Chapter Four: The Knee He Chose Not to Heal

In the second, opponents stopped dribbling, so Su rebuilt the triangle into layered screens. In the third, Han never shot, yet made the opposing scorer collide with eleven different walls. Five wins, none easy. Each yielded a shared attribute point. Su made an efficiency table: more Coordination for her, Perception for Zhou, Strength for Han. Han put both of his points into Endurance. “Strength would save you two collisions a possession,” Zhou said. “And if repair unlocks, fix the knee first.” Han tightened his brace. “Fixing it only makes me who I used to be. Endurance buys ten more screens. Those belong to all three of us.” Their sixth opponent, Pendulum, tested that choice.