Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Blooming Lily - 2
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A few fans were crying.
Anyone looking on would find it strange.
It was just a league match that happened every week, and their opponent was just Atalanta, a team lingering in the mid-table.
It wasn't a dramatic last-minute winner, but an early goal that, in some ways, was just a routine opener.
And yet, they were breaking down in tears just watching it.
One might think they were all just a bit too obsessed.
But boys are naturally sentimental creatures.
The boy who works at a company, the boy with hair gone stark white, the boy with a hulking physique.
The boys wearing the masks of men could no longer hold back the swelling in their hearts and were shedding tears.
A single boy on the field had sent them all back to their boyhood days.
"Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee!"
"Leeeeeeee!!!"
"Forza-!! Viola─!!!"
The boy who had grown up in Fiorentina's youth academy after transferring from Juventus.
The boy who would appear like a comet when the team was struggling and scratch the itch for them.
The boy who had protected their uneasy and hollow hearts after the representative player of Florence had left.
The boy who soothed everyone's wounds while hiding his own.
That boy, after scoring a fantastic goal, tapped the Fiorentina emblem.
How could they not cheer? How could their eyes not well up?
They were getting older, their bodies were starting to break down, their faces aging.
Their shells were gradually becoming adults, but in truth, they were just pretending to be.
In their hearts, everyone is a boy.
Especially when they come to the stadium like this, cheering for their team with a pure heart, it's even more so.
"Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee!"
The roar of the fans chanting his name showed no signs of abating.
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"Hoo-..."
After scoring, sharing the joy with the crowd and my teammates...
I let out a hot sigh as I returned to our half and waited for the game to restart.
It was a joyous moment in many ways.
I liked that the fans who had been chanting my name had started singing Fiorentina's anthem, and I was glad to have scored an early goal to show that my physical condition was fine.
But I decided to put the enjoyment of that joy on hold for a moment.
Now, I had to go back over everything that had happened between the moment that stalker defender started spouting stupid nonsense and the moment I put the ball in the opponent's net.
It was a strange experience.
I was already in a sensitive state, but the moment that stalker made those dismissive comments about my seniors...
Something felt like it had snapped.
After that, my head started spinning, and at some point, the entire field began to feel like it was in the palm of my hand.
It was just as it sounded.
It was as if I were looking down on everything from above, like in a soccer game.
It's true that I'd felt this way in flashes before.
There were days when my condition was so good I felt like I had eyes on the sides of my head.
Meaning, I could guess who was where without having to turn my head.
But the experience I'd just had was a first.
It wasn't a feeling like I had eyes beside me...
It was a feeling like my eyes were floating high in the sky.
I could see everything, I could feel everything. That feeling of looking down on the field from the sky...
It was a thrill I was feeling for the very first time.
To be honest, it was far more thrilling than the moment I scored the goal.
It was like I had become a god who could control everything.
Anyway... it was a sensation that had come to me out of the blue.
And that sensation was still left in my body.
But I was anxious. Because I thought it might disappear at any moment.
That's why I had to leave even joy behind and cling to this sensation so it wouldn't vanish.
"Peeeeep-!"
The game restarted, and I jogged slowly, looking around.
It seemed he'd been scolded by the coach after conceding, and thankfully, the stalker had his mouth shut tight.
Thanks to that, I could focus on reviving that sensation from before in peace.
"..."
I stood in the center of the field and looked around widely.
I took in all the information on the field with my eyes.
The information I captured with my sight flowed through my eyes into my head, was converted into virtual data, and was rendered on the field in my mind.
Thankfully.
The sensation from before was still alive.
My vision was wide open.
Everything was in the palm of my hand.
I felt fantastic.
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'What should I do about this?'
Vincenzo, the coach watching the game, stroked his chin and thought.
He was lost in thought about what on earth he should do.
But if he had to categorize it, it was a happy dilemma.
It was because Lee Jee-an's performance, after a week's rest, was astonishingly brilliant.
The kid was still young.
Younger than the 'young' used in the first team. So young that his physical growth hadn't even finished yet.
Thanks to that, it was too much to ask him to play every single game, which is why he had to be rested last week.
If he had played that game, there was a risk of injury.
And now, after a week of rest, today...
Jee-an was assembling the game by himself.
Meaning, he was taking Atalanta, a team that had been a difficult opponent every time they met, and kneading them in the palm of his hand.
He was a player you absolutely had to guarantee proper rest and management for, but if you just put him on the field, he puts on such a delightful performance...
It was only natural that his desire and reason were at war.
"He feels... like he's reached a new level..."
A coach sitting next to him muttered, his mouth agape.
Vincenzo nodded in silent agreement.
Of course, Vincenzo knew Jee-an's talent better than anyone.
Jee-an was already a player who could decide a game on his own.
But now, he felt like he'd ascended to a whole new level.
What had changed?
"Here!"
Jee-an moved, calling for the ball.
The moment the pass came, Jee-an gave a one-touch pass to the side and started moving again.
"Again!"
And he called for the ball again.
Tock, tock.
With a few light movements and passes, he perfectly seized control of the midfield battle.
'...He's aggressive.'
Vincenzo managed to catch the difference between the Jee-an of past games and the Jee-an of today's game.
He had become much more aggressive.
Meaning, he was playing a more dominant role.
If he were to list Lee Jee-an's strengths, he could spend day and night doing it; Jee-an was a player with so many advantages.
Among them, the very first one would be his eye for the flow of the game and his sense.
Jee-an was a player who knew where he needed to be and what he needed to do.
In short, he was a player with very quick awareness, always playing to fit his teammates.
But not now.
Now, he wasn't fitting his teammates; he was making his teammates fit him.
He would direct them with his hands, and he would call out to position them.
Jee-an was constantly pressing the refresh and align buttons, and the players were moving in the right direction to match him.
Jee-an was wielding his influence, and that influence was leading the team in a better direction.
'If only it weren't for that face...'
Vincenzo looked at Jee-an once more.
If it weren't for that boyish face, he would have been convinced that he was lying about his age.
He wouldn't have been able to shake the suspicion that his birth certificate was a little, no, a lot, wrong.
Where in the world do you see a sixteen-year-old's play in that?
'Just what did Tony and I...'
Vincenzo swallowed hard.
What kind of monster had they awakened?
He couldn't grasp how far that monster would grow, and it sent shivers down his spine.
The lily was blooming beautifully.
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"Uh, I'm sorry..."
"Huh? What are you sorry for?"
"For what I said earlier... it was a bit much..."
"What are you talking about? Ah, wait. You mean when I told you to run?"
"Yes..."
At my apology, Saponara's eyes went wide.
During the first half, the word "Run!" had unconsciously burst from my mouth. At Saponara.
Of course, during a game, everyone is equal, and we speak casually, but... I still felt bad about speaking to a senior in a commanding tone, so I apologized.
But Saponara just burst out laughing.
"You've got a lot to apologize for. If you tell me to run, I run. Thanks to you, I even scored a goal. If I space out again in the future, please do. It's okay to swear. 'Run, you idiot!'"
"..."
He said it was okay to swear.
I had no intention of doing so, but him saying that made my guilt lessen, even just a little.
"Hoo-"
I still hadn't shaken off all the guilt, though.
I sat in my seat quietly and took some time for self-reflection.
What a rotten kid.
How could I... have such thoughts about such generous and grateful seniors?
To be honest...
Even if it was only for moments at a time, I often felt frustrated with my seniors.
Every time the picture unfolding in my head didn't align with the actual play.
The time I shouted "Run!" at Saponara was one such example.
In my eyes, there was clearly a path for a through pass, but for that to happen, Saponara needed to make an attacking run, but he didn't.
So I unconsciously shouted that, and thankfully, he listened to me.
And we even scored a goal with a good finish.
I was happier when he scored than when I did.
That's why I felt even more sorry.
To feel frustrated with seniors when I should be endlessly grateful to them.
What arrogant and ungrateful thoughts were these?
"..."
During the game, I felt like a god, but after the first half ended, I started to feel a little scared.
It goes without saying, but I am not a god.
So, I can't always come up with the right answer.
It's possible that what I see isn't the only right answer.
What if Saponara had listened to me, made the run, but my pass was cut off, leading to a counterattack?
We might have conceded an equalizer from that counter.
So I couldn't be so sure of myself.
Using my senses was one thing, but blindly believing in them could be dangerous.
"..."
I felt like I had a lot on my mind for various reasons.
How should I walk the tightrope?
While I was lost in thought, halftime melted away in the blink of an eye.
"Let's go, let's go!"
For now, there was only one conclusion I could draw immediately.
I needed to sharpen my senses as much as possible, so that what I saw could be the right answer.
I felt that was the most accurate path.
With my limited thinking, at least.
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I took to the field for the second half after my moment of reflection, but it seems that reflection was too short.
The moment my foot touched the grass again, the sensation from the first half awakened once more, and I was intoxicated by the game all over again.
It was a match where passing felt especially fun.
The path was so vividly clear that it was hard to hold back.
The moment I saw that path, I would spray a pass without regard to my position.
There were even times when I passed directly into the box from near the halfway line.
Not all of those passes led to chances or connected.
There were times when the pass didn't go where I wanted, or when a teammate missed the pass or made a bad touch.
Not everything went according to my calculations.
But it was okay.
Because what was more important was the fact that we were overwhelming the opponent.
"...Ah."
The moment I saw my jersey number on the electronic board announcing a substitution, I was suddenly startled.
It was partly because I couldn't believe so much time had passed, and partly because I felt a sense of regret.
I was disappointed that I couldn't run anymore.
Me.
"Good work!"
"Go sit and rest right away."
After high-fiving the coach, the coaches, and my teammates, I put on my outerwear and sat on the bench.
Only after completely relaxing my body did I realize how exhausted I was.
My body was tired.
But I hadn't realized it at all; perhaps it was because my heart wasn't tired.
"Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee!"
I could hear the voices of fans calling my name from the nearby stands.
I remembered the first time I came here.
I was scared back then, thinking about how I could possibly play in a place where the stadium and the stands were so close.
But now it's okay.
At some point, it was no longer scary to see the fans' faces up close.
I can't pinpoint exactly when that started.
It just happened naturally.
Thinking about it, I might have been growing little by little.
Even if I hadn't been aware of it.
"..."
Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to see Jiu.
I wanted to go home quickly and show off, posing for her again.
Somehow, I felt like even if I showed off today, the corner of my heart wouldn't be pricked with guilt.