Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 5



Only Krnovel

‘Ouch!’

Let me be honest.

It was a match on a different level than any match I’ve ever seen before.

Up until then, I had been a goalkeeper leisurely, happily, and peacefully, but this time it was definitely different.

“Good! Hey! You’re good, right?”

He was a second-year center back who was helplessly beaten by the opposing striker.

The speed of the shot was extraordinary and it was very threatening, so I was out of breath and glaring at the center back.

“Hey. Why is it so open?”

“I can’t help it. That guy is our school’s signboard. He’s like Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Do you know Tottenham and Kane?”

“no···.”

Anger welled up in my chest at that absurd reaction. But soon, despair set in and the anger withered away in my heart.

‘Yeah. It’s just a practice match anyway, and I’m just a mercenary. There’s no need to take it seriously. I’m just playing as a substitute for one match.’

That too, at ten thousand won per hour.

Good.

“Go forward!”

I shouted and gestured to my teammates. Since I was too weak to use a goal kick anyway, I took a quick look around and rolled the ball to a nearby fullback.

I don’t even know how many saves this is, and even though it’s just a practice match, I’m more nervous than I thought I would be.

Is this because this is your first time seeing a match at such a high level?

And then, not long after, the opponent attacks again. I thought he was going to pass the ball, but it was quickly taken away, and that guy called the sign came running again.

He must have been really upset because it was the third time he had been blocked, and his face was filled with greed as he was determined to get it in this time.

‘No way.’

Suyang High School’s star striker approached him in a rough and cold manner. Our defenders were unable to properly block him while defending on the ice and were fooled by his one-two passes.

And then a red trail appeared in front of my eyes.

‘Just get the timing right. Just the timing.’

You can see when your opponent is going to strike. So, you just need to fly at that timing.

I looked at the approaching sign. At that moment, I saw that the trajectory that had been on the left had suddenly changed to the right.

Now he’s not alone. There’s another attacker supporting him from the side, and the trajectory has changed like this…

‘okay.’

My head snapped back. There was no way the guy would suddenly change the trajectory of his shot, and he would just give the opportunity to the guy next to him, right?

Since I’ve been blocked three times already, I guess they want to acknowledge my skills.

I stared at the guy’s legs intently, and as soon as I saw the passing motion, I dove in the direction of the trajectory.

Liar-!

With a cheerful sound, the ball was placed in my arms.

“Wow!”

“Hey… what’s his reaction?”

“Your kinetic vision is crazy.”

When I blocked something that I thought I had definitely won, the reactions from those around me were good. I snickered. When I raised my head slightly and looked at the opposing attackers, their expressions were also good.

Rather than saying it was good, it was delicious.

‘Look at those rotten expressions. Hehe.’

One of them lifts his bangs with a pained expression, while the other looks at me with an expression of disbelief.

As I stood up, the sign came up to me and spoke.

“hey.”

“yes?”

“You, I admit. You’re good.”

“···Yes. Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you play soccer?”

“I wasn’t interested.”

“What a shame. If you had started doing it when you were younger, you would have debuted as a pro.”

A sign that leaves with a pat on the shoulder.

He smiled brightly.

Although it wasn’t my real skill, and I could only block the trajectory as it was shown, I was still intoxicated by the pleasant hormones that covered my body.

‘I’m a goalkeeper with this taste.’

I rolled the ball forward again. The kicking power was really bad, so it was not good.

***

“Coach Park. What do you think?”

Director Yoo Jin-ho scratched his nose and asked coach Park Hyeon-woo standing next to him.

Coach Park Hyun-woo hesitated noticeably and then answered as if he had no choice.

“Yes. You’re good at it. You block it well. That’s talent.”

“Are you a genius?”

“Yes. It’s a shame. It would have been worth raising if it had only reached middle school level···.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

When Yoo Jin-ho looked at Coach Park as if he was dumbfounded, Coach Park blinked in bewilderment as well.

“Weren’t you planning on raising it?”

“Oh. That’s right. It doesn’t make sense to just leave something like that to rot.”

“But, Director. That guy is too old. Even if I were seventeen, I wouldn’t have said anything-”

“Oh, Taehee Kwak also started soccer in high school. He was a little late, but with that level of talent, it’s okay to start later than others. If we coach him well, he can go pro, and if he does well, he can even play for the national team.”

“Do you see it that way?”

“Coach Park. You say that even after seeing it yourself? You’re better at blocking than most pros.”

“It’s just blocking it···.”

“The goalkeeper just has to block well! We just have to teach him well for the rest. Then he will grow steadily. He is like that because he didn’t learn well. If he learns well, he will grow well. Just like North Korean kids who defect and come to South Korea grow taller.”

“Will that guy do it?”

Eugene Ho smiled bitterly at that question.

“I have to persuade them somehow. I’ll try everything I can first, and if that doesn’t work, then I can just give up.”

Coach Park nodded silently.

And Coach Park’s gaze shifted from the talented goalkeeper to the trouble-making freshman Kim Jun-young.

“What are you going to do, Kim Jun-young?”

“Kim Junyoung? Hehe.”

The director burst into laughter and pointed with his chin in the direction where Kim Jun-young was.

“Look at that kid. He looked like he was going to join the soccer team, but he’s running around like crazy during the game. He’s running even harder than usual. He’s a fucking midfielder.”

“Will you give me a chance?”

“I feel bad because you kept saying things like I got bribes from you······ But as a director, you have to distinguish between public and private life, right? It’s funny to get upset over the words of a seventeen-year-old kid.”

“All right.”

Coach Park nodded as if he had expected it.

And the second half begins. There was no separate break given, only a change of positions.

The manager and Coach Park were just watching, and the other coach, Coach Kim Tae-ho, was in charge of the game management. The manager had ordered it in the first place.

The second half wasn’t much different from the first half.

The 2nd Army got beaten up, and the 1st Army got beaten up.

What’s different from usual is that there is no proper rectification.

Coach Kim was frustrated because he kept blocking the shots at important moments even though he was right, so he yelled.

“Hey! What are you doing! I can’t put that in!”

After that, the second team was beaten for a long time, but they got one chance just before the end of the game.

The first team, which had been pulling up the line and beating the half-court.

In the first place, the mercenary goalkeeper was acting like that because he couldn’t kick the goal kick at all, but the first goal kick he took (which was filled with anger) coincidentally went well and landed in front of the second-team attacker, and after that, the two attackers ran at full speed and Kim Jun-young, who had a little more stamina left, scored a goal, ending the game.

“Oh. Kim Jun-young. He must have hated going out so much that he scored a goal with a shot he normally can’t even make.”

Yoo Jin-ho laughed it off, but Coach Kim Tae-ho, who was coordinating the game, only criticized the second team for what they did well and what they did poorly after the game, and only hurled harsh words at the first team.

Eugene Yoo approached today’s main character, Minwoo Kim, who was walking slowly.

***

“Good job. You did a great job.”

Coach Yoo Jin-ho came and encouraged me like that. I nodded faintly and took off my goalkeeper gloves.

“Well, then what about the pay you promised…?”

“Oh, okay. First, will you follow me? I don’t want to give it to you in front of all the kids.”

“Oh, yes.”

I walked with Director Yoo to a place where there were few people.

“With your level of skill, I think I can continue to call you as a mercenary from time to time. What do you think? Will you come out next time? Of course, I’ll continue to pay you the mercenary fee every time you run.”

Director Yoo Jin-ho takes out his wallet from his bosom and hands me a ten-thousand won note.

I nodded and gratefully accepted it with both hands.

“Yes, Director. Call me if you need me. I’ll be out unless something comes up. Except for weekends.”

If I can get off school an hour late and earn ten thousand won, I’m OK with that. Of course, not on weekends. I need to rest too.

Director Yoo Jin-ho smiles and nods.

“Okay. Deal.”

“Yes. Deal.”

DO.

This is a joke.

“But there is something.”

“yes?”

“Uh, um···.”

After thinking for a moment, Yoo Jin-ho took a deep breath and shook his head.

“No. No.”

“···Ah, yes.”

I scratched my head, nodded, and then took off my fluorescent vest and left the playground.

Now it’s time to go home.

I must have made some money. I’ll buy a hot dog and a cola with it.

*

After that, surprisingly, Director Yoo revealed his true feelings.

Instead of offering to be a mercenary, I offered to join the soccer club.

He was so persistent, I wonder how he got my phone number.

“I have no interest in soccer···.”

“Minwoo, your talent is 100%. I’m sure of it. If you just do it, you can definitely succeed as a pro.”

“···I don’t know.”

They kept beating around the bush, but eventually they told me to join the soccer club.

And if it had been normal, I would have rejected him outright, but I continued to hesitate and give him some room.

There was a good reason for his unusual behavior, and it was because of ‘Football Manager’.

The person who showed me the ball’s trajectory.

[Football Manager encourages players to take up their manager’s suggestions.]

Because that’s what it’s been marked as.

Well, this time there was no talk of the trial version ending.

It was just a recommendation.

And at this point, I had to start thinking seriously.

“Should I really play soccer?”

If I didn’t have this ability, I would have shouted ‘No!’ outright, but honestly, even I, a soccer novice, found this troubling.

And then, the last game.

The last match kept bothering me.

Although it was only a practice match, Football Manager gave a reward at the end of the match.

[You finished the first match without conceding a goal! As a reward, the ‘GK Diving’ stat increases by 1.]

[Running mate ‘Kim Jun-young’ scored the winning goal. As a reward, the ‘GK Kick’ stat increases by 1. The running mate’s ‘Speed’ stat increases by 1.]

[You have won your first match. As a reward, the ‘GK Reaction Speed’ stat increases by 1. Your running mate’s ‘Stamina’ stat also increases by 1.]

[The current player and running mate’s stats are extremely low. To compensate, the stat improvement rate will increase significantly. However, if the stats go above a certain level or increase, the improvement rate will decrease.]

This extraordinary ability was pushing me to play soccer. It was like, “Are you still not going to play soccer?”

‘It’s like giving me an easy choice. Do you want to live an ordinary life or do you want to succeed in soccer?’

So I couldn’t give the director a definitive answer.

These days, I haven’t been able to study properly because of this problem. I’ve been so worried about this problem that my head is about to split.

I spent some time alone to think, and as that time grew longer, Director Yoo Jin-ho seemed to be getting annoyed and suddenly made this suggestion.

“Minwoo, I understand. I don’t make suggestions like this to anyone, but since I’m you, I’ll do it. How about you doing both regular student and soccer club at the same time?”

“······Huh? What is that?”

“First of all, I’ll only come out on weekends. I’ll study on weekdays. What do you think? If you don’t like it, just stop. I won’t say anything. Seriously.”

The reason I hesitated until now was because I had to go all-in on the unfamiliar field of soccer, but if Yoo Jin-ho is being considerate of me this much······ there is no reason not to accept it.

I pretended to think for a moment, then nodded.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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