Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 8



Only Krnovel

The door to the director’s office was open.

I peeked inside and saw Eugene Ho talking to someone.

Yoo Jin-ho, who saw me looking into the director’s office, raised his hand and signaled for me to wait a moment. He then said goodbye to the person on the other end of the phone like adults usually do and put the phone down.

“You called me, didn’t you?”

“Oh, right. Close the door over there and sit down here.”

As the director said, I closed the creaking wooden door and sat down on the sofa opposite me. Yoo Jin-ho gently lifted his covered head with his hand and sighed.

“I’m sorry for taking up your lunch hour. I had to ask you something.”

“Yes, I’m fine. What is it?”

I never thought there would still be adults who apologize to students for wasting their time.

I felt my mood lift and stared at Yoo Jin-ho.

“Last weekend, I came to the soccer club for the first time and played with them. How was it?”

“It was just okay.”

“Aren’t you tired and exhausted?”

“It was hard, but I was resilient so it was okay.”

Director Yoo Jin-ho blinked, perhaps because my answer was unexpected.

“Really? You didn’t feel sore when you got home or tired the next day?”

“Yes. I was refreshed, so I studied for a bit and then slept. I woke up refreshed today too.”

“Yeah. That’s right···.”

Yoo Jin-ho nods and clenches his fist. It seems like the main topic is about to start.

“You still have no intention of playing soccer seriously?”

“······.”

I’m speechless. Actually, I’ve been worrying about that for a while now.

I couldn’t open my mouth to say anything because it was a question that still had no answer.

“Last weekend wasn’t what you thought it would be, Minwoo. I thought you were going to play goalkeeper.”

“Yes, well. That’s true. I felt that I was not good enough to play as a goalkeeper in a match right away. I’m good at blocking, but if I were only good at that, I’d be a goalkeeper who would only be able to substitute players before a penalty shootout.”

Eugene Ho blinked his eyes again like a stupid crab, as if it wasn’t the answer he had expected at all.

And then he smiled brightly.

“You’ve become self-objective? Soccer, are you thinking about it?”

“···I can’t say there aren’t any. To be honest, it’s 5:5. If the director didn’t trust me this much, I would have just thought about it······But now, I really don’t know.”

“Minwoo. Do you know what I did before I became a director here?”

“no?”

“The coach said. He played as a professional in the K-League. His position was striker.”

“···30 years ago?”

So you’re talking about when the K-League was officially launched?

I tried to joke, but the stinging gaze was so sharp that I kept my mouth shut.

“It wasn’t that long ago, huh? Anyway, the coach. No, my brother. He wasn’t a successful player, was he? If he had been a successful player, he would have been a little higher up.”

“If you are a good director, can’t you always get a high position?”

As I listened, my mouth started moving again. Anyway, this damn mouth is the problem. All I had to do was just shut up and listen…

However, instead of bullying her, Yoo Jin-ho smiled as if he found her cute.

“Jin-ho. You will realize this when you become an adult and enter society, but this Republic of Korea is really small. No matter what industry you go into, you will know everything once you cross one or two bridges. Success through skill? I don’t know about other industries, but not here. People who succeed in this industry without connections and with nothing but money are the same people who would succeed on their own even if you were thrown over to Europe.”

“Does that mean there is no such person?”

“Puhahaha. Yeah. That’s right. There’s no such director in this world. Anyway, back to the main topic. What I was trying to say… What the hell was that? Hey. You suddenly said something weird, so I forgot! Oh, that was really cool.”

“······.”

I don’t know what you were trying to say, but it’s fucking uncool right now.

“Anyway. I’ll just cut out all the superficial stuff and get to the point. Do you want to come out on weekdays too?”

He asked me if I would join the soccer club on weekdays like I would on weekends. Yes. I knew you would say that. I expected it.

‘If I come out and exercise on weekdays···.’

The time for growth is rapidly shortened.

If you work out just 2 days a week, you’ll see rapid growth, but 7 times a week?

But if you accept, you will have to completely abandon your studies.

I bit my lip and looked up at the ceiling as Eugene dealt me ​​another blow.

“Only one to two hours on weekdays. How about that? You won’t be tired when you get home, right? You’ll have to focus on building your body for a few weeks anyway. I won’t tell you to trust me and follow me. I don’t think you’ll do that based on your personality. But you’re definitely a successful person.”

“Why are you so sure? Just blocking shots isn’t going to make you a pro, right?”

“Yeah. It’s not an easy field where you can debut just by blocking a few balls.”

“But why?”

“Intuition.”

One of the words many people use when trusting someone. Something is leaking.

“Plus, the ability to save. You’re way better at blocking shots than you think. I guarantee you, it’s innate. You know? No one else can even imitate that. And a goalie is 90% good at blocking shots. The remaining 10% are additional skills, but in the end, blocking shots is the most important. You’re already 90% complete as a goalie, and you just need to fill in the remaining 10%. Do you know how crazy that is?”

He shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know. Then the director gave him a further explanation.

“Other people devote their lives to filling the 90% and the remaining 10%, but you are already starting from the 90%. If you somehow do the 10% as much as others do, you will succeed. I guarantee you that if you start playing soccer with all your heart, even if you fail the most, you will become a starting goalkeeper in the K-League.”

High praise from a senior in the industry who saw an overwhelming genius. This person’s words are probably 100% sincere.

Have you ever received such rave reviews from anyone in your life?

No. Maybe. If there was, I would remember.

‘And the genius this person saw in me was actually···.’

It won’t prick your conscience.

After all, if I were the only one on the planet who could use this ability, I would be a genius.

“Anyway, Deal? First, come out and see. Trust me, hyung. Have you been living a life of deception?”

“Okay, I’ll take the deal.”

First of all, let’s try.

If you don’t like it, you can just go back to your original life.

*

After school, when all regular classes are over.

Friends who study a lot stay in the classroom and study on their own, while friends who don’t study gather in small groups and go to the PC room or go home.

I carried my school bag and gathered at the playground where the soccer team was gathered.

Naturally, the soccer club members were in an uproar again.

“What’s that kid doing? Why are you here on a weekday?”

Eventually, the soccer club members’ curiosity was answered by the coach. They were so enthusiastic that they decided to join even on weekdays, and that they would only play for an hour or two.

Some of the guys looked openly dissatisfied, but they didn’t protest.

And among those who were dissatisfied was Suyang High School’s star striker, Han Seung-woo.

Han Seung-woo thought to himself.

‘Why on earth are you doing that?’

Naturally, there were questions about the director.

I couldn’t understand why they insisted on instigating this kind of conflict.

It would have been fine if they had just scolded Kim Jun-young and ended it there.

You’ve been growing and puffing up something that was nothing, and now you have a lump. And that lump is getting bigger and bigger as time goes by.

Han Seung-woo blankly stared at Kim Min-woo, who was stuck to him. Kim Min-woo had put down his school bag and was standing in line for gymnastics.

‘I thought it would just end like that, but seeing it come out even on weekdays···.’

The feeling was strong.

I have a feeling we’ll keep meeting in the future.

Should I do some pre-work before that?

It looks like some kids are already starting to complain.

‘Let’s just wait and see.’

Even so, it’s only at the level of exercising together, and he’s the kind of guy who can’t even keep up and is panting.

If a guy who is below that level were to suddenly participate in a friendly match or high school league, it would be a completely different story, but I thought it wasn’t something I needed to worry about right now.

There were more important things to worry about than these petty incidents.

‘I need to focus now so I can debut as a pro.’

I heard that a few scouts were dispatched from professional teams recently. In particular, there was a rumor that they were following Suyang High School’s games closely to check something, so it’s especially important to do well in times like these.

*

The week passed quickly.

I worked out for two hours on weekdays and all day on weekends, and my body just kept getting better.

Actually, I’m not sure if it was because of the exercise or because of Football Manager, but it was clear that I was growing at an unbelievably fast rate.

“Comet! You don’t get tired even after doing 15 laps? In just one week?”

It was Coach Kim Tae-ho. He was the coach who gave me the nickname ‘Comet’.

As Coach Kim said, by the end of the week, Sunday, he had not fallen behind even after 15 laps. He was chasing after him until the end, and although it was still tough, it was still a huge improvement compared to when he first started.

‘In just a week?’

I followed Coach Kim’s words in my head. I’ve seen a lot of posts saying that his stats have gone up, and it’s definitely thanks to Football Manager.

It looks like Junyoung Kim is working hard as I am holding on.

However, if there is one thing I regret, it is that I have not been able to play a single game since joining the soccer club.

I also wanted to wear goalkeeper gloves, but for some reason the coach wouldn’t allow me to.

After jogging, I repeated the same process I had done for a week.

Exercises that field players receive. And personal exercises.

Now I’m good enough at hula hooping and jumping rope that I feel confident.

I could hula hoop hundreds of times with my eyes closed and my arms crossed, and I could now jump rope 300 times at a time with a double jump.

“Hey. You’re a growth monster. Why are you so good at this?”

Coach Kim, who was guiding me from the side, patted me as I sat down to rest after finishing my work and said,

I smiled broadly, holding the jump rope in one hand.

“Thanks to you, my belly fat is now gone.”

[You have successfully completed physical training. As a reward, your ‘Physical Strength’ stat increases by 1.]

How many stats are there just from training?

I wanted to put on my gloves and stand in front of the goal quickly. How much would it have stretched?

But it’s still impossible.

Before we knew it, it was time to finish, and just before finishing, Yoo Jin-ho said this.

“So, we have a match against Suyang Soccer Center tomorrow, right? Kim Jun-young?”

“···yes?”

“You’re getting ready for tomorrow’s selection. Kim Min-woo?”

“yes.”

“You’re also a starter tomorrow. They call it the soccer center, but it’s a proper place. If you just take your time and lose, you’ll be the ones getting kicked out.”

Hahahaha!

The members burst into laughter at Yoo Jin-ho’s joke.

“The proper lineup will be put together right before tomorrow’s game. Okay. Any questions? No? Okay. Thanks for your hard work. Dismiss!”

Can I finally play in the game?

‘I’ll check tomorrow. Should I pour my heart into this or go back to studying?’

It was only a week.

It was a short period of time, and for a high school sophomore, physical education for about a week was not even considered an extracurricular activity.

‘Even during that week, when I got home, I studied according to my original routine.’

I said hello to the coach and manager and left the main gate of Suyang High School. My heart was pounding with excitement.

“Fuck… This doesn’t seem right.”

Seongmin Choi glared at Minwoo Kim’s back as he spat and left. Seungwoo Han, who was next to him, sighed and said.

“That’s because the manager is really into it. It’s better. If we concede just one or two goals, the manager will come to his senses.”

“Hyung. But that kid is really good at blocking. Even when we played against each other back then···.”

“Hey. I wasn’t in good shape back then.”

Choi Sung-min immediately assumed a humble stance in response to Han Seung-woo’s sharp reaction.

“Oh, right. Hyung, you weren’t feeling well at the time.”

Han Seung-woo also looked at Kim Min-woo’s back. That guy who blocked all of his shots. If he shows the same performance as back then this time, I honestly have nothing to say.

This world is ultimately about showing off your skills and proving yourself with your skills. Even if that guy was just a stone rolling in, if he showed off his skills that would make us all shut up, Han Seung-woo had no more intention of saying anything.

‘First of all, it’s not a competitive position.’

Actually, this is the most important thing, but it was the goalkeepers who were in trouble, not me. It was a very distant position with no competition in the first place.

Han Seung-woo glanced at the goalkeepers.

Song Jae-hyun and Lee Seung-hyun.

Two goalkeepers.

The remaining one is a freshman and not yet mature enough to participate in the competition.

The two of them were sharing a drink of water and whispering. Their butts were probably burning.

I’m wondering what will happen if that rolling stone does well in tomorrow’s game.

Han Seung-woo walked to his dorm with a big smile.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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