Chapter 484 – One Second Hero

“Both teams do your best!” Captain Guo SongTao yelled, “There’s only 10 minutes left!”

Did only 5 minutes pass since the second half started? Why did it feel like an eternity of steals, passes, and rebounds?

I was tired to the point where I lost my self-awareness and it was like I was a robot that could only play basketball.

Due to my influence, the other members of my team still held on even if they were exhausted.

In order to split the burden, You Chen and Xu LiJun cooperated and was able sneak past the other team’s tall defenders and score 2 points.

Class 2 called for a timeout when they wanted to think of a way to stop our pressing attacks and it also gave us some time to rest.

“There’s still 6 minutes.” I panted heavily while tell the others our pan of attack, “Shen ShaoYi is tired too since he missed his last two three pointers. As long as we hold on, we still have a chance to win.”

“PE committee.” Xu LiJun rarely referred to me in that manner, “You’re trying really hard today. I never expected you would block Shen ShaoYi’s last fade-away.”

You Chen drank some water and stared at the vacant basketball court.

“I want to win, more than anything.” He finally said.

Mu ZhongMing never said anything as he was always taciturn, but I could see the fire that was lit in his eyes.

“It’s starting.” Niu ShiLi didn’t say anything amiable, but he stretched out his hands and told everyone to put their hands in and yelled, “One, two, three, let’s go!” with my hand included.

Class 2 put on one of their substitute players during the timeout.

It was supposed to be a crisis for us, but the substitute was too rushed to play before he even got used to it. He took three consecutive shots that hit the rim and let Niu ShiLi get the defensive rebound.

Before the substitute finally got into the right state of mind, the score had become 40:38.

The spectators from class 2-3 were impassioned, they never thought this game would be this exciting. To everyone’s surprise, we were able to go head to head against the reigning champions.

Mu ZhongMing, who couldn’t do anything other than guarding, got a great throw-in. After Xu Lijiun received the ball, he did some quick passes between Niu ShiLi and Niu ShiLi was able to do a lay up.

We were even awarded some free throws because of a foul.

The students from class 2-3 burst into a series of applause when Niu ShiLi scored the free throws. Xiong YaoYue jumped around happily and the class leader was also excited.

Xiao Qin wasn’t as excited when Niu ShiLi scored continuously. She took out her writing board and held a sign that said 65:63.

The score was clearly 40:41, so what was Xiao Qin trying to score?

Well the only reason I was able to score so many points was because Niu ShiLi wasn’t able to play the last game.

And the bet wasn’t important right now. Now, I only wanted class 2-3 to win.

But we were only able to maintain our lead for a minute. Shen ShaoYi made a lightning quick counterattack as he suddenly shot at the net 2m away from the three point line. The swish of the net caused the audience to gasp in admiration and the score was now 43:41.

I had no idea how I was able to endure the rest of the match.

It was like my soul flew into the sky and the court had become a tiny black speck.

It was incredible I was still able to hold on.

The opponents felt a lot of pressure from Niu ShiLi and me. A lot of times they would simply pass the ball to Shen ShaoYi hoping he could score.

Shen ShaoYi was already reaching his limits, it might even have been better to switch on a substitute player. But he wanted to see me lose up close, so he refused to step off the court.

50:49, that was the score 8 seconds before the match ended.

It was the slowest 8 seconds of my life.

After stopping another ferocious attack, the ball flew out of bounds and it was handed to the other team.

I wasn’t willing to accept my defeat, so I leaped out and intercepted a throw and twisted body in midair looking for someone to pass it to.

It was our last chance.

As predicted, Niu ShiLi had run up along with me and was set up under the opponent’s net.

I was about to pass the ball with my all.

Then I saw Xiao Qin holding up the sign clearly in my field of view that said 69:68.

So I was only ahead by one point? That means if the match ends, I wouldn’t have to drink Fu Yan Jie and Niu ShiLi will have to make a fool of himself.

But if I don’t pass, class 2-3 will lose for sure. Everyone’s hard work in the last 40 minutes would have gone to waste and I would be considered a selfish coward.

It wasn’t a lot of time to think deeply. I didn’t even think about the fact I could go to the class leader’s place for food if I win. I was only lit with a burning desire to win.

I wasn’t sure if Niu ShiLi was also thinking as much as me, but he was nervously awaiting for the pass.

I could see his pure eyes burning through the sports goggles. He was the same as me, he only had the desire to win.

Even if he only joined the team in the beginning to fight against me, he had already fallen in love with basketball and has become a true teammate.

Damn it, why should I hesitate when passing to a teammate?

I pushed out all of my strength to send the ball that would decide my fate to Niu ShiLi.

Then I fell hard onto the ground. Even if I knew Yin Yang Sanshou, I had no more energy to put it into practice.

Xiao Qin abandoned the writing board and ran through the crowd in a fluster to help me. The class leader also looked with worry, but she couldn’t come over with many people watching and Xiao Qin had already run over.

I only scraped off some of my skin on my butt. While Xiao Qin was yelling out “Ye Lin classmate, don’t die!” exaggeratedly, I sat up to look at the scoreboard.

It was still 50:49, did Niu ShiLi miss? My heart instantly sank.

But a resounding cheer came from the class 2-3 spectators after a moment of silence.

The student council member keeping track of the score gasped and flipped the score to 50:51.

Niu ShiLi had scored, and we had won, it was like a dream. I felt really happy and even uncontrollably hugged Xiao Qin.

Xiao Qin was both happy and shocked and remained quiet in my embrace.

The class leader slightly bit her lips as she watched us from afar, but it wasn’t hard for her to accept as she knew Xiao Qin was about to become my sister.

Shen ShaoYi couldn’t believe that they had lost and was in a bad mood until captain Guo SongTao went to comfort him. Shen ShaoYi calmed down when he heard it was the best match he played.

Little Smart gushed tears at that scene and used it as source material to write another BL story. It received tens of thousand of views in less than half a day when she posted it to a certain fujoshi forum. Publishers even contacted her asking if she had any plans on publishing it.

I didn’t participate in any of the celebratory events, including receiving awards, because I was too tired. After the excitement had passed, I realized I was faced with a severe problem.

I might have won the match, but I lost the bet with Niu ShiLi. I wasn’t someone who would go back on my words, so as long as Niu ShiLi mentions it, I would down an entire bottle of Fu Yan Jie.

But it looks like Niu ShiLi completely forgot about it. Niu ShiLi followed the class leader’s orders and hung up the number one basketball team in the grade award on the back wall of the class and began discussing the match with other classmates.