1 – Realization
001
Ju Ji-tae looked around.
The field covered with artificial turf and the matchbox-shaped building beyond the goalposts. The weight of time seemed familiar, just as it always did.
“Hojin High.”
They say even a mountain changes in ten years, but is it still the same here after fifteen?
But why the sudden mention of Hojin High?
“Hey, you punk! Is this really Hojin High!? Wake up, it’s not a dream or a joke!”
The person shouting next to the touchline, his face turning crimson, was also familiar.
Ju Ji-tae muttered reflexively.
“Coach?”
“First time seeing the coach!? Move it, quickly!”
…What’s going on?
Despite his bewilderment, Ju Ji-tae made his way onto the field.
“Hey, Juji. Why are you so spaced out? Why the sudden daze?”
Feeling a shoulder nudge, Ju Ji-tae turned around to see the protagonist of the CF he had been watching just moments ago, looking about 17 years younger.
Once again, Jo Jae-shin, who could sense the unusual quicker than anyone, was the first to notice.
“Hey, what the hell’s going on suddenly? How old are we now?”
“What’s with this weird talk all of a sudden? 17, dumbass.”
“17… high school first-year?”
“So, are you a college student now? What’s this guy trying to pull again? Alright, if you’re fine, hurry back to your position. The coach’s throwing a fit again.”
The punch on the shoulder urging him to snap out of it was quite forceful.
…No, seriously, that hurts.
“What’s going on? Is this for real?”
He examined his arms and found his skin to be smooth and baby-like, free of any minor blemishes that had accumulated over the years. Even the Latin inscription he had etched as a cool statement had disappeared.
So, it’s true. The secret is out.
“Ah, this is a regression.”
It’s lucky I was at home; I almost got reincarnated into another world if I had been in a traffic accident.
…Wait, wouldn’t that have been better?
“Joo Ji-tae!! Do you want to defend like that, huh? If you want to defend like that, switch places!! Yong-chan! Go to Joo Ji-tae’s position!”
Hmm. I got it.
Looking at that rotten potato-like face, you must be the high school soccer coach Kim Suk-doo.
“Oh. It’s my first time as a midfielder.”
He had only heard the news of retirement, but Yong-chan, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, grumbles and changes his position.
The face he hadn’t seen in a long time was undeniably a regression, just like the face in memories.
‘Yong-chan, the senior’s position… center-back.’
Then, am I the center-back?
Joo Ji-tae played as a midfielder throughout his professional career. However, it’s not like he had no experience in other positions. In elementary school, when he first started playing soccer with Jo Jae-shin, he played as a forward, forming a striking duo.
As they say, someone who is good at anything knows how to be good, and Joo Ji-tae, who had a genius talent, showcased tremendous skills as a forward even in those early days. Enough to compete fiercely with Jo Jae-shin, who later became one of Korea’s greatest.
Joo Ji-tae started playing as a midfielder when he entered middle school.
Unlike the elementary school soccer coach who used a two-top formation, the middle school soccer coach used a one-top based tactic. Joo Ji-tae took on the role of a 1.5-line forward under that, marking the beginning of his midfielder career.
…He was not overshadowed by Jo Jae-shin in competition. Absolutely not.
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It’s just that Jo Jae-shin was a bit more technical and had a bit more decisiveness.
‘Suddenly feels shitty.’
Anyway, later on, he showcased outstanding talent in playmaking and became a central midfielder, a position that didn’t change in high school and even in his professional career.
There were subtle differences in the coach’s style, tactics, and the team situation, leading him to move forward or stay back a bit more depending on the circumstances. However, for over 16 years, Joo Ji-tae played as a midfielder.
Of course, he had no experience as a center-back…
‘Against these little shits, I can crush them no matter where I play. Damn it, I’m Joo Ji-tae.’
Well, it shouldn’t be impossible against high schoolers.
As long as he’s not the goalkeeper.
Above all,
‘Jo Jae-shin, you bastard. It’s perfect timing. I’ll play as a center-back and block everything. Just watch.’
He felt the urge to shut up the nonchalant friend waiting for the game to resume with a relaxed expression.
* * *
The game resumed with the coach’s whistle.
The starting members of the first team, without wearing vests, immediately passed the ball to the team ace, Jo Jae-shin.
Usually, at the youth level, having a clear ace whose presence is felt significantly is effective in the strategy of passing the ball to that ace. However, such extreme cases are rare. Moreover, passing the ball to a freshman is even more uncommon.
During the teenage years, there is usually a significant gap between each grade, and it’s common for the third-year students to be the core players, with outstanding second-year students taking on key roles.
But Hojin High School was different.
Hojin High School’s ace had been renowned as a prodigy since elementary school, represented by two freshmen, Jo Jaesin and Joo Jitae.
While the third-year students, on the brink of entering university, would usually consider accommodating the newcomers, the senior players had no choice but to acknowledge the ace freshmen, even if begrudgingly.
Performance, university entrance, all these matters hinged on the team’s results.
In this realm, it was more advantageous for a rotation member from a team that failed in the national league to progress academically than the ace of a team that had been eliminated.
It wasn’t just about being treated as an ace from the moment they arrived, or the coach’s tactics of directing the ball to these freshmen. Rather, the reality of their “academic progress” was more critical than anything else.
Hence, this season, according to Hojin High School’s adopted tactics, the players tried to pass the ball to the ace first.
The problem arose when the ace of the central midfield, Joo Jitae, who would receive the most passes, moved to the opponent’s side but played as usual, despite the directive.
“Oh… It’s not Joo Jitae. If I pass like this, they’ll immediately press. Hey, I don’t know. Just give it to Joo Ji somehow.”
“Ah, why are you in that space? If it were Joo Jitae, he would have come out to an open space to receive the pass. I don’t know, just give it. He’ll figure it out.”
“I feel like I’ll get robbed if I pass this. Well, it’s not my responsibility.”
However, the difference with just one ace was significant.
The tactics of the starting team, which usually focused on the playmaker gathering the ball in the playmaker position, were off from the start.
Only Jo Jaesin, the other ace left, was an attacker. Moreover, he was a forward.
No matter how skilled he was, isn’t it impossible for a forward to abandon the front and come down? Of course, that also depends on the tactics, but according to Hojin High School’s tactics, Jo Jaesin had to bring a lot of movement not just up and down but also sideways.
And this tactic revealed its flaws as soon as the linker who had been ghost-like, connecting the ball to Jo Jaesin with dribbles or passes in the middle, disappeared.
“Forward! Connect forward! Send it to Jaeshin! Ah, don’t just turn, you have to make a forward pass!!”
The gap between the starting team dominated by 2nd and 3rd-year students and the substitute team led by 1st and 2nd-year students was evident.
Despite that, the starting team couldn’t easily connect the ball to Jo Jaesin, and even if they managed somehow—
“Nice pass~”
“I’ll take it~”
“Great pass~”
Suddenly, Joo Jitae appeared like a lightning bolt, cutting off passes in the middle.
Once or twice might be acceptable, but within a mere 20 minutes, players were stunned by his ability to intercept passes in the middle as effortlessly as eating a meal.
“Who’s this guy? Did he always defend this well?”
“Oh, damn. What’s with that? What kind of future does he see?”
“What the hell. Dribbling, passing, pressure relief, and one-touch duels, wasn’t that it?”
“Idiot. Just that is already three skills.”
They weren’t fools, these players.
After experiencing Joo Jitae’s blocks a few times, they started making changes, such as switching from space passes to passes aimed at Jo Jaesin’s feet.
However, no method seemed to work against Joo Jitae.
Even in ordinary times, he had displayed talents far beyond the level of his colleagues, surpassing even Jo Jaeshin, but now it was simply overwhelming.
Watching, Coach Kim Seokdu of Hojin High even took off his stylish sunglasses and blinked.
“What the hell is this kid…? Why is he so good? Hey, Ju Jitae! Come here. Were you originally a defender?”
“No. I was a defender from the start.”
“But why are you so good!?”
“Just… call it talent?”
There was nothing to say since he had proven it in an unexpected way.
The coach called Jo Jaeshin.
“Have a 1:1 match with him.”
Alright.
Although he might excel in intercepting passes and positioning as a midfielder, a 1:1 match might be a different story.
As the coach thought, initially, Jo Jaeshin approached confidently, showing off his ball skills.
“Hey, Juji. You know it’s not going to work against me, right? Let’s take it easy.”
“You also know it’s not going to work against me, right? Let’s take it easy.”
Like old friends, the two often engaged in 1:1 matches, but the outcome was very clear.
The attacking player wins, and the defending player loses.
Both of them, as natural talents in soccer since childhood, had taken on aggressive roles from an early age, not only in soccer but in any sport—games were more fun when attacking than defending.
Why do players prefer laners over junglers or supports in League of Legends, and why are dealer champions preferred over tank champions?
Even if you lose the lane in League of Legends with a sword champion, and even if you lose the game by missing CS after losing the lane, it’s still fun to go back to the lane with a sword champion and carry the game by consistently securing solo kills.
That’s how these two were.
Geniuses in terms of individual skills, dribbling, and technique, they easily broke through when attempting penetration. Why bother practicing defense when the team asks for it? Both of them had never really tried defending properly until now.
Not only the forward Jo Jaeshin but also midfielder Ju Jitae.
Of course, this was during their first encounter.
No matter how far Ju Jitae was from the effort and discipline, with over 16 years of professional experience, he couldn’t help but develop defensive skills during his time as a midfielder. Combine that with his genius talent, and although Jo Jaeshin may be a talented player comparable to Ju Jitae, overcoming the second-round Ju Jitae, seasoned with 16 years of training and experience in the pros, was an impossible task.
Tap, tap.
Even a brilliant step-over—
“Ah~ Kimoddi~”
Lightly blocked.
A breakthrough with speed—
“Ah~ Geez~”
Blocked again by Ju Ji-tae, who has a similar speed.
“…What’s up? Why are you blocking so well today?”
No matter how exceptional one is, in a 1:1 confrontation, there’s never a 100% certainty. Occasionally, even in a match where the defender wins, the attacker might have had the upper hand, but in the 1:1 confrontations between these two, despite the attacker having the advantage at times— he was thoroughly defeated.
Jo Jae-shin had never pierced through Ju Ji-tae even once.
“Yareyare. To break through me, you’ll need at least 16 years~”
It was a strangely specific number, but no one paid it any mind.
They were simply astonished by Ju Ji-tae’s amazing defensive prowess.
And in the face of this shocking outcome, Jo Jae-shin’s face was colored with an indescribable expression.
“How…?”
Seeing Jo Jae-shin struggling, Ju Ji-tae realized.
‘Football is damn fun.’
Center back… it might be worth considering?
