The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 270

The emotional roller coaster.

Dada-dak-.

With the opening ceremony just a week away, Jin Seon-gyu, whose mental state was fluctuating wildly, sat on the football stadium bleachers, his legs shaking alternately.

‘Is he at it again?’

Jin-hyeok, who was checking the schedule, narrowed his eyes.

There was no way he could miss that with his wide field of vision.

‘But after watching him for a while, I get it.’

It wasn’t to loosen up his body, but an action caused by his anxiety.

It was a gesture he often saw from Jo Seul-chan and Yeom Byeong-taek during their junior and middle school days.

– “That’s all because you guys don’t train hard enough.”

That was what he heard when he met Coach Seo Pil-gu, who had joined the team late in Atlanta. He had said something similar when he briefly stayed at the athletes’ village.

It wasn’t a remark aimed at anyone in particular.

It was just a grumble, expressing his frustration with his juniors who couldn’t break his records for a long time.

– “You have to keep killing yesterday’s you today, and tomorrow’s you today. You’re stepping on yourself like stairs. Only when you reach that level will you lose your fear. That’s what they call confidence. I started track and field at your age with the mindset of ‘Damn it! I’m going to die doing this! I won’t let anyone stand before me!’ But these days, the juniors only train enough to be moderately tired, just enough not to get criticized by the coaches. But I can’t force them to do more when they say it’s hard. They’ll just run away.”

Seo Pil-gu was the person whose thoughts were most similar to Jin-hyeok’s among those he had met in track and field. As a side note, coincidentally, Jin-hyeok was born in the year Seo Pil-gu set the Korean record. So, Seo Pil-gu had held the Korean record for the 100 meters for over 17 years.

– “But I don’t think our athletes are lacking. The tall and strong guys go to other sports early on, so all that’s left on the track are guys under 180 cm [approximately 5’11”]. They’re hitting their physical limits because of their height, it’s not that our guys are slow.”

He made a face like he had lost his country while saying that.

– “It’s not the main problem, but being complacent at the top of the domestic scene is something that needs to be fixed. There aren’t any guys with experience in big competitions. If you look at China and Japan, they always have one or two guys going to the World Championships. You gain experience by going to big competitions, and then you get results. The juniors follow that example, but…”

Seo Pil-gu said that he should be saying these things to the federation or the media, but it was sad that the only person who would listen was a distant junior. He said that while discussing ways to improve the basic sports system, those in suits who weren’t athletes gathered and whispered among themselves.

– “Who knows if they’re playing Go-Stop [a Korean card game] or drinking? Looking at the results they produce, it’s like they’re talking in their sleep.”

He only stayed at the athletes’ village for a day, but he shared his serious concerns and many thoughts, and he was disappointed that he couldn’t see Jin-hyeok’s training. So, they made a promise to show him his training later.

– “But do you really not have hydraulics in your knees? Are you a Terminator or something?”

He was a good person, but also a bit strange.

Why would you touch someone’s knee while saying that?

Whew-, as he blew away his long thoughts with an exhale, reality once again assaulted his eyes and ears.

Hodal-dal-.

Rustle-rustle-.

The vibrations from Jin Seon-gyu’s legs made the schedule in his hand flutter.

‘He’s scared.’

It’s not that he was ignoring Jin Seon-gyu’s talent and effort, who had even made it to the national team.

The anxiety Jin Seon-gyu was feeling.

To Jin-hyeok, it was the anxiety and fear of someone who hadn’t reached the level of mastery, as Seo Pil-gu had said. If you were to dissect Jin Seon-gyu’s muscles, you would find that the training he had done moderately under the supervision of the coaches and directors, according to their programs, made up his muscle fibers.

‘But he’s still amazing.’

Paradoxically, it’s amazing that he’s achieving his current results with just that much training.

As expected, Koreans’ talent in any field is just on another level.

People who have lost their wildness by being accustomed to the system.

There are many talented people who don’t get a chance to shine and are buried, which is why the world doesn’t know.

Be good, the nail that sticks out gets hammered, be a model student, be a filial son.

‘It’s because my senior hasn’t had a chance to break out.’

A faint sigh escaped him at the thought.

Hong Gi-jun had replaced the sports leaders five years ago, but Jin Seon-gyu, who was already an adult, didn’t benefit from it and probably trained the way he had learned in high school. Out of inertia and habit.

After observing him for two weeks, Jin Seon-gyu stretched, looking around as if he was trying to read the room. His stretching movements were familiar and ingrained, but he wasn’t properly loosening his muscles, it just felt like he was doing it mechanically because he was used to it.

‘It’s too late.’

There’s no way to break the shell of that finished athlete now.

If they had trained together a year earlier, it might have helped.

“Senior, what’s your best practice record?”

“10 seconds flat.”

Unlike his anxious demeanor, his answer was firm and concise.

Jin-hyeok nodded involuntarily.

As expected, it seemed that his mental state was preventing him from showing his great skills in competitions.

Jin Seon-gyu rustled the team assignment sheet.

“Jin-hyeok is in the fifth group, and I’m in the ninth.”

“Senior, who are the notable athletes in your group?”

“Linford… Why is this guy here…”

Ah, Linford Christie.

An athlete who was showing his veteran skills at the age of thirty-six. Along with Canada’s Donovan Bailey, the gold medalist at the previous year’s World Championships, he was one of the most successful British sprinters in recent times.

‘So that’s why he was so intimidated?’

Even though it’s an individual event, the mental aspect is important, so the lineup of competitors you run with is also important.

Jin-hyeok quickly scanned the names of the athletes assigned to Jin Seon-gyu’s group.

Besides Linford Christie, there was Andre Silva from Brazil, and from the Republic of Cyprus, which is called Cyprus…

‘Zisimides?’

It must be a Greek name. It was an unfamiliar script, but he had definitely heard the name before.

Jin Seon-gyu also pointed at each athlete’s name with his finger.

“This one is… Benancio Jose?”

“Benancio Jose. He’s a Spanish athlete.”

Including the Spanish athlete Jose, there were four top-level athletes.

Jin-hyeok scratched his cheek and made a playful expression.

“It seems doable, doesn’t it?”

“Really?”

Jin Seon-gyu’s face brightened at the casual remark.

As expected, his emotional change speed was world-class, if nothing else.

“You’re not even a second slower than him, senior.”

“Aish-”

Why, what? It’s the truth.

Jin-hyeok, who lightly dodged the flick Jin Seon-gyu gave him, returned to a serious expression as if he had never joked.

“It’s presumptuous of me, but…”

“Huh? No! It’s not! Please, say something!”

What the heck?

How nervous must he be to act like this?

“There’s nothing more you can do now. All you can do is bring out the abilities you have to the fullest. But even just bringing that out, I think you can pass the preliminary round.”

Jin Seon-gyu made an ‘hmm’ sound and nodded.

“Just passing the preliminaries would be historic.”

In a sport where the 0.01-second battle at the start becomes a 0.5-second difference in the latter half.

The key to controlling that unpredictable turning point is simple.

How easily can you shake off the pressure at the starting line?

Many people see the superhuman starting speed and think, ‘Wow! Those athletes don’t even get nervous!’ but the pressure that has built up inside them is revealed in the 30-meter section after the start, where they rapidly increase their RPMs.

That’s why even world-class athletes can’t perform to their full potential. Because the accumulated stress holds them back.

In severe cases, some athletes even limp in that section due to muscle spasms or ankle injuries.

“You need to relax.”

“That’s easier said than done…”

This cancer-inducing mental senior is wobbling like a cephalopod again.

Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch him drop the tension I’ve worked so hard to build up!

Jin-hyeok kicked off his chair and stood up.

‘Playing is the best way to relax.’

The best game for track and field athletes, which raises body temperature and clears away the shadows through laughter.

It was something he often did to relieve the tension of Jo Seul-chan and Yeom Byeong-taek.

Jin-hyeok, who had jumped up, moved to the short track set up in one corner of the indoor stadium and raised his voice. Towards the legend he had become friends with while hanging out at the football stadium.

“Hey! Carl!”

*

When men with similar interests and talents gathered, a playground transcending race, nationality, and age unfolded.

What was unexpected was that the instigator was Son Jin-hyeok, who didn’t like playing or betting.

Men who have served in the military would be familiar with betting for drinks, but it seemed fresh to these people who hadn’t. Carl Lewis and the American sprinters responded enthusiastically to Jin-hyeok’s suggestion to have a long jump competition for drinks.

Dada-dak-!

Whew-!

The 35-year-old veteran, Carl Lewis’s body, soared up.

Puhwak-!

“Carl!”

“Whoo!”

“Carl!”

“Fucking thirty feet! Yeah-!”

As Jonathan hyped up the atmosphere, the other athletes responded by waving their fists.

‘He’s just like Carl Lewis.’

Jin-hyeok nodded after confirming Carl Lewis’s record of just over 9 meters.

A few days ago, when he saw him from afar when he entered the football stadium, he had doubted his eyes.

An athlete who won four gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and two gold medals each at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

But when he realized that this was America and that it was being used as a training ground for the national team, he just felt grateful for Jonathan’s kindness. How many Koreans would get to meet the legendary Carl Lewis, shake his hand, laugh with him, and run with him? Only two, including Jin Seon-gyu.

He was also grateful to Carl Lewis, who didn’t ignore the foreign rookies and smiled and shook their hands first.

He was the athlete he had been most interested in since returning, to the point of giving Jang-gun the nickname ‘Dog Lewis,’ and he was also the athlete who held the record that Jin-hyeok had set as a short-term goal.

His best record was 9.86.

It was a record he had set in 1991.

Jin-hyeok aimed to surpass that record in this competition.

– “Of course you can do it! You’re young!”

The encouragement Carl Lewis, who was starting to look like Samuel L. Jackson as he got older, gave Jin-hyeok with a hearty laugh was more valuable than anyone else’s support.

After all, he was like an idol to him.

“Son-! You saw my record, right!”

Sseon-!

When Carl Lewis called Jin-hyeok, it wasn’t by his last name, but with the nuance of calling him his son. It must be because of the age difference, which was almost double.

Jin-hyeok gave a thumbs up and turned his eyes to Jin Seon-gyu.

An idol is an idol, but that senior is really…

“Hehehehe-”

Jin Seon-gyu, who was engrossed in the long jump competition and had a smile on his face instead of tension, laughed like a fool in the air.

Puhwak-!

“Yeah-! Kkyuuuuuuuu-!”

Unlike the cheers, Jonathan gave a thumbs down with an duck-butt pose.

“Hey, you bastard! You jumped pretty well, you bastard. Hehehe-”

Jin Seon-gyu jumped about 7.5 meters.

He was behind Jonathan, who jumped 7.8 meters, but it was definitely not a bad record.

He had narrowed his stride to avoid overdoing it, and he had barely stepped on the board to prevent injuries, yet he achieved a great result that would be seen at a national competition.

“Whew-. I don’t have to buy drinks! Good luck, Jin-hyeok!”

If the bet ended like this, he would have to compete for last place with Michael Marsh, who had barely exceeded 7 meters because he was being careful.

Jin-hyeok, who had received Jin Seon-gyu’s support, stood at the starting area.

“Yeah-! Sooooooon-!”

Jonathan was being a pest from afar.

He was just being a pest, to the point where there was no other way to describe it. Like Jang-gun chasing butterflies.

He had practiced long jump for fun with Gom-jim and behind the house, but this was the first time he was jumping in front of world-class athletes. And Carl Lewis, no less.

Hehe-.

It was definitely real, but it felt unreal, and a laugh escaped through his lips.

Tat-! Tat-! Tatatat-! Bababak-!

Are you watching from heaven, Chicken Johnson! Look at the approach skills I’ve developed thanks to you and Dog Lewis!

Kwajak-!

He stepped on the board properly with the ball of his foot.

Whooong-.

He felt like he was flying in the sky.

The augmented reality created by the sound of the wind brushing past his ears in the football stadium where there was no wind.

He flew faster, higher, and farther than anyone else.

Even more than his idol, Carl Lewis.

When everyone was gaping as if time had stopped, Jin-hyeok, who had cut through the air alone, scattered sand spectacularly.

Chwaaak-!

‘It came out about the same as usual.’

After checking the record, Jin-hyeok threw an uppercut celebration towards the empty stands where only the American coaching staff was sitting. They would understand that he wasn’t cursing.

9.5 meters easily.

“What the…”

When Jonathan trailed off, Carl Lewis let out a scream.

“Bwoooooo-!”

Jin-hyeok, who had brushed the sand off his butt, shrugged with an indifferent expression.

“I’m not competing in the long jump, Carl.”

Don’t worry, be happy.

It was a normal result that he usually produced, but it must be amazing to these guys.

“Oooo…, my junior.”

Jin Seon-gyu, who had been spacing out, took an awkward stance like Jeong-won when he had pooped.

And in that stance, he circled around Jonathan.

“Wooyeaaaaaaa-! Sooooooon-!”

In Jeong-won’s stance, doing something like Jonathan… He was like Jang-gun…

It felt like only strange people were gathering around Jin-hyeok, but it must be just his imagination.

Well, it seemed that the goal of relieving Jin Seon-gyu’s tension had been achieved, since he was being more of a pest than Jonathan.

Jin Seon-gyu, who had been chirping like a chimpanzee with Jonathan, came over and put his hand on Jin-hyeok’s shoulder.

“Jin-hyeok, let’s do this often. It’s so much fun doing something other than training.”

Is this guy treating the Olympics like a joke…

*

The final tempering.

Thanks to becoming friends, he was able to give his all comfortably even in front of the American athletes.

Pouring out every ounce of strength hidden in his body in 10 seconds, and pouring it out again.

“Ughhh-! I’m going to die. Isn’t this too brutal!”

“No, it’s not. Get up.”

Hueok- Hueok-.

It wasn’t easy for Jin-hyeok, who was pushing him.

“You should have expected it if you looked at the schedule.”

“No! I didn’t! Absolutely not!”

They spent several days repeating hellish training and heavenly rest.

The opening ceremony was just around the corner.