Victory, That Sweet Starting Point

"Alright, captain of Haeseong Elementary! Step forward!"

At the association president's call, Gang-cheol climbed onto the podium.

The golden trophy was surprisingly heavy for an eleven-year-old's small hands. The cold metallic weight sank into his palms, and only then did it truly hit him.

An unprecedented undefeated city championship for the Haeseong Elementary soccer club since its founding.

"One, two, three! Lift it up!"

"Waaaaaah!"

As Gang-cheol hoisted the trophy high into the autumn sky, multicolored confetti burst forth and the children's cheers flooded the civic stadium. Uniforms stained with dirt, sweat, and tears tangled together in a wild embrace.

Click-! Click-! Click-!

Dozens of camera flashes exploded. Gang-cheol rose into the air on the kids' shoulders, the dizzying blue sky filling his vision.

Yeah... this was the taste.

The flavor of victory he had craved so desperately in his previous life. Gang-cheol closed his eyes for a moment and checked the blue notification window floating in his sight.

A deep smile spread across Gang-cheol's lips.

The most encouraging part was the skill unlock. Tactical Commander. Now he could move his teammates on the pitch like chess pieces with even greater precision.

After the awards ceremony, in a quiet corner of the field.

Team Leader Choi Hyeon-seok approached and removed his sunglasses. Every contract and promise had already been settled. He gave Gang-cheol a thumbs-up and spoke short and sharp.

"You kept your word. Now it's the chairman's turn to keep his. See you this evening."

"Yes. I'll be looking forward to it."

Gang-cheol offered a light bow and returned to his teammates.

"Cheers!!!"

"Waaaaah! Meat! Meat!"

That evening, at a large charcoal-grill barbecue restaurant near the civic stadium.

The Haeseong Elementary soccer club's victory dinner was pure chaos and pure festival. Marbled beef short ribs sizzled on the grill, fat dripping, and vanished into the kids' mouths almost as soon as they finished cooking.

"Coach! Can I unbuckle my belt and go all out today?"

"Eat as much as you want! You're the kings of this neighborhood today! The bill's on the school budget... no, wait—it's on me!"

Coach Kim Pan-seok's face had already turned into a flaming sweet potato after a few glasses of soju. Parents wiped away tears of emotion as they raised their glasses, and the restaurant burned with the heat of the city championship.

At a corner table.

Captain Ma Gang-cheol was quietly grilling meat. Beside him, Cheol-su and Min-su were inhaling the meat like soldiers on a battlefield, sauce smeared all over their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mouths.

"Hey, slow down a little. Nobody's stealing it from you."

Gang-cheol wrapped a perfectly cooked piece of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rib in lettuce and popped it into his mouth. Sweet, savory juices. His eleven-year-old taste buds cheered, but his thirty-five-year-old reason coldly calculated the calories.

"Gang-cheol, why aren't you drinking soda? We won—let's toast!"

Min-ho waved a cola bottle around.

"I'll stick with water. You guys go easy on the carbonation too. Liquid fructose is the worst for muscle recovery. We start training again tomorrow."

"Ugh, what a grandpa. Come on, just enjoy yourself for once on a day like this, yeah?"

Cheol-su stuck out his tongue. That was when it happened.

The restaurant's sliding door rattled open, and sturdy men in suits entered, clearing a path. The noisy atmosphere died as if someone had dumped cold water over everyone.

And through that path walked an elderly gentleman with silver-white hair, yet eyes as sharp and vivid as a young man's.

It was Lee Dae-su, chairman of the LK Group.

"Uh... oh my! Chairman?!"

Coach Kim Pan-seok dropped the wrap he was eating and shot to his feet. The parents turned pale and stood as well. The second-ranked tycoon in the business world—someone they only ever saw on the news—had just walked into a neighborhood barbecue joint.

Chairman Lee dismissed his attendants and walked straight to Gang-cheol's table.

"I hope you've all been enjoying your meal."

"Chairman..."

Gang-cheol set down his chopsticks and bowed respectfully. He had heard about this from Team Leader Choi earlier that day, but he hadn't expected ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the man to actually come in person to celebrate.

"Sit, sit. Sorry for interrupting your dinner."

Chairman Lee smiled kindly as he looked over the children.

"I watched the final live on video today. Absolutely outstanding. Especially the leadership our Gang-cheol showed at the end—it warmed my heart."

"You're too kind. It's thanks to my teammates following me so well."

"Haha, and modest too. Team Leader Choi reported to me. You postponed the trip to Germany so you could conquer the nation first, is that right?"

"Yes. I'm not ready yet. I want to complete the picture I've envisioned before I go."

Chairman Lee nodded. That was not the kind of resolve that should come from an eleven-year-old boy.

"Good. If you're going to enlarge the board, then I should make an investment worthy of it. That's what an adult ought to do, isn't it?"

He snapped his fingers, and a secretary behind him pulled a presentation board from a briefcase.

The children's eyes went wide. On the board was a bird's-eye view of the school field.

"Starting tomorrow, construction begins on the Haeseong Elementary field. Top-grade artificial turf. A gift so you don't scrape your knees rolling around on dirt anymore."

"Whoa... no way..."

"Artificial turf! They're putting turf at our school!"

The kids covered their mouths. But the gifts weren't finished.

"And tomorrow morning, a brand-new forty-five-seat limousine bus will be waiting at the school gate. Driver's salary, fuel—everything's on me. No more riding intercity buses. Travel in comfort."

"Waaaaaaaah!"

The restaurant erupted with cheers that nearly blew the roof off. Park Min-su was so excited he almost spat out the meat he was chewing.

Artificial turf and a private limousine bus. Support so extravagant that even professional youth teams rarely received it.

"And one more thing..."

Chairman Lee looked at Gang-cheol one last time.

"I'm dispatching a dedicated cooking team. Nutritionists from the Taereung Athletes' Village. They'll calculate every nutrient you need during your growth period and design perfect meal plans. Just show up and train."

Gang-cheol clenched his fist tightly.

Meal plans.

The thing he had needed most, yet the hardest to solve in reality. School lunches and home cooking had their limits—and the chairman had just erased that problem.

"Thank you, Chairman. I'll repay you with results."

"Good. I look forward to the Hwarangdaegi championship. Bring me that trophy and I'll give you an even bigger gift."

Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dae-su squeezed Gang-cheol's shoulder firmly, then left the restaurant like the wind.

What remained was pure pandemonium.

"Dude! Did you hear that? A limousine! We're riding celebrity cars!"

"Mom! I'm staying in soccer! The chairman's covering everything!"

Gang-cheol smiled quietly amid the uproar.

Perfect. No more excuses left.

The best equipment, the best meals, the best transportation.

All that remained was hellish training.

Then someone poked him in the side.

It was Han Se-hui, his desk partner and the other real powerhouse of Haeseong Elementary. She had said she would come to cheer them on—and she had followed them all the way to the barbecue restaurant.

"Hey. When you were talking to the chairman earlier... you kind of sounded like an adult?"

"Huh? Ah... I was just being polite."

Se-hui fiddled with her cola glass, pretending to look elsewhere.

"But... you remember promising me tteokbokki if you won, right? You haven't forgotten that promise, have you?"

"Ah... tteokbokki. That's a carb bomb."

"Oh for—just eat it when I tell you to! Starting tomorrow you're going into training camp and I won't even get to see you!"

Se-hui snapped. Gang-cheol glanced around in panic. Even a thirty-five-year-old soul was helpless before the whims of a teenage girl.

"Okay, okay. I'll go. But I'm peeling the batter off the fried stuff."

"Ugh, you're exhausting! Just follow me!"

Three months later. Winter break.

The Haeseong Elementary field was unrecognizable.

Brand-new artificial turf glowed with a bluish sheen, and off to one side a crimson limousine bus bearing the bold "Haeseong Elementary Soccer Club" emblem sat parked in all its glory.

"Run harder! Push the line up!"

Gang-cheol's shout rang across the field.

Park Min-su received Gang-cheol's pass, exploded forward, and unleashed a shot.

Bang!

The ball buried itself perfectly in the corner of the net. Min-su's movement was incomparably sharper than three months ago. Body fat gone, muscle packed on—he looked less like an old-fashioned tank and more like a modern armored vehicle.

"Nice! Cheol-su, spread wider! Create space!"

Gang-cheol wiped away sweat with a satisfied expression.

Over the past three months, the system's corrections, LK Group's support, and Gang-cheol's hellish training had transformed the Haeseong Elementary soccer club into an entirely different team.

"Gather up!"

At Coach Kim Pan-seok's whistle, the kids assembled in perfect order. The old ragtag look was gone without a trace. Every pair of eyes was alive and burning.

"Pack your gear. The day of reckoning is finally here."

Coach Kim pointed at the bus with a solemn face.

"The Gyeongju Hwarangdaegi. Every kid in the country who can kick a ball will be there. Nervous?"

"No, sir!!"

The children answered with thunderous voices. Gang-cheol stood in the front row and clenched his fist tightly.

The Hwarangdaegi.

The true World Cup of elementary soccer, where every school in the nation gathered.

Waiting there would be prestigious clubs from Seoul, hidden masters from the provinces, and genuine monsters born with raw talent—even if they hadn't regressed like him.

"Board!"

Vroom-!

The massive limousine bus roared out through the school gates, trailing pale exhaust instead of dust.

Haeseong Elementary's wildflowers were heading to Gyeongju to devour the nation's fields.

Watching the scenery rush past the bus window, Gang-cheol quietly closed his eyes.

The goal was already set. To prove himself. And to step out into a wider world.

"Let's go. Time to smash everything."