NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 171

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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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Episode 171. 「Idol Sports Festival」 (2)

 

The game began and the first half flowed with quite rapid offensive and defensive exchanges near the center line.

 

And the crisis came faster than expected.

 

 

 

The ball that escaped between the colliding legs connected to the opposing striker.

 

 

 

As the striker drove the ball all the way to the front of the goal post, leader Do-jun, who was playing the role of ‘goleiro’ (the goalkeeper in soccer), fortunately stepped forward to block with more composure than expected.

 

 

 

When Do-jun lowered his stance, spread both arms, and approached to narrow the shooting angle, the opposing striker hastily kicked the ball, which hit Do-jun’s thigh and went out of bounds.

 

 

 

“Nice one, Do-jun hyung!”

 

 

 

Dong-ha loudly praised him and gave a thumbs up to boost morale, then rushed toward the goal post to prepare for the opponent’s corner kick.

 

 

 

‘Well, since the friends defending on our team are tall, our aerial dominance shouldn’t be too bad.’

 

 

 

Yeon-woo was waiting at a position slightly away from the goal post, ready to charge into the enemy base as soon as a teammate cleared the ball.

 

 

 

Thwack─.

 

 

 

The ball kicked up from the corner by the opponent flew through the air and hit EXIZ member Kang Jae-won’s head, shaking the goal net.

 

 

 

“Huh?”

 

 

 

Everyone’s movements stopped for a moment.

 

The picture of a goal scored by heading was perfect, but the direction was the problem.

 

 

 

[Ah! The first goal has unfortunately started with an own goal!]

 

[Yes. At times like this, mental management of the EXIZ members is crucial.]

 

 

 

The MC’s commentary could be heard throughout the venue.

 

 

 

His jump to clear the ball had ended up connecting to an own goal.

 

Of course, since they weren’t professional players but amateurs, this was something that could definitely happen.

 

 

 

Kang Jae-won hung his head.

 

 

 

At the same time, messages began flooding the live chat at tremendous speed.

 

 

 

– Hahahaha that’s hilarious, how is your first goal an own goal

 

– Oh my poor baby, are you okay ㅠㅠ Please lift your head!! ㅠㅠ

 

– Jaewon! It’s okay!! from brazil and love EXIZ

 

– How did they even make it through the preliminaries with that level of skill ㄷㄷ There were even youth national team players among the Blue Label kids

 

 

 

On the stadium, EXIZ members approached to comfort Kang Jae-won who was hanging his head, patting his back.

 

 

 

“Jae-won, it’s okay! There’s still plenty of time left.”

 

“Ah, really sorry. I was just trying to clear it to the outside.”

 

“That can happen. Let’s not get discouraged for now.”

 

 

 

The EXIZ team members walked to the center line with the ball for kickoff.

 

Kang Jae-won’s shoulders were slumped as he walked over.

 

 

 

‘He seems deflated from scoring the own goal. We need to quickly break this bad flow.’

 

 

 

Yeon-woo approached the walking EXIZ members and gave tactical instructions.

 

 

 

“Dong-ha, you said you’re fairly confident in shooting, right?”

 

“Yes, hyung. My dribbling and technical skills aren’t flashy, but my vision and scoring ability aren’t bad!”

 

 

 

Since he didn’t know how these friends played after the game started, he had been watching without intervening, but it seemed like it was time to get actively involved.

 

 

 

On every battlefield, the abilities of the members are starkly divided depending on whether there’s a commander or not.

 

This small stadium was no different.

 

 

 

And as for field commanders, throughout all of South Korea, no one had been deployed in actual combat more than Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

“Dong-ha, which is your dominant foot?”

 

“Left foot.”

 

“Then let’s do this. When we kickoff, push the ball to me and Jae-won quickly runs to the left, sprinting as deep toward the corner as possible.”

 

 

 

Hearing Yeon-woo’s instructions, Jae-won nodded.

 

 

 

“Woo-bin, stay in front of Do-jun to prepare for any potential counterattack, and Dong-ha, you’re important.”

 

“Yes. What should I do?”

 

“Wait one tempo, and when you see Jae-won running and the defenders following him, infiltrate to the right with a time delay.”

 

 

 

Following Yeon-woo’s instructions, Dong-ha looked toward the opposing goal post.

 

 

 

“How far should I go in?”

 

“To the position where you’re most confident when shooting.”

 

“Won’t it be hard to connect if both Jae-won and I go up?”

 

“Trust me. Let’s try it according to the plan first.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo’s appearance of leading with strong charisma made them naturally nod their heads.

 

 

 

Dong-ha placed the ball on the center line and kicked off with the referee’s whistle.

 

 

 

When Yeon-woo smoothly caught and kept the lightly pushed ball, one player ran over to mark Yeon-woo, and simultaneously Kang Jae-won began running deep to the left as planned.

 

 

 

As the tall Kang Jae-won ran, two players who took the bait followed to mark him, and Dong-ha used that gap to run into a blind spot where the last remaining player couldn’t see.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo, who had been protecting the ball while physically blocking the approaching opposing player, suddenly spun around and created distance.

 

 

 

‘Dong-ha. There he is.’

 

 

 

When Yeon-woo lightly chipped the bottom of the ball with his toe tips, the ball flew with backspin, barely clearing the opposing defender’s head and dropping at Dong-ha’s feet.

 

 

 

Because the ball had backspin, it didn’t fly far, and the moment it hit the ground, it bounced while reducing speed, making it perfect for Dong-ha to kick.

 

 

 

‘···Huh? Th-this is just kicking it in.’

 

 

 

Dong-ha calmly pushed the ball into the corner of the goal, and the goal net shook.

 

 

 

This all happened in barely 5 seconds after the kickoff.

 

 

 

[Goal! Goal! Axis team’s Dong-ha, who had fallen behind due to an own goal, immediately scores an equalizer to catch up!]

 

[Wow, was this a planned play? He showed flawless off the ball movement. Among them, Ryu Yeon-woo’s pass was absolutely incredible.]

 

 

 

Seeing the match that seemed to be flowing into a goal-fest slugfest, several live viewers began clipping the scene and sharing it on soccer communities.

 

 

 

– Idol futsal skill level what.gif

 

 

 

And community users drawn by that bait began flowing into the live broadcast through the link.

 

 

 

Originally, idol sports festival lives have an extremely high proportion of female viewers, but with meme images being posted in real-time on soccer communities, unexpected male viewers began flooding in.

 

 

 

– Crazy skills, what is this, was Ryu Yeon-woo a national team player?

 

– For real thought he had pass master

 

– What’s pass master?

 

– It’s soccer game terminology. QW is lobbing through pass, pass master is a trait

 

 

 

– lol never thought I’d be watching an Ateez live stream this early in the morning when I’m not even a hardcore fan, my life is really something else

 

– So what’s this lobbing thing, mister

 

– Ryu Yeon-woo Dong-ha chemistry is insane

 

– Lobbing through pass is an aerial pass that goes over the opposing defenders to reach the front of our team’s advancing direction

 

 

 

“Hyung!”

 

 

 

Dong-ha excitedly ran toward Yeon-woo to do a goal celebration.

 

 

 

‘Ah···? It’s not Han So-hyeon, so why is he running over?’

 

 

 

It was somewhat different from the feeling when Han So-hyeon had run over upon arriving at Gaeyado Island in 「Yeo-reum’s Dining Table」, but anyway, Yeon-woo caught Dong-ha who came running and jumping.

 

 

 

Seeing Kang Jae-won running over happily from behind, he seemed relieved that the score caused by his mistake had at least returned to a tie.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo put Dong-ha down and ran to Kang Jae-won.

 

 

 

“Good job. Jae-won, because you drew two defenders with you, the space was completely empty and we could score.”

 

“Th-thank you, hyung.”

 

 

 

Originally, momentum and flow are the most important things.

 

 

 

Thinking now was the time to press forward, Yeon-woo looked back and gave instructions as the opponents returned to center with the ball.

 

 

 

“There are 7 minutes left in the first half. The opponents will push aggressively to get one goal ahead before the first half ends. Let’s drop our line back and defend. Han-bin on the left, Jae-won on the right. Drive them to the corners as much as possible.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Okay!”

 

“Oh, and Dong-ha, keep in mind that a return pass will come again.”

 

 

 

Tweet─.

 

 

 

With Yeon-woo’s last words, the referee blew the whistle and the opponents kicked off.

 

 

 

As soon as the ball crossed the center circle, opposing wingers simultaneously rushed to both half lines, and in our territory, the opposing players frantically switched positions.

 

 

 

Having practiced together quite a bit, the opponents’ passes flowed organically, and Kang Jae-won and Joo Han-bin, who were watching our defense, momentarily lost track of their marking targets.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo immediately tried to drop back and join the defense, but the opposing striker who had already beaten Han-bin took a shot.

 

 

 

“Hah!”

 

 

 

Do-jun blocked the ball heading toward the corner of the goal with his foot, accompanied by a battle cry.

 

The ball that bounced off Do-jun’s foot rolled toward Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

[Ah! Q-Nine’s Kim Tae-jun tried to get a shot off, but it’s ultimately blocked by the goalkeeper with amazing reflexes.]

 

 

 

‘Three opposing players came out, and in enemy territory there’s only one defender besides the goalkeeper.’

 

 

 

Watching Dong-ha running on the opposite side, Yeon-woo dribbled the ball and advanced toward the goal at high speed.

 

 

 

When the opposing defender tried to rush toward Yeon-woo, he lightly passed to Dong-ha.

 

 

 

And the moment the opposing defender’s attention turned to Dong-ha receiving the ball, Yeon-woo sprinted into that blind spot.

 

 

 

“Pass!”

 

 

 

Raising his hand and calling for a pass, Dong-ha immediately kicked the ball toward Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo softly received the fairly fast-flying ball with his instep, and when he looked at the goal, the opposing goalkeeper, defender, and even the striker who came running late all rushed toward Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

And Yeon-woo immediately swung his foot and kicked the ball.

 

 

 

Tap─.

 

 

 

Despite the big swinging motion, at the moment of impact he completely removed the power and gave another pass to Dong-ha.

 

 

 

The shooting motion was a fake.

 

 

 

‘Keep in mind that a return pass will come again.’

 

 

 

Dong-ha, who had believed without doubt that a return would come to him, lightly pushed the ball into the right corner of the goal that had become completely empty as everyone marked Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

[Goal! It goes right in! Axis team’s Ryu Yeon-woo and Dong-ha have created another goal.]

 

[Right now, Ryu Yeon-woo concentrated all the opposing team’s attention on himself and then with relaxed play, slipped the ball to Dong-ha. This seems like chemistry that came from practice. They really match each other perfectly.]

 

 

 

Hearing the MC’s commentary echoing through the venue, Dong-ha shook his head inwardly.

 

 

 

‘No. Yeon-woo hyung is just spoon-feeding me everything and I’m just eating it up. Far from practice, this is the first time we’re playing together today.’

 

 

 

And the first half ended.

 

In the following second half, the opponents weren’t just sitting idle either.

 

 

 

Through pass work honed by practice, Q9 broke free from XYZS players’ marking and continued to equalize and take the lead with their shooting, creating a back-and-forth score, and the PD grinned widely at the interesting match content.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the NeTube live stream viewers kept increasing, causing the comment section to start lagging.

 

 

 

[Goal! Q9’s goal explodes once again. Now the score is tied 5-5. Only 1 minute of game time remains. Will this go to extra time?]

 

[Compared to Q9 who used one substitution card in the second half, XYZS has no resources available for substitution. If it goes to extra time, XYZS will ultimately be at a disadvantage.]

 

 

 

The members sitting on the substitute bench were at the level where, as Dong-ha said last time, when they kick the ball forward, it flies sideways.

 

 

 

Since substitution was impossible, they had to prevent going to extra time as the MC said.

 

 

 

Since the opponent scored, it was XYZS’s turn for kickoff.

 

 

 

“Guys. Gather around. Remember the strategy when we scored the first goal. Let’s move the same way once more. Jae-won will charge forward and Dong-ha will move to the blind spot.”

 

“Yes! I’ll move according to the first strategy.”

 

 

 

The members nodded and headed to the center circle.

 

 

 

Tweet─.

 

 

 

With the whistle sound, Dong-ha passed to Yeon-woo and Jae-won sprinted to the left.

 

 

 

Seeing this, Q9’s members exchanged glances.

 

 

 

Q9’s members had already finished their meeting about this strategy during halftime.

 

If they used this strategy again after kickoff, designated members would use man-to-man marking to block it.

 

 

 

Unlike when they scored the first goal, only one defender stuck to Jae-won who was charging forward, and they blocked the paths for Dong-ha to receive passes from front and back as he timed his entry.

 

 

 

And the remaining one approached to mark Yeon-woo who had the ball.

 

There was absolutely nowhere to pass except for a back pass.

 

 

 

But Yeon-woo, looking at the stadium, grinned.

 

 

 

‘Moving exactly as expected.’

 

 

 

This reaction was exactly what Yeon-woo had wanted from the opponents.

 

 

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