Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 6



Only Krnovel

On the way to school.

By chance, I went out the front door with my younger sister, Kim Shin-ah.

I don’t know about the average sibling, but in my house, especially my sister and I, our relationship was a little closer than that of strangers.

When I look at their faces, I say things like, “Oh. You’re here?” or “Get out.” And that’s it.

Even though we were attending the same school, we didn’t go to and leave school at the same times.

It’s even more impossible to wait to go together.

So, we moved separately whenever possible. Most of the time, we did.

But life. There are exceptions to the rule, and today was one of those exceptional days.

We rode the elevator together but didn’t say anything.

I was listening to music with my earphones on, and Kim Shin-ah was tapping on the screen, as if chatting with her friends.

So, I thought maybe we’d only go this far together.

There are two ways to get to school from my house: by subway or by bus.

I was a bus person and Kim Shin-ah was a subway person. So, of course, I thought Kim Shin-ah would go towards the subway without saying anything, and as I was walking down the street blankly, Kim Shin-ah suddenly tapped me from behind and made a gesture telling me to take off my earphones.

This was my first time experiencing something like this, so I was flustered and took off my earphones.

“What? Aren’t you taking the subway?”

“Uh. Today I’m planning to go on a cozy bus date with Orubunni.”

“Did you break up with the friend you ride the subway with?”

Kim Shin-ah burst into laughter at my words.

“Am I a kid? Just because we broke up, you’re taking the bus instead of the regular one?”

“Then what is it all of a sudden?”

“Just. I have something to ask you.”

“You? To me?”

“why?”

“I was wondering if you had any questions for me.”

Kim Shin-ah responded with an angry expression. I scratched my ear and said,

“So what? What are you curious about?”

“Do you still play soccer these days?”

“Uh. Why?”

“No, really. Don’t you want to change your speech? I feel like I want to get beat up.”

“If you get stuck, the subway-”

“Oh really! Okay, so you joined the soccer club?”

Kim Shin-ah shouted, as if she was angry. I tilted my head. How did you know when I didn’t say anything? As if she read my thoughts, Kim Shin-ah continued.

“A kid in my class told me. Her older brother is in the soccer club. How did she know it was my older brother? Ugh.”

“Is his name Kim Jun-young?”

“No. Actually, I don’t know his name. But isn’t it Kim Jun-young?”

“···okay.”

“More than that, why didn’t you say anything?”

“what?”

“What the heck! Joining the soccer club! Are you doing it on purpose? So I can die of frustration?”

Got caught.

That’s why I don’t get along with him.

Whenever the two of you talk for a long time or at length, someone always gets angry like this. It’s always been like that. Maybe that’s why the conversation between the two of you broke down at some point.

“Suddenly joining the soccer club at 18? Are you crazy? What about studying? Are you going to give up? Why are you suddenly joining the soccer club? A person who has never had a relationship with a ball in his entire life? And why didn’t you say anything? Something this important?”

Kim Shin-ah kept pouring out her words. When I was out of my mind and fell silent, Kim Shin-ah spoke again in a hurry.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Say something. You’re going to have to take the college entrance exam soon, so why did you join the soccer team? If I’m in a club or something, then at least understand. Am I being late? Am I being late? If it’s a hobby and you find it fun, wait a little and go to college and do it.”

I looked at Kim Shin-ah with a relaxed expression and placed my hand on my chest.

“I didn’t know you thought of me this much. Thank you. I’m touched.”

“Oh, don’t joke around!”

Kim Shin-ah’s scream explodes again.

But now that the stop is just around the corner, I won’t be able to shout like that.

You’re a tyrant in front of me, but you’re a squirrel holding an acorn in both hands in front of others.

“I was going to talk. And I’m not giving up on studying. I just go out for a little while on the weekends.”

“So why are you asking me that? Why do you go out and exercise on this golden weekend? Do I know you? You’re a homebody.”

Actually, I was given a ridiculous ability called Football Manager, and this ability recommended that I join the football club, so I had no choice but to go on weekends.

My answer was actually fixed because I couldn’t say that.

“just.”

Naturally, Shin-ah sighed deeply and placed her hand on her forehead.

“I don’t care what you usually do, right? But this is not it. If your parents found out, they would not only disapprove, but they would also be extremely worried. Consider your age. The college entrance exam is just around the corner. Don’t do anything crazy and quit the soccer club. If you really enjoy soccer, go to college and do it. Or go to the military and play with your seniors.”

“Huh? You think he’s just saying he won’t go to the military? Is the military a joke?”

Kim Shin-ah, who saw my playful face, let out another deep sigh.

“I’m serious. Oppa, you’re eighteen. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s too late to be serious, and it’s not the right time to do it as a hobby. If you’re going to do it as a hobby, please do it after you finish taking the CSAT. If you’re not going to take the CSAT, then do it after you decide on a college. No sister tells me that.”

Kim Shin-ah tapped my arm and turned around.

“I think you understand after doing this much? One day, suddenly, during mealtime, I said, Mom, Dad, I have something to say. Actually, I! I really want to play soccer! I’ll quit studying and succeed in soccer! ······If you keep talking like this, I’ll really lose.”

···You have more talent for acting than I thought.

My younger sister turned around and ran away after finishing her sentence. I guess she followed me here to tell me this story. And she was probably going to take the subway.

Well, I understand. The subway is much faster.

The only reason I took the bus was because I could sit comfortably.

“hmm.”

I looked back at the weekend as my sister walked away. It had happened two days ago at most.

***

Suyang High School was deserted on Saturday.

In the past, it was considered natural to go to school and study on weekends, but that is not the case these days.

Only children who apply for night study do so, and the questionnaire asking whether you agree to night self-study did not only have ‘yes/yes’ as the options.

“Minwoo is here!”

As soon as the soccer team coach Yoo Jin-ho saw me, he came over to me as if he had been waiting for me and hugged me tightly.

···Like this?

Since I arrived early in the morning, the soccer club was already gathered at the playground, and Yoo Jin-ho took me to where the soccer club members were and introduced me formally.

“Hey guys. Say hello. Remember me? The kid who played goalkeeper last time.”

“Huh? Director. Jaehyun’s injured finger has completely healed, so why did you call him?”

It was a question from one of the soccer club members. Yoo Jin-ho cleared his throat and answered.

“I didn’t call him a mercenary. This guy is a member of our soccer team starting today. He’s not a complete convert, he just plays with us on the weekends.”

“······yes?”

The soccer club students all had goldfish-like expressions on their faces, perhaps because they were hearing about it for the first time. Of course, this must have been an unprecedented event.

Even I found this situation embarrassing.

“You guys know how good this guy is because you played with him last time. Don’t ignore him or discriminate against him just because he’s a stone that rolled in. If you do, I won’t let you off easy.”

“Coach. So, is that kid officially joining the soccer club? And is he playing in the high school league?”

Suyang High School Signboard Striker’s question.

It was a rather sensitive question, so the director avoided answering.

“Okay, we’ll talk about that later. You guys should know that we’re going to train together starting today. Okay. Minwoo, do you want to introduce yourself?”

“······uh.”

I nodded absentmindedly and slowly looked around at the soccer team members. They all had confused and disorganized faces.

But among them, there was only one person who welcomed him, and that was Kim Jun-young.

Kim Jun-young was the only one who smiled and waved his left hand.

“Hello. My name is Kim Min-woo, and I’ll be joining you from today. I’m a sophomore, so please think of it as public service or something. Please take good care of me.”

“Now, applause!”

Everyone reluctantly clapped their hands at the coach’s insistence. The welcoming ceremony was over, so I joined the soccer team at the very end and did some warm-up exercises.

The warm-up was longer and harder than I thought.

However, if you are a member of a soccer club, this is a daily routine and everyone does it without complaint.

“Okay. Let’s just run 10 laps around the soccer field as a warm-up?”

What? 10 laps? This place is a lot wider than I thought.

“yes!”

But the soccer team members responded loudly as if they had won the game. Why on earth are they so happy about this?

“No, let’s just run 15 laps. Ten laps is too short. Okay, let’s get ready to go.”

“yes!”

The soccer team members lined up on the yellow track, smiling brightly. I was in the last row.

The jogging begins with a whistle blowing. The members start running at a steady pace that is neither slow nor fast.

And as they chatted leisurely amongst themselves, soft laughter erupted here and there.

‘How long will this leisure last…’

1 lap. Fortunately, I was able to do it. 2 laps. It was a little difficult, but I’m still okay. 3 laps. It’s really difficult. I’m starting to run out of breath. 4 laps. I’m falling behind more and more. I’m starting to be half a lap behind the leader.

5···6···7 laps. I was caught up by my teammates. They passed by with a mocking voice. 8···9 laps. I was out of breath, running halfway.

“Comet! It’s already spread? We have to keep running!”

A coach comes up to me with a smiling face and pushes my back.

“I··· am Kim Min-un···.”

“I know! Since you appeared like a comet, your name is Comet from now on.”

Ah. Did you give him a nickname or something?

“Coach. Huh… You know that meteors disappear as soon as they appear in your sight, right?”

“What are you talking about? I said it’s a comet, not a meteor.”

Jokes don’t work.

Next time I’ll have to come up with a simpler joke.

Anyway, I don’t know how many laps it was, but I kept running, relying on the coach’s push.

At first, I didn’t think I was running that fast, but now I really felt like I was going to die. My head was spinning and I just wanted to throw myself on the ground.

‘Ah. I want to go home.’

Even after all the members stopped, I did one more lap before stopping. Then I collapsed on the track.

Director Yoo Jin-ho’s voice was heard from the front.

“Hey! Our Minwoo’s stamina isn’t even that of a middle school student. He needs to train hard. Don’t you think that’s wrong?”

“Director. She was just an ordinary girl studying until yesterday, but she can’t keep up. She said we’d only be together on the weekends, so she probably won’t show up tomorrow.”

Hahahahahaha!

The laughing voices of the soccer team members.

I laughed along too.

To be exact, I had no strength and just smiled.

And I guess the coach saw it too.

“Wow. You’re laughing at this situation? You have a good mind! You’re first-class! If you laugh when things get tough, you’re first-class! If you cry, you’re third-class!”

“···Coach. No, manager.”

I raised my upper body and looked at Director Yoo Jin-ho. The director looked at me with a slightly anxious expression. It was as if he was wondering if I was being too harsh.

I said with a bright smile.

“You can make it harder.”

“···Hey! Applause!”

I kept smiling as I listened to the applause.

There was a reason why I suddenly said something crazy.

[Your health is completely depleted. Due to the high rate of recovery, 5% of your health is urgently restored, granting a 250% health regeneration bonus until your health is restored to 100%.]

[You have used your stamina to its limit. As a reward, your ‘stamina’ stat increases by 1.]

[I worked out with my running mate ‘Kim Jun-young’. As a reward, the ‘Stamina’ stat increases by 1.]

Yeah. Since we’ve come this far, let’s give it a try.

I’ll grit my teeth and keep following you until you admit it.

The second-year middle school syndrome that had been forgotten due to laughter was reactivated. To be exact, it returned after evolving into the second-year high school syndrome.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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