Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 178

< The Sun Might Rise in the West >

“Good morning…”

“Good morning.”

“……Huh?”

Rubbing his eyes, Rohan came out of his room and suddenly woke up, sensing something was off.

The voice that greeted him wasn’t Dad’s or Mom’s, was it?

“Yohan?”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to go to training.”

“…Why are you?”

It was Yohan.

Yohan was munching on an apple and putting on his shoes.

Rohan wondered if he had overslept and checked the time again.

Nope.

It was early in the morning.

It wasn’t the time for Yohan to be awake.

No, wait a minute.

Getting ready to go to training?

Not only is he awake at this hour?

“Can’t I go to training? I’m a soccer player too.”

“…That’s true. But isn’t today your day off? You scored four goals against Chelsea.”

“There’s no rule saying I have to use it today.”

Today was Monday.

When Yohan played a game.

The number of times he went to work on a Monday could be counted on one hand.

Most of the time, it was only when he didn’t play in the game, and never the week after he played.

He earned training exemptions with every game he scored an offensive point, and he had been using them every Monday, so Monday was practically a day off for Yohan.

But now, Yohan was going to training.

What’s wrong with him?

“I’ll be back.”

“Uh… okay. Have a good day.”

Rohan scratched his head, seeing Yohan off.

I wonder what got into him.

The sun must be rising in the west tomorrow.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, Dad. It’s Yohan. You won’t believe it, Yohan just left.”

“Where to at this hour?”

“The training grounds. He said he’s going to train. On his own.”

“He, he did?”

Ban Seok-ho, who came out of his room after hearing the conversation from the living room, also widened his eyes.

Then, Ban Seok-ho chuckled.

“Is he trying to fool his dad?”

“Huh?”

“You have to tell a believable joke for me to even pretend to fall for it.”

“I’m not joking. Open Yohan’s room. He’s gone, I’m telling you.”

“…Really?”

At Rohan’s words that he wasn’t joking, Ban Seok-ho opened Yohan’s door.

He’s really not there.

He should be buried in that bed, fast asleep.

“…What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

Still, he’s a professional soccer player.

Yohan’s voluntary attendance was quite surprising.

*

Ban Seok-ho and Rohan weren’t the only ones surprised by Yohan’s attendance.

Of course, the West Ham players were also shocked.

“What, what is it? Why is Yohan here?”

“Yohan? Seriously?”

“What? Why did you come out?”

Everyone was beyond surprised; they were in a state of shock at Yohan’s appearance.

It was as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.

“What is it?”

“No, why are you here?”

“I came to train.”

“It’s Monday today? You have an exemption, don’t you? Four of them.”

“I’m going to save them for later.”

“…”

It was funny.

Everyone was treating Yohan like he shouldn’t be there.

Yohan also found his teammates’ reactions amusing.

Of course, the funniest was the manager’s reaction.

“…Huh?”

Schmidt, who found Yohan among the players preparing for training, rubbed his eyes.

He was already sad about getting older, but he wondered if he was already getting presbyopia [age-related farsightedness].

Or maybe he was seeing things because he wanted to see Yohan so badly.

“It’s really Yohan, isn’t it, Manager?”

“Right? I’m not going senile, am I, Jamie?”

Schmidt couldn’t believe it and even groped Yohan’s body.

“…What are you doing?”

“Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head while heading or something…?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“That can’t be. There’s no way a fine Yohan would come to training on his own…”

He looked perfectly fine on the outside, but he wondered if he had hurt his head from a bad header.

Otherwise, why would this guy?

But the surprises didn’t end there.

“I’m going to train the same way as the others today.”

“…You’re going to train with the same program?”

“Yes.”

See?

He must have hurt himself badly somewhere.

He was going to train the same way as the others.

Yohan had always trained with a separate program.

A task-oriented training designed just for him.

That’s why he always had different quitting times.

He could leave as soon as he finished his own stuff.

Whether it was completely independent like the goalkeepers’ training, or mixed with his teammates.

In any case, Yohan had never started training with all the players, trained with the same program, and left at the same time until now.

He had never even thought of making him do that.

But he was going to do it himself.

At this point, anxiety crept in before joy.

If a person suddenly changes, something’s up.

“Anyway… I understand. But keep one thing in mind.”

“What is it?”

“Once you start, there’s no quitting halfway. I won’t accept any whining, no matter how much you beg. Are you still going to do it?”

“Yes, well…”

At Yohan’s answer that he would still do it, Schmidt nodded.

Did he think his retirement was near?

Did he forget his annoyance with the mindset of his final years, thinking it was all over?

But he shouldn’t.

You should never lose your initial intentions.

Schmidt thought he should catch Yohan’s initial intentions today.

I’ll give you a taste of something.

I’ll make sure you never come to work on your own again.

*

Honestly, there was no particular reason.

He just suddenly had a whim today.

He just woke up early in the morning, and he had nothing to do, so he thought about going to training.

But, when he thought about it, that alone was very strange.

First of all, the fact that he woke up early in the morning was strange, and the fact that he felt bored because he had nothing to do was also strange.

To feel the emotion of ‘boredom’.

Moreover, to come out to train to relieve that boredom.

Even he thought it was really strange.

In the end, is a person an animal of adaptation, changing, and is he just an ordinary person?

I don’t know.

He just suddenly wanted to try it once.

That’s why he said he would train with his teammates.

“Why is training so hard today?”

“I know. It’s like pre-season training.”

Yohan regretted that choice just 10 minutes after training started.

He was wide awake.

He couldn’t help but think that he had been crazy for a moment.

Why did I say I would do this?

No, why did I even come to the training grounds in the first place?

I should have just slept at home.

I thought it would be good to experience it once, but not at all.

You don’t need to know this forever.

“…I want to go home.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Hahaha! Did you hear what Yohan said? He wants to go home.”

“Hey, hey. You can’t make such a fuss with just this much. It’s just the beginning.”

“We’ve been doing this all year round?”

Yohan, seeing his teammates laughing while wearing a death mask, felt that his teammates were amazing.

They’ve been doing this hard work all season long.

Moreover, the intensity of training was much stronger at the beginning of the season or during the pre-season.

Now that it’s the end of the season, high-intensity physical training is gone.

“I can’t do it, being a soccer player.”

“Man, are you kidding me?”

“Yes. From today, I’m going to respect all soccer players.”

“This job isn’t easy.”

Seeing Barkley patting Yohan on the shoulder, all the players burst into laughter.

He won the Ballon d’Or [annual football award presented by French news outlet L’Équipe] and now he realizes that being a soccer player isn’t an easy job.

Or the guy who tells the Ballon d’Or winner that being a soccer player isn’t an easy job.

“Okay, morning training is over. Everyone can rest and prepare for afternoon training.”

Anyway, when the morning training was over.

Yohan was thinking about how to get out of here.

However, he made a promise too confidently to the manager, so he wondered if there was a way.

He’s not the type to change his mind.

“Okay, everyone. Gather around. Let’s finish up.”

“But Captain. Should we include Yohan in this?”

“I know. If we include him, the balance will be broken.”

“We have to include him. It’s our rule that everyone does it without exception.”

He was just quietly packing his things and leaving, but he heard his teammates discussing something.

“Yohan! Come here. You have to follow the rules today.”

“What rules?”

“When morning training is over, we have a crossbar challenge to bet on drinks.”

“A drink bet?”

There is one rule that West Ham’s first team must follow.

When morning training is over, all the players gather together and divide into teams to do a crossbar challenge.

The losing team has to buy drinks for the winning team.

Yohan learned about this after two years.

Anyway, it’s a rule, so I have to do it.

“How should we divide it? The usual way, England vs. Continent?”

“Then England is too advantageous.”

“Hey, we’ve always lost, can’t we be a little advantageous today?”

“Instead, Yohan has to succeed 5 times in a row to be considered a success. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The team was divided into England vs. Continent, and Yohan belonged to the England team.

The rules of the crossbar challenge are simple.

Kick the ball from the end of the center circle and hit the crossbar to pass.

The players who pass are out, and the team with the last player remaining loses.

Today, a special rule was added.

Since the crossbar challenge is a piece of cake for Yohan, the rule is that he has to succeed 5 times in a row to pass.

“I’ll go first.”

The players started to stand in line one by one and kick the ball.

Bboeooeooeong-!

Shuuuuuuuuung-

“An impossible ball.”

Bboeooeooeong-!

Shuuuuuuuuung-

“Ugh, that was close!”

“Close my ass. It wouldn’t have hit even if the goal was twice as thick.”

Bboeooeooeong-!

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Taeaeaeaeng-!

“Wohoo, nice!”

“Wow, look at that luck.”

Someone succeeded on the first try, and someone failed without a chance.

Yohan chuckled as he watched them tease and belittle each other every time that happened.

West Ham is a young team, but most of them are much older than Yohan.

They were always serious during the game and gave the feeling of being older brothers.

But, looking at it like this, you can’t feel the age difference.

It’s like playing with friends of the same age.

It was a different feeling.

“Yohan. It’s your turn.”

“You said five times, right?”

“It’ll be hard even for Yohan, right? 5 times from this distance? You need the luck of the heavens.”

“Wooooooo-!”

“Are you booing Yohan?”

“Wow, you’re really trash.”

“What, what. It’s just because it’s the opposing team…”

“Even if it’s the opposing team, that’s too much.”

“Even I think that’s a bit…”

“I’ll clarify that it’s not the non-British team, but Petrovic’s personal opinion.”

Leaving the noisy brothers behind.

Yohan lined up five balls in the center circle line and started flying them one by one towards the goal.

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Taeaeaeaeng-!

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Taeaeaeaeng-!

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Taeaeaeaeng-!

“Crazy.”

“Is that even possible?”

Yohan continued to hit the crossbar without shaking.

His teammates were shocked again.

Is that even possible?

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Taeaeaeaeng-!

“Done.”

In the end, Yohan passed the challenge with five balls.

Then, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s even worth calling it a challenge. Is this difficult for everyone?”

“Wow…”

“You’re so annoying…”

“You’re such an aristocrat.”

“Did he catch the Capello disease [referring to Fabio Capello’s reputation for being arrogant and demanding]?”

“…This body has never been like that.”

Yohan chuckled as he watched his teammates sigh.

Teasing the brothers, this is fun.

It’s fun.

He regrets saying he would train, but there are some fun things too.

“I’ll just buy all the drinks.”

“Huh? Really?”

“I have the highest weekly wage, don’t I? Save your money.”

“Bro!”

“If you have a high weekly wage, you’re a brother.”

“Didn’t you just say I was annoying?”

“Shut up.”

The atmosphere of the training on this day, in which Yohan participated, was better than ever.

*

“How is it? Are you feeling better?”

“…Yes.”

“Okay. Always keep your initial intentions.”

“I understand.”

After finishing the afternoon training.

Yohan thought he should take the manager’s words to heart.

While doing today’s training, he realized that he should never lose his initial intentions.

I have to go back to my old self from tomorrow.

“Still, it was fun.”

“…Is that so.”

“Yes.”

Seeing Yohan saying it was fun, Schmidt chuckled as if it was bland.

To hear the word fun from that guy’s mouth.

Geez.

Today, this guy surprises people until the end.