I rejected the school bully's confession because of soccer. - Chapter 9

A cold voice cut across the field.

Diota pouted and grumbled, but he didn’t seem to have the courage to disobey his words.

Jorge Avila, the coach of La Masia Pre-Benjamin, shifted his gaze back to Kang Tan.

‘I want to see for myself how far Kang Tan can go.’

Jorge had been coaching youth at La Masia for quite a long time.

Here, he had seen countless talents.

And he had experienced many times when those talents were broken even before they could bloom.

La Masia’s philosophy was simple.

Letting them realize their own limits.

Understanding soccer in their own way, and the moment that understanding faces its limits!

Their role was to help them grow into players who could finally make a leap.

But it was rare, if not unheard of, to explicitly instruct not to pass.

That was an action likely to make them not just acknowledged but overly confident.

And if that happens, it could hinder proper growth.

Nevertheless, Jorge wanted to see.

Kang Tan.

His limits.

A pretty child who looked far from athletic just by appearance had entered here at the youngest age.

If he was just young, it wouldn’t have been that surprising.

However, he was already causing a stir both inside and outside the team with his talent.

Diota waved his hand demanding a pass, but Kang Tan paid no attention.

‘Alright, show me properly.’

As the opposing player rushed in to pressure, he didn’t even flinch.

It was as relaxed as if he was playing with children.

‘It’s amazing enough to play in a Pre-Benjamin game at that age… but that movement is really…’

Jorge’s eyes sharpened.

The following dribble was enough to make even Jorge admire.

Kang Tan’s movements had many unnecessary techniques meant to show off, but so what?

‘If it works, such showing off and showmanship are rather the qualities of a star that excite the audience more.’

The opposing team’s entire defense line had already started to waver.

His vision was also extraordinary.

Kang Tan created space for himself by sending the ball between the opposing defenders.

It felt like space was created wherever he moved.

Jorge unconsciously nodded.

‘He probably doesn’t even realize how excessive that ability is for his age.’

That’s when it happened.

One of the opposing defenders approached Kang Tan and attempted a rough physical challenge.

At the same time, Diota was unmarked.

If he just slipped in a pass, he would escape the pressure defense, and the team would create a one-on-one chance.

‘Now, what will you do?’

He was too curious to see if he would be greedy till the end even in front of a clear opportunity.

Diota was waiting for the pass with a face burning with impatience.

But Kang Tan didn’t pass.

Then a movement that seemed to lose balance.

“Damn monkey kid!”

Just as Diota shouted.

Kang Tan bypassed the defender.

A faint smile spread across Jorge’s face.

‘It wasn’t time to stop yet. Was the lost balance a fake? Amazing.’

He was even fooled because it was a child’s deception.

The surrounding coaching staff were already more excited than Jorge and murmured.

“Unbelievable, even I was fooled.”
“Yeah, you don’t expect someone that age to escape with such a feint.”
“At this rate, isn’t he going to cause trouble faster than that friend?”

But Jorge quietly raised his hand to calm them down.

“Be quiet. We won’t judge until that child faces his limits.”

Jorge watched the game without taking his eyes off, inwardly promising.

‘Kang. The moment you stop your selfish play will probably be when you realize your own limits. But before that time comes, I want to see how much further you can go.’

Hearing the coach’s instruction, I realized.

What I should do, how I should do it.

There was no need to worry about being underestimated now.

I’m only five years old.

I had forgotten that for a moment, absorbed in the thought that I needed to show well through the game.

‘For an educator, it’s quite understandable to want to stand out at my age. If they see potential, they’ll point out such things later.’

Then what should I do now?

It’s simple.

Proving myself.

“What would be the reason they brought me here.”

I muttered, rolling the ball with one foot.

It’s good to show a high understanding of team play, but now is not the time for that.

Clearly imprinting individual skills is the priority.

‘In the first place, I didn’t do any team play at all in the game where they first saw me.’

Also, apart from internal evaluation, it’s not time to pretend to be nice even for personal goals.

Being evaluated as selfish?

Winning or losing in this practice game now?

None of that was important right now.

‘I need to quickly find out my limits first.’

I don’t know yet how far the senses I brought from my previous life will work.

Everything might look plausible now as I’m dealing with much younger kids, but…

I couldn’t be satisfied with this.

I need to quickly identify the point where breakthrough becomes impossible with individual skills, and prepare.

Otherwise, like a flower blooming in winter, I’ll wither first when others welcome spring.

Did such thoughts press a button inside me?

As soon as the ball touched my feet again, I suddenly had a strange impulse.

‘Should I try something other than individual skills?’

It was just for fun.

Simple curiosity about whether this would work.

I kicked the ball up as if sending it to space.

The ball soared endlessly into the sky.

It was as I intended.

Diota was going crazy behind me.

“What nonsense is this! Coach! Are you going to leave him like this?!”

I could clearly hear his pent-up complaints exploding.

But Diota’s complaints weren’t important to me.

No, to be honest, I didn’t care.

‘Can’t he just be quiet?’

Kicking the ball high up is something I used to do whenever I got bored during solo training.

Of course, I didn’t train to do this.

Originally, it was practice to kick the ball high and catch it stably.

But at some point, it became fun.

It felt good to test my skills by kicking higher and higher.

And today.

‘If this works, it’ll be really amazing… No, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.’

Because I’m just doing it out of boredom.

I had already calculated where the ball would fall and ran to position myself.

The ball was still coming down towards me from the sky.

The defenders are rushing in too.

Everyone was looking at the sky as if they had become baseball outfielders instead of soccer players.

My heart pounded as the rapidly falling ball got closer.

Realizing the time had come, I launched my body as if doing a somersault.

And, in a split second, I stretched my leg.

Overhead kick.

The moment the ball touched the instep of my foot, I could tell by that crisp sensation alone.

‘This worked.’

It was a really absurd feeling.

And that absurd sensation became reality as the ball was sucked into the goal.

The sound of the goal net swaying tightly echoed in my ears.

A momentary thrill wrapped my whole body.

Belatedly, the faces of the coaches came to mind.

No matter how much age is a beast, it was obvious what they would be cursing inside by now.

‘Even I would get scolded for this nonsense.’

I snickered inwardly.

Getting scolded was a later matter, I decided to find meaning in trying this without hesitation.

But it was strange.

Diota’s voice, which had been cursing from behind, had disappeared.

Instead, the atmosphere of the field had subtly changed.

I looked up.

The coaching staff had jumped up from their seats.

They were literally flipped.

The coach was holding his head with his mouth wide open, and the other coaches were looking at me with their hands covering their mouths.

‘Uh… what’s this? This got bigger than I thought?’

After the game, the interior of La Masia was in literal chaos.

In fact, La Masia was a place that extremely disliked exposure to the outside.

Even if there was a child with outstanding talent, interviews were strictly limited.

Game footage also didn’t leak outside unless it was a special case.

It was because of their educational philosophy that worried children would become too proud and stop growing.

But this time was different.

Kang Tan’s one shot was enough to shake their beliefs.

Opinions were already being exchanged among the coaches.

“Shouldn’t we upload this even if it’s an internal game?”
“Coach, this is really unprecedented. Burying such a scene is a crime!”

The coach was silent, but just by his expression, you could tell he was inwardly shaken.

Meanwhile, Diota was glaring at Kang Tan with a face full of discontent.

“No matter how skilled, that was something that shouldn’t be done.”

Diota soon moved his steps towards the coach.

“Coach! All of Kang’s plays are ruining teamwork!”

Diota raised his voice.

Kang Tan watched him from afar and shook his head inwardly.

‘Here we go again.’

The coach listened quietly to Diota’s words and then calmly opened his mouth.

“Diota, in soccer, as long as you don’t break the rules, there’s no such thing as ‘something that shouldn’t be done’.”

Diota’s eyes narrowed in disbelief as he asked.

“Are you saying it’s okay to act selfishly without thinking about the team?”

The coach nodded.

“If that action was a judgment that harmed the team, you should take responsibility yourself. But if it leads the team to victory? That’s the right choice.”

Diota’s face turned red.

“If that’s the kind of team this is… I can’t stay here anymore.”

It was Kang Tan who was surprised by that statement.

‘There must be a contract, how can he just…?’

He soon came to a conclusion.

They won’t let him leave anyway, so he’s just expressing his anger.

It’s just a tantrum with words he doesn’t really mean.

On the other hand, the coach was neither surprised nor tried to stop him.

“If that’s your wish, then do so.”

Diota’s eyes widened as he stepped back.

“Wh-what did you say?”

As if he had nothing more to say to Diota, the coach turned his gaze to Kang Tan.

“Kang. From now on, you don’t have to study.”