"Players, proceed to the court. I repeat, proceed to the court." Someone or something suddenly spoke. It is a voice of a female, but Author's hologram is not here. We all heard that voice, so we looked at each other in confusion.
"Position, two teams at the center according to your assigned area."
Then we saw that the clock timer lit up at the height of each team's ring. The rings are a bit shorter, about 2.5 meters in height only. The female voice that spoke seemed to be the timer. Instead of real people announcing the game, here we have a talking machine.
"Rules and regulations are lifted. When defied, a certain castigation will be given."
The middle part of the court opened in a circle, the size of a ball's hole. The ball came out of there, and the floor closed again. So, that's the special ball Author was referring to, not the balls displayed stacked at the corner.
"The game will start in 3, 2,
Every player stared at each other seriously.
1, *whistle *"
The ball jumped voluntarily upwards, and the two teams scattered to catch the ball.
I wonder what the ball looks like. It looks like it has a dark blue water design in it, so it seems to be moving.
"W-Wait, what's in there?" Aeith asked, standing up to get a good look at the ball being passed around.
"Isn't that..." Fourth held her mouth, and her eyes widened.
Because of their reaction, I squinted to see the ball clearly. I can't believe what I'm seeing.
What's inside the ball is an organ...
"A liver," I heard Tenth's voice. I stared at her for a moment.
The liver looks real, and it bounces when dribbled. As Author said earlier, the ball contains an organ. Is that what the liver is for?
Our team was the first to steal the ball, led by Seventh. He is good. Aeith and Tenth continued to cheer our team. I watch every player; they are confused, yet they try to focus. Fifth and Ninth are great too. Third, on the other hand, he tries to do his part. First doesn't seem to mind.
I don't know how long and what the rules of basketball are on Earth, but here, it seems weird. The playing time and rules are different.
Two minutes have passed, and still, no one is able to shoot. Every member is determined that no one has scored yet. Speaking of scores, there is no scoreboard here, just a clock timer. How are we going to keep track of the scores correctly?
*whistle*
I wonder why someone whistled.
"Player Fifzen, rule number 3, defied. Castigation will begin at any moment."
We were all puzzled when the game suddenly stopped, and the timer spoke. I looked at the timer, and round 1 - 04:06 minutes is down. Round 1 was about to end.
"Awww!" We stood in shock when we heard Fifzen and saw him lying in the middle of the court holding his left leg. He was squinting and writhing in pain. We approached him.
"What happened to you?" Sevenzen asked and supported him.
It took him a couple of breaths before he responded. "My leg is sprained. Ah!"
"Come on, let's lift him up," Sevenzen ordered, and they helped Fifzen walk to the side near the bleachers.
"Does anyone have a towel?" Firstwen asked everyone.
"Here," Sixth handed her a white towel that was on the edge of the bleachers.
Towels were used to wrap Fivzen's sprained leg. He was just lying down to rest.
"Now what? We're short on a player," Ninezen worried. He glanced at the timer. "The one-minute break is over."
"No idea. The game would probably pause," Thirtwen commented and grabbed a bottle of water.
Fifzen got up from lying down.
"Rest first. You can play after you've recovered," Sevenzen suggested to him, and he forced him to lie down first.
Insistently, Fifzen sat up and lifted his leg.
"Are you okay?" Aeith asked.
"I don't know, but I don't feel any pain anymore." He even stood up and jumped to prove that he's now okay.
"You all good? You looked like you had diarrhea in pain." Ninezen mixed his question with humor.
Fifzen ran to court and claimed, "I can run!"
"Round two will start in 10, 9," The timer machine started its countdown.
"Hey, it's the second round."
"Go back!"
"Get in here"
The boys went ahead and ran in the middle for reposition.
"8, 7, 6, 5"
As the countdown progresses, I notice the gold team muttering. Probably telling their members about their strategies.
"4, 3, 2, 1, *whistle*"
And round 2 has begun. I don't know what the difference this game has compared to a regular basketball game, other than the odd ball with an organ, so I don't understand what rule Fifzen broke so his name was called earlier by the timer.
"Here, here!"
"Go, Silver team! Go!"
"Here we go, gold team!"
A combination of squeaky noise from the boys' rubber shoes, random yell from both teams, the loud thud of their footsteps, and the cheer of the girls filled the whole basketball court.
I noticed the ball. It changes in color this time. Now, it's silver and its inside are... intestines?
"The gold team got it." My gaze went back to the players when Aeith blurted.
Has anyone scored yet?
"Boys!" The gold team applauded each other. They have already scored.
"Ahhh!" someone shouted and it's Seventh. What happened?
"Hey, what's gotten into you?" Ninezen frowned to his friend, Seventh.
He sat on the court floor and lied down. He grabbed Ninezen's right foot. "H-Help. My stomach hurts, Ahhh!"
Other players came closer to Seventh.
"Leg sprain?" Third asked him.
"N-No…" Seventh sweats and is crying in pain. He wasn't aware of why it happened to him.
"Come on, let's help him," Forzen offered help to the team. The girls of the gold team supported him to the side and gave him water to drink if it would help, but he was still writhing in pain.
"Players, back to the game. You have already consumed one minute. I repeat, back to the game. Your aching teammate can go back to the game any moment after fully recovered." The machine stated. I looked at the timer and it was 2:10.
"How can we continue playing when one of the players is hurt?" Ninezen wondered.