Field Commander - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 24.

Chapter 24.

Chapter 24.

“But are you really transferring?”

I was lying in bed before tomorrow’s final match.

Then Park Sang-il, who was lying next to me sleeping, suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t feel real.”

When I turned my head to the side, Park Sang-il was awake, staring at the ceiling.

“Wow, so transfers from K3 League to Germany are possible. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

According to Jung Seung-jin, I was the first Korean to transfer from K3 League to Bundesliga.

It was that unprecedented.

“I’m going to the German 4th division.”

“Isn’t that ridiculous though? A guy like you in the 4th division?”

“A guy like me?”

Park Sang-il chuckled while lying there.

“I was too embarrassed to say this before…”

What’s he trying to say?

“You know, you’re really good… Sometimes I think I’m so lucky to be on the same team as you. I honestly don’t have confidence I could score even one goal against you.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“Will our team do well after you leave?”

“Without me… it won’t be overwhelming, but it’s not a team that’ll lose easily either.”

“Is that bragging?”

“I’m just being objective. Now it wouldn’t be strange to say the championship and promotion depend on you.”

“That much?”

“You’re this team’s key striker and the league’s top scorer.”

“You know that’s all because of you, right? Half my goals came from your assists.”

“I passed to you because your movement was good.”

“Suddenly being modest now.”

We just chuckled.

“Lee Soon-deok was really sad when he heard about you leaving.”

“Because there’s going to be a problem with the victory bonus.”

Park Sang-il chuckled again, and I laughed too thinking about Lee Soon-deok always complaining about his joints.

The guy who complains about his joints runs the most distance on the team.

“Do you think I can make it to K League 1 after my military service?”

He asked really seriously.

“Of course. You can make it.”

“Really?”

“If you lose some weight and improve your agility.”

“Lose weight? Don’t you know this is my weapon right now?”

“If you’re surrounded by Europeans, you’ll be average anyway.”

“…Europe?”

“You should aim for the National Team too.”

I heard him gulp next to me.

“What’s gotten into the guy who always disrespectfully criticized his senior teammate? This is sudden.”

“Because you’re leaving.”

“Ah, shit…”

“But seriously, if you lose weight, improve agility, and build up your core, the National Team isn’t that hard. As Jang Jin-woo’s replacement.”

“Can’t I surpass that guy?”

“Nope.”

“Ah, you bastard. But is he good?”

Park Sang-il never had a chance to go to nationals because our team always beat them in regionals.

He probably never even met Jang Jin-woo.

“He’s even more of a bastard than me, but he’s definitely good.”

“More of a bastard than you?”

I remembered what that guy did when he came to the convenience store.

“He’s a complete bastard that can’t even be compared to me.”

“So his personality is complete trash?”

Why does this feel like an indirect insult?

Was my personality really that bad?

When I turned to glare at him, he looked back at the ceiling.

“Can I really make the National Team if I lose weight and improve agility and core?”

“Getting selected or not is the manager’s decision, but if I ever become a key player for the National Team, I might be able to recommend one player I work well with.”

“…Really?”

“If you’ve grown enough to match my rhythm.”

“That sounds really hopeful. Should I aim for the National Team?”

“If you’re a professional soccer player, your goal should obviously be the National Team.”

“Hey, you bastard. You can think like that because you’re you. Who else plays soccer with that mindset?”

“Is that so?”

A moment of silence passed.

“But it’s going to feel really strange when you’re gone in a few days.”

“Isn’t it strange to feel weird just because one smelly, sweaty guy is gone?”

“Ugh, you psychopath bastard.”

The guy who looks more like a gorilla than me is actually pretty sensitive.

“Just go to sleep.”

Park Sang-il buried his head in the pillow, and I closed my eyes too.

I needed to sleep now to manage my condition.

Until I lead Korea to victory, all my schedules have to revolve around soccer.

‘Jang Jin-woo, that bastard…’

And one more goal.

‘Keep waiting with your neck stretched out.’

* * *

– Snore… Kuuuuuul…

Ugh, that bastard.

I want to twist his nose right off.

Thinking this was my last match in Korea, I couldn’t fall asleep easily either.

I somehow managed to fall asleep, but Park Sang-il’s snoring woke me up too early.

Looking at the clock, it was 4 AM.

Just lying there would probably burst my eardrums, so I got up and changed into athletic wear.

I jogged lightly to the stadium.

A light sweat broke out on my body, and the warmth made me feel good.

“You came out a whole hour early today?”

“Yes, am I being a bother?”

I had become friends with the security guard who watched over the stadium entrance long ago.

“Haha. Not at all. Are you planning to do some light exercise?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll open the door for you.”

Thanks to the security guard’s consideration, I entered the stadium.

Water had been sprinkled on the natural grass for today’s match, making it feel somewhat cool.

I lightly warmed up while stepping on the grass.

‘Today really is the last day.’

I briefly knelt down and smelled the grass and earth.

The scent of grass and a slight fishy smell tickled my nose.

It was a nostalgic smell.

Every stadium has a different scent, and I hadn’t been able to smell this one during the recent 4 matches since we were traveling for away games.

“Length 102 meters, width 66 meters, goal post distance 7.32 meters wide, 2.44 meters tall, penalty area 16.5 meters from the goal line, goal area 5.5 meters, center circle radius 9.15 meters, corner arc radius 1 meter.”

Drawing the soccer field precisely in my mind was a very important task.

Playing soccer inside the stadium versus watching soccer from outside the stadium or from those stands involves completely different perspectives.

Without a sense of distance, it’s hard to make proper passes in soccer.

Naturally, players’ passes had to be more precise at their familiar home stadium.

I didn’t have a ball, but I simulated kicking goals.

Whether the ball hit by my foot would land at the desired spot…

Who would be running there…

I ran simulation after simulation while stepping on the stadium grass.

Today was the match against Gimhae FC.

This team had adopted quite aggressive tactics after changing managers.

A team that applied strong pressure from the front to increase ball possession.

So they scored quite a lot of goals.

As a trade-off, their high line made them vulnerable to fast strikers, so they also conceded many goals.

From the fans’ perspective, they were a team that played very fast-paced and entertaining soccer.

And they were a team settled in 4th place in the league.

We needed to defeat them here to create a stepping stone for Cheongju FC’s promotion.

‘When I get the ball, very fast pressure will come from all directions, right?’

I had watched countless videos of midfielders and defenders from other teams facing them, panicking and failing to handle the ball properly, leading to dangerous situations.

While simulating such situations, I moved my feet this way and that.

‘This feels good?’

My body moved as I thought it would, and I gradually became excited and started to focus.

And I had that feeling.

Today somehow felt like it would be the best day among all the K3 matches?

* * *

The practice match between Leverkusen and Schalke 04 was heading into the final moments of the second half.

Both were prestigious teams that had long remained in the Bundesliga and were aiming for European competitions.

The score was 2:2.

The match content was so tight that you couldn’t say who was ahead.

However, Leverkusen, who used speed and organization as weapons, saw their players’ stamina drain and concentration drop as they headed into the final moments of the second half.

Compared to Leverkusen, Schalke 04, who used strong physicality and height as weapons, blocked Leverkusen’s ruthless attacks while meticulously targeting set pieces.

And with 2 minutes left in the second half, Schalke 04 earned a corner kick, and their star striker Jang Jin-woo’s header goal exploded.

His figure roaring at the opposing formation while grabbing the corner flag was captured in the reporters’ cameras.

Last season, Dortmund’s star striker Robert Lewandowski became the top scorer with 33 goals, while Jang Jin-woo ranked 2nd in scoring with 30 goals.

Considering that Jang Jin-woo played 4 fewer matches than Robert, perhaps Jang Jin-woo might have become the top scorer – that was the Korean soccer fans’ perspective.

And this year, Jang Jin-woo had started his challenge for the top scorer title by scoring 2 goals from the first match.

After happily finishing his interview and getting in the car, he wore quite a happy expression.

“You did well.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

“If you keep this up, you can go to a more prestigious club.”

“Yeah. But right now I want to focus on this place.”

“As expected.”

Lee Min-seong, who was both his agent and manager, quietly spoke while driving.

“I heard some interesting news. Should I tell you, or do you want to rest?”

Jang Jin-woo, sitting in the plush back seat, answered.

“I can’t sleep because of the excitement. What’s the interesting news?”

“It’s news that a player is transferring from Korea to the Bundesliga. Still unofficial though.”

“Oh? Who?”

Jang Jin-woo immediately sat up and showed interest.

Just the Korean national team alone had plenty of players worthy of coming.

Lee Min-seong paused for a moment.

“Who is it? Tell me quickly.”

“You won’t be surprised, will you?”

“What would surprise me?”

“Kim Sang-hyuk.”

“What?”

Jang Jin-woo seemed genuinely shocked as he sat up and lightly bumped his head on the ceiling.

“Kim Sang-hyuk.”

“What?”

Jang Jin-woo wore an expression of complete disbelief.

“He’s coming to SC Freiburg.”

“You’re not joking, right?”

“Why would I joke about something like this?”

“That bastard… how is he playing soccer?”

“What does that matter? What’s important is that he recovered from his injury and is playing soccer again.”

Jang Jin-woo’s drowsiness from fatigue completely disappeared.

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

Jang Jin-woo slumped down.

Then he stared out the window for a long time, and Lee Min-seong also focused only on driving.

‘That damn championship cup?’

Jang Jin-woo clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth.

‘It was the last match. It was the last match. For my father.’

During high school, Jang Jin-woo couldn’t help but hate Kim Sang-hyuk.

Because of Kim Sang-hyuk, he ultimately couldn’t present the trophy to his father.

The ‘damn trophy’ that Kim Sang-hyuk mentioned was not only Jang Jin-woo’s dream but also his father’s.

‘Damn it. Still, I never had any intention of breaking his leg.’

Actually, Jang Jin-woo had a burden on his mind regarding Kim Sang-hyuk.

When he made that tackle, Jang Jin-woo’s mind was filled with nothing but the thought that he absolutely had to lift that championship cup.

Although he was in a rival relationship with Kim Sang-hyuk, he had no personal grudge.

When he first heard news about Kim Sang-hyuk, he couldn’t sleep well because it felt like he had ruined someone’s life.

He felt so sorry that he couldn’t even face him.

Before going to Germany, he barely mustered the courage to visit him…

‘That damn championship cup?’

Unable to contain himself at those words, his fiery temper exploded.

‘I ended up sending my father off like that.’

For Jang Jin-woo, that Trophy held a meaning that couldn’t be exchanged for anything else in the world.

‘I said I’d come to Germany and destroy everything.’

Jang Jin-woo recalled Kim Sang-hyuk’s face.

That vicious thug-like face and solid body…

Suddenly, chills ran down his spine.

“Ah, shit, this is bad.”

“Why?”

“I provoked that bastard before coming to Germany…”

“What kind of provocation?”

“I really did come to Germany.”

That was something even Lee Min-seong didn’t know about.

“Huh?”

“Ah, shit… that bastard is fucking scary.”

“Don’t tell me even now?”

Although Jang Jin-woo, who was called a monster during his high school days, had been devoured by Kim Sang-hyuk, he was now an adult.

Jang Jin-woo had steadily built his career and grown well to become a player that even Big Clubs were showing interest in.

Jang Jin-woo fell silent again, lost in some thought.

Lee Min-seong gave a bitter smile and glanced at the Rearview Mirror.

‘I know you suffered mentally because of Kim Sang-hyuk. Let’s let it go now, Jin-woo.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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