Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 181



Only Krnovel

181. A huge beer mug

Dortmund, who had been leading the game in the direction they had planned throughout the match, were knocked down after being hit by Hannover’s hidden secret weapon (which everyone now knows).

The extra time had already been used up, and Dortmund protested so actively that the referee ended the game without any hesitation.

The game was over without any room for counterattack.

Then, the Dortmund players collapsed and looked up at the sky with a dejected expression.

‘As expected, justice is alive.’

It was so satisfying to see Dortmund, who had been playing so poorly, crumble in one fell swoop.

I ran past my delighted colleagues.

“Kim! Where are you!”

Corsic’s cries. Ignored.

I stopped in front of Coutinho.

Philippe Coutinho was panting for breath. Then he looked at me and smiled.

“Huh? What is it?”

“I just wanted to hug you.”

“Huh? Why is it like this?”

I gave Coutinho a big hug.

This lucky bastard.

I don’t know how many free kick goals we’ve scored because of Coutinho.

It was already the 7th goal of the season.

He has scored more goals than most field players. The goalkeeper.

‘And the teams I put in… .’

All strong teams.

Leipzig. Leverkusen. Bayern Munich. This time, he scored against Dortmund, so he has scored against all the teams that are considered absolute powerhouses in the league.

Coutinho played a big part here.

If Coutinho hadn’t been able to knock them down, he would have missed several of these goals.

“Kim!”

As I was holding Coutinho, other Hannover teammates around me also came running.

The Hannover players had gathered in a circle, and I noticed Captain Fischer among them and decided to set the stage for him.

“Captain!”

“huh?”

“There’s only one game left! Say something!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Say something like Gerard!”

Yeah, yeah. Do Norwich up there. The drone camera in the sky is also filming us.

… Oh, wait a minute. If I do Gerard, isn’t this a death flag?

Fisher clears his throat slightly and calms everyone down.

“Listen carefully. The next game is the Pokal final. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing now. Even if the opponent drags on, we’ve got Kim, and if it goes to a penalty shootout, we’ll never lose. Right?”

Fisher asked me, looking at me. I nodded.

“If you drag this out, I’ll stop it all in the penalty shootout!”

“Okay! That’s it! And the next game is Wolfsburg. Should I tell you guys some good news?”

Everyone was dumbfounded by Fisher’s shout. Fisher opened his mouth and laughed brightly.

“Munich lost to Wolfsburg!”

“100 million!?”

“Wow!”

Oh no, what a windfall.

Munich didn’t even draw, they lost? In this crucial situation?

So what happens to the points?

“Leverkusen won, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll win the league if we just draw with Wolfsburg! Kim. You know what I mean, right?”

“Aren’t you telling me to do as I usually do?”

“That’s right! If we play as usual in the next two matches, we can win the trophy. Anyway, now we… … .”

Captain Fisher swallows hard and looks conscious of something.

His last words were a famous utterance.

“We are now going to Leipzig!”

Above is Leipzig.

Leipzig were our DFB-Pokal final opponents.

Why Leipzig of all places?

Well, it’s natural since it’s the finals, but there are no easy opponents until the very end.

* * *

The top-flight standings of the Bundesliga after one game were as follows:

1st place Hannover. 74 points.

2nd place Leverkusen. 72 points.

3rd place Bayern Munich 72 points.

Hannover has an overwhelming goal difference compared to other teams (and has conceded almost no goals), so even if Hannover draws and the other two teams win, Hannover will still win the championship.

Wolfsburg have managed to knock Munich out of the park, but, well, it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to do that against Hannover’s goalkeeper.

In this situation, naturally, all the media, experts and even bettors predicted Hannover to win.

But with sports, you never know until you try.

Everyone was expecting Hannover to win and the atmosphere in the city was festive, but we don’t know yet.

And a match like a preliminary match that would determine the direction of the final round of the league was played.

DFB-Pokal final.

Hannover vs RB Leipzig.

Leipzig knew they were facing Hannover and had a lineup that seemed to have given up on this match long ago.

All first-team players were rested, and only non-regular players were sent out.

Hannover, on the other hand, were serious about the game.

Hannover’s original best 11 were all in action and the game began.

“ha ha ha….”

Kim Shin-ah watched the game very comfortably, chewing on beef jerky.

Leipzig didn’t seem to have any intention of winning in the first place, but in this match, the strategy of just going for a draw, like other teams, will not work.

Since it was a tournament, there was overtime and the winner was decided by penalty shootout.

From Leipzig’s point of view, it was an easy choice of death.

If you go aggressive, there is a very high chance that you will be stopped by Kim Min-woo, and the possibility of even conceding a goal increases.

However, if we play defensively and waste time, the game will eventually be decided by penalty shootout.

And penalty shootouts were a rule that Kim Min-woo really liked.

Because the penalty shootout is when Kim Min-woo’s strength, his defense, is put to extreme use.

“I’m really looking forward to the World Cup….”

Will Kim Min-woo concede a goal? It may be possible at the World Cup, the stage of dreams and the world’s best stage.

But it’s hard to imagine. He was beaten several times by world-class players like Mbapeni and Messini at the Olympics (though of course, the goals were not counted), but he seems to have grown more since then.

Kim Shin-ah was lost in thought for a moment as she watched Kim Min-woo’s performance. In fact, there was nothing to be said about his performance. He wasn’t even on the screen. It seemed like Leipzig was wasting time.

“Um…um.”

She was watching the game, but she couldn’t concentrate. So Shin-ah thought back to what happened a few days ago.

A story from lunchtime.

“Our God has come.”

The fact that the principal knew and called an ordinary student was a huge burden in itself. However, Kim Min-woo was a famous person that everyone in Suyang High School knew, and his younger sister Shin-ah…

[Is that Kim Min-woo’s younger brother?]

Those eyes and voices whispering as you pass through the hallway. That’s not what’s important.

“There is something called a solidarity contribution system, Shin-ah.”

The reason the principal called me with a big smile was because of my brother.

To summarize briefly, it is said that a portion of my brother’s transfer fee will be paid to Suyang High School. It is said that it will be paid to the team from elementary school until he is 23 years old, but the important thing is.

“As you may know, our Minwoo started playing soccer at Suyang High School, right?”

“yes.”

“The solidarity contribution system is not something you just give to the school you belong to. You have to join the soccer team at that school and play there. That’s why.”

The principal added with a sunflower-like smile.

“I think the ratio our foster family will receive will be set high, Shin-ah. Even Min-woo went straight to Hanover, right? So we’ll end up sharing it with Hanover…”

Kim Min-woo started playing soccer in high school.

Suyang High School monopolized the benefits (or, to be exact, shared them with Hanover).

The buyout amount set for Kim Min-woo is 47 billion won, and 5% of that. If you split that half and half with Hannover… … .

2.35 billion won.

A jaw-droppingly huge amount of money.

Although the Bundesliga is still in progress, it was a foregone conclusion that he would transfer once the league ended.

“It’s not a fixed amount. There may be adjustments. But this principal, you know. It’s too much. Huh? Our Suyang High School is like Minwoo. Like Shinah. Huh?”

The principal starts giving a speech.

The class bell has already rang.

Finally, the principal brought up the main topic of why he had called me.

“… … So, the principal is going to write a recommendation letter for our Shin-ah. Now that Shin-ah is in her third year of high school, shouldn’t she go to a good university?”

“ah.”

Shin-ah felt conflicting emotions in that situation. She felt overwhelmed by the fact that she was benefiting from her older brother during the college entrance exam, which was the most important for a high school senior.

A feeling of loss, of having worked so hard in the past to show that I could take care of myself, even if I wasn’t an older brother, but now feeling so empty.

When Shin-ah was upset and unable to make a decision due to the sudden proposal, the principal spoke kindly as if he knew her feelings.

“Don’t think of it as a special privilege. They say that with that amount of money, you can even get into Harvard through donation admission in the US. Besides, huh? It’s not like our Shin-ah can’t study, right? They say that even this principal’s recommendation process requires a certain level of basic grades to be able to get into it.”

“uh….”

“And when I checked my God, oh my!”

The principal raises both hands as if surprised.

“That older brother and younger sister! They were born with it! Even without a recommendation from the school principal, their grades are good enough to get into SKY! But Shin-ah. In life, even if it’s certain, there are times when you need to have multiple safety measures in place….”

“Shin-ah. Will you accept the principal’s heart? This may not be even a small amount of gratitude compared to the favor Min-woo gave to our school, but if you can’t do this much for Shin-ah as the principal, you’ll get scolded by the principal and your fellow teachers. Haha.”

“Can I think about it before I speak? I think I need to discuss it with my parents.”

“… Ahahaha! The principal didn’t think of that. Okay. Okay. When you’ve finished organizing your thoughts, come to the principal’s office and tell me anytime. Okay?”

“yes.”

“Okay. Go ahead. If the teacher says anything, tell him the principal called you.”

Kim Shin-ah bowed to the principal and returned to her class. And after that interview, she couldn’t concentrate at all in class… .

“hmm.”

Back again, the DFB-Pokal final.

Kim Min-woo appeared on the screen for a moment.

He seemed very focused on the game.

I haven’t told anyone this story yet. I’ve been thinking hard about it on my own. At first, I thought about declining it, but then I thought that I couldn’t miss the opportunity my brother gave me.

“And, well, just like the principal said, I’m not a student who can’t go to college just because I don’t get a recommendation.”

It’s just a safety precaution.

Kim Shin-ah repeated that to herself.

and.

Beep- beep- beep- beep- beep-

It wasn’t the referee’s whistle.

It was the sound of a door lock.

And then our father shows up.

“Are you here?”

A caring father who appears with a smile even though he must be tired from work at this hour.

Shin-ah. You really were born with good family habits… .

“What about food?”

“It’s okay because I ate~”

“Oh really? Kkabi. I made some really delicious budaejjigae.”

“What should I eat for breakfast tomorrow?”

Dad begins to take off his coat like a snake shedding its skin, probably to wash.

“Dad, oppa, let’s play. Let’s watch together after dad finishes washing up.”

“Are you tired, Dad?”

“My daughter has something to tell me, so give her about 30 minutes!”

“…Huh? Really? You have something to say?”

Dad tilts his head. He rarely does this, so he looks like he’s wondering.

“It’s not serious~ Wash up quickly.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

I guess I’ll have to tell my brother and mom later, right?

‘Ah. Just imagining how much more he’ll be upset…’

Hmm. Okay. I’ll admit it this time.

* * *

The much-anticipated DFB-Pokal final was more disappointing than expected.

It almost made me think that maybe Leipzig didn’t think this competition was as important as it should have been.

‘Well, it’s just a competition where the strong teams divide things up.’

Last year, Munich ate it, and the year before that, Leipzig ate it. Also, Dortmund ate it, and Frankfurt ate it.

Although it may have been a competition that was given to others, it was precious to Hanover.

Above all, to me even more.

‘hmm.’

There’s nothing to be ashamed of.

The match was one-sided.

There were times when Leipzig’s non-regular players would try to bring the ball up, but Hannover’s defense was rolling a 6 today and they were all blocked.

I didn’t even need to come forward.

All I do in today’s game is occasionally kick the incoming back pass forward.

‘It’s easy, it’s easy… .’

The Leipzig coach wanted to test my penalty shootout skills, so he focused on defense, but with a squad that was lower weighted than Hannover, it was impossible to maintain a tight defense for the entire 90 minutes.

The reason Hannover had a hard time against Hoffenheim 1.0 in the first place was because their opponent was a higher weight class than Hannover, and if it weren’t for that team…

‘It’s hopeless.’

Even though Hannover were a relatively weak team in the Bundesliga, they were clearly not so weak that they could not beat other teams that played in the reserves.

And the Hannover attackers decide the game that was going poorly.

It was a succession of goal celebrations.

Once one goal was scored, it just kept going.

Toyhert’s first goal.

Toyhert’s multi-goal.

Until Daniel Becker’s wedge goal in the finale.

“You’re going comfortably~”

I briefly transformed into a cheerleader, clapping and cheering from behind.

Of course, it’s not like I never had any chance to play, so I did manage to block a few of the opponent’s threatening shots.

Literally, they were only able to count on one hand the number of shooting threats they had throughout the entire 90 minutes.

and,

Beep— beep— beep!

As Leipzig fielded a squad of non-regulars, we dominated our opponents without even going into overtime.

The DFB-Pokal, which had been a competition shared between strong teams for quite some time, ended up going to Hannover.

“It’s a win!”

We hugged each other and rejoiced.

First of all, one of the trophies you should get is easy to obtain.

Now all that remains is the Bundesliga trophy.

First of all,

‘How long has it been since I’ve gotten this reward?’

It was the first time in a long time that Football Manager flashed before my eyes. I swallowed and checked it out.

[You have won the Bundesliga’s ‘DFB-Pokal’ competition! As a reward, your running mate privileges will be improved.]

I looked closely at the changes that followed. In fact, if you look closely, the running mate wasn’t a trait.

It was something that was given to you from the beginning when you started playing Football Manager, and there were no changes to the trait screen.

Now, as I dug through the awkwardly-feeling status screen, I read the running mate effects again, and was able to see what kind of effects I had gained by winning this race.

[You can now designate one more running mate.]

Two running mates?

‘I don’t think it’s directly good for me, but… .’

The butlers who receive my selection must be quite happy. However, I was biting my lip in regret. If there was a Korean leaguer on the same team, I could definitely give him to him. Since that’s not possible, I…

“Kim! Why are you spacing out?”

“Ah. No.”

Current running mate Corsic.

He started out as a sub in the second division with me, and now, after two seasons, he is a proper starting center back in the first division of the Bundesliga.

The effectiveness of running mates was evident.

First of all, once the running mate effect is applied, even if the player’s skills are lacking, their level will definitely improve.

Even for a player who says, “Sell that kid right now!”, if a running mate is given, he or she will eventually become a decent player, and if a running mate is given to a player who was already doing well… … .

‘Then what happens?’

I don’t know because I’ve never given one before.

The only running mates I’ve had are Kim Jun-young and Korsic, who’s in front of me.

‘Anyway, it increased from 1 to 2 people… … Ah. Wait a minute.’

I stared blankly at the trophy at the awards ceremony.

The Pokal trophy is shaped like a golden trophy.

‘A huge beer mug?’

And Captain Fisher lifts the trophy and waves it wildly. We take turns lifting the trophy, and at the end, we give this glorious moment to Jan.

“Director, listen to this too!”

“Why all this…?”

Jan Lytle raises his cup, seemingly reluctant, but coughing. The audience cheers.

I looked at it with satisfaction and thought about it.

‘Since they’re the ones who are being impatient anyway, should we just demand that they hire one more Korean?’

I am beyond super armor, I am absolute armor.

If you ask Philip Harris, he will do whatever it takes to get it done.

If there is a side effect, it is that Korean players recruited in this way may not be able to play a single game on the field and may just sit on the bench.

‘First… … think about it later. For now, let’s enjoy it.’

Adding one more German FA Cup trophy to his career.

Now all that remains is the Bundesliga trophy.