Chapter 4
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: That Day, the Students Remembered the Terror of Park Si-hyun
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That day, the students remembered the terror of Park Si-hyun.
Lunchtime, which all the students loved.
Normally, it would have been time to eat, but today the students had gathered on the playground from early on.
"Ah, poor Class 3 kids. They have to face us right from the start. Right, Yu-seong?"
One student from Class 2 said with a laugh.
Seo Yu-seong.
Class 2's ace, a student with experience playing on the middle school soccer team.
Of course, his skills weren't quite enough for the high school team, but against regular students, he was head and shoulders above anyone else. The overwhelming gap in ability had inflated his ego sky-high.
"Isn't that obvious? Just pass it sideways when you get the ball. I'll charge forward, so you guys just do that."
Seo Yu-seong shrugged with a confident grin.
Class 2 students gathered around him, the atmosphere already brimming with certainty of victory.
"Ah, what if Class 3 ends up crying?"
"It'd be hilarious if they actually did. Still, Yu-seong, go easy on them a bit. The PE teacher might say something."
"We'll see based on their skills."
But their leisure didn't last long.
"Hey, Seo Yu-seong!"
With Kim Tae-min's shout, Class 3 entered the playground.
In that instant, the Class 2 students' gazes slid past Kim Tae-min and naturally fixed on the figure behind him.
They had no choice but to look.
No matter how far back he stood, his waist was level with the other kids' heads, so he was impossible to miss.
"Hey, what's that? Did Class 3 have a guy like that?"
"What kind of height is that... If he's close, I wouldn't even be able to see his face."
"He could probably shake hands with the sky."
Amid the murmurs, some recognized him.
"That's Park Si-hyun."
"Park Si-hyun? Park Si-hyun... Wait, that Park Si-hyun?"
"He's on the soccer team. Why's the soccer team here? And he's freaking good."
"No way a guy like that is here."
Even as a first-year, he'd pushed aside third-years to become the soccer team's starting striker, making him more famous at school than expected.
Honestly, it was weirder that Class 2 hadn't immediately thought of Park Si-hyun upon seeing his 193 cm height.
Of course, it was due to the preconception that the soccer team would never show up to an event like this.
The moment Class 2 recognized Park Si-hyun, their leisure vanished, replaced by unease.
"Hey, did you guys call in the soccer team?"
"That's cheating. Breaking the rules."
Hearing that, Kim Tae-min smirked wickedly.
"Sorry, but Si-hyun's not on the soccer team anymore."
"...What?"
"He quit. So now he can play, right...? Or are you scared?"
One reason Korean guys die young is probably that pointless pride making them deny "You scared?" every time.
Seo Yu-seong's face flushed red.
"What? Scared? Ha, don't make me laugh. So what if he quit the soccer team? No, he probably got kicked out 'cause he sucks."
In the end, the two classes decided to just play the match.
There was no real justification to bar him since he'd quit the team, and Class 2's ace, Seo Yu-seong, insisted strongly.
"Guys, think about it. He quit the soccer team with that physique. No, he must've been booted out. How bad do you have to be to get sent packing with a body like that? Can he even catch me with that frame? I don't think so."
"Yeah, come to think of it, you're right. How's he gonna catch Yu-seong with that body?"
Class 2 students nodded at Seo Yu-seong's words.
They trusted their agile, skilled ace more than the tall, lumbering giant.
And so the match began.
Despite the wildcard of Park Si-hyun, Class 2 dominated from the start.
"Yeah. What can you even do?"
Seo Yu-seong sneered at Park Si-hyun, who was slowly wandering around the attacking formation like a lost lamb.
Soccer is a sport played by eleven people.
No matter how good one player is, they can't win alone.
Besides, Park Si-hyun looked like a classic target man finisher—receiving passes and slotting them in.
But comparing individuals, Class 2 had the edge over Class 3.
He'd probably get one chance, maybe two at most.
Then, a Class 3 midfielder stole the ball and lofted a long pass.
"Yu-seong! It's yours!"
The ball sliced through the air.
Seo Yu-seong exploded forward with blistering speed.
It was definitely beyond what regular students could handle.
"Block him! Block him!"
Class 3's goalkeeper, Kim Tae-min, rushed out desperately, but Seo Yu-seong's pace shattered all calculations.
Thwack—!
With a precise toe poke, he evaded the keeper and rolled the ball into the empty net.
"Goal!!!"
Class 2's cheers erupted.
Seo Yu-seong clenched his fist and immediately turned to Park Si-hyun with a provocative glare, flaunting his skill.
'See that? That's real soccer.'
But upon seeing Park Si-hyun, he flinched.
Park Si-hyun was—
yawning.
Wide open, blatantly so.
"Yawwwn..."
Even after his team conceded, the 193 cm giant just wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, as if bored.
"Wha... what's with that bastard?"
I was slowly moving in the attacking formation, observing the game.
'Ah, he's dribbling left there.'
I sighed inwardly as a Class 3 midfielder lost the ball after dribbling left.
'The right space is wide open. Going left puts him right in the opponent's pressure zone. Space tightens, tough to break through.'
If it were me?
I'd drag the ball right to spread the defense, then cut back with a central pass.
The stolen ball went to that Seo Yu-seong guy who'd taunted me before kickoff.
Middle school soccer team alum, huh?
Definitely a cut above regular students.
Clean dribbling, quick decisions.
Of course, to me, it was just neighborhood soccer level.
"Yawwwn..."
Having played pro for decades, analyzed countless games, studied tactics—watching this level made me yawn involuntarily.
Like a conductor versed in Beethoven hearing a recorder recital at a local music hall.
As I finished yawning and rubbed my teary eyes, Seo Yu-seong glared at me furiously for some reason.
'Why's he staring like that? He scored the goal.'
Looks like this fool hasn't grasped the skill gap yet. Time to show him the Park Si-hyun Style.
I called out to Lee Jun-hyuk, who was about to loft a long pass back from midfield.
"Hey, Jun-hyuk."
"Huh? What? You shooting?"
"Nah. Just easy pass to me. I'll score."
"Ooh... showing off soccer team skills? But can you? Too many in the way to go straight."
Lee Jun-hyuk glanced at Class 2's formation worriedly.
"Hey, I'm Park Si-hyun. You know my style?"
"Got it, got it. Park Si-hyun Style or whatever... What, you think Class 2 will part like the Red Sea and say 'come on through'?"
How'd he know?
Lee Jun-hyuk really is sharp. Knows Zlatan quotes too. Gotta mark him as dangerous.
If I hat-trick this and drop a famous line in MOM interview, he might expose it as 'Zlatan said that first'—embarrassing.
"I'll show you something even cooler."
When I first switched from striker to defender, it wasn't smooth sailing.
Reasons varied, but the biggest issue was not reading the game's flow properly.
That's why I analyzed games and studied tactics five hours a day.
Looking back, if I'd stuck as striker, that training wouldn't have been necessary.
It helped, sure.
'They say a good brain saves the legs? Nah. Legs this insanely good mean no brain needed.'
Tweet!
With the PE teacher's whistle, Lee Jun-hyuk passed to me right away.
I stopped dead on the spot.
Then slowly, like drawing a bow, I pulled my right foot back as far as it would go.
Like a massive trebuchet moments before launch.
As my right foot went back, my hips twisted naturally, left foot anchoring as my whole body coiled like a spring.
"What? Shooting from there?"
"Guy's insane?"
Class 2's panicked voices rang out, but I ignored them.
Shooting from beyond the halfway line.
Absurd by normal standards, but I'm Park Si-hyun.
Beyond normal standards.
The moment all compressed energy focused to one point—
Boom!
A thunderclap tore through the playground.
The ball flew straight, no spin, pure power.
Like a cannon shell.
The keeper just stood dazed, watching it whistle over his head into the net.
Boom!
The net strained with a deafening impact as the ball buried itself in the goal.
Silence fell over the playground.
Looking at the stunned Seo Yu-seong, I pondered Korean soccer's future and offered sincere advice.
"Amateurs spend 90 minutes chasing one goal. But they end up with nothing. Intermediates lean on the team for chances, jamming it in when it comes. Masters do it all alone. They shred defenses with skill, shake the net with power."
Seo Yu-seong yelled incredulously.
"So you're a master?"
I corrected his misconception.
"I'm no amateur, no intermediate, no master. You can't define me in those terms."
Pausing briefly, I continued even more boldly.
"I don't put the ball in the goal. The goal rolls to me when I want it. That's how I play soccer. That's the Park Si-hyun Style."