's eyes as if they couldn’t believe this was happening. The Point Guard even had tears in his eyes. They truly were a strong team; although they lost to us due to luck and other reasons, they earned our respect as well as that of all spectators.
I walked up to their players with a smile: “P, you guys did great!” The Point Guard looked up slightly with tear-filled eyes and managed a smile: “Thank you; you should celebrate how you’re going to compete in the finals now. Congratulations! You are rising stars of your generation; you must be high school students…” Just then Jiang Lingfeng came over: “Hey guys, are you three college students?” They nodded: “Yes, we are third-year university students who like to gather together during our free time to play Street Basketball.” Jiang Lingfeng smiled: “Yes, we are students from Cangzhou Yulin High School. My name is Jiang Lingfeng; this is Xiang Jie, and that over there is Yu Chengfei. You guys have great skills; can we be friends?”
“So you’re one of the Five Great Point Guards from high school—Jiang Lingfeng! No wonder…” We started chatting like this; thankfully P wasn’t like Fantasi with all that melodrama. After a while A Fei also came over; our two teams that had just been fiercely competing became friends through conversation. We learned that P Team’s Point Guard was named Hou Qingming and was their captain; their forward was named Zhao Kai and their center was named Lu Fu—all three were twenty-one years old.
Our friendly interaction influenced all spectators as well; they no longer held hostility towards us. Even when we walked out of Kuda Square, Beijing fans gave us warm applause as we forgot about any unpleasantness from the match. After exiting Kuda Square, Jiang Lingfeng couldn’t contain himself and shouted into space, attracting countless glances from people on the street. “Captain, don’t get too excited; we’re going for the North China Champion!” I joked with Jiang Lingfeng as he nodded with a smile.
We walked towards our hotel laughing together; we were just one final hurdle away from our second championship trophy. I wondered if Light Speed could stop Snow Wolf Team's advance—this afternoon, answers would be revealed.
As we passed by that restaurant again, I couldn’t suppress my excitement anymore and dashed inside. Upon seeing Ya, I ran over and grabbed her hand while spinning around in circles with her. “Hey hey hey! Jie, what’s gotten into you?” Ya was bewildered by my actions as she spun around with me while asking.
“Ya—no wait—Wang Yaqian classmate! I solemnly tell you that our Dream Chasers Team defeated a strong P team in today’s semifinals and advanced to the North China Region finals!” I stopped pretending to be serious and grinned while making a peace sign with my right hand.
“Really?” Ya widened her eyes in surprise. “Congratulations! Wishing you all success in winning!” She revealed her charming crescent moon smile again—North China finals here we come! We are about to write our own High School Miracle for Dream Chasers!
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