<007. Welcome to the Buffet>
Before exploring the restaurant, Ho Yung attended the club signing ceremony.
They were to take a picture of him holding the uniform and interview him, which made him wonder if this really was a Soccer Academy.
'I guess little things like this would boost the academy's reputation.'
If Ho Yung does succeed as a soccer player one day, this one photo would be a valuable marketing strategy. After the photo shoot, he followed the S-class coach Sang Un Lee into the practise pitch.
At the same time, Hi Sun Kim watched the lesson in the spectator's room with her second son.
"Ho Il, look at your brother. He plays really well, right?"
"Hehe."
"Oh my~ look how pretty your child is! Hello. You must be new here?"
A woman in her 30s who was sitting elegantly at the other side of the spectator room suddenly emerged.
"H-hello. This is my first time here."
"Haha. Run Shoot, right?"
"Ah, yes."
Run Shoot.
Between the mothers who had children aspiring to be soccer stars, the rumours were already out.
"Oh my. But you look like a maiden, not a mother. Hehe, someone might have a misunderstanding when they look at you. You don't mind me speaking comfortably, do you? I was born on the year of the snake, you see."
"Yeah, well. Go ahead."
"Haha. You look a lot prettier in person. But it looks like your child has learnt soccer before?"
"No. The most he's done before is kick a ball when he was younger."
"Oh come on. Don't keep your secrets to yourself."
"It's true…. He's only kicked a ball with his father before, no training."
"What does his father do? Is he a soccer player?"
"No. He works for a semiconductor company."
In an instant, the woman lifted her branded bag onto her knees and raised her chin.
"Ah, is he the CEO?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Just a deputy."
"Ah... Is that so. Then I wonder if you can manage the tuition fees?"
She spoke patronisingly.
Having a good temper, Hi Sun Kim let it pass with a lazy smile. This was because she didn't want to start trouble for no reason. Anywhere you go, there was bound to be people like this.
So she only said one sentence.
"My child is a gifted student."
"Gifted student? What's that?"
"A scholarship. So he goes for free."
"Why? Why is just your child in for a scholarship?"
"Because my son can play soccer very well. I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Ah…"
A rich husband?
It was something to show off about.
But in the long run, raising your child well was the most important thing.
The outside pitch was covered with fresh grass. Ho Yung was the one who stood out here, too.
'That kid. He's gotten better again.'
This was the judgement of Sang Un Lee, who had not seen Ho Yung play in 10 days. They say that children learn fast, but Ho Yung was a serious case.
It was rather worrying.
'Usually if you grow quickly, your development shuts down sooner.'
There were some kids like that here and there. There were situations where the kids when they are young are nothing short of Maradona, but when they enter teams as adults, they couldn't compete.
It was the result of the imbalance between the actual experience, formation of the theory, techniques and physical growth. They need to come together in harmony and if they can't, an early development can become poison.
Those symptoms weren't present in Ho Yung, but Sang Un was worrying from the bottom of his heart. It would be such a shame to lose such a precious talent if that was the case.
Since the S-class consisted of first-class coaches, the students could receive top-level lessons.
Ho Yung had learnt valuable skills on the first day even though there were 9 more foundation lessons left. Ball control, dribble, and pass were the basics.
Starting from the stretching that was needed before the beginning of matches to minimise the probability of injury, he learnt about position selection and the basics of movement.
He also learnt things such as the fact that when engaged in a physical fight for the ball, rather than using the entire body, you must put your balance into your shoulders, and how to gain possession of the ball when being challenged for it.
There were lots of basics that Ho Yung didn't know about.
"Ho Yung! If you've passed the ball, you need to start running!"
"To where?"
"We first need to implant the habit of moving somewhere even if you don't know where to move. That way, we can plant a brilliant off the ball movement into you."
Off the ball movement.
It was the movement and positioning of the player when they didn't have the ball. To put it simply, it was the movement skill that tested how well you can smell the goals.
"I saw that you put striker as your preferred position on your registration form."
"Yes, that's right. Scoring goals is the most fun part of soccer."
"Then we need to put focus onto your movement. Wherever you go, you need to have a reason why you are moving there, and through that, you need to gain a profit."
"So, you need to reduce any unnecessary movement. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Mmm… Yes."
"If you can't fully understand it, copying a professional player's movement is a good way to go."
"Yep."
It would've been hard for an elementary schooler to understand, but Ho Yung nodded.
'I had a lot of questions about positioning, so this is good.'
In the old days when he didn't know anything, he thought that the on the ball skill was all you needed in soccer. A gorgeous dribble and spectacular shooting! It was pleasing to the eye and was entertaining to watch, so he thought that the on the ball skill was all there was to soccer skills.
But, as he began to learn more about soccer, he realised the importance of the off the ball skills.
That's why some coaches say that position selection and movement make up a team's tactics.
It was certain that this lesson would become Ho Yung's flesh and bones.
Because -
'A lesson is a lesson, but the skill is overflowing!'
Briefly setting the lesson aside, Ho Yung began to seek after the skills of the children his age.
Perhaps it was because the class only consisted of elementary schoolers, but there were no high-class skills. However, the selection was still a catch.
'Let's start by taking that one.'
And as class 1 was about to end.
[Choose the skill you desire.]
A fancy curving free kick (C-)
It was a skill with the criteria of 'Win 3 in 5 free kick battles'.
'If I develop this, will I rise to a non-spinning free kick?'
It seemed like that was the case, but there were no certainties.
'I need to shut up and find some useful skills.'
Ho Yung searched for other skills and widened his radius of activity.
'Hmm. Looks like the class is also below my expectations.'
He wanted to go to the kids in the U-13 class who were to be in the Youth competition, but since they were an independent class, it wasn't somewhere that he could go at will.
When he tried to get some of the coaches' skills, he found that they were either useless or had too challenging conditions compared to the value of the skill.
'The coaches are focused more on the teaching skill rather than soccer skills. A player that's active in the league would have the best skills.'
But meeting an active player was no easy job.
Even if they do coincidentally meet, the conditions have to be perfect in order for him to get the skill.
'Let's just get the kids' skills for now.'
He was about to head towards a child with the skill of 'an outfielder's side tackle (C+).'
"And director Cha is at his house in Suwon?"
"Yes. My father has been meeting frequently with Suwon officials lately."
Ho Yung's eyes widened at the voice coming from the inside bench.
"Woah!"
'No, why was this person…?'
He had his hat pulled down, but just by looking at his eyes, it was certain that it was "that person".
Chaicon, runaway train, Du-riceratops, Chairon man, Chaduri risk and Chadroid.
The soccer player with the nickname of Chaminator. The eldest son of the greatest striker in Asian history, Bum Gon Cha, who had 2 sons and 1 daughter.
'Why is Du Rim Cha here…?"
Du Rim Cha!
Since the man who had shown an extremely good performance in the KoreJapan world cup was here, he was undoubtedly surprised.
And more surprising than that…
'He's more handsome than I thought…'
It made him look back at the past when he didn't know anything and remembered him calling Cha Du-ri a baldy.
"But what do I do?"
This was a joke of a coincidence.
At the possibility of meeting him, the excited Ho Yung stood in place.
As he naturally lowered his breaths to a whisper, he could hear their conversation.
"So you're going out of the country on the 26th next month? To Leverkusen?"
"Haha, yes."
Clap!
Ho Yung clapped his hands and nodded.
"Oh! I know!"
He finally remembered.
Du Rim Cha.
He remembered that Du Rim had gotten scouted by Leverkusen to play soccer professionally, which was the club that Du Rim's father had played for. And that moment was the following winter transfer season.
Ho Yung was now at a fork in the road, where he could make a choice.
He couldn't just go up to a stranger like Cha Du-ri and gain his skills, but it was an opportunity that he didn't want to miss.
'I don't even know if I'm going to see him again. Let's just see where it goes.'
This was an opportunity presented by the heavens.
First, he wanted to check Du Rim Cha's skills and the criteria that came with them.
[Du Rim Cha]
Skills Possessed
The Chaminator's kick and run (U)
Legs quicker than a pass ()
A strong body (B+)
You may choose from one of the skills as long as the criteria is met.
(Criteria 1: Play more than 500 minutes of soccer together.)
(Criteria 2: Do leg exercises for more than 500 minutes together.)
'U? What's U?'
It was just a feeling, but he thought that it stood for Unique.
'If Chaminator is in front of the skill's name, it probably means that it's Du Rim Cha's unique skill.'
That meant one thing.
'I need to get it!'
But, the criteria was more tricky to pull off than the actions being difficult.
'Is it telling me to do leg exercises because his legs are fast? Let's just see how it goes.'
Ho Yung headed to the pharmacy in the establishment.
"So I just need to give you the document for the Youth competition?"
"Yes. My father wanted me to do it on the way home after meeting the teacher."
"You're putting in a lot of effort. But, you look very tired. Are you busy lately?"
"Well… I'm not busy, just tired."
On the bench, the conversation between Sang Un and Du Rim was plentiful. It looked like Cha Du-ri was tired, as he had dark circles under his eyes.
"You should get a massage or something. Getting some rest and letting your body relax is a good idea before you go out of the country."
"Yeah. But this is chronic fatigue, after all… I don't know if it's because there's a big event soon, but my mind feels foggy."
But at that moment,
"Hello!"
"Mmm?"
"Oh, Ho Yung. What are you doing here?"
"I have something to give to Du Rim!"
"Me? You know who I am?"
Du Rim was proud to know that Ho Yung could recognise him instantly even with the hat pressed down. It looked like Ho Yung had made a good first impression.
And with that momentum, Ho Yung reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass bottle.
"Have this."
"Mmm? Isn't this an energy drink?"
He had bought it from the pharmacy.
"I didn't have enough money to buy the high-brand ones, but this isn't bad either. It's the best for being tired!"
"What? Hahaha!"
Du Rim burst out into laughter.
That was enough of an answer.
'Alright. I've left a strong impression.'
In the midst of the laughter, Sang Un spoke out while laughing.
"Hahaha! You really make me laugh, kid. Du Rim, remember this kid. He's the next in the Cha generation, the star of tomorrow, the kid that will carry South Korea to victory in the future."
"Really? Is he that good?"
"You'll be surprised when you see him play."
"Ooh, he's that good? If he's enough for you to say that, he really must be extraordinary. Hey, do you want to go for a kick with me?"
"What?"
What luck is this?
Ho Yung instantly replied.
"Yes!"
The effect of the energy drink was incredible!