Chapter 2
The situation at Jeonbuk was beyond dire—it was abysmal.
The brilliant glory achieved under Manager Choi Kang-hoe, who dominated the league, gradually faded through the eras of Kim Moo-sik and Dan Petrescu.
Now, in 2029, Jeonbuk has become a mid-tier team, struggling to stay afloat.
Of course, last year, whether by a stroke of luck or a final burst of energy, they won the Korea Cup and secured fourth place in the league.
But still, for a club that once ruled the K League, it’s hard not to feel disappointed with such results.
The major shareholder, Mirae Motors, was well aware of this, so they saw this season as the perfect opportunity to signal a revival.
“They appointed Seon Ki-baek, the Korean caretaker manager who made waves in the Segunda División (La Liga 2), as the official manager and gave him full control over player signings.”
The manager has full authority over player acquisitions.
For those who enjoy overseas soccer, that might sound utterly crazy.
But it means Jeonbuk is taking this season seriously enough to endure even such measures.
With such tremendous support, the front office expected the manager’s style of soccer to be visible from the very first match.
But as the saying goes, expectations often lead to disappointment.
This time was no different.
“Just a few days ago, they faced Suwon Oseong in the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League and suffered a 3-0 defeat at Jeonju Castle. It’s no wonder their morale is in shambles.”
They received all the support they could get but ended up failing in the most crucial competition.
Of course, the league hasn’t even started yet, and it was the manager’s first game, so perhaps he hadn’t had enough time to establish his style.
However, the anxious front office and fans were not patient enough to wait through the defeats. More than anything, the aftermath of losing the derby match hung heavily over Jeonbuk.
I let out a deep sigh and took a long breath.
“Well, in the novel, Jeonbuk’s situation was depicted even worse than in reality, so I guess it’s not that strange.”
Typically, in soccer novels, the protagonist’s team attracts exceptional talents.
But this novel was a bit different.
To be precise, Jeonbuk was shattered to the point where it could be described as a “orphanage” led by Yoon Seung-hwan.
“They removed any player in Jeonbuk that could be called an ace, including myself, and filled those gaps with useless players.”
The team was not only divided between high-wage veteran seniors and rookies, but the seniors were also clashing with the young coach who emphasized discipline, and even the young players who should have been united were fractured.
Of course, the biggest reason for the young players’ lack of unity was the presence of Baek Ian, but what could be done? Jeonbuk was already broken before I even ended up in this body.
Since it was a team that had already fallen apart, there were parts even I couldn’t do anything about.
“A team that couldn’t win without Yoon Seung-hwan lifting a log—that was Jeonbuk Mirae Motors in the novel.”
Looking back, I wondered why the author would do such a thing.
Was it to create a scenario where the protagonist carries the team alone, or did they just want to maintain the accuracy of Jeonbuk’s decline that began in the 2020s?
“Whatever the reason, what matters is that from the moment I ended up in this body, that future is going to disappear.”
I forced a wry smile and tapped my feet on the grass as I loosened up.
“Wasn’t Rondo followed by a warm-up game?”
T/n: Rondo: a musical form with a recurring theme alternating with different sections, often used in classical music. In sports, especially in soccer can also refer to a training exercise where players form a circle and try to keep possession of the ball while a few players in the centre try to intercept it.
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling to personally tear apart a novel I once loved.
But since it was the author who rudely shoved me into this situation, they’d just have to deal with it.
“Deep down, that guy probably wanted to know how crucial a defensive midfielder is. So, I’ll have to teach him properly.”
I didn’t plan to actively collaborate with Yoon Seung-hwan to prop him up.
On the contrary, I intended to use Yoon Seung-hwan like a dog.
A striker who would score goals as long as you provided the right pass to his feet? Now that one had popped up in front of me, I’d be sure to use him to the fullest.
It was then, while I was smirking to myself.
“Ugh, can you believe this weather? It’s only March, but it’s already this hot…”
A man scratching his head in frustration approached me as he finished the Rondo session in the middle of the training ground.
Judging by his reddened face, he wasn’t lying about the heat as he fanned himself with his hands.
The man who had come up beside me tilted his head and asked.
“What’s up, Baek Ian? Why do you look so out of it? Did you have a fight with your girlfriend yesterday? Treat A-yoon well, man. It’s not easy to find a girl like her. If I had a childhood friend like that, I would’ve gotten engaged long ago.”
“…Are you Han Gang-rok?”
“What? Of course, I’m Han Gang-rok, not Han Kyung-rok! We spent all of middle school together; at least know the difference between us.”
Han Gang-rok took a deep breath as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He seemed genuinely shocked that his friend couldn’t remember his name.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
Unless it was a main character with illustrations provided, it’s even harder to identify who’s who based solely on brief descriptions in the story.
“Especially since Han Gang-rok and Han Kyung-rok are identical twins. It’s only natural that they’re hard to tell apart.”
Yet, thanks to my experience as a dedicated reader of the novel, I could get a rough sense of who he was just by his manner of speaking.
“Han Gang-rok, the right fullback who joined on a semi-pro contract like me. His identical twin brother, Han Kyung-rok, is on the left side, right?”
The setup of identical twins as both fullbacks was interesting enough that I remembered it.
Newly debuting players usually tend to be nervous, but these two always exuded such a relaxed attitude that I wondered if they were just bold.
“No, they did have confidence. It’s just that their overconfidence killed their work ethic.”
Not the best mindset for a player, but I remembered them because they were undeniably talented.
Still, if Rondo was over, why didn’t he go rest in the shade? Why come all the way here under the sun?
At that moment, Han Gang-rok’s lips twisted into a smile, and his eyes, tinged with amusement, looked at me.
“Hey Ian, did you hear? After getting crushed by Suwon last time, some of the seniors immediately caught a train to a club and got caught by fans taking photos. No matter how much you say they’re seniors, going clubbing in the middle of the season is just too much, isn’t it?”
‘Wait, is he actually angry that the seniors went clubbing? Does he still have some sense of professionalism?’
“Damn it. If they were going, they should’ve taken us along. I couldn’t even play in the match, so I was in perfect condition. Ugh!”
‘Yeah, I figured that’s how it would go.’
I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at his antics.
It wasn’t that I was disappointed in Han Gang-rok or anything.
I never had any expectations, so there was no room for disappointment.
This is just the way he was—if I had been living as Kang Yoon-ho, I wouldn’t have gotten close to him and would have completely ignored him.
If Baek Ian had inherited my original personality, it would probably be these twins and the unprofessional seniors, not Yoon Seung-hwan, whose ankles he would twist during training.
That’s how much I would have despised being in the same space with them…
But ignoring them wasn’t an option.
“Objectively speaking, they’re valuable assets. Ambidextrous, physical defenders with aggressive tackling skills. Sure, they sometimes get overly excited and make reckless offensive runs, but that’s something a good handler can manage.”
Fullbacks, one of the most critical positions in Korean soccer alongside defensive midfielders. Naturally, there’s a high chance we’ll see each other on the national team.
In the original story, these guys fell apart alongside Baek Ian, leading to other players being selected, but those seniors were all veteran players, making it difficult to critique them.
Some might say that as professionals, you shouldn’t care about age on the field and should focus on winning, but…
In a club where players have often trained together, it’s a different story, but things are not the same for the national team—especially in Korea, where hierarchy and discipline are very strict.
How strict was it? Coach Hiddink, who led the Korean national team in 2002, even told the players to speak casually to each other on the pitch.
No matter how much time passes, cultural differences between countries are bound to exist, and this remains unchanged even now.
And I didn’t like that fact.
I preferred to control the pace of the game according to my thoughts and have the players follow it when I was on the field.
For that, it was best to have fullbacks and centre-backs who could communicate well and were of a similar age group to coordinate with.
‘Although I’m not happy with their current state… it doesn’t matter. As long as they haven’t been corrupted deeply, I can just scrub them clean and remake them like new.’
Would you throw away a rag just because it got dirty? I don’t think that way. First, you should wash it thoroughly, and only when there’s truly no hope should you discard it.
Throwing things away recklessly is wasteful.
Since I’ve decided to wash off the filth stuck to the rag, I needed to distance the twins and those parasites eating away at the team as much as possible.
“Ha, it’s disgustingly hot! Seriously.”
Looking at Han Gang-rok, who was bent over and busy fanning himself, I spoke up.
“Hey, didn’t you hear?”
“Huh? Hear what?”
“You know the club that the seniors went to recently? I heard it was a gay club.”
“What the hell? Gay? Don’t joke around! The club they went to was called Orgasm. I heard it myself!”
“Do you think those guys would openly admit they went to a gay club? Of course, they bluffed. In reality, they went to another club nearby. I even heard they argued over who would take the centre spot when a girl group song came on. That’s why they aren’t talking to each other now.”
“No way… Is that true? I mean, I did notice that the seniors seemed a bit awkward with each other lately…”
His gaze quickly turned suspicious, though if he dug deeper, he’d find it was nonsense.
The awkwardness between them was because even the manager knew about it, which made them cautious.
But Han Gang-rok and his twin wouldn’t bother verifying the story.
“Come on, no way, right? Think about it, one of those seniors is even married!”
“Maybe he left to find true love. Just ignore it and don’t ask them directly, or you might get dragged into it too.”
“Ugh, shut up, you crazy jerk.”
Han Gang-rok jumped up, hugging himself with both arms, and his eyes turned icy as he looked over at the seniors cooling off in the training ground.
Disappointment mixed in his gaze. But the meaning behind it had changed.
Earlier, he had been angry that the seniors went out to clubs with women while he was stuck sweating it out at the clubhouse.
Now, it was contempt for those seniors who preached discipline while secretly engaging in such ridiculous behaviour, fighting over girl group songs at a club.
In any case, it worked to my advantage. With those remarks, the twins would gradually distance themselves from the seniors, even if subtly.
Suppressing a satisfied smile, I continued warming up, and just as I finished my stretching, the coach’s voice echoed across the training ground.
“The drills and position-specific training are mostly wrapped up. Let’s finish up with a practice match!”
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go, Han Gang-rok.”
“Damn. What if those guys start groping us while fighting for the ball? Hey, Ian, do you know how long the suspension is if you break a senior’s arm?”
It was funny to hear him worrying about something that would never happen, but I held back my laughter and headed to the centre of the field with Han Gang-rok.
***
The practice match followed a simple format.
Split into 11 vs. 11, each team played a short game according to the tactics assigned by the coach to become familiar with the strategies.
The coach didn’t participate in the game, with each team’s position filled by the assistant coaches instead. However, they didn’t intervene; they only monitored whether the players moved according to the system.
Their role was limited to observing whether the players understood the tactical details they’d drilled into during repeated training, so the players had more autonomy in adjusting their play to match the tactics.
‘It might look like they’re being neglected, but there’s no better way to see how the players will execute the tactics on the field.’
In an actual game, the coach directs from the technical area, but the perspectives of a coach watching from the sidelines and a player on the pitch are fundamentally different.
No matter how skilled the players are, reading the game’s rhythm and adjusting to the fast-changing tempo is never easy.
The coach knew this well, which is why he opted for this training approach—to develop the players’ ability to make active decisions in real-time without relying on external input.
If a similar situation arose in a real match, the players would be able to solve it on their own without the coach’s guidance.
It wouldn’t be easy, but with consistent training, the players would have their moments of realization.
With that belief, Oh Hyun-wook, the assistant coach of Jeonbuk Mirae Motors, watched over the field.
“I keep telling you! They’re feeding the ball to Yoon Seung-hwan! The winger pulls the ball on the side, drawing out the defenders, and then passes it into the central gap! So, we need to form a 5-4-1 defensive shape to block the intervals that open up when they attack! Got it? Then hurry up and move! Chun-jae! What are you doing there! Stop daydreaming and get back to your position! Yes, like that! That’s how you do it.”
“… What the? Only 15 minutes have passed? Did he figure out their tactics after just a few attacks and set up a defensive shape? That kid?”
I let out a half-laugh as I watched Baek Ian, among the players grimacing from conceding a goal, explaining things energetically.
At first, I thought I must have misheard.
It was because Baek Ian’s team wasn’t informed beforehand about how the opponents would attack.
All they were told by the coach was that the opponent would be using a 3-2-4-1 formation.
Naturally, the specifics of the tactics, and how they would build up their play, were things they had to figure out themselves as they played.
Is it possible that he not only figured out their intentions with a single attack but also devised a defensive tactic to counter it?
‘How? And it’s not even nonsense. He’s talking about a way that could genuinely neutralize the opponent…’
It doesn’t make sense. How could that even be possible? If this were later in the match, maybe—but less than 15 minutes have passed since the game began.
And we’re talking about an 18-year-old player who just made his semi-pro debut doing all this?
I was so astonished that I couldn’t find the words. Oh Hyun-wook’s admiration for this remarkable judgment was brief, even though it was the opposing team.
On the field, shocking scenes unfolded one after another.
“What? When did that happen?”
“What are you doing? Are you going to let the opponent’s volante advance? Press him! Don’t let him play freely!”
“Why is that guy so fast?!”
“There are three players on him, and you still can’t take the ball from him?!”
“I’m trying to block him, but he slips away so quickly! He’s fast, so what are we supposed to do?!”
‘What’s up with this guy? The scouting report I got before the call-up didn’t indicate he was this good.’
A promising player who just signed a semi-pro contract and was called up to the first team was managing to hold off veterans who had been consistently playing in the league until last season.
And it wasn’t just about defending.
Even during the basics of the buildup play, Baek Ian positioned himself in ways that made the opposition uncomfortable, and as soon as the ball entered the midfield, he completely tightened his hold on the team.
Tap!
“Ugh!”
“Why does he keep doing that?!”
Despite using a 3-2-4-1 formation to create a numerical advantage in the centre with four midfielders, it was their own team that was getting trapped.
Why? Was it because the players didn’t understand the 3-2-4-1 formation well? That could be part of it, but it wasn’t the main reason. From what I could see, they were clearly achieving numerical superiority.
So the explanation is simple.
‘Baek Ian… He’s the key to unravelling it all.’
Even when outnumbered, he used his dribbling to break through the pressure, and when that wasn’t possible, he actively involved his teammates to break out of the situation.
On top of that, he managed to join in the midfield battles and attacks while also handling his role of protecting and coordinating the back four without any issues.
Having seen this much, Oh Hyun-wook let out a laugh in disbelief.
‘No need to see more.’
The team was already trapped. Without adjustments to the tactics, they would just continue getting beaten down.
“Hey! You need to cover the second ball!”
“Ah!”
Thud! Smack!
“Well done, Ian! How did you manage to score from that distance?!”
“Wow, I didn’t think he’d shoot directly from there…”
When Baek Ian’s long-range shot aimed at the second ball flew straight into the goal, Oh Hyun-wook shook his head.
It was a truly dire situation, but a smile lingered on his lips.
‘He’s something special… I knew he was good since his youth days, but has he made a step-up since signing the semi-pro contract? This wasn’t in the scouting reports.’
To think that a potential player who might become the core of the team would reveal his talents here.
And he’s a defensive midfielder—one of the rarest positions in modern football.
In that case, losing a practice match didn’t matter at all.
“I wonder what the head coach thinks of this?”
After a moment of admiration, Oh Hyun-wook turned his gaze towards the head coach who was observing the situation from behind.
“…”
“Judging by his expression, it looks like the coach is satisfied too.”
He chuckled softly, looking at Seon Ki-baek, who was watching the field with a piercing gaze.
To an outsider, it might seem like he wanted to strangle a player for making a mistake.
But Oh Hyun-wook, who had spent years working alongside Seon Ki-baek, knew better.
That fierce look didn’t mean what others might think.
From the start, Seon Ki-baek’s eyes had been fixed on Baek Ian.
“…”
“This could mean a change in the starting lineup next season.”
When the coach looks at a player with eyes like that, it’s only ever because he’s found a player who fits perfectly with his vision.
—
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