Chapter 54: Jealousy (2)

“Alright, take a short break, then we’ll have a practice match.”

At Manager Peter Guardian’s words, everyone stopped training and began to rest right where they were.

The morning session started with light stretching and moved on to ball control and dribbling drills.

Ederson and I had also completed additional specialized goalkeeper training.

Now, all that remained was the practice match, which could be called the highlight of training.

“Hey Tae-woo, what are you thinking so hard about?”

Guerrero came up beside me and asked.

“You don’t need to know.”

‘I’m thinking about what to do with that guy…’

I glared coldly at Ederson, who was gathered with his close teammates in the distance.

If it was just him being grumpy with me without affecting the team, I might have let it slide.

But seeing him trying to create factions by dividing players into those he’s close with and those he’s not… I don’t think we can be on the same team anymore.

“By the way, why is that guy picking a fight with you so much?”

Even the usually dense Guerrero had noticed how blatantly Ederson was ruining the team’s atmosphere.

Sanchez, who was listening beside him, chimed in.

“I know, right. It’s not a good look for an adult to act like that.”

‘I have to show him in training… that with his current behavior, he can never challenge for my spot.’

“Ahem… don’t make such a scary face, bro.”

“Huh?”

When I looked to the side, I saw Guerrero and Sanchez looking at me as if they were fed up.

“Tae-woo… we’re close now, but let’s get even closer from now on…”

“So suddenly?”

Seeing Tae-woo’s cold expression, a chill ran down Guerrero’s and Sanchez’s spines.

‘It was like a demon rising from the depths of hell. The murderous intent felt in those pitch-black eyes… I never want to see it again.

If he glares at me with those eyes, I might actually die.’

‘Let’s never fight with Tae-woo.’

The two of them exchanged glances and had the same thought.

If they ever had to fight with Tae-woo, they would drop all pride and unconditionally get on their knees and apologize.

Tae-woo’s gaze towards Ederson went beyond simple anger or hostility.

It had something that stimulated a person’s primal fear.

Of course, unaware of this whole situation, I was just puzzled.

‘Why are these guys acting so weird all of a sudden? They’ve been strange since this morning… Did they eat at Castillo’s house yesterday or something?’

---

“This is so frustrating.”

Ederson sat on the training ground during the break and let out a heavy sigh.

That kid had shown brilliant saves again today.

He didn’t want to admit it, but his skills were definitely special.

‘Hah. It’s not even funny.’

Why had he, who was once called the best prospect, ended up like this…

Last season’s slump.

He never thought he would be replaced just for that.

And by a mere 18-year-old goalkeeper at that.

When City was in its worst crisis, he had appeared like a savior.

The phenomenal saves he, who was called the best prospect in the German league, had shown.

Thanks to that, the team had escaped the relegation zone and climbed to the mid-table.

‘Super Save Ederson!’

‘The roars of the adoring fans are still vivid in my ears, but now…’

He clenched his fists tightly.

If that kid had been even a little bit humble, if he had looked up to him as a mentor and tried to learn,

or at least if he had started from the second team, he wouldn’t have been this angry.

But that arrogant attitude, as if the starting spot was his from the beginning…

‘Just you wait, kid. I’ll soon make you realize how harsh the professional world is.’

The previous evening, Ederson had quietly called Ramirez over.

He too had recently been pushed to the bench by a younger defender.

“Ramirez, you can’t be happy with this situation either. That kid is completely destroying our team’s hierarchy.”

“So what do you want to do? The manager already trusts those guys over us.”

Ramirez’s voice was a mixture of resignation and anger.

“That’s why I’ve got something in mind…”

A faint smile appeared on Ederson’s lips.

“An idea?”

“Tomorrow, during the practice match, we create a set-piece situation and…”

“Hey, wait a minute. You’re not thinking of taking him out, are you? Those guys aren’t even twenty…”

“Ramirez, do you remember the sweat we shed for City? The time we dedicated to this team…”

“…”

“But the manager and the fans have completely forgotten our dedication, and now they’re giving the starting spots to these young kids…”

Ederson’s voice grew lower. His eyes were filled with unbearable anger.

“They gave away our starting spots. Without a single word of discussion with us. Can you accept this? Everything we’ve done for this team… just ends like this?”

A moment of silence followed.

Ramirez seemed to be deep in thought.

“Fine. I’ll help you.”

And finally, he spoke.

Just as the conversation from the previous evening flashed through his mind, a whistle blew in the distance.

“Alright, let’s start the practice match!”

The coach’s booming voice echoed across the training ground.

Ederson exchanged a look with Ramirez.

A dark resolve was settled in their eyes.

‘It begins now.’

Ederson slowly walked towards the goal.

Across from him, Jeong Tae-woo stood in front of his own goal.

‘Take a little rest in the hospital, kiddo.’

***

“What’s with that look in his eyes?”

I muttered, looking at Ederson standing in the opposite goal.

‘It’s as if he’s about to take someone out.’

I thought for a moment, then shook my head.

‘No matter how stupid he is, a goalkeeper wouldn’t try to take out another goalkeeper.’

But my keen intuition was sending danger signals.

‘Still, I should be careful.’

And so the practice match began.

“Tae-woo, I’m definitely getting past you this time, so be ready!”

“Haha, if you can.”

Tweet—

The kickoff started with the sound of the whistle.

Team B had the first kick.

The practice match is a training exercise conducted on a field about half the size of a real one.

The two teams, divided into starters and substitutes, play against each other.

The starting team plays to understand tactics better, while the substitute team plays harder than anyone to show their abilities to the manager.

Naturally, the starting team is more skilled than the substitutes, so it’s not a balanced match,

but it was an essential training for the substitutes to get a feel for the game and learn tactics.

Team B’s midfielder quickly dribbled the ball upfield.

The starting defenders put on pressure, but Team B’s passing was surprisingly smooth.

‘Team B is pretty good today.’

In an instant, Team B’s striker broke through the defensive line.

As if calculated, a precise through pass from the midfielder pierced through the defenders.

The striker trapped the ball without hesitation, and a one-on-one chance was created in an instant.

‘Huh, looks like a planned play.’

He didn’t shoot right away, but kept mixing in feints to try and deceive me.

Whoosh— Whoosh—

The way he lightly tapped the ball with the tip of his foot, creating a rhythm, was unusual.

‘Who was that… his movements are better than I thought?’

He held onto the ball until the very end.

He kept feinting, taking one step at a time, waiting for me to make the first move.

Whoosh— Whoosh—

‘It seems like he wants me to come out instead of shooting… In that case—’

I used my long limbs to narrow the angle, quickly closing the distance to the striker.

Seeing this, he chipped the ball upwards as if he had been waiting for it.

It was a chip shot I often used myself.

A chip shot is a high-difficulty technique where you lift the ball just high enough to be out of the goalkeeper’s reach when they come out, and it requires a precise feel for the ball.

And his chip shot was so well-executed that if it had been before I grew taller, it would have been difficult to block even if I had anticipated it.

But for me, who had grown taller thanks to the God of Football, it was a position I could just barely reach.

‘Besides, I was ready to jump, expecting a chip shot.’

The moment I recognized it, I jumped as high as I could and stretched my hand upwards.

Thwack!

As I made the super save with my overwhelming height, everyone from both Team A and Team B clapped and expressed their surprise.

“Wow, he blocked that too!”

“No way, the chip shot should have gone in perfectly!”

“Looking at him now, I think he’s gotten a bit taller.”

I shrugged my shoulders as if it were nothing and threw the ball back onto the field.

But I didn’t miss the momentary distortion of Ederson’s expression in the opposite goal.

‘I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but please, just don’t. I’m not that nice of a person.’

My personality had mellowed out a lot recently, but in my Kim Chan-ki days, the nickname ‘Fighting Cock’ followed the ‘God of Football’ title.

To survive in a situation where I was facing racism on top of everything else as Kim Chan-ki, I had to return everything they did to me, no, I had to give it back twofold.

And that’s the same now that I’m Jeong Tae-woo.

I’m not nice enough to go easy on someone who’s trying to harm me.

On the contrary, my way is to return the favor with double the damage.

Time passed, and just before the end of the game,

the ball went off Team B’s Ramirez and crossed the line, leading to a final set-piece situation.

“Tae-woo, you go up too.”

At the manager’s words, I went up, but I couldn’t hide my suspicion.

‘It was a ball he could have easily caught, but it was as if he let it go on purpose…’

As I approached the opponent’s goal, I sensed an even stranger aura.

A peculiar expression was on Ederson’s face.

While Matias was preparing for the corner kick,

I saw Ederson and Ramirez subtly looking at each other and positioning themselves.

The moment the ball came flying,

thanks to my enhanced reaction speed, I could see their movements in a single glance.

Ederson and Ramirez were running towards me simultaneously, their elbows aimed at my face.

‘These b*stards… were they trying to make it look like an accidental collision during a set-piece struggle?’

But my body was much faster than I thought.

I instantly twisted my body to avoid their elbows, leaning as if I were falling.

And in the process of getting tangled and falling, I put my full weight into it, aiming for their ankles and knees.

Making it look like an accidental fall, but making sure it hurt.

“Crack!”

“Kraaaahk!!”

A sound like breaking bones and a scream echoed across the training ground.