Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: A New Experience -1-
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I'm basically the type who thinks a lot.
That's true in general, but even more so when I'm on the field.
What's the best way to play here? How should I follow up the next play?
What are the opponent's weaknesses? What are they thinking? What do we need to do?
Thinking about all these things, I sometimes feel like my head is even busier than my body when I'm on the field.
But sometimes, my body moves before my head does.
That's what just happened.
"What the hell was that? Seriously. Are you crazy?"
"Why are you so surprised all of a sudden. We've only seen the maknae for a day or two."
"I see him every day, but that was still amazing."
"Just how many moves ahead are you seeing? You saw the angle to chip the ball over the defender's head and shoot right away?"
The seniors who crowded around me each threw in a comment about it being a perfect calculation, but that wasn't exactly true, so I didn't bother to correct them.
Actually, in the past, I would feel anxious first whenever such a play came out.
A play that wasn't calculated in my head, but a play my body created on its own.
Because it felt like it wasn't my skill.
If it were skill, I should be able to play the same way if the same situation came again, but this wasn't like that.
It's hard to explain. It felt less like solving a difficult problem through calculation and more like getting a multiple-choice question right by pure luck.
So, rather than feeling happy, I felt anxious first.
I hated it because it felt like it was just adding to the hype for no reason.
But it's different now.
I'm always reminding myself of what Coach Luca told me, that there are no coincidences on the field.
And also...
"Hey. I know your secret..."
"...What secret?"
"That thing just now, it was a fluke, right? It had to be a fluke!"
Ricardo Romero, who started with me today, came over and whispered to me with a face full of envy.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered.
"A fluke? No. This is what you call Puma's technology."
"Wh-what...!"
"Puma's unique Netfit system makes powerful shots possible anytime, anywhere."
It felt easier to think it was all thanks to Puma. Half-joking, but half-serious.
"Y-yeah, it must be Puma then...!"
The management people should know.
That I'm doing all this for Puma.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"How's your stamina? Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Good. There's no need to overdo it, so raise your hand anytime you get tired."
"Yes."
It was around the middle of the second half.
While the game was briefly stopped, I moistened my mouth with water, and the coach spoke to me.
After nodding and answering, I put the water bottle back and headed to my position.
Checking the time on the electronic board, it was the 78th minute.
The score was 2-0.
After my opening goal, Ricardo Romero scored another, and we were holding onto that lead well.
Turin, our opponent today, was definitely not a difficult opponent. Their defense was what it was, but their attack was particularly unthreatening.
I don't mean to underestimate the opponent, but it meant our defense was that good.
So, I didn't feel any sense of crisis that we might be overturned.
It seemed the manager thought so too, as he instructed us not to just defend but to score more goals.
The game was still under our control.
So, it didn't seem like there would be a problem if I stepped out around now. Our team wouldn't get weaker just because I was gone, and it was quite tiring.
However, I didn't feel like raising my hand.
It meant I didn't feel like getting substituted and resting on the sidelines around this time.
Because I felt the greed to run more.
I find it strange myself that I'm like this.
The greed to run more.
This was a little different from the desperation to have to play in any way and show a good performance.
I just wanted to play soccer more, purely.
If I think about how I've changed like this, I think it's probably because I feel it myself.
That I seem to be growing with every single game.
Just a while ago, that was the case too.
If it were the past, I would have felt anxiety before joy even with such a goal, but now it's not like that.
The me of the past and the me of now.
The countless drops of sweat I shed during the many days in between have changed me.
Thinking about that, I can't rest even if I want to.
Because who knows what kind of realization is hidden in the remaining 10 minutes until the end of the game.
We play games every week, and we play 90-minute games under the same rules every time.
But every game flows differently. There is no game where every situation flows the same.
If you play 100 games, 100 different games will unfold.
Therefore, I couldn't take any minute or second lightly. Thinking that every future minute and second is a new experience I've never had before, I didn't want to suffer the loss of missing that experience.
Just as the minutes and seconds of the past gathered to make me what I am now, thinking that the minutes and seconds of the future will determine the me of tomorrow... I couldn't waste time.
It's not that it's strange that I feel greedy, but perhaps it's a natural thing.
"Hey!"
"Here!"
I was a kid who lacked more than others.
So I had a lot of realizations I could gain.
What was taken for granted by others was a lesson and a realization for me.
In the past, I hated myself for being lacking, but now I even feel grateful for it in my own way.
Because it also means there's a lot of room for me to grow more.
Seeing my grown self is a fun and addictive thing, but being lacking means there are still more days for me to feel that... so if I'm grateful, it's something to be grateful for.
I've learned quite a lot during this time, and I've gained realizations from it.
But even so, there was still a lot I didn't know, and new realizations kept coming.
That means there's still a lot left to realize.
Maybe there's no end to it. It might continue until I die.
Thinking about that, I can't rest even if I want to.
Whoosh-!
I catch the ball on the right side.
The ball had been on the left for a while, but it was a transition pass that came over in an instant, so I received it with plenty of space.
So without hesitation, I quickly drove in.
Tat-tat-tat-!
I drove towards the opposing fullback blocking my way... glanced beyond him, and then cut inside towards the left, that is, the center.
Ta-tat-!
I entered as if drawing a line parallel to the box line.
Then, when I saw a sufficient angle...
Booooong-!
I put my weight on my left foot and wound it up and shot.
Aiming for the empty space on the left side of the goalpost, it was a curving shot to the outside...
The moment it connected, I could already predict it to some extent.
When I felt this kind of sensation at my toes, most of them were goals.
It suddenly occurred to me.
Isn't confidence something that comes from having experienced success?
Shwooooooong-
Thwack-!!
The ball, which seemed to fly out of the goalpost, curved and was sucked into the inside of the goal, and a huge roar erupted from the stands.
I wonder if the reason the spectators cheer so loudly every time a goal explodes is because there is no such goal in the world.
"Yaaaaaaaah!"
"What's with that trajectory! What are you trying to do by scoring two wonder goals in one game!"
This is why I can't help but feel greedy. If I had thought it was just passing time and left the field early with a substitution, I would have missed this experience forever.
"Damn it, Puma again!"
"Of course. The technology of the cutting-edge knit material provides ground grip..."
"I got it! I'll buy it, so stop it!"
What if I really become a greedy person because of this.
Hmm.
I don't know either.
If it's this kind of greed, wouldn't it be okay to indulge in it a little?
...
My body is tired, but my mood is fresher than usual.
We won the game, and everything was good.
Until Ji-woo came.
"Hey, oppa."
"..."
"You know what I did at school today, oppa."
"...Stop it."
"What? Oppa?"
"I was wrong, so please, just stop..."
"What do you mean, stop? Oppa."
Because of Ji-woo, who was grinning slyly, I tightly closed my eyes and let out a sigh.
I'm thinking that throwing that joke was probably one of the worst mistakes of my life.
Ji-woo has been adding "oppa" to the end of her sentences all evening.
Every time I hear the word "oppa," my whole body feels itchy, and even though I begged her to stop because I was wrong, Ji-woo wouldn't listen.
She even found it more amusing the more I suffered and tormented me.
...That's right.
If I suffer like this, it's only more fun for the person teasing me.
I need to be shameless instead.
Shamelessly...
"..."
"Why? Why, oppa?"
...No. I absolutely can't do it.
If I hear the word "oppa" one more time, I might end up being tormented for the rest of my life instead of just six months.
Then... I'll switch to an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth strategy.
"Stop it, noona."
"Huh?"
"You're not my oppa. Get a grip. Noona, noona, noona."
You should experience it for yourself.
How itchy your body feels when a friend calls you "oppa"...
"Hee hee hee."
...Huh?
Ji-woo is grinning from ear to ear.
It seems my attack didn't work at all.
No, it seems she even likes it more.
...This is a fight I can't win no matter what I do.
"Phew..."
"Alright, alright. I'll stop. It feels weird for me to keep saying oppa, oppa too."
"...Good thinking."
"I knew you'd say that. Didn't you want to hear me call you oppa? That's why I did it. What's the problem?"
"..."
Stop... Stop...
As I was about to tear my hair out, Ji-woo burst out laughing.
"Alright. I really won't do it. I'll let you off this once."
"...Thanks."
"If you act up one more time, I'll call you oppa for the rest of your life."
I already regret it a lot, so that won't happen. I'll make sure to never say the word "oppa" in front of Ji-woo again.
Hmm.
But something about what she just said feels strange.
For the rest of my life...?
"Ji-an."
While I was having useless thoughts, my dad, who came out of his room, called me.
When I looked at my dad, he gestured to me.
It seemed like he wanted me to come into his room for a moment.
I wondered what it was about and followed him in, and my dad's expression looked serious.
"Do you want to sit down for a moment?"
"Yes."
I wonder what he's about to say, setting the mood like this.
I couldn't help but feel tense, and my dad spoke.
"That... right. My son."
"...Yes?"
"I have something to tell you. I wanted to tell you a little later, but I can't put it off any longer."
Seeing my dad speaking so cautiously, I gulped.
What could he be saying to be so cautious?
For a moment, all sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
All kinds of ideas came to me.
Even the thought that my dad might have a girlfriend, which would be a relief.
I looked at my dad, feeling anxious, but since he couldn't seem to open his mouth easily, I asked first.
"Just say it comfortably."
"Uh... right. Well, it's nothing special. Right. It's nothing special. It's not something to be so hesitant about. Right..."
He said it wasn't something to be hesitant about, but he hesitated for a while longer, then let out a big sigh as if making a big decision, and only then did he continue.
"I received a contact saying they want to select you for the national team."
"...The national team?"
"Yeah."
My mind went blank for a moment at my dad's words.
That was one of the thoughts that had flashed by earlier.
The national team.
But I soon nodded.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"I see. That's huge..."
"...Huh?"
I was a little surprised, but compared to all the random thoughts I'd had, it was nothing.
But my dad looked at me as if I was strange.
"Are you okay?"
"...With what?"
"Uh... no, I mean. If you feel any burden or anything uncomfortable, even a little, you can tell me. It's not like you have to do something starting today."
My dad was still speaking cautiously, and I could understand what he meant.
The national team.
It's a position that sounds burdensome just hearing about it. It really is.
My dad must be worried about that.
But I'm different from before.
I'm ready and willing to take on any new experience.
And I didn't want to make my dad worry.
So I deliberately spoke more playfully.
"I'm fine. Wow, so your son could become a national team player. You must be proud."
"Uh... right."
My dad looked at me and gave a small laugh, and I also gave a small laugh.
My dad spoke.
"But, you know."
"Yes?"
"That... they said they want to recruit you."
"Yes."
"It's not just from Korea."
Huh? What do you mean.
As I tilted my head, my dad continued.
"They say Italy wants you too."
"...Excuse me?"
Huh.
Wait a minute.
...This is a bit embarrassing.
[New Experience -1] End