Field Commander - Chapter 5

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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 5.

Chapter 5.

Chapter 5.

“Kim Sang-hyuk?”

Jo Jung-sik was running a sizable pharmaceutical company in Cheongju.

He had connections in political circles and was also the person who eventually channeled the fervor of the heated 2002 World Cup into the creation of Cheongju FC.

Park Chang-yeol, who started as the director of Beige Morning Soccer Club and had now become the director of Cheongju FC, smiled.

“Anyone involved in soccer would know him.”

“Really?”

Jo Jung-sik looked curious.

“He was a genius who caused a sensation in high school soccer about 3-4 years ago.”

“How good was he for you to call him a genius?”

“When you watched that kid play… there’s no other way to describe him except as a genius. First of all, he had great physical size, decent speed, and good strength. For a defender, his Ball Skills were excellent, his Pressure Escape was outstanding… he had incredible tenacity that never gave up, and above all, his instantaneous Decision Making and Prediction Ability were rated as beyond professional level – world-class.”

“Oh, really? For just a high school player?”

“He was that amazing. That kid led Maedong High School… an unknown new team from Gangwon Province, and won 6 tournaments during his high school years.”

“Six?”

“Yes, thanks to him, a new high school team instantly became a prestigious soccer team. We even have some players from Maedong High School among our kids.”

“That kid alone?”

“According to the players from Maedong High School, that’s pretty much how it was. You know player Jang Jin-woo, right?”

“Of course I do. A high school graduate who became K-League top scorer for two consecutive years right after joining the pros.”

“The prestigious Yeongsang High School where that kid played never once beat Maedong High School. That Jang Jin-woo couldn’t score even a single goal in matches against Maedong High School. Kim Sang-hyuk completely shut him down.”

Jang Jin-woo had recently transferred to FC Schalke 04, a traditional prestigious club in Germany.

He blocked that kid who had heated up sports news as Korea’s future large striker with a clean sheet during high school?

“But why isn’t that kid visible in the soccer world?”

“He suffered a very serious injury. Seeing how various K-League clubs and even overseas clubs that were connected with him withdrew, it must have been either impossible to recover or he wasn’t in a condition to play soccer. Come to think of it, I think it’s been several years since I heard the name Kim Sang-hyuk. Why are you suddenly bringing up that kid’s name?”

This time Park Chang-yeol was curious.

“A new member recently joined our morning soccer club, and his name is Kim Sang-hyuk.”

“Oh, really?

Park Chang-yeol looked interested.

“He’s 22 years old. But he’s nearly 2 meters tall, uses both feet, and has incredible Jumping Power. His Pass and Touch are flawless. His face is so fierce that… if he hadn’t shown the gag of receiving the Ball with his chin during the game, our members would have really felt pressured.”

At those words, Park Chang-yeol burst into laughter.

“That’s right. That Kim Sang-hyuk! I remember that interview. He said he still doesn’t have a girlfriend because his face looks scary.”

“What? Hehehe.”

Jo Jung-sik burst into laughter.

“But he really plays soccer?”

“Yeah.”

Park Chang-yeol swallowed his saliva for a moment.

“You’re telling me this because?”

“Want to test him once? In about 3 months? He doesn’t seem to be in normal condition yet.”

* * *

February 22, 2011.

I scratched my ear for a moment.

“Why is it so itchy? Is someone talking about me?”

Well, who would there be?

Even when that big accident happened, there wasn’t a single news article.

Looking at the Slice Cake placed on the dining table, I gave a bitter smile.

This was already the 4th year I was spending my birthday alone.

In high school, when my birthday came, coaches, School officials, seniors and juniors, club officials, reporters – all sorts of people would come to celebrate…

Once I couldn’t play soccer anymore, they all disappeared.

Not a single person sends me a message on my birthday.

This feeling of being left alone in the world.

Well, I’m used to it.

‘Moths that swarm when you seem likely to succeed. Moths that disappear together when you disappear.’

I feel like I understood the world at too young an age.

I lit the Candle Holder and sang loudly by myself to chase away this gloomy atmosphere.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to me who started soccer again.”

I clapped by myself and blew out the candles.

I pulled out the candles and stuffed the cake made of rice and sweet potato into my mouth all at once, chewing and swallowing with effort.

‘This will be the last birthday I spend alone.’

Making that resolution naturally sparked a desire to work harder at soccer.

I cleaned up the dining table and prepared the vegetables and meat I had bought from the mart.

I julienned the vegetables and put them in the refrigerator, removed all fat and tendons from the meat, then put it in the freezer.

I put eggs in the refrigerator too, made salad dressing myself and put it in a container in the refrigerator – an hour passed in a flash.

Finally, I washed the delivered rice and put it in the electric rice cooker, then sat at my desk and looked at the clock – it was already 9:30 PM.

I opened my Old Laptop and surfed the internet for a while.

– FS Agent.

A German soccer study abroad agent site run by Koreans.

It had been operating steadily since the early 2000s, and seeing that they handled not only Korean players but also Japanese players, it didn’t seem like a scam organization.

It contained unfiltered content: self-introduction videos of players wanting to take entrance tests, videos of them being tested, players celebrating successful contracts after entrance tests, and disappointed faces of those who failed.

They mainly dealt with German 4th-7th division clubs, and one phrase on the site’s front page caught my eye.

– Agents who claim they’ll introduce you to Bundesliga 1st-3rd division clubs are scammers. They focus on their own scouting and don’t hold entrance tests.

I had heard this before.

Scrolling down, I saw a message saying 【Free Consultation】 was available.

Clicking on that phrase opened a tab where I could write a message.

– Hello.

There was no response for a few minutes, so I was about to brush my teeth, turn off the computer and sleep when a message arrived.

– Hello. This is Jung Seung-jin from FS Agent. I’ll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.

– Is it possible for a 22-year-old adult to take entrance tests in Germany?

– Yes. Usually you start with 6th-7th division clubs. Those are amateur clubs. But if you have talent and skill, even 4th division is possible.

Not even semi-pro, but amateur teams.

– Would entrance tests for 3rd division or higher clubs be possible?

The message came much later.

– If you have a history of playing for the national adult team and consistent performance in pro clubs, there’s a slim chance of taking entrance tests for higher divisions, but in 10 years there’s been exactly 1 case. A female soccer player. For male players, it’s completely impossible. Pro teams in 3rd division and above have their own scouting systems and fill their roster from there.

‘So 4th division is the best option.’

Realistically speaking.

– Excuse me, but are you male?

– Yes.

– A 22-year-old male. What’s your career background?

– I played soccer until high school, then took about 3 years of recovery time due to injury.

– Ah. An injury.

It was such a short message that I could feel the hesitation.

– There’s no major problem with playing now?

– I’m in the process of building up my body. I wanted to build my pro career in Germany, so I contacted you for consultation.

– That’s… not an easy career background. But what’s your reason for wanting to play soccer?

Money? Is that what he’s asking about?

But if I said I wanted to become the world’s best player and help Korea win the World Cup within 15 years, I’d probably be treated like a lunatic.

– If money is the reason… I would respectfully advise you to give up on studying soccer in Germany.

I felt something like… trust from that message.

– Money isn’t necessarily the reason. I think Germany is the right place to quickly step up as a soccer player.

– Then I can give you a chance to take a tryout.

– When would that be possible?

– After May. When the club enters its break period and starts moving to reorganize for next season. It’ll probably be about 3 months from now.

3 months.

The time when my targeted body building would be complete.

– Then I’d like to have that opportunity.

– If you give me your email, I’ll send you some documents. Please fill them out and send them back, and I’ll contact you after reviewing them.

I gave him my email, and that’s how the free consultation ended.

I turned off the laptop and lights, lay down on the bed, and covered myself with the blanket.

‘Something feels good about this agent…’

Jung Seung-jin, was it?

* * *

FS Agent.

A man entered a shabby office in Germany, placed some items on his desk, and stretched.

“Oh my.”

He was about 185cm tall with a very protruding belly and a very kind-looking face.

It was Jung Seung-jin.

He often received DMs saying that free consultations with agents active in Germany were not easy opportunities to come by.

Most of them were people with careers so poor they couldn’t even be used by German amateur teams.

Even though most of them were players who wouldn’t be profitable even with time invested, he was trying his best to guide them.

Because he had been a victim of German soccer study abroad.

He had barely enough skill to get into a domestic university team.

But some agent approached him saying his skills would improve if he went overseas.

He thought if he couldn’t play soccer domestically, he wouldn’t be able to overseas either, but his parents thought differently.

It ended up being an international scam where hundreds of millions of won were extorted, and his family fell into ruin.

So he chose the path of becoming an agent to prevent victims like himself.

Having lived in Germany for nearly 10 years before becoming an agent and running his office for 7 years, his network was quite extensive.

He knew almost all the coaches from 4th division to 7th division clubs, and had connections with some coaches in 3rd division clubs too.

Based on that, he had successfully helped about 20 Korean and Japanese players join teams so far.

Most were contracts with semi-professional clubs, so the revenue wasn’t much, but he was doing this work with a sense of mission.

After receiving word that one of his players in the 5th league had suffered a thigh injury, he decided to buy bread with sausage and drinks to visit him.

Since the player was doing quite well on the team and several 4th league coaches were interested in his profile, he needed to encourage him not to lose heart until he recovered.

But since he still had plenty of time, he sat in front of his computer to check websites and emails.

“He really sent it? This guy?”

Out of 20 people he sent profiles to, about one would send it back.

So this email was very welcome.

“Heh heh heh.”

Humming an unknown tune, he opened the email.

“Let’s see. The name is Kim Sang-hyuk. Ah, what a gooood name! Oh my… look at that face. He looks perfect for sports… hahaha… Huh, but he looks kind of familiar?”

It seemed like a face he’d seen somewhere before.

Well, that wasn’t uncommon, so he scrolled down.

And there was one school name clearly visible in the background.

Maedong High School.

“Huh? Kim Sang-hyuk from Maedong High School?”

His eyes immediately widened.

“Really Kim Sang-hyuk from Maedong High School?”

Jung Seung-jin shot up from his chair.

“For real? He’s playing soccer again?”

Excluding general soccer fans, among agents, Kim Sang-hyuk had once been one of the greatest unicorns.

Jung Seung-jin could never forget him either.

The defensive performance that player showed in high school was still memorable.

Although timing and luck didn’t align for him to participate in international competitions, when asked to pick the world’s top 10 prospects under 18, Jung Seung-jin always included Kim Sang-hyuk in his heart.

“Wow! My goodness!”

His eyes trembled violently.

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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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