Yarl Olmunt (2)
“Ah, this fucking guy.”
I got pissed hearing Marcus's words and stormed forward. Minsu and Heemun, who were trying to hold me back, got dragged along helplessly.
Marcus, flustered, tried to push me away, but.
“Wha… what the?”
Marcus ended up getting shoved back and falling over instead. The ref was blowing the whistle and yelling something, but I couldn't hear it. Or more precisely, I wasn't really listening.
To play the remaining 20 minutes of the second half properly, I needed to scare this asshole straight.
I loomed over Marcus as he fell back comically on his ass. Poking his shoulder with my finger for emphasis with each word, I laid into him.
“One more” “fucking” “time” “and” “you’re dead?”
“Uwaaaah! That guy's trying to kill me!”
The second I finished, Marcus clutched his shoulder and started rolling around on the ground.
At that moment, my eyes awkwardly met those of Ryukyu FC's captain, who had come over to pull me off.
I didn't poke him that hard, did I?
“Olmunt, did you maybe?”
“No, sir.”
“Man, I thought you'd at least practiced some martial arts or something.”
Donghan hyung was snickering behind me. It was pretty funny, honestly.
I mean, how hard could a finger poke be to make him wail like that?
The Ryukyu players must've found the scene hilarious too. Their captain even apologized to me.
He hauled Marcus up, who was still screaming and rolling around.
“No, that fucker poked me with his finger!”
“Yeah, sure. Where? You pushed Olmunt first.”
Marcus, silenced by the ref's shout, got a yellow card and a tongue-lashing from the coach before slinking off to the bench with his head hung low.
“You really got no fucking principles, huh? What a fucking retard.”
I seriously considered flipping off Donghan hyung. Gotta maintain the captain's dignity.
Luckily, just posing with my finger was enough to reassert it. Though I got teased about it nonstop after the match.
The Ryukyu game wrapped up without further incident. Jaemin's injury thankfully wasn't serious. Even their coach kept apologizing to us.
Marcus? Probably getting booted soon.
And later I found out—this blew up back in Korea too.
Practice match results are usually kept under wraps. As long as you don't report it to the Asian Football Confederation. But you can't exactly gag the Thai media, so it trickled into the local sports press.
In this globalized world, it was only a matter of time before Korean media and online communities caught wind.
While I was blissfully unaware, prepping for full-team training, Korea had turned me into the "Viking of Justice" who one-fingered a brainless Japanese league merc.
Ignoring all that buzz, I kept welcoming the new signings as captain.
“Ugh… you want me to compete for starting spot against that guy?”
I got Heemun's owl-eyed stare at me. Totally understandable.
Veteran fullback Lee Minjae, who's been called up to the national team multiple times, had joined our squad for some reason.
“You're Olmunt, right? Well, this is something. Nice to meet you.”
Why does everyone act like they've met a historical figure when they see me? It's embarrassing.
“No, no. It's an honor to play alongside a vet like you, Minjae hyung.”
“Oho… your Korean's better than most Korean players these days?”
“Haha…”
So we half-awkwardly welcomed Minjae hyung.
With him aboard, we dove into tactical drills. His involvement in build-up play was on another level.
Thanks to that, the coach unveiled some weird build-up tactic. "European-style build-up" or whatever.
“Alright, Minjae, when attacking, tuck in like an inverted fullback. Then Donghan and Dojin spread wide left to form a back three.”
Basically, pack the center with three to smooth out attacking build-up.
“Uh, coach. Do I have to do this too? Can I even?”
“Then what, sit it out?”
Poor Heemun was the one who'd suffer rotating with Minjae hyung. But hey, it'll all turn into muscle and blood eventually, right?
We played practice matches against Phatthum United and Chiang Mai FC, gradually adapting to the tweaked tactics.
Heemun was dying, though.
I was busy soothing one disgruntled player.
“Man, if we're doing this, why'd you get rid of my roommate? Weren't you bringing in a Brazilian?”
Tell me about it. That's what I'd like to know. You really planning to run the season with just two foreigners?
With the foreign quota limits lifted, this is brutal. You need at least three for the Peach Garden Oath, no?
“Front office is total trash. Trash.”
Aw, Paulo. Put down the phone already. Practice your flair moves in that time.
“Who's the new signing? You hear anything?”
Paulo, sharp as ever despite his shaky Korean, perked up at Dojin hyung's words and pounced.
“Heard they're bringing in one or two more. Probably a foreigner for defense.”
Yeah, makes sense. Midfield's decent enough.
“Paulo, just hang in there a bit. They're scouting foreigners, right? Rumors keep popping on those sites you check.”
“Sigh…”
I soothed the frustrated Paulo and waited for the next guy. Who'd show up now?
“Hello.”
“What! You're coming here? Why didn't you say?”
Unfortunately for Paulo's hopes, another Korean arrived.
Versatile winger/attacker Kim Hyunsik hyung was the man. He'd been with Seoul Dongdaemun FC last season, so probably buddies with Donghan hyung.
Whatever, as long as he fits like Donghan hyung, I'm good.
The signing quality was surprisingly high. Filling positions that didn't need starting competition?
The few practice games continued.
Around when January flipped to February…
As Paulo looked ready to die alone for real, he finally showed.
“Hello. I'm Lucas Morais.”
For some reason, sounds like he'd coach a mint-green team.
“Yessssss! Finally! I got a roommate!”
Minus one over-the-top cheerer, Lucas got a warm round of applause and officially joined Gimpo as the third foreigner for '26.
The coach had been singing praises for a foreign defender, and here he was. Versatile enough for defense too. Perfect.
By the time the moon changed and the last practice match wrapped smoothly…
As I got used to the captain's armband…
“Alright, great work everyone. I hope as many people as possible see the fruits of our labor. To make that happen, we've gotta kill it once the season starts. Let's make sure all this hard work wasn't for nothing—give it everything!”
The long—or short?—Thailand full-team training camp was over.
Wonder what the first division will be like in this new body. Mixed feelings swirled. I'd fled to the second like a coward, but not this time.
Shine in the first, and Europe for real. Just watch.
Gazing at Chiang Mai's fading scenery from the plane window, I clenched my fist in solo resolve.
**
“Coach, you gonna keep agonizing like this?”
“What choice do I have? Isak's back in April. That bald bastard's definitely delaying on purpose.”
“Even if he returns, no guarantee he's in form. He was meh at Liverpool anyway.”
“Sigh… We have to beat Ukraine.”
Graham Potter, newly minted Sweden national team coach, was tearing his hair out.
The previous coach, Janne Andersson, got sacked for World Cup qualifier woes.
Now Potter faced playoffs and a do-or-die with Ukraine.
Sweden's attack was a mess, especially post-Isak's season-ending injury.
No solid partner for Gyökeres. Lose to Ukraine, and Potter's head rolls too.
“That's why we should call up Olmunt.”
“Call up a guy killing it in some backwater second-division league?”
“Come on, coach. It's the same league as Jordan Larsson, your fave. And Olmunt outscores and out-assists him as a starter.”
The assistant wasn't wrong. Olmunt fit Potter's ideal: high work rate, versatile, physical beast.
But was he national-team level? Could he hang with Europe's big five leagues?
Normally, Potter would've braved the backlash and picked him. But on the edge like this?
He didn't want to be the guy extending Sweden's dark ages.
Idah, Nygren, Larsson—none thrilled him.
“Ah… if only Isak were healthy. Why the hell's he slacking?!”
Venting didn't heal Isak.
In the end, Potter gave in to the devil's whisper.
Sticking to the plan meant World Cup exit and sacking. He didn't want to end as a has-been.
“K-League first division opener's end of February, right? We'll watch his performance there and decide.”