Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 175



Only Krnovel

Too bad I missed it

* * *

The bickering between Tuchel and Jan was understandably a hot topic.

There aren’t many scenes in the league where managers fight on this level, and it’s a special case in any league.

I also watched that scene from afar, and at first I thought it was the famous mad dog Tuchel taking out his anger on our manager.

How surprised I was when I heard the opposite….

The bloody battle of this match naturally led to all the spotlight being on the managers. Since my performance was now a constant for Hannover, the reporters’ focus was all on the managers.

In their interviews, the two managers naturally dismissed it as just a fierce war of nerves that usually occurs during matches… … .

“Kim! What did you think of the war of nerves between the directors today?”

“Uh, um… .”

The reporters had sparkling eyes and earnest expressions. I let down their expectations and just gave them a vague answer.

“The next game will be played without the coach, and that’s worrying.”

“Whenever Kim is given a free kick, he scores without fail. Even Neuer, the pride of Germany, couldn’t stop Kim. Do you have any secrets for free kicks?”

“Just decide on the coordinates and shoot calmly.”

“Huh? Heh heh. You sound like a soldier firing a missile.”

The reporters laughed it off, but I told the truth. If you point at a target, turn on the quick and accurate kick, and shoot, it’s a goal.

These days, my free kicks are also being analyzed a lot, so if I take an obvious route (like the corner of the goal), there is a high chance that it will be blocked, so I try to shoot a lot to catch the opponent off guard.

Next time, I thought about not going for the goal directly, but rather trying to create a situation where the opponent couldn’t even expect it by shooting a cross or a ground shot.

I don’t know if Jan and the players will agree to that though.

“Thank you for the interview!”

“Yes. Have a nice day.”

I left after the interview. I’ve already caught up on the big match, which is the most important. The next important match is… … Leipzig and Dortmund, I guess.

We both have quite a bit of time to meet, so let’s think about it later.

“Yayhoo!”

Inside the club bus, where no outsiders could see, the players were already in a festive mood.

I also naturally joined the ranks and danced quietly.

“Hey! Play some EDM music! Why is this music so boring?”

“Oh, wait a minute. I’ll turn it on!”

“Oh! Yeah! The MVP of today’s game!”

“Kim is going to play some music! Everyone, pay attention!”

“Ooooh. Something big is coming. Something big is coming… .”

I laughed and started playing Kim Gun-mo’s Apartment on YouTube with the intention of having a taste of it. Then I connected it to the Bluetooth speaker in the bus.

“Oh!”

… Surprisingly, the reaction wasn’t bad.

Is it because the first minute of the intro is without lyrics, like in old songs?

―Cross the bridge where starlight flows

Doom doom chit. Doom doom chit.

―Through the wind-blown reed forest

―…Your waiting apartment

What? Why is the reaction so good?

The players were dancing to the beat without even knowing the meaning of the lyrics. I was so shocked and dumbfounded by this sight that I covered my mouth and kept laughing.

And when the music ends, Coutinho approaches and asks:

“Kim! I like this song! What’s the title?”

* * *

The next opponent was Bochum.

One special feature is that the game is being played without a manager.

Today, head coach Elmar Barlemann leads Hannover.

… … At least on the outside it looks like that.

I looked at Jan in the stands during the game. My eyesight is pretty good, so I could see him from a distance, even if it was blurry.

“You’re working hard at beatboxing.”

The manager was watching the game, and Coach Geralt was next to him, holding a walkie-talkie and beatboxing.

And every time that happened, the head coach gave orders. It was really like covering one’s eyes and pretending not to see.

‘Wouldn’t that be better from the director’s perspective?’

If you watch the game from the stands, you can see the game at a glance. In fact, it might be better for tactical planning?

And we won 2-0 in our away game in Bochum.

Bochum were dealt a crushing defeat by Hoffenheim, but were thoroughly punished by Jan, who was watching the game.

And on the club bus, Jan.

“Sure, it’s better to direct the game from the stands.”

Here was a team that was more active without a manager.

* * *

As Hannover piled up points, held on to first place and now felt like the title was really within reach, the city was literally alive.

All over the city, signs such as “Until Hanover wins, D-XX!”, “Meisterschalet, come to Hanover!”, and “The championship is ours!” were posted here and there.

“Kim! Can I take a picture?”

“Oh, okay.”

Someone admires me and takes a picture with me and signs an autograph.

Of course, it is a happy and joyful thing, but if it becomes a daily routine, it will eventually become so familiar that it will become annoying.

How do you know? I didn’t want to know either… .

I was also able to watch a rather interesting video through the KakaoTalk link that Kim Shin-ah sent me.

“… … It’s not long before Hannover wins the championship. Are you from Korea? Would you like a beer? I’ll give it to you for free.”

“Thank you, but I must decline.”

I’ve known for a long time that YouTubers stop by Hanover to get views.

A famous YouTuber with millions of subscribers who is famous for traveling admitted that “Hanover is a view-cheating city,” and just like that YouTuber said, even YouTubers with few subscribers often get a lot of views when they visit Hanover.

… … But now even public broadcasters are coming to Hanover.

The special program released on YouTube was more interesting than I expected.

The atmosphere of Hanover seen in the video was festive (and it is in reality) and the citizens always had smiling faces.

I’m talking about those German people who have a reputation of being stiff and not smiling much.

Well, Hannover has never won the Bundesliga since it began in 1963, so they must be very excited and happy.

In Korea… … Let’s see where.

In Korea, baseball is much more popular than soccer, so if we apply it to baseball, if Hanwha or Lotte advance to the Korean Series and are really close to winning, wouldn’t the atmosphere in the city be like this?

“Koreans get free beer in Hanover! At least in our store!”

The Hannover people all looked happy on the show. I really enjoyed seeing that. Usually, teams that are promoted from the second division want to stay in the first division, but we were a little more excited because we won the championship.

I suddenly had that thought while watching the broadcast.

‘What if I had played Football Manager and become a striker instead of a goalkeeper?’

Even if that were the case, would Hannover still be winning the championship? Is that… possible?

‘No matter how well I did, I wouldn’t have been at Messi’s level, and even the world’s greatest Lionel Messi can’t do anything on his own. He may score a lot of goals, but he can’t prevent a loss.’

The level of attention has also dropped considerably these days. It’s probably only once every few years that a new star comes out of Korea.

It seems like a player on the level of Son Heung-min has emerged from Korea! Or, this player has the talent to become a better player than Son Heung-min! … … It wasn’t something like that.

It’s a position that is quite static and doesn’t get much attention, and if you score a goal once, you become a traitor. But because of that, paradoxically, I’m gaining a lot of popularity.

‘The fact that you get cursed at when you concede a goal means that you become a god when you don’t concede a goal… .’

There is no middle ground in this position. Fans only shout “Ah, that damn bastard” or “Oh! As expected! Our trustworthy goalkeeper!” when they see the goalkeeper.

I was one of the latter.

…and then, when I found the clubhouse for training.

Today was a bit of a mess.

The manager and coaches called the players together, and there were a few boxes in front of Jan.

And isn’t Jan nodding at me?

“Kim. Come and see for yourself.”

I tilted my head and looked inside the box. There were Hannover uniforms there. What’s wrong with them?

“Look closely.”

I took the uniform in my hand and looked at it. Then… … .

“uh?”

The names above the uniform numbers.

It was all in Korean.

Kim Min-woo. Corsic. Teutchert. Becker. Phil Neumann. Coutinho, etc…

It was all in Korean.

“What is this? An event?”

“They said at the front that since the uniforms sold so well in Korea, they will be playing in these uniforms from the next game onwards. It’s all thanks to you, Kim.”

Then Corsic adds his voice.

“As expected! I heard. Korea is a very wealthy country, right? A rich country, Korea!”

I shook my head quickly.

“That’s not necessarily true… People live in similar places all the time. If there are people who live well, there are people who live poorly―”

“To the point of being humble! As expected, Koreans are really kind and humble!”

No, I’m not done talking yet.

But my broken speech was never connected.

The players were playing tiki-taka among themselves.

“Cory, don’t you know that? Rich people are inherently kind.”

“But why is your personality so weird?”

“I’m not rich?”

“Are you rich or are most Germans poor?”

Sigh….

And Jan left those players alone, grabbed my shoulder, and whispered softly.

“Kim.”

“yes?”

“NFlix asked me to make a documentary about Hanover. I think they’re doing it because they think we’re going to win.”

“… Oh. Really?”

That’s a good thing. With Nflix, Hanover’s name can be known all over the world. It’s not a common opportunity.

“I don’t know if you’ve been contacted, but it seems like you’re considering making a documentary about yourself. Have you been contacted?”

“… … Uh. No?”

“I’ll probably hear from you soon. Any thoughts?”

Well, it’s too sudden. A documentary about me? Isn’t that usually done for legendary players like Pele, Messi, and Beckham?

A documentary about a player who hasn’t even debuted for two years…

‘I’m going to ask you to publish my autobiography soon.’

And this news came from H&B in less than a day.

More precisely, Representative Philip Harris was waiting for me at my house.

“I think NFlix wants to make a documentary about Kim. I heard the general intention and structure, and it’s going to be about why he started playing soccer, the trials and tribulations, the process he went through, and finally, his future.”

“hmm.”

What is it? Are you okay?

It was more exciting than I thought, but I thought about the things that would inevitably happen in the process.

Wouldn’t our family’s faces be revealed? Wouldn’t our family’s faces and identities be revealed to the whole world?

No, no. Then Kim Shin-ah will blow your wind again.

Well, if I adjust it, I could mosaic it or just make it so that only I appear… … .

“Isn’t it still a little early?”

“I agree. It’s unprecedented. Usually, these offers come to football players in their twilight years, or after they have retired.”

Since it’s an American company, they probably smelled money. They figured they could make some money if they picked me, the hottest guy in the soccer world these days, and made a documentary about me.

And the appearance fee that came out of Philip Harris’ mouth was also considerable. Indeed, USA. They say that if you have money, you won’t be disappointed anywhere.

“Let’s put it on hold for now. Of course, I’m leaning towards rejecting it.”

“Yes, I understand. And speaking of sports brands… … .”

Philip Harris talked about the pro-wear side of things. In short, he used pro-wear as leverage to drive up my value by a lot.

Even though ProWear is preparing to spend a lot of money to sign a contract with me, I still think it is not as good as Adidas and Nike.

“What would you like to do?”

“Let’s go to the place that treats us best.”

“Then it’s Nike….”

You again, American company?

But I didn’t have any feelings for America, so I let it be.

“Then let’s go that way.”

“All right.”

I feel a little sorry for Proware, but you still missed out on Kim Min-woo. Let’s have a drink.

The most important thing is that we made the offer. Did we show the vision of the number one sports brand in Korea?

Looking back later, people will probably be criticized for letting Kim Min-woo go to waste.

Where is that? Other local companies didn’t even try that in the first place.

“And speaking of charity work… … .”

We moved on to other issues.

Becoming world class was such a hassle.