Episode 3
* * *
After regaining consciousness, there was only one thing I felt looking at this body.
'I'm fucked.'
I didn't care about having an obese body. I could lose the weight, and I could just get used to the new flesh. What I despaired at was the deformed length of my legs.
Soccer, of all sports, places the greatest burden on the legs. Passing, dribbling, shooting—there isn't a single one that doesn't use your legs. If my weight falls to one side due to the deformed length of my legs, what would happen?
My knees would shatter.
Because of that fear, my play would be stifled, and I wouldn't be able to display my proper skills. That is the fundamental reason a second Garrincha could never be born. It was also the biggest reason I had despaired.
But now, everything has been solved.
With this iron-like right leg, I should be able to endure it.
The only minor issue is…
'I'm already nineteen, after all….'
If I want to make a living playing soccer, there's only one way.
Receiving a scouting offer from a club.
There are closed tests for the general public too, but they're only nominal. Unless something special happens, you could say every debut is made through scouting.
And this scouting mostly happens during the youth years of ten to thirteen. The club grooms the promising buds themselves and registers them to the first team. Or they pick out students who stand out in middle or high school soccer clubs. Whichever the case, it doesn't apply to me, a nineteen-year-old youth with no soccer experience.
'Other sports have lots of tryouts. Why is soccer the only one without them?'
I complained, but I knew why. Because it's hard to succeed as a player if you don't develop a feel for the ball from a young age.
But that only applies to normal cases.
I'm not one of them.
Wasn't I a player maintaining peak form just a few weeks ago?
But the fact that I have no way to explain this is really…
'Still, it has to be soccer.'
It's not like when I was young, madly in love with soccer. How could I keep feeling interested in a sport I played for nearly twenty years? Even so, the reason I'm trying to play again is to achieve an unfulfilled dream.
Despite being evaluated as the best player in the world, I didn't receive any reward. Even if I was selected for the Ballon d'Or this year, what use is an achievement earned after death? I couldn't enjoy any of the benefits.
So I will achieve it again, for sure.
I will reclaim my place.
From the ends of the earth, I will awe them all and shout.
That I was the best.
'But to do that, I have to debut first….'
*Tsk.*
There's no way, no way…
Letting out a sigh, I took out my smartphone and went to the sports news section. It was an old habit whenever my head was a mess.
Because there was always an article about me there.
"Shall I get some healing for the first time in a while?"
I smiled and carefully flipped through the articles.
[Korea-Japan Match for the first time in 6 years, public expectations soar.]
[I Gangmin's appearance in the Korea-Japan match uncertain!]
[Son Hyeongmin, still loves soccer after retirement! Signs new player recruitment agreement with Seongil Football Club.]
[Senior's recollection, 'The Korea-Japan match should be played risking life and death.']
"……What the hell, there's not a single article about me?"
I looked again and again, but there was no article about me in the news section.
No, it's only been a few days since I died, and it's already gone? After all I've done?
I felt a bit disappointed.
No, I was very disappointed.
"Being forgotten truly is instantaneous."
Damn it.
If that's how it is, I'll just have to engrave my existence on them all over again.
The moment I gritted my teeth and tried to close my smartphone—
"Hmm?"
One article caught my eye.
[Son Hyeongmin, still loves soccer after retirement! Signs new player recruitment agreement with Seongil Football Club.]
"An agreement is an agreement, but what's a new player recruitment agreement?"
I tilted my head and clicked the article; soon a smile formed on my lips.
"Hyeongmin Sunbae is helping me out again."
The content contained there
was enough to make my second life spectacular.
* * *
On the day marking the first month since the star of Barcelona, Jihakyeong, passed away.
A very interesting article surfaced.
[Seongil Motors to hold a tryout!]
[Legendary figures such as Cha Beomgon, Bak Jiseop, and Son Hyeongmin appear as judges! TV broadcast being pushed as well!]
[The production crew of *Fly Shootdori*, which produced I Gangmin, joins in a surprise move!]
[Hidden soccer masters from across the country emerge!]
A tryout.
In other words, an open recruitment test.
The reason this word is unfamiliar is because the K-League has no tryout system. The selection of players is more than sufficiently covered by youth players alone, and those who couldn't even get youth contracts are so lacking in skill that they don't even need to take tests.
So it was natural that a tryout system didn't exist.
But, what wind blew to suddenly revive the tryout system?
Most likely, Son Hyeongmin's influence played a strong part.
'Hyeongmin Sunbae used to always say this. That talent can be discovered at any age.'
In fact, in Europe, there are numerous teams operating even down to the seventh and eighth divisions, so even adults can make a pro debut at any time. Of course, the pay is lacking, but at least it provides the conditions to play soccer.
But Korea doesn't have that.
If you skip the youth stage, you have no choice but to give up on your dream of soccer. Unless you go overseas.
It means you can't see cases like Jamie Vardy, who bloomed late.
'Anyway, this is a good opportunity for me.'
Actually, right after seeing Son Hyeongmin's article, I expected something like this would happen. Whenever we played on the national team together, he would always talk about debuting as an adult.
So I prepared intensely.
Diet control was a given, and I exercised until late to make my body as light as possible.
Standing at 175cm and weighing over 90kg, I was still a pig, though.
'This should be enough.'
No matter how much it's a tryout, they'd only be scouting for a K League 2 level.
At that level, I could pass with my eyes closed and one hand on the ground.
I turned on the PC in the living room and went to the open recruitment site for the tryout.
'First, I need to apply.'
*Clack— clack—.*
As the typing sounds filled the living room, someone came out of the room.
A sturdy man with a sulky expression.
It was I Seonghyeon.
"I Dohyeon, what are you doing?"
"Computer."
"What are you doing on the computer?"
"Applying."
"Applying for what? You keep leaving words out when you talk. Want to get hit?"
"……Applying for exercise."
"Huh? Exercise?"
I Seonghyeon rushed over and immediately looked at the monitor.
"What, Superstar K League Tryout…? You got interested in soccer?"
"I'm just applying to get some exercise."
"No, that's fine, but are you okay? You just got out of the hospital not long ago. I'm worried."
"…"
Worried.
It was a word unfamiliar to me.
Is this what family is?
I wish I could have felt it in my previous life, too.
*Smack.*
I smacked my lips and replied with a bitter smile.
"Then Hyung can just come with me."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, but I'm an expensive body, you know."
After crossing his arms and pondering for a moment, I Seonghyeon soon spoke.
"Then you're buying the food."
"Okay."
"And we can't go anywhere else. The moment the tryout ends, we go straight home."
"Got it."
"'I need to stop by somewhere real quick' won't fly. Got it?"
"I got it."
That I hope to become a soccer player is something the people called my parents will learn of soon enough. If I Seonghyeon sees my skills, convincing them will become easier, too. For my part, I was thankful he was following me.
"All done."
As I stood up after finishing the tryout application, I Seonghyeon asked.
"Where are you going? Your room isn't that way."
"Going to run a bit."
"…You're weird these days. Why are you suddenly exercising when you never did? Did you get a girlfriend or something?"
Girlfriend, my foot.
Right now, soccer took priority over something like that.
"Drop it and move. I have to go exercise."
"…*Tsk*, something's suspicious no matter how I look at it."
Ignoring I Seonghyeon's gaze, I started running.
And that day, I threw up my guts about three times.
Damn it.
It was a day when I missed my steel-like former body terribly.