Training Camp Ace (2)
Training Camp Ace (2)
003
Huh? Wait a second.
I... what did I put my stats into?
'Oh, fuck... I put them all into Charm!'
I'm fucked!
In the split second I flinched from panic, the opponent rashly stuck out a foot.
A movement that seemed to intuit a chance to steal the ball after catching me flinch for a moment.
It was definitely sharper than the high school league, but this much is nothing.
In the gap created when the opponent's balance collapsed, I quickly kicked the ball between their legs.
Leaving behind the opponent who had suddenly been nutmegged and was twisting their body in a rush before landing on their butt, I sprinted at full speed.
'Chance!'
As soon as I regained possession of the ball I'd kicked forward, I pushed it ahead and ran again.
Opposing players closing in in an instant.
In that brief moment I lifted my head to check, the space between the defensive midfielder who had come forward and the side defender backing up from behind came into view.
The success rate isn't very high in a real match, but I confidently tapped the ball with the inside of both feet, left and right, and passed through that gap.
"Ph, Phantom!"
The goal gate revealed as soon as I passed the astonished opponent. And the center-back blocking the front.
My spine tingled with the thrill of succeeding in a low-probability gamble, but my balance was too precarious to even get past the center-back here.
Fortunately, the flustered opposing center-back rushed out in a hurry, ending up in a straight line with the opposing goalkeeper and blocking their view.
Now that the goalkeeper's view is blocked is the only chance!
Forcing my balance, which was about to collapse, to hold, I planted my standing foot.
Seeing the team mainly composed of freshmen concede a goal as soon as the match started, the Coach twitched his lips and asked the Head Coach next to him.
"What do you think, Head Coach?"
"About what?"
"What else. The goal we conceded."
"Why ask when you saw it? It was a success, obviously."
The Coach glared at the Head Coach's wrinkled face as he feigned ignorance, and spoke again, pretending to be blunt.
"I know that, I saw it too. I'm asking if they seem to have noticed."
"Not at all. Kids these days act naturally too. Nobody noticed."
While talking, the Head Coach, who was watching the match progress, muttered.
"They conceded a goal absurdly, yet everyone is calm. The kids are composed."
"That's not calm. They're frozen."
"Hmm. Then should I tell them to concede another goal?"
"Forget it. Then the youngest ones will be completely discouraged and won't play their game. I have to push them a bit. If there's a guy with some grit, wouldn't he pop out by now?"
"I still don't understand your preference for players with grit, Coach."
"You'll understand once you gain more experience. It's these gritty guys who actually pull something off in important matches."
"Yeah~ yeah~"
After kicking the butt of the Head Coach, who was nodding perfunctorily, the Coach shouted loudly.
"What are you doing! Are you just going to pass the ball around until the end after getting scored on? Be aggressive, be aggressive!!"
Sure enough.
As soon as the Coach's shout ended, one guy raised his hand high and called for the ball.
"It's Hong Min-jun."
"That kid has good footwork. ...But wait, is he actually thinking of dribbling from the center line?"
"Whoa~ He's got some grit. The exact style you like, Coach!"
"Right. A player should have that kind of grit!"
He received the ball and drove forward, and a standoff situation occurred.
"It's a relief he's not a pushover... but that only works when you have the skill. When he gets a taste of the university league level and gets frustrated, you polish him up well, Head Coach."
"Understood. Seeing him take those quick steps, his body balance is definitely good, and he's agile too. If we polish him for 1-2 years, he'll be decent."
"He showed promise since the high school league. But was his face that pretty?"
"...I don't know."
"That's strange. I've observed him playing matches several times, so why can't I remember his face? It's not easy to forget a face as seductive as that—"
"Huh? Huh!? Coach!!"
The mouths of the two people watching dropped open.
"...I saw it too. That kid is the real deal."
The match ended.
4:1.
Of course, we are the 1. ...Fuck.
The Coach says we did well, but no player feels good about a loss.
Especially since he was grinning ear-to-ear looking at me, which suggests I made a proper impression, but my actual feelings are—
'I got lucky.'
Just about that much.
Looking only at the result, I was the only one to score on a struggling team, and it was a so-called Wonder Goal where I dribbled past a whopping 3 people from the half-line to score, but...
The detailed stats were disastrous.
As expected of a practice match, I played about 45 minutes out of a total of 60 minutes, with 30 minutes each for the first and second halves.
Pass Success/Pass Attempts: 25/27
Dribble Success/Dribble Attempts: 6/8
Shots on Target/Shot Attempts: 1/4
It looks good on the surface, but there wasn't a single key pass, and there were only 3 forward passes in the enemy territory. Among them, only 1 was successful.
My confident technique definitely worked, but since the opponent didn't let their guard down and defended cooperatively, it was a series of either losing the ball after a successful dribble or dragging it out and passing backward.
'Ha... I couldn't do anything.'
After the initial Wonder Goal, I was basically deleted from the pitch.
Of course, it would have been different if our team had been a little stronger. When teams of equal strength face off, you can't shift too much defense to one player, and even if you did, it would create empty spaces and become dangerous.
So, saying the team's strength was weak... is nothing more than self-consolation.
If I had been just a little better at passing. If I had been skilled at team play. If my judgment had been faster. Then it definitely would have been different.
Once again, my shortcomings held me back.
The same shortcomings that were clearly exposed and caused my slump during high school.
'Damn it.'
I gritted my teeth and followed the subsequent training.
Even though it wasn't very high-intensity training since it was the first day, after training and sweating my best for the first time in a while, and looking in the mirror while showering, the frustrated, knotted feelings in my heart melted away.
'Wow... is this really my face? I'm glad I invested in Charm.'
I was just ruminating on my stat distribution and regretting it, but seeing my face, it all melts away, melts away.
No wonder my crotch felt heavy today; my average-looking son has become more massive than I imagined.
"Whoa~ This bastard is carrying a snake around."
"Crazy, fuck. I hoped he'd be small down there, but that's huge too. What is he, a black guy?"
"This sucks. Someone is handsome and also has a black guy's dick."
Phew. Today, the jealous men feel pathetic.
Then, let's check the results of today's training for the last time.
'Status Window!!'
【Technical】 【Mental】 【Physical】
Individual Skill 062 ｜Vision 046｜Speed 059
Dribbling 055 ｜Anticipation 044｜Acceleration 063
Trapping 057 ｜Judgment 042｜Balance 056
Short Pass 048 ｜Concentration 056｜Agility 059
Long Pass 041 ｜Off the Ball 047｜Reaction Speed 079
Shooting 045 ｜Marking 038｜Power 054
Free Kick 042 ｜Composure 052｜Jump 046
Header 038 ｜Leadership 040｜Stamina 047
Tackle 032 ｜Teamwork 039｜Recovery 065
【Hidden】
Genius 046 ｜ Charm 095 ｜ Intelligence 028
【Height 175cm｜63kg】
【Available Points】 0P
Passing the Charm 95 that makes me happy just looking at it, the available points as a reward for training hard are 0... Whyyyyy!!!
'Why, why is this? Why didn't the points go up??'
I trained really hard today.
I played the match and trained with all my might, but why... Ah, is that it? Is that it?
'So, one day isn't enough, is that it? Ha... yeah, it's not enough to become a Ballon d'Or winner. They say Ronaldo trains a lot too, so I guess I need autonomous training after the daily schedule.'
As I gathered my soccer cleats and stood up, the seniors stared at me.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go train."
"...Train? Now?"
"Yes!"
"......"
The seniors looked at each other.
But it's something... it's not a look of admiration, and it's not a look of annoyance either; it's very subtle.
"Uh... will you be okay?"
"No problem!!"
I don't have great stamina, but my recovery is good, so after training and getting a good night's sleep, I'll be fine.
"Yeah, well... you must have your reasons. Don't overdo it."
"Thank you!!"
Tsk tsk.
If you lack skill, you should at least train harder.
Seeing the seniors lying around idly on their smartphones, I think I should use them as a negative example.
Yeah.
Starting today, I am reborn.
Is the Ballon d'Or a big deal?
If I have the Status Window, not only the Ballon d'Or, but becoming the greatest player of all time isn't just a dream!
I'm not the type to live and die for soccer, but it makes no sense for someone trying to make a living through soccer to have never dreamed of the top spot.
Probably every soccer prodigy has imagined it at least once.
The best soccer player. Themselves as a Ballon d'Or winner.
Of course, most will give up due to the wall of reality called the limits of talent... It was a goal I also gave up on early, but now it's possible.
After spending a long time bringing cones to the empty soccer field and sweating while diligently dribbling and trapping.
The Coach, who was taking a walk, stares at me with wide eyes.
"Hong Min-jun! What are you doing here."
"I'm training!"
"Training??"
"Yes!"
"Have you never done a pre-season, no, a training camp before?"
"No!!"
"But why... No. You must be doing it because you're confident."
The Coach walks away as if it's strange, tilting his head repeatedly.
What the hell.
Trying hard to shake off the ominous feeling creeping up, I focused on practice again, and only late at night did I finish training and return to the dormitory.
Ugh, my whole body is sore, which feels very refreshing.
By now, at least 1 point should have come in— it's not there!! It's not there!!! Why!!!
And the next day.
Having spent the night wide awake due to anxiety, I realized why the Coach and seniors had looked at me like I was a strange animal.
"Huhk, uhhk, keuhk... cough cough."
"What is it, Hong Min-jun! Already tired? Move quickly! Run! Time is passing!"
"Keuhk, uhh-huhk...!"
Fu, fuck... is this hell.
I couldn't sleep yesterday, so I didn't recover...!
The Hojin University soccer team's training camp was... an intense physical training session.