Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 169



Only Krnovel

Episode 169 A wider stage

On the way out after taking extra lessons.

The sidewalks around the school are paved with old stone blocks. The old streetlights on the side of the road look more insignificant than fragrant during the day. Even though it is summer, a gentle breeze blows, cooling the heated air.

Far away, in the middle of the street, there was a cafe. There were three or four tables and five or six chairs. It was lunchtime, and there were two tables occupied by adult men and women.

And we are walking in step towards it as if we had made a promise.

Ah, how romantic.

Of course, if you look closely, it is quite different from what it appears on the outside.

“… …Why am I being dragged along?”

To Sophie Hertz’s question, I give a reasonable answer.

“I told you, I was bored.”

“Don’t you have training in the afternoon?”

“Yes. But there is some free time in between.”

“… … .”

If you want to be a little more romantic, you should also turn your head to the left and describe what you see.

The model girl had a sullen expression on her face, her black hair hanging down to one side. The sunlight was hanging over her head, but it couldn’t hide her bright eyes, and her mouth was protruding, but not as much as her statuesque nose.

At that very moment, a sweet song was flowing out from the cafe –

“You, you… … Seriously, stop it!”

“Huh? What?”

“What about that sweet singing voice… … You’ve been mumbling strange things to yourself since a while ago!”

“Did you hear that?”

“Can’t you hear me? How can you not hear me when I speak so openly?”

As I stared intently at the other person’s face, I saw his cheeks glowing orange like dried persimmons.

Are you embarrassed?

But it’s something that catches people’s attention, just the fact that the two of us are walking together makes us seem pushed far away-

“Ha, don’t do that!”

“Hmm… … Don’t you like this kind of thing?”

“Not at all. Absolutely. No.”

“What am I saying? I thought you liked coming to the library all vacation. I used my literary talents for you without holding back, so what if you really don’t like it?”

“… … That’s because of my club activities. Everything is fine, so please don’t do that.”

I didn’t know Sophie Hertz was so expressive.

The expression on my face that seems to be filled with disgust shows that I, as a person, have an extraordinary literary talent.

But anyway, we enter Café 333 looking quite familiar.

“Come in.”

“hi.”

“You came again today.”

“Because the juice is delicious.”

“Is that all?”

“… … Then what else is there?”

“I think the two of you go well together.”

“under-”

The shop owner and the mother of my school classmate makes me burst out laughing with her surprising words. I’ve been seeing her often lately, but I can’t believe we get along so well.

Sophie Hertz was just serious about her book club activities even during the holidays, and I just had to take extra lessons. How can you describe dragging yourself out at lunchtime as ‘fitting in’?

It would have been better to praise my leadership (or stubbornness).

“What kind of juice?”

“Like yesterday.”

“Okay, it’s 8.30 euros.”

“Wait a minute, today I-”

Then suddenly, a scuffle breaks out in front of the checkout counter.

Even if it’s the price of two glasses of juice, it’s 8.30 euros. If you leave it alone, the payment will be taken care of, but Sophie Hertz never lets it go even once.

This is modeling work.

“But I earn more.”

“……what?”

It’s true.

I went to Korea and did some dancing and the amount of shame I felt was stamped on my bank account. I think this is probably what it means to be the most responsible person.

“That aside, you paid it yesterday and the day before. Today, I-”

“I told you, it’s done.”

“no-”

Unfortunately, the other person doesn’t agree easily, so we have a small argument… … and soon our hands touch and we stop talking at the same time.

A bizarre atmosphere.

The laughter belongs to the lady standing beyond the counter.

And after a while, as we sat down at an indoor table, an awkward atmosphere inevitably lingered. It was obvious what would happen next.

“… … I watched the game last week. They won.”

“Well, that’s because the opponent couldn’t do it.”

soccer.

It was already the end of August, and with the transfer market drawing to a close, Cologne had just finished its fourth round match against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

“It looks like we’re not doing well because Cologne is doing well. We won against Frankfurt and this time too, so we’re on a winning streak, right?”

“If we had just won against Leipzig, it would have been three wins in a row.”

“Because Leipzig is a strong team. And they didn’t even lose.”

That’s right.

The first round match against Schalke ended in a 3:0 win.

The 2nd round away match against Leipzig ended in a 2:2 draw.

The 3rd round away match against Frankfurt ended in a difficult 1:2 victory.

Round 4… …really, really, a narrow 1:0 win.

“And last week you scored the winning goal against Stuttgart. My grandfather was very happy. He said you’ve been doing very well this season. I heard you’ve completely changed your position to the center.”

“It’s not like I’ve completely changed it… … I’m just playing around there for now.”

“Yeah. Anyway, you already have 2 goals and 2 assists. I heard that your team is in 2nd place. Everyone is praising you a lot.”

The virtue of humility is never easy to practice.

“Hmm, hmm… … It’s a reasonable compliment. Even if those who don’t know anything try to belittle it, isn’t it the end result that’s important?”

“Who is cutting it down?”

“Yes. Some reporters like Stern Faber say it’s beginner’s luck. The quality of the squad has declined, so the early results won’t last long.”

“Well… … I guess that would be motivating. Wouldn’t it be fun to prove that that isn’t true?”

“… … Is that so?”

“That’s true. In some ways, it might even be a good thing. It gives us a chance to shatter our pessimistic expectations.”

Oh my gosh, how can you be so positive?

It’s all in the past, but if it were my ex-girlfriend Claudia, I would have cursed at her too, but Sophie Hertz and I were very different.

“I don’t know about anything else, but it could be motivational. Jonas also said he would retire at the end of this season.”

“… … Are you talking about Jonas Hector?”

“Of course. If you had a conscience, you would know that it wasn’t Jonas Dr.”

Since the name of the otaku at Kimnasium and the team captain were the same, I unknowingly blurted out a comment. But the girl sitting across the table from me just drank her juice and didn’t say anything.

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“… …I thought my grandfather would be sad.”

“It’s a bit new.”

Even though I said that, I’m not sure either. Breakups are natural, but there are only a few cases where it doesn’t matter.

So what about me?

What if I leave?

As expected, I’m not sure.

* * *

That evening.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Have a nice time.”

Seongha Neul reaches the outskirts of Cologne, opens the car door and gets out.

A cool breeze blows through the streets that were once sweltering with heat, and the stone buildings that are modern yet have a touch of the past are lined with antique shops, small bakeries, and restaurants.

Groan, groan.

There were quite a few people out for dinner, and the sound of bicycle bells and car engines were mingling, making for quite a commotion. As I arrived at the meeting place and pulled the doorknob, greetings quickly poured in.

“Hey, you’re late!”

“I told you I had a meeting.”

“Is it confirmed? Are you going to just throw us away like this and leave so cruelly?”

Mark Ut’s playful remarks had a bone to them.

It was just after the end of the 4th round of the Bundesliga, and there were less than three days left until the summer transfer market. The big EPL clubs were trying to somehow wrap up their recruitment, and the boy had just met with the Chelsea decision maker.

“Not yet.”

“What if it’s ‘yet’?”

“How much is the weekly salary, what is the family doing, how are they preparing for team rebuilding, etc… There’s a lot of talk about this and that, but the agent said there’s no rush. There’s also the World Cup in the winter, so he told me to just listen to what’s urgent.”

“Ut, you really-”

“… … No, I didn’t expect you to tell me everything.”

While the existing members, including Remperle and Jan Tillman, are busy giggling at the thought of Skiri’s beating, the new players who joined this season, including Dietz and Linton Maina, are unable to join in and are instead looking on in awe.

Is it really that easy to bring up the topic of transfer?

“What else can’t I do? According to the agent’s explanation, the only thing left is for the ransom to go up, so all I have to do is wait while eating a snack.”

“That’s not wrong. Holland went to Manchester City, Lewandowski went to Barcelona, ​​there aren’t many strikers left. The agent is smart.”

They are familiar people in a familiar store. However, this time, Ut doesn’t dig any further.

There was a separate reason for calling the players together.

“Oh, it’s about to start!”

The large screen shows the symbol of the European Champions League. In fact, today is the day of the group stage draw. The logos of each team and the flags of their respective countries are shown alternately on the screen.

“At times like this, I need a beer.”

“Yeah. The Champions League.”

“No matter which team is in our group, let’s not go to Europa League even if we get eliminated in fourth place.”

“I just heard something really horrible.”

“I’m saying we should definitely advance to the round of 16.”

Then, as the draw begins, the room becomes filled with tension and excitement. It feels like a game is being held.

“Which one is best?”

“Frankfurt and Porto, after all.”

“Frankfurt also won the Europa League last season.”

“Because we’ve faced them many times. We beat them in the third round not long ago. They’re much better than teams like Real, City, and Paris.”

“That’s true.”

“Wow, crazy! It’s Munich and Barcelona.”

“Isn’t this the Lewandowski Derby?”

Ports 1 through 4.

The clubs, divided into stages, find their places one by one, and cheers and applause erupt as Munich and Barcelona face each other in Group C and Paris and Juventus face each other in Group H.

But what mattered most to them was which group FC Köln would be placed in in Pot 3 and which team they would face in Pot 4.

“Hey kid, what do you like about yourself?”

“Group G.”

“Group G? You like Man City? Arthur. That place is already taken by a guy named Holland.”

“Who said they wanted to transfer? If we’re going to the group stage, it would be good to play against a strong team. It would also prepare us for when we meet again in the tournament stage.”

“If anyone heard about it, they would think we’d still be there until the finals. Even if we make it to the round of 16, the match schedule is next year at the earliest.”

“… … It might remain.”

For a moment, it felt like he was giving room for a mischievous prank. Suddenly, Uth met Jonas’ eyes and gave him a not-so-bright smile.

What moves the players’ hearts?

The weekly salary, the level of team members, the non-football environment and other conditions all have an impact, but sometimes it is triggered by essential factors.

A wider stage.

A different way of playing football.

Countless strong teams.

It was only when I got out of the well that I was able to make a decision.

“We’re here. It’s us.”

“we are…….”

“Group B! Yay~!!”

And Sung Ha Neul’s first experience will be in Group B of the European Champions League. Group B includes Porto, Atletico Madrid, and Club Brugge.

Less than two weeks later, he was headed to Belgium for an expedition to Club Brugge.