ASR 8

Chapter 8

After scoring, Yo-han immediately ran into the goal, grabbed the ball, and headed toward the halfway line. As he passed Jin-sol at that moment, he said,

“So, I won the bet for now, right?”

Kim Jin-sol looked at Yo-han.

He had nothing to say.

Yo-han had scored so easily. What else was there to say?

“Still, I liked your pass.”

“My pass?”

“Yeah, your pass. Honestly, wasn’t it thrilling for you too? Seeing the pass you threaded through turn into a goal instead of struggling to score one yourself?”

Was it?

Kim Jin-sol thought about it.

Not being able to score properly was stressful in its own way.

Why can’t I score?

All he had to do was lightly touch the ball with his foot, so why couldn’t he do something that simple?

He genuinely didn’t know.

But passing was different.

Every time he threaded the ball to a winger from the front line, he felt it.

Splitting the defensive line with a single pass and delivering the ball to a teammate was definitely thrilling.

And intercepting the opponent’s passes from further back was fun too.

“Am I actually a midfielder?”

No.

No, that wasn’t right.

Kim Jin-sol shook his head.

“A real man is a striker.”

The reason he insisted on being a striker was simple.

A center forward just looked masculine to him.

But now, that belief was beginning to waver.

“Hey! What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“Y-Yeah! I’m coming!”

At the sound of Yo-han’s voice, Kim Jin-sol hurried toward the halfway line, then suddenly stopped.

“Are you going to keep talking casually to me?”

“We’re the same age. Why would I use honorifics?”

“I’m still your senior. Maybe not your hyung, but you should at least treat me like a senior.”

That was the most flawless logic Kim Jin-sol could come up with.

But apparently, it didn’t work.

Once again, Yo-han looked at him with those clear, wide eyes.

“What if we just become friends if I get a hat trick?”

“A hat trick? With the time left? You think that’s possible?”

Kim Jin-sol checked the remaining time.

Eight minutes.

Even with injury time, this was only a practice match. After one more transition of play, the referee would probably end it.

At most, there were ten minutes left.

And Yo-han was saying he would score two more goals?

Ridiculous.

But the guy was looking at him with those absurdly clear eyes as if it were obviously possible.

Then he said,

“Chicken?”

“What the— Fine! Let’s do it. Get your hat trick, and I’ll be your friend. If you don’t, you call me Senior properly.”

“Of course.”

As their conversation dragged on, the referee warned them.

Yo-han and Jin-sol both bowed their heads apologetically before taking their positions.

The whistle blew, and the game resumed.

Kim Jin-sol diligently chased the ball.

Although they had conceded a goal, World Academy still held a two-goal lead, so they appeared relaxed.

“…Huh?”

No.

Looking more closely, that wasn’t entirely true.

The World Academy players might not care, but they were definitely conscious of Yo-han.

Well, with an impact like that, how could they not be?

Even Jin-sol had felt chills when he saw Yo-han burst forward with the ball.

And Yo-han knew how to take advantage of that.

If you watched carefully, Yo-han was herding the opponent with the ball toward one side, like a hunter driving a rabbit into a trap.

The other players might not have noticed, but Jin-sol, who had been diligently pressing from the front, could see it.

If he forces them that way, then the pass will go…

Here!

There was only one option.

Number 8, World Academy’s ace midfielder.

Kim Jin-sol moved out of Number 8’s line of sight and waited for his opportunity.

The instant the pass came, he exploded forward.

He cut across Number 8’s path and received the pass intended for him.

Then he immediately stabbed the ball forward.

There was no need to look around.

He had already checked Yo-han’s position.

Once again, Kim Jin-sol sent a direct pass to Yo-han without letting it touch anyone else.

The difference from before was that World Academy had prepared for him this time.

One defender stood in front of Yo-han.

Another was beside him.

Maybe I should’ve played it longer?

Jin-sol thought regretfully that the ball would be intercepted.

But Yo-han didn’t bother reacting to the dropping ball.

He knew that with his current physique, he couldn’t win a physical battle against the two players surrounding him.

Yo-han’s job was to steal the ball before anyone else when the player blocking him jumped to head it down.

His physique might be lacking.

But no one’s feet were faster than his.

Yo-han moved quickly and claimed the ball.

The moment he turned—

Two players were standing directly in front of him.

Two players blocking my path?

What would Jang Ik-deok have done?

[He would’ve charged straight through them like an idiot and forced his way past.]

The angel was right.

If Jang Ik-deok’s style had to be described in one word, it was a bulldozer.

He never stopped.

If someone blocked his path, he broke through.

That was Jang Ik-deok’s style.

But I didn’t have Jang Ik-deok’s physique right now.

Nor did I want to play that way.

More importantly, although I still wasn’t completely accustomed to playing football in this body—

My opponents were only middle schoolers.

There was no reason I couldn’t do what they could.

One defender stayed back while the other approached me.

The moment the latter stepped forward, I ran directly at him.

Dribbling skills were a form of deception.

Just as a magician deceives his audience to perform what appears to be magic, a player deceives an opposing defender with skill.

Both the magician’s audience and the opposing player are fooled by the trick and left astonished.

But there’s a difference.

The audience pays the magician.

The opposing player pays something far more painful.

He gives his opponent an opportunity.

The player in front of me fell for my La Croqueta, awkwardly losing his balance as he could only watch me go past.

But there was still one defender left.

That meant he still had one more chance to stop me.

The defender who had been covering from behind approached cautiously.

That was his mistake.

A magician must deceive his target.

But a footballer doesn’t have only one option.

As long as there was space, my incredible body possessed the talent to reach top speed in an instant.

I nudged the ball to the side and exploded forward.

The defender turned to chase me, but the distance opened up in an instant.

After beating two players—one with technique and the other with sheer acceleration—only one center-back and the goalkeeper remained in front of me.

I quickly scanned the center-back, the goalkeeper, and the goal.

Then I charged forward.

When I was only about a meter away from the center-back, I feinted as though I were about to beat him with another dribble, then pushed the ball sideways and followed it.

That put me in a position that no Korean youth player raised watching the country’s football G.O.A.T. could resist.

Heung-min Zone.

And I didn’t resist either.

Just as I had done during my test against Grandpa and Dad, I curled the ball with the outside of my right foot.

The ball left my foot and curved through the air.

The goalkeeper threw himself toward it, stretching his body and arms as far as he could.

But he couldn’t even get a fingertip to it.

Thwack!

The net rippled.

Iron FC had scored their second goal.

“WAAAAAH!”

With the children’s cheers behind me, I hurriedly retrieved the ball from the goal and headed toward the halfway line.

My teammates immediately rushed toward me.

“Hey, you’re good!”

“That was freaking awesome! I’ve never seen anyone curl a shot that well!”

“Me neither! Wow, so Coach didn’t bring you in for nothing after all!”

When Yo-han had first arrived, the other boys had even been wary of him after hearing that he was the coach’s grandson.

But after he scored two goals in such a short time, those feelings had completely disappeared.

“Come on, guys! We’re not stopping here, are we? Let’s tie it up and then take the lead!”

At Yo-han’s words, the boys gave a brief cheer and headed back to their positions.

“…The coach’s grandson is no joke, huh?”

“Wow, that curler… I think he’s better than me. Are we sure he’s never received proper football training?”

“Exactly.”

Choi Cheol-gyu had brought Yo-han in and put him on the field because his ball control was clearly extraordinary.

But honestly, even he hadn’t expected him to be this good.

“How is he like that?”

The coaches looked at him in amazement.

Choi Cheol-gyu recalled what Yo-han had told him after the test the other day.

“He said he learned by watching YouTube.”

“…What?”

“He said he watched it, copied it, and got it right on the first try.”

“No, wait… Is that supposed to be easy?”

“Copying something perfectly after seeing it once? If I could do that, I would’ve become Messi ages ago.”

“And I’d be at least Ronaldo.”

Choi Seong-hwan and Nam Ho-jin looked back toward the field.

The game had already resumed.

They were still behind, but somehow the momentum had completely shifted to Iron FC.

And at the center of it all was Yo-han.

A boy who could watch a YouTube video and effortlessly copy what he saw.

“He’s a genius.”

“He really is a genius.”

At his disciples’ words, Choi Cheol-gyu merely smiled.

It was an extremely satisfied smile.

Meanwhile, only five minutes remained.

They had scored two goals in just five minutes, but it was unclear whether they could find an equalizer.

On top of that, with the momentum shifting to Iron FC, the World Academy coach instructed his players to pass the ball around the back and run down the clock.

Seeing that, Choi Cheol-gyu shouted at his players.

“Press them! Push the line up and press!”

If they wanted to maintain the momentum and score an equalizer, they had no choice but to push their defensive line higher, press hard, and win the ball back.

Everyone except the goalkeeper crossed the halfway line and pressed World Academy.

Normally, World Academy would have calmly passed the ball around and killed time.

But Yo-han’s sudden appearance had made it impossible for them to play as they normally would.

They were intimidated by his overwhelming performance.

Now, as the side being chased, they were becoming desperate.

“Left! Left!”

From his position further back, Kim Jin-sol began making full use of his naturally wide field of vision.

The entire field seemed to open before his eyes.

He could see everything at once, and he began directing the entire team.

Following Jin-sol’s instructions, the Iron FC players forced the World Academy players toward the left.

Crowded to one side and forced to exchange passes in a narrow area, World Academy was at constant risk of losing possession.

So they recycled the ball all the way to the back before sending an early diagonal pass to switch the play.

It was a mistake.

Because it was exactly what Jin-sol had been waiting for.

All the players had been drawn toward the left side.

Meanwhile, Park Yu-chan had been waiting quietly on the right, looking for his chance.

Jin-sol had already predicted where the ball would go.

He confronted Park Yu-chan.

Park Yu-chan had completed a hat trick by converting all three of his chances.

But Jin-sol had realized something.

Park Yu-chan possessed finishing ability so pure that it was almost enviable.

In contrast, his basic technique was terrible.

Jin-sol charged at him.

They crossed paths.

And the ball ended up at Kim Jin-sol’s feet.

Jin-sol lifted his head and searched for Yo-han.

Yo-han was raising his hand.

The moment their eyes met, Yo-han pointed forward.

A through ball.

Jin-sol understood immediately.

Without hesitation, he passed the ball into the space Yo-han had indicated.

“Whoa…!”

A thrilling shiver ran from Jin-sol’s kicking foot through his entire body.

Even he thought it was an unbelievably good pass.

The ball curved slightly from the flank toward the center as it rolled across the grass.

It slipped perfectly past the players, split the center-backs, and headed exactly toward the space Yo-han wanted.

Yo-han ran toward it a step faster than the center-back.

He stretched out his long leg and gave the ball a light touch.

The ball slipped past the goalkeeper’s side and tore into the net.

“Holy shit…!”

If Jin-sol himself had taken that shot, he might have sent it flying into empty air.

But Yo-han had turned it into a perfect goal without the slightest hint of failure.

Jin-sol checked the clock.

One minute remained in the second half.

Yo-han had done it.

A hat trick.

The score was tied.

“This bastard’s insane.”

Did Coach secretly give him some kind of special training at home?

He was a monster.

A monster had joined the team.

Over the course of his playing career and two seasons in the Seoul Western League, Jin-sol had faced plenty of academy teams, school teams, and professional youth teams.

But he had never seen anyone like Yo-han.

“Come on, let’s take the lead! Let’s win this!”

Meanwhile, Yo-han suddenly offered a prayer, grabbed the ball, and told his teammates they were going to take the lead.

With those few words, the team’s morale shot through the roof.

The game resumed with Iron FC’s momentum now completely overwhelming.

With only about a minute remaining, everyone thought the match was essentially over.

But not Yo-han.

He burst forward before anyone else and chased the ball at full speed.

Terrified of Yo-han, the World Academy players panicked and desperately passed the ball backward.

But kids this age could easily lose their composure.

And when they did, mistakes came just as easily.

Ignoring an irregular patch of grass, one player sent a careless pass.