Chapter Three: The Embers Ignite

The sound of his ligament tearing exploded in memory. A defender was closing. The whole gym shouted. Han’s hands trembled. Instead of jumping, he passed to the top. Su hit again. “Great play!” Lu applauded first. “That was the right answer!” Han snapped his head around. No one blamed him for refusing the dunk. The pass still counted. From that moment, the game changed. The Embers compressed the tempo into a net. Chen tightened it, Han saw every exit, and Su converted open space into three points. At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied at sixty-one. Messages flashed before Lu. [Chen Ye: Breakthrough in tempo control.] [Han Zheng: Competitive fear reduced.] [Su Ji: Trust increased.]