Hyunsoo’s body rejected all forms of ‘unnaturalness.’
‘The movements feel too awkward.’
The previous nine groups had already demonstrated how brutal 50 burpees could be.
Unlike the other students, Hyunsoo didn’t aim to finish the burpees quickly.
He adjusted his pace appropriately and managed his stamina.
“Hmm?”
In doing so, he naturally realized the importance of form.
‘If my form is correct, the continuous movements of the burpee flow smoothly like water.’
Burpees are roughly divided into five distinct movements.
“Huh?”
At first, he repeated each movement without much thought, but there were parts that felt awkward.
So, every time he repeated the burpees, he focused on finding a more natural form.
“Five!”
After exactly five repetitions, an ideal movement path emerged. Following that path made it not only easier but also fun.
It felt just like playing a rhythm game.
‘This is so much fun!’
Unconsciously, Hyunsoo picked up the pace.
What the heck? How is he doing burpees so easily? Is there something wrong with my eyes? He looks like he’s enjoying it??
No, that guy must be crazy. Can’t you see him smirking? He’s a madman.
Deep in concentration, Hyunsoo didn’t hear the murmurs of the others.
“Thirty! Thirty-one! Thirty-two!… Sixty-three! Sixty-four!”
Faster, more accurately, and more fun!
Hyunsoo, immersed in his zone, completed the burpees faster than anyone else.
And there was someone watching him with great surprise…
It was none other than Dianté, the starting player who had played betting basketball with Hyunsoo on the same team.
‘What’s up with this guy all of a sudden?’
They had started the burpees together, and Dianté was definitely ahead until the 50th rep.
But seeing Hyunsoo rapidly increase his count, Dianté hastily tried to speed up as well.
“Eighty-seven! Eighty-eight!”
Even though he gritted his teeth and pushed himself, the gap only widened.
Dianté glanced at Angela’s camera, which was recording the whole scene, and broke into a cold sweat.
‘I absolutely cannot be humiliated this time!’
Desperately, he pushed his body to the limit.
Coach Russell of the basketball team understood the importance of having a ‘popular team.’
A popular team sells tickets. Selling tickets brings in budget.
With a solid budget, proper investment in the coaching staff and facilities can be made…
Meeting all these conditions is what forms a strong team, attracting promising middle school players and achieving good results.
For Coach Russell, the tryouts were a tool to raise the team’s profile.
- The starting players are the school’s superstars. The more they show up, the more students look forward to the games.
So, he included one starting player in each group right from the basic fitness tests.
- Just watching the general students’ fitness tests can be boring. Including a starting player in each group provides an interesting point for spectators, showing how the general students’ fitness compares to the starters. If there are students physically capable of challenging the starters, it motivates the players, which is always beneficial.
Dianté joining Hyunsoo’s group for the basic fitness test was part of this plan.
‘Shit, should I not have volunteered to be in this guy’s group?’
He had volunteered to be in Hyunsoo’s group for the fitness test anyway.
Every now and then, the video of the betting basketball game would pop up, chosen by the algorithm.
‘I’ve been ridiculed enough already!’
This time, he intended to crush Hyunsoo with his overwhelming physical abilities right from the fitness test.
No matter how excellent a general student might be, the training the starters undergo in the basketball team is brutal. The comparison should be impossible…
But reality was different.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Dianté’s legs started to give out.
The price he paid for losing his pace and overexerting himself to continue the suicides.
What drained him the most was seeing Hyunsoo, who had long finished the suicides and moved on to shooting practice.
Swish-
Hyunsoo made a layup with a clean form, like something straight out of a basketball manual.
“Nice!”
Even Coach Russell, with a flushed face, clenched his fist in excitement.
‘Is he even human?’
Hyunsoo easily made the free throws and the three-point shots as well.
As he progressed, his form stabilized, and his tempo quickened.
After missing only the first two shots, he made every remaining attempt, sending chills down Dianté’s spine.
‘I can’t even do that.’
Seeing Hyunsoo not even out of breath or sweating, Dianté felt like giving up.
The basic fitness test was followed by participation in the basketball team’s regular training.
Twenty candidates remained. They paired up to practice dribbling, passing, and shooting.
The starting players rotated to help with their form, and the coaches scored them.
From here, five would be selected to play a practice game with the starters, marking the end of the tryouts.
“Hey, you’re not playing like you did back then.”
Charles, who paired up with Hyunsoo, kept showering him with compliments.
“You’re definitely going to make it. How can you have such a good sense of passing?”
Seeing Hyunsoo easily follow the training drills, Charles grew quite dejected.
“So this is what a true talent looks like. I’ve been ignoring the coaches’ advice to give up, but seeing you, I realize how foolish I’ve been.”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”
Was this really the same Charles who always laughed like a fool and optimistically claimed everything would be fine?
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Are you dehydrated?”
With a faint smile, Charles slumped into his seat.
“This is my last tryout.”
“Why are you giving up already? Get up, man. You’re only a junior. You still have another chance next year.”
“Heh, you really don’t know basketball. Seniors aren’t eligible for tryouts. If I can’t make it this year, there’s no sudden improvement, no matter how talented I might be. They’d rather recruit freshmen and sophomores to develop them.”
“Oh.”
Hyunsoo didn’t offer many words of comfort and instead sat next to Charles.
- What are they doing? Giving up?
Even though they were in the middle of training, the gazes of others focused on them, but it didn’t matter.
“Believe it or not, I used to be a starter on my middle school team. This height of mine is from middle school. I was recognized as a decent center, and I got into this school on a sports scholarship. Although I got cut within a year.”
Charles had been an active center throughout middle school, but upon entering high school, his height was just average compared to other basketball players.
He hadn’t grown since, and had to change his position. His agility and basketball sense, which weren’t issues as a center, just wouldn’t improve.
‘It’s a part that’s hard to catch up with just effort.’
“But you haven’t given up on basketball.”
Every time Hyunsoo saw Charles, he always had a basketball in his hand.
He played the hardest during PE, during lunch, and after school, often hanging out with Dianté.
To Hyunsoo, Charles seemed like a basketball maniac.
“Of course, I can’t give up. Forget college basketball, I held on this long just for high school basketball. I just want to play in an official game one more time.”
“You play a lot of practice games. Is it that different?”
“Hey. That betting basketball we played was just child’s play. Imagine thousands of people coming to watch your game. Chanting your name, getting excited over your every move. And if you make a buzzer-beater at the last second? Fuxk! It’s even more thrilling than sex.”
For a moment, Hyunsoo’s eyes narrowed.
‘…What the hell? Has this innocent-looking guy already done it? This bastard.’
But seeing Charles on the verge of tears, Hyunsoo’s emotions became complicated.
“……”
47-year-old Hyunsoo was fine. He wanted to tell him that things in life never go as planned and that with time, the current pain would fade and become a good memory.
‘Why so cruel?’
But 17-year-old Hyunsoo empathized with his pain. For Charles, basketball was his entire life right now. At this moment of giving up, he couldn’t help but be emotional.
‘Well, I’ve mostly achieved my goal, so I planned to take it easy… but I guess I can’t?’
Hyunsoo let out a short sigh and pulled Charles up.
“First, get up. You can cry all you want after you fail. For now, focus. Your stamina is decent, so push yourself right up to the brink of collapse.”
“Does it even matter? Even if I pass the regular training, I won’t be able to do anything in the practice game. Why waste my energy?”
Unable to hold back any longer, Hyunsoo kicked Charles in the butt.
“Ah, what’s with you today? Don’t you trust me? That’s just because you never had a good teammate. No one knew how to utilize you properly. If we make it to the game, I’ll push you hard. For now, let’s pass this stage first. I’ll handle the rest.”
“…Okay. You promise?”
As soon as he finished talking, Charles joined the training with a perfectly normal face, as if he had never shed tears.
“Let’s do this!”
Following Hyunsoo’s advice, he ran around like a rabid dog, impressing the coaches.
- Does he still have that much energy? His stamina is something else.
Judging by the atmosphere, the coaches’ eyes on Charles became quite favorable, considering the candidates were all pretty much the same.
“……”
Meanwhile, Hyunsoo watched Charles with a displeased expression.
‘Am I being set up? That guy doesn’t have the brains to come up with such a scheme. Who’s the cunning one…’
“……!”
Sure enough, when Hyunsoo looked around, he found a suspicious individual.
As soon as he made eye contact with Jessie, she quickly lowered her head.
She brought that damned iPad to the basketball court, pretending to be busy taking notes.
‘…We’ll talk later.’
Hyunsoo glared at her quietly before heading off to prepare for the practice game.
The next day, a video was uploaded to Angela’s channel.
The response was explosive, achieving the highest views among her videos within 24 hours.
[(Not a Prank) High School Basketball Team vs General Student Team. The Shocking Basketball Game of a Model Student, Part 2!]
Views: 3.33 million, Comments: 110,000+
What? There’s a sequel??? LOL, I can’t miss this!
Isn’t this the guy who totally humiliated that player twice his weight? Wow, this time he played against the starting basketball team?
That was legendary. Didn’t that meme go around a lot, where he fouled and then rolled on the floor?
Yeah, next fake. No way a black guy gets beaten by an Asian. Angela’s gone mad for views.
Yeah, next fake expert. Let’s see if you still say that after watching the video.
Wow, is this for real? I just watched it, and did the game really end like that??? Insane.
