Field Commander - Chapter 59
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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 59.
Chapter 59.
Chapter 59.
“The media seems to have lost their minds these days. Coach Hwang has been leading the Olympic team for a long time, but they’re just talking nonsense. How is there not a single article in the media?”
“No, this is the result of Coach Lee Sang-cheol’s hard work.”
“Don’t say that. I know very well how things are.”
Yang Cheol-young, the Football Association President, made an expression as if he knew everything.
A person who is the Football Association President but knows nothing about football.
A person who runs the Football Association with business logic rather than for the development of Korean football.
And someone whose management skills are so poor that he wastes precious tax money in the wrong places.
‘What does that matter?’
What’s most important is that this person, who comes from Korea’s top conglomerate family and holds the highest position in the football world, supports him unconditionally.
“I’ll call some journalists and have them write articles.”
“No, it’s fine. If you do that, other strange stories will come out.”
“No, no. Still, the truth should be known.”
He’s stubborn in strange places too.
“If you’re willing to do that for me, hyung.”
Yang Cheol-young was 7 years older than Hwang Ki-ho and they were alumni from the same university.
Yang Cheol-young was very fond of university alumni – the board of directors of the company he ran were from the same alumni network, and the people he brought into the Football Association were only football players who were also alumni.
However, no one could openly target this person because if you crossed him wrong, he was from Korea’s top conglomerate family who could destroy you.
“That’s right, hyung. Hey, when we meet privately, don’t use formal titles like Association President.”
A quite pleasant dinner time continued.
“By the way, you know about the Technical Committee?”
The Technical Committee was something Yang Cheol-young created, claiming to eliminate behind-the-scenes administration for football development.
It was a system where they would listen to the Technical Committee’s opinions before deciding on coach and player appointments due to all the controversies, but Hwang Ki-ho had many doubts about whether it was actually working.
“Yes.”
“They said we should select that Kim Sang-hyuk guy for the national team? Who is Kim Sang-hyuk? Where is he playing? It’s the first time I’m hearing this name.”
Hwang Ki-ho sighed inwardly.
It seems the Football Association President didn’t even watch the Olympic football matches.
Apart from that, he must have signed the documents when boarding the Olympic team, right?
‘What does that matter? What’s important is that this person is the strong rope leading my future.’
Suddenly, a very wicked thought entered Hwang Ki-ho’s heart.
“He’s a player competing in the German 4th Division League.”
“What? 4th Division? Have those committee bastards gone crazy? What the hell are they recommending such nonsense for?”
“Still, he does play football somewhat well.”
“Myeong-ho, how many players in our country play football well? No matter what, not the 4th Division. What do you think?”
“Actually, that player is not in my plans. I’ve trained promising young players for a long time and got results in this Olympics. I don’t want the teamwork to be broken.”
“Right, how many years have you been leading? It’s all thanks to you.”
“…Thank you.”
Hwang Ki-ho really wanted to hear these words.
“You know that no matter what nonsense the Technical Committee spouts, what I trust is Coach Hwang, right?”
At those words, a smile appeared on Hwang Ki-ho’s lips.
* * *
“Hey, today was fun.”
“Please go safely.”
“Alright.”
After helping the drunk Yang Cheol-young, who couldn’t control his body, into his car, he got into his own car.
‘Ah, I drank alcohol.’
He picked up his mobile phone to call a designated driver but fell into thought.
There was too much that Kim Sang-hyuk had shown during the Olympics to drop him from the national team.
Despite being a defender, he accumulated many attack points, second only to Jang Jin-woo.
Kim Sang-hyuk’s name kept coming up from the national team coaches’ mouths too.
They said Kim Sang-hyuk should be selected as a substitution card or competition card for Ki Sung-yueng.
If such talk was coming from the Technical Committee, it could be said that Kim Sang-hyuk’s recognition among football people at the grassroots level had risen considerably.
‘If I just drop him like this, they’ll swarm like bees and tear me apart.’
Whether Kim Sang-hyuk played well or not, Hwang Ki-ho just didn’t like him.
His appearance, and the fact that he trained under Park Chang-yeol, whom he hated most in the world.
‘Isn’t there a good way?’
If he could create an issue with something outside of football…
After calling a designated driver, while waiting and looking through his mobile phone, he stopped at one number.
“Ah…”
When he was a coach in K League 1…
When he kicked out tactical coach Park Chang-yeol and his performance was plummeting…
When he was under pressure from all sides and needed a solution, he once commissioned a journalist to investigate match-fixing rumors.
The match-fixing incident was true.
Many teams were involved and their team atmosphere collapsed, and Hwang Ki-ho was able to lift the championship cup in the league using that incident as a stepping stone.
‘Come to think of it…’
Wasn’t Kim Sang-hyuk from an orphanage?
He thought he read it in an article.
Not to disparage all orphanage children, but kids who didn’t receive proper care have a high probability of causing big problems.
‘School violence?’
Recently, several popular celebrities were destroyed by school violence scandals, and he knew the original articles were also written by the journalist with this number.
“Ah, school violence.”
He might be able to play football at a club, but could he really wear the national team uniform?
Hwang Ki-ho finally felt what was sitting in his stomach go down smoothly.
The alcohol seemed to be kicking in properly too, and his mood suddenly improved.
“That should be enough.”
* * *
“I’ve finished today’s work, shall I read some comments?”
Choi Do-hoon stretched and threw himself on the bed with his laptop.
Already 200,000 subscribers…
This was the first number among Korean football commentary YouTubers.
The impact of Olympic football was tremendous.
Especially, videos of the Kim Sang-hyuk corner averaged over 300,000 views during this period.
‘That’s right!’
Until before the Olympics, the average views were around 2,000 to 3,000…
It received explosive attention.
‘Yeah, let’s go Sang-hyuk-mon!’
Nothing excites a football YouTuber more than an unknown player they picked suddenly becoming famous.
Hundreds of comments were posted on each video, and recently he was spending time enjoying reading those comments.
The boss’s analysis is crazy, wow how did you discover such a player?, he’s talented?, wait why didn’t I know about this player until now?
Most were such extreme praise.
Choi Do-hoon, who had been humming while clicking the like button on each comment, stopped scrolling at one particular comment.
– Hey, isn’t this Kim Sang-hyuk from XX Middle School in Incheon? This orphanage thug is playing soccer? South Korea is really something. Using a bastard who beats people up as a national team player? This is Hell Joseon.
ㄴ Is that true?
ㄴ Really?
You do look like that though, for real?
ㄴ For real. I’m a victim of school violence.
The comments that followed were all cursing Kim Sang-hyuk.
Choi Do-hoon, who had only known Kim Sang-hyuk since high school, had no way of knowing what kind of person he was in middle school, but thinking that if he didn’t stop these comments, it would cause trouble for Kim Sang-hyuk, he disabled commenting.
And just to be sure, when he checked the comments on other videos, he found the same user had copy-pasted the same message everywhere.
“Damn it…”
What the hell is this…
“Who is this person?”
That wasn’t the real problem.
He first made all the comments private and blocked that user ID.
There are always trash people who get jealous when someone does well and leave comments like this.
Though he thought that way, Choi Do-hoon couldn’t help but feel anxious.
After finishing his work, Choi Do-hoon opened sports entertainment articles.
As expected…
– Kim Sang-hyuk, this bastard is a school violence perpetrator.
…
* * *
The first training with the first team wasn’t particularly special.
Same tactics as the second team, same training methods…
The only difference was the quality of the players receiving the training.
They were faster, had better ball-handling skills, and made quicker decisions.
It’s easy to think of it as having about 7 players like Gunter.
The rest were people on loan who weren’t familiar with the tactics… including Jung Joo-young…
My followers who came up from the second team in a situation where their skills were somewhat lacking.
Antonio and Smith.
Seeing their faces in the first team brought back memories.
These were the guys who used to whine that they’d never be able to play soccer after constantly struggling in the second team.
After training ended, I headed to Jung Joo-young’s house, where I had been invited.
It was a modest two-story detached house near the club.
Unlike Korea with its advanced technology, everything in Germany was old-fashioned.
And they repair and use things until they can’t be repaired anymore.
This was a house that should normally have a doorbell, but you had to knock using the door handle.
– Knock knock knock.
After a while, the door opened and two people came into view.
“Whoa?”
I was really surprised, and Jung Joo-young tilted his head.
“Whoa?”
“Are you married?”
“Of course. You’re really a bad guy. You didn’t even know I was married.”
“Wait a minute. Until recently, I didn’t even know I’d be selected for the Olympic team, and naturally I didn’t know I’d become close with Joo-young hyung either.”
“So why the ‘whoa’?”
“Your wife is so beautiful.”
“Hohoho. Thank you. I’m Park Yoon-jung. Nice to meet you. Oppa usually doesn’t invite fellow players to his house, so you two must be really close.”
Park Yoon-jung smiled and welcomed me.
Ah, so Jung Joo-young thought of me that highly?
And naturally, my gaze turned to her belly.
She looked almost full-term.
“Did you come to Germany in that condition?”
“Yes. When I left him alone in England, he had a really hard time. When I heard he was going to Germany, I thought I should go with him.”
No matter how I thought about it, this didn’t match Jung Joo-young’s usually very chic personality at all.
“Please come in. We haven’t finished unpacking yet, so I hope you’ll excuse the mess.”
“Not at all. Compared to my room that smells musty, this place is… paradise itself.”
She giggled, and Jung Joo-young gestured.
“Come in.”
Park Yoon-jung took the lead in conversation, and I got so absorbed in dinner time that I didn’t realize two hours had passed.
“Wow, but your cooking skills are amazing. Everything is delicious.”
It was probably even better because it was Korean food.
Park Yoon-jung smiled and answered.
“Oppa made this.”
“…What?”
“Since I’m in this condition, oppa prepared it after coming back from training.”
I could hardly believe it.
“You’re joking to surprise me, right?”
Both of them giggled at my response.
“Why is it strange if I cook?”
“No, this isn’t right, is it? You’re not that kind of character, hyung?”
“Then you were wrong about me. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I quickly made it while watching YouTube.”
“What? Then you should be cooking instead of playing soccer?”
“What, man?”
“I think your talent lies in cooking.”
“You think so?”
Jung Joo-young suddenly became serious and answered, and I shook my head.
“Why are you like that? You should wear number 10.”
“I told you, number 9.”
“But the manager was giving you number 10, wasn’t he?”
“…”
From today’s training, I could see that Jung Joo-young was playing as an attacking midfielder.
The manager definitely has a proper understanding of Jung Joo-young.
When Jung Joo-young frowned and pouted, Park Yoon-jung giggled.
“Oppa, this is the first time I’ve seen you like this, and it’s really cute.”
That’s cute?
It’s so gross I’m going crazy.
This is definitely a relationship that can only exist when you’re wearing rose-colored glasses.
After spending a pleasant time and going outside, Park Yoon-jung made a request of me.
“Please take good care of our oppa.”
“Of course. Just trust me.”
Both of them burst out laughing at that.
“I told you, didn’t I? That he would answer like that.”
“Ah… he really did.”
What, was this planned?
Even so, I feel good.
Being able to laugh and chat like this in a country on the opposite side of Korea…
I should be grateful.
“Well then, take care.”
“Yes. When Tae-sik is born later, I’ll buy a gift and come visit.”
“Make sure you pick out the gift properly.”
“Of course.”
I returned to the dormitory with the two of them seeing me off.
‘I’m dying of envy…’
I had rarely seen Jung Joo-young smile so brightly and chat like that when he was on the Olympic National Team.
Is that what family is like?
To me, who never experienced a normal family, it all just looks mysterious.
‘Could I be that happy too if I had a family?’
But…
The impossible goal of winning the World Cup crossed my mind like a high wall.
What if I start a family but can’t win the championship?
I’d have to leave my family behind in this world and go far away.
That… wouldn’t be something a person should do, would it?
Just as I was almost reaching the dormitory, Jung Seung-jin contacted me.
– Yes, hyung.
– Sang-hyuk. Can you talk?
His voice sounded somewhat urgent.
– Yes. What’s wrong?
– The internet in Korea is on fire with stories about you.
– Oh, about my soccer ability?
– No. About your school violence.
School violence?
I stopped walking for a moment.
– What?
– Did you really commit violence against your friends during middle school? This is a very important matter. It won’t affect your soccer playing, but if it’s proven true, you could be permanently expelled from the National Team.
My fists clenched tightly.
‘Permanent expulsion?’
– I never did anything like that.
I never bullied anyone or anything like that.
But a few memories came to mind.
– Ah, I did use my fists a few times within reasonable limits.
– I see. You’re certain there’s nothing like that, right? We’ll start responding on our end too. Don’t worry too much about it and focus on adapting to the First Team. Got it?
– Yes, of course.
I hung up the phone.
No matter how I thought about it, there didn’t seem to be anything problematic, but which bastard brought up that story?
I briefly recalled old memories.
‘Is it those guys who got beaten up by me back then?’
Those bastards should keep their mouths shut for their own good.
Because my memory was quite good.
‘If they’re going to come at me like this…?’
I have my own ideas too.
* * *
While school violence incidents were quietly stirring like a storm in a teacup, the Bundesliga 9th round match was held.
We took an airplane to Wolfsburg the day before and stayed at a hotel.
On match day, we did warm-up exercises at the stadium.
Even though I heard there were no plans for me to play, Joo-young and I were included in the substitute list.
“Wow, the people…”
If I hadn’t experienced the Olympics, I wouldn’t have easily adapted to this atmosphere with tens of thousands of people gathered.
This place filled with home fans wearing blue uniforms.
Volkswagen Arena.
– Thunk.
Something hit my head quite hard, and I bent down to pick up whatever had fallen to the ground.
It was an empty plastic water bottle.
Ah, is my glamorous first Bundesliga experience getting hit by trash?
I picked up the bottle and quickly looked around the stands filled with blue uniforms.
“Get lost! Brazilian!!!”
Have their eyes gone crazy?
Who are they calling Brazilian?
I’m clearly Korean!
‘These people need to shed some tears of blood from their eyes today, don’t they?’
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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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