CS 03

Chapter 3

 Something More Important Than Money (2)

Nothing in this world lasts forever.

Love, power, and the value of money are prime examples.

Of course, the Korea Football Association was no exception. Even the absolute power of the president of the Korea Football Association, which had remained untouched despite the association’s endless blunders, eventually proved unable to overcome the passage of time and public sentiment.

[“Just five votes.” Park Jeong-seon elected president of the Korea Football Association with a narrow 48.8% majority.]

[A New Wind Blows Through Korean Football. What Does the Future Hold for Korean Football?]

[Miraculously Elected Park Jeong-seon: “Many things will change, from the very beginning to the very end.”]

The newly elected president of the football association, like his predecessor, was a businessman by background, but he was quite competent when it came to handling affairs.

He poured money into youth development and made the processes for appointing managers and selecting players transparent.

He was receiving favorable reviews for addressing, one after another, the very issues that had frustrated Korean soccer fans for so long.

Of course, that didn’t mean Korean football suddenly became dramatically stronger.

Korea was still treated as a weak team at the World Cup, continued to fail to win the Asian Cup, and suffered heavy defeats fairly often whenever it faced a powerhouse.

That would remain the case for at least the next twenty-five years.

In other words, at least until I retired as a soccer player.

Anyway.

The Football Association was currently sparing no expense when it came to youth development.

And this “Spain Study Abroad Project” was part of that youth development initiative.

It was an overseas training program in which Korean youth prospects were given the opportunity to showcase their skills directly to scouts from Spanish clubs that the association had recruited in advance. The players who caught the scouts’ attention would then be sent to Spain to train with the clubs.

I believe they had even discovered a world-class striker through a similar study-abroad program in Germany in the past.

Well, the reason didn’t really matter.

What mattered was that this study-abroad program was open to anyone with the necessary skills, and those who seized the opportunity would receive generous support.

Full coverage of study-abroad expenses, visa issuance, Spanish tutoring, and so on.

The benefits were practically endless.

And that was precisely why I intended to apply for the program without hesitation.

That’s right.

Who in this world doesn’t like getting something for free?

“Director Kang.”

Kang Jun-young, the director of Haneulsarang Orphanage, couldn’t help but be surprised when one of the residents suddenly came to his office.

It was common for him to call a resident into his office to scold them for something they had done wrong, but the opposite almost never happened.

“Hmm, it’s Do-in. What brings you here?”

Kang Jun-young gave the third-year middle school student a kind smile and gestured for him to sit down.

That might have been partly because he was the director of an orphanage supported by Christians and personally practiced Christian teachings.

But more than anything, it was because this particular resident was one of the children he was especially fond of.

As proof, he was the only child in the orphanage who had been allowed to participate in an athletic program simply because he was good at playing soccer.

Though, if one wanted to be precise, it would be more accurate to say that he was favored because he was good at soccer.

Anyway, the resident in front of him opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Of course. Go ahead and tell me.”

“I don’t think it’ll be easy for me to keep playing soccer after I enter high school, will it?”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jun-young let out a quiet groan.

There was a reason he couldn’t immediately give a positive answer.

Elite sports were expensive.

Soccer was no exception.

The cost of equipment such as soccer cleats was a given. There were also monthly team fees to pay, not to mention dormitory expenses or the cost of renting buses and other transportation.

If all of that was calculated over three years, several million won would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Naturally, there was no way the orphanage could afford to pay such a large amount.

In the first place, if the middle school soccer coach hadn’t been a fellow church member, this child’s soccer career would have ended in elementary school, regardless of favoritism.

Because of that, Kang Jun-young had been planning to choose an appropriate time soon and gently explain that continuing to play soccer in high school would be difficult.

But then—

“You seem to have figured it out already.”

Despite the seriousness of the subject, the resident answered without hesitation.

There was even a hint of composure in his voice.

“Our orphanage doesn’t receive that much funding, after all. And soccer teams cost a lot of money.”

“Hmm…”

“So, I was thinking about applying for this.”

As he spoke, the resident held out the phone he had been carrying.

The screen displayed the Korea Football Association’s website, with the following announcement:

[Recruiting Applicants for the Spain Football Study Abroad Project (2nd Program).]

The announcement explained that selected players would be sent abroad for one year to a Spanish club that the Football Association had recruited in advance.

What caught Kang Jun-young’s attention was that the association would cover all expenses.

He took his eyes off the phone and looked at the resident again.

“It says that the association is going to show promising players to scouts from Spanish clubs and send the players they consider promising to Spain for training. The program lasts one year, but it says the period can be extended depending on the club’s wishes.”

“……”

“Most importantly, it says right here that the association will cover all the study-abroad expenses. If that’s the case, couldn’t I continue playing soccer without becoming a burden on the orphanage?”

A concise explanation.

A clear objective.

Kang Jun-young was slightly surprised.

Had this child always been this good at speaking?

He briefly thought that children really did grow up quickly during adolescence, but Kang Jun-young soon spoke carefully.

His proposal sounded reasonable enough on the surface, but things in the real world weren’t quite that simple.

“Do-in, you know this yourself, but very few children who play soccer actually become professional players.”

“I know. It’s probably less than one percent.”

“Exactly. And that’s the probability even for children who have abundant resources and devote both money and time to soccer. You, on the other hand, don’t have a particularly favorable environment. I understand how you feel, but honestly, don’t you think it would be better to start taking your future a little more seriously now rather than focusing on soccer?”

Every resident of the orphanage had to leave once they graduated from high school.

As the director, Kang Jun-young couldn’t help worrying about him.

What if this child continued playing soccer but failed to become a professional?

Three years later, the only thing this child might have left would be the few million won in settlement money provided to help him establish himself independently.

Wouldn’t it be better to have him focus on studying from now on and at least try to get into a good university?

He wasn’t a stupid child.

Even though he was a little late, there was still time for him to take another path.

But the resident calmly opened his mouth.

The determination in his eyes made it clear that he had already made up his mind.

“Director Kang, I’ve thought about this enough before coming to you. I’m grateful that you’re worried about me, but I have no intention of giving up soccer.”

“……”

“Please. Give me permission.”

“Hmm…”

With a sigh, Kang Jun-young closed his eyes for a moment and continued thinking.

Meanwhile, Kang Do-in—fifteen years old physically, but forty years old mentally—calmly looked down at the director.

There was nothing particularly intimidating about this situation.

He already knew that despite all this deliberation, the director would eventually give him permission.

In his previous life—his former life, that is—he had faced a situation similar to this one.

Back then, after becoming an adult and leaving the orphanage, he had asked to receive his independent settlement money in advance so that he could use it to pay the high school soccer team’s fees.

Even then, however, he didn’t have enough money, so during every school vacation he had gone from construction site to loading and unloading jobs just to make ends meet.

Anyway, compared to that, his current proposal was far more reasonable.

At least he wasn’t asking for several million won to be advanced immediately.

And, just as expected, Kang Jun-young eventually sighed and nodded.

“…Well, after you’ve gone this far, it would be a little unfair for me to keep opposing you.”

“Then you’ll give me permission?”

“I’ll allow you to apply for this study-abroad program for now. But do you think you can actually get selected? Looking at this, the competition seems like it’ll be pretty fierce.”

Kang Do-in grinned and shrugged.

The fact that Kang Jun-young found that smile rather arrogant was probably just his imagination.

“Don’t worry, Director.”

Although I had lost all my wealth and career after returning to the past, I had never felt anxious about whether I could rebuild them.

I had spent more than twenty years as a professional, after all.

Even if people considered the Saudi league to be relatively weak, it was still the strongest league in Asia.

I had scored more than 700 goals there.

On top of that, I had played for the national team and performed quite well at the World Cup.

I had never once thought that I lacked the competitiveness to stand alongside players playing in Europe.

In fact, after my performances at the World Cup, I received offers from major European clubs fairly often.

Of course, none of those transfers ever materialized because their salaries didn’t match what I wanted…

But that’s not important, so let’s move on.

Anyway, as long as the know-how I had accumulated over the years remained in my head, I should be able to perform as a professional player in this life as well, provided I avoided injuries.

For the same reason, I was confident that I could be selected by one of the Spanish clubs in this study-abroad project.

As long as the scouts evaluating me had their eyes properly attached to their heads, there was no doubt about it.

But that was something only I knew.

Right now, as a middle school student, I wasn’t exactly a highly regarded player.

“I heard you want to apply for the overseas study program organized by the Football Association?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

All I had to do was look at my coach’s indifferent reaction to understand that.

Right now, I was merely a winger who had earned a starting spot at a weak middle school.

A player who was fast but short and weak in physical contests.

I’d been lucky enough to get selected for an age-group national team once, but even then, I had done nothing more than warm the bench.

That was how I was currently evaluated.

Of course, my evaluation would change completely once I grew taller and bigger in high school and moved to the center-forward position.

But there was no way my coach could know that.

To him, my request might simply look like unfounded confidence.

Still, there was nothing I could do about that.

There were more than a few players dreaming of studying soccer in Spain, and the Football Association couldn’t possibly accept every applicant.

Thankfully, I had at least been selected for an age-group national team once.

That was an enormous stroke of luck.

“Well, there’s no reason you can’t apply. You got permission from the director, right?”

“Yes.”

“All right, then. I’ll let someone I know at the association know. I’ll tell you as soon as the official notice comes in.”

Fortunately, my coach quickly approved my request and gestured for me to go out and train.

I bowed my head and left the office.

He was a good man, both then and now.

Looking back, there were certainly some things I didn’t like about him, but I couldn’t deny that he had taught me soccer throughout middle school without charging me a single penny in fees.

Anyway, with that, I had cleared the biggest hurdle.

Now all I had to do was get myself into shape for the day of the big trial.

Regardless, my body had become small again after once having grown considerably, so I needed to get used to this smaller body as quickly as possible.

“Hey! Kang Do-in! Aren’t you going to hurry up and get over here? Aren’t you training?”

“Sorry.”

The moment I stepped outside the building, I heard the coach’s irritated criticism coming from the field.

The field covered in cheap artificial turf.

The coach drunk on his own authority.

My middle school teammates with their youthful faces.

All of it made me truly realize that I had returned to the past.

“Everyone ready?”

“Yes!”

“Don’t half-ass your shots just because it’s training! Anyone who misses or fails to finish with a one-touch shot does ten push-ups as a penalty! Got it?”

“Yes!”

At the coach’s shout, the players gathered in front of the box and prepared to begin the drill.

The exercise involved exchanging a one-two pass with the coach standing in front of the box before immediately taking a shot without controlling the ball.

Of course, the coach decided the location of the pass himself.

Considering that being able to aim for goal from any position was a basic requirement for a striker, it wasn’t an unreasonable training exercise.

Although his manner of speaking was a little rude.

“Kang Do-in! Go!”

Using the sharp clap of the coach’s hands as my signal, I passed the ball to him and ran forward.

I occasionally felt a sense of disconnect from my smaller body, but there was no problem when it came to kicking the ball.

Tap—

I passed the ball to the coach directly ahead of me and ran forward.

The return pass headed toward the left side of the penalty area.

From my position, advancing from the center, there was hardly a more difficult place from which to attempt a first-time shot.

Still, this much was easy enough.

“Hup!”

Using the momentum of my run, I continued toward the ball and swung my left foot without hesitation.

The goalkeeper had apparently recognized that my shooting position was unfavorable.

Rather than coming forward to narrow the angle, he decided to hold his position and prepare to block a shot toward the far post.

If that was the case, then the answer was practically decided already.

Bang!

The ball struck the instep of my left foot and tore toward the upper corner of the near post at a frightening speed.

The trajectory must have been completely unexpected because the goalkeeper couldn’t even react.

Hmm.

Even by my own standards, it had been a pretty good shot.

“That shot was fucking insane.”

“Couldn’t he barely use his left foot before?”

“He must’ve practiced by himself. If he’s not paying any fees, he needs to at least have some skill.”

On my way back to my original position after the shot, I heard the players whispering as they watched me.

They were half-mocking me, but they weren’t wrong, so I didn’t bother responding.

What could I do?

After all, being looked down on for having no money and no parents was a long-standing tradition that had continued throughout every era.

Ah, life was better when I was playing in Saudi Arabia.