Chapter 2
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Park Si-hyun Style
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"Think it over carefully. How many players as tall as you have actually made it as strikers? With that height and your strong physique, you're a perfect fit for defense, not forward. Switch positions to defender, and you'll become a legend in the K League for sure."
'Fuck... Even if I fell asleep drowning in regrets, this is ridiculous.'
Park Si-hyun stared at the coach ranting in front of him.
Kim Tae-ho Coach.
The man he would have revered as a lifelong mentor if he hadn't spilled the truth before retiring.
He'd held back from grilling him properly back then because he was drunk, and it had lingered as a grudge. But since this was a dream, he figured he'd vent it all out.
After that incident, he'd sometimes imagined it.
What would Zlatan have done in this situation?
With that arrogant, confident swagger of his.
"Coach."
Kim Tae-ho's eyes lit up at Park Si-hyun's voice.
"Yes, Si-hyun. This is all for your own good. What do you say?"
It looked like he was giving him a choice, but Park Si-hyun knew better.
Show even a hint of refusal, and Kim Tae-ho would turn red-faced and bully him into it.
Seeing that fake smile made rage bubble up from the depths of his chest like molten lava.
'This rotten bastard... Taking dirty bribes and planning to sell my career for pennies.'
Park Si-hyun fixed Kim Tae-ho with a cold stare.
"No thanks."
"What?"
"I said no. Why the hell should I play defense?"
"I've explained it all already, Si-hyun."
Park Si-hyun curled his lip slightly.
"Oh, you mean that bullshit from earlier?"
"What?"
"I didn't realize you were talking to me because you put so much effort into that nonsense."
Kim Tae-ho froze for a moment, unsure if he'd heard right, then his face flushed red as he bellowed.
"You little shit! I spoil you, and you think you're hot stuff? You really think a tall freak like you can make it as a striker? With that giant body!"
Kim Tae-ho kept yelling in a fury.
"And what kind of upbringing teaches you to call your coach bullshit? You insolent punk!"
Park Si-hyun, on the other hand, looked even more relaxed.
"Coach, there are already taller guys killing it in Europe. You should know better as a soccer coach."
"What? Who the hell-"
"Oliver Bierhoff is 191cm and tearing it up at AS Monaco right now. And Jan Koller, who's a whopping 202cm, is the starting striker for Dortmund in the Bundesliga."
"..."
Kim Tae-ho was momentarily speechless.
He'd never even heard of those players.
In Korea, only names like Ronaldo or Zidane were known; other strikers barely registered.
But his confusion quickly turned to a sneer.
"You think you can be like them? You're just some high school hotshot. Know your place."
Park Si-hyun met Kim Tae-ho's gaze head-on.
"Well, honestly, I can't guarantee I'll reach their level. But..."
Park Si-hyun took a step closer to Kim Tae-ho.
"Do you know more about soccer than me, Coach?"
"What?"
"You said it yourself earlier. No successful tall strikers exist. But I know some, and you don't. So that means you know less about soccer than I do."
Park Si-hyun smirked wider and pressed on.
"I don't listen to clueless hacks. Later."
Kim Tae-ho's face turned even redder.
"You little bastard, you really..."
"Watch your blood pressure, Coach. Folks your age shouldn't get this worked up. You'll end up crossing the Jordan."
Kim Tae-ho clenched his fist at Park Si-hyun's casual attitude.
"You punk! I'll make sure you never play soccer again! You think someone like you can make it in Korea? I'll block you every step. You're done, you hear me!"
"Get your facts straight. It's not you keeping me out of Korean soccer; it's too low-level for me. That's the Park Si-hyun style."
With that final line, Park Si-hyun walked out of the coach's office.
'To think I revered that guy for decades as my mentor. I must've been totally insane.'
The Mercedes he'd bought him felt like such a waste now.
'But this feels way too real for a dream. Is it really just a dream?'
He hadn't thought about it properly in the heat of unloading on Kim Tae-ho—it felt too damn good—but this was vividly real.
"Oh? Si-hyun, you're back? Why'd the coach call you in?"
Just then, his third-year senior who'd been waiting in the hallway approached.
Park Si-hyun's face twisted the moment he saw him.
Choi Jun-ho.
Third-year high school. No talent, but gunning for a starting spot thanks to his parents' money.
And the real instigator behind all this mess.
'Perfect timing. I was feeling like something was missing.'
"Pathetic."
"What?"
"Trying to buy a starting spot with money because you can't hack it on skill."
"How do you..."
Choi Jun-ho's face hardened instantly.
"But even if you buy the striker position, what good does it do? No talent means no pro career anyway."
"Don't talk to me like that, you punk!"
Enraged, Choi Jun-ho swung his fist, landing it squarely on Park Si-hyun's cheek.
"Ow!"
A sharp pain shot across his face the instant the fist connected.
It hurt. For real.
'It hurts...?')
Could you feel pain in a dream?
That's when it all clicked.
Park Si-hyun had regressed, just like in those novels.
'Hold on, so I can actually play as a striker now?'
"Heh heh heh..."
"What the hell? Laughing after getting hit? Lost your mind from the pain?"
Choi Jun-ho sneered, but Park Si-hyun slowly stood up.
His 193cm frame towered over, the height difference stark.
Nearly a full head taller. Choi Jun-ho's eyes wavered, but he bluffed anyway.
"What? Want another?"
Park Si-hyun twisted his lips into a grin.
"Don't cry, Senior."
"What?"
In the next instant, Park Si-hyun's right leg flashed like lightning.
A perfect back roundhouse kick slammed into Choi Jun-ho's side.
"Gah!"
Choi Jun-ho tumbled across the hallway floor.
Clutching his side and groaning, he looked exactly like a bug.
"I might not be as good at soccer as Zlatan, but my taekwondo's better, you piece of shit."
Park Si-hyun muttered down at the fallen Choi Jun-ho.
"A guy who can't even go pro, acting all high and mighty."
"You... you bastard..."
"Oh, and one more thing."
Park Si-hyun leaned down and whispered in Choi Jun-ho's ear.
"If you snitch, I'll tell everyone you bribed the coach for the position swap. Keep your mouth shut."
Choi Jun-ho's face drained to a pale blue.
He couldn't fathom how Park Si-hyun knew.
Park Si-hyun left him there and walked off.
'No more soccer in Korea for me now, that's for sure.'
Kim Tae-ho might seem like a nobody, but he had solid connections in Korean soccer. Friends among K League scouts and the association.
'Whatever. I'm heading to Germany anyway.'
Park Si-hyun was too big for a small pond like Korea.
'This body's already a K League legend as a defender.'
Even as a defender, he could crush any high schooler now.
Might as well aim for Europe starting today.
Europe had infrastructure for developing strikers on another level from Korea.
Of course, it was a challenge.
Even as a K League legend, his defensive talent might not translate to striker in Europe.
But unlike before, he was certain now.
His talent was no less than Zlatan's.
Talent plus experience—he'd surpass Zlatan and become a great... no, the greatest.
That was the Park Si-hyun style.
As he walked the hallway, he pulled out his phone.
A 2001 flip phone. An antique before regression, now the latest tech.
"Mom?"
"Oh, Si-hyun? Isn't it training time?"
"I'm quitting school."
"What?! What's that out of nowhere!"
"Heading to Germany to dominate soccer. That's the Park Si-hyun style."
*Dial tone*
"..."
Mom still had a ways to go before understanding the Park Si-hyun style.
Park Si-hyun shrugged and snapped the flip phone shut.
Her reaction was within expectations.
'Even Zlatan wasn't understood at first.'
Great ones were always like that.
Dreaming on a scale mortals couldn't grasp, then making it real.
As he exited the school gate, Park Si-hyun muttered.
"Germany, Park Si-hyun's coming for you."
"Absolutely not!"
"Mom, I'm serious."
"No way for some flimsy reason!"
At a typical family dinner table, a housewife-looking woman and her towering son were arguing.
Park Si-hyun and his mom, Jo Mi-young.
"So the coach told you to change positions, and you stormed out because you didn't like it?"
"No, that third-year senior bribed him for it! Corruption, pure corruption!"
"Proof?"
"..."
As if there'd be proof. Couldn't exactly say he heard it in the future.
"...Fine, okay."
"Really?!"
Relief flashed across Park Si-hyun's face.
But it was short-lived.
"Master German in a month, and you can go. Deal?"
"Huh?"
"You didn't think about that? Soccer skills won't help if you can't speak German there."
Park Si-hyun clutched his head in despair.
Ah, damn it all.
He'd completely forgotten the top prerequisite for Germany: learning the language.
English might get him by somewhat.
But that wasn't the issue.
Even Korea's pride Son Heung-min spoke fluent German in the Bundesliga, yet still hit racial barriers and prejudice.
What if he went without even knowing German?
Jo Mi-young crossed her arms and continued.
"If my straight-F son masters German, I'll send you off happily."
'Damn... So many mountains to climb to show the Park Si-hyun style to the world.'
But he lifted his head soon enough.
"Alright, Mom. I'll master German in a month and show you."
No mountain was too high to give up on.
That was the Park Si-hyun style.