Ho-young's eyes curved gently with satisfaction.
It wasn't just because he had done well in the medical test. What pleased him most was the growth in his height compared to last year.
Just four months ago in November, he had been right around average. But now, he had grown by 7 centimeters.
A solid 158 cm.
'I'm above average now.'
He had finally caught up.
At this rate, he might even surpass 170 cm next year.
The growth plate test predicted that his growth would likely finish between ages 16 and 17, so it wasn't too far off.
'This is thrilling.'
And it was something new.
In his previous life, he had never had this.
Height.
Just imagining having a model-like stature made him incredibly happy.
But the smile on Ho-young's face quickly faded when Coach Carlos came to find him.
"Starting next month, you'll be training at the main building."
"…!"
In other words, he was being promoted to the U15 team.
Ho-young was genuinely stunned by the sudden notice.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about the possibility, but he hadn't expected the news to come right after the medical test.
"I'll be taking over the team starting in March."
"Ah… I see."
"What's wrong? You don't want to?"
"Not at all."
Ho-young was thrilled.
But that didn't mean he could show it openly.
Was it pressure?
Definitely not.
"I realized something while I was in Germany."
He spoke calmly, as if confessing.
Carlos narrowed his eyes.
'He doesn't seem uncertain or nervous.'
So what was it?
Carlos could see there was something on Ho-young's mind.
"What did you realize?"
"A new kind of football. And I'll probably have to learn and adapt to a new style again in U15."
"So that's what's worrying you?"
Ho-young shook his head.
It was quite the opposite.
"I'm excited. And confident. But maybe that's why I'm a little nervous too."
"A good kind of worry. A sportsman should never let their guard down."
A new environment.
Carlos believed that a true sportsman should never underestimate the situation and must always be ready to adapt.
"You'll experience a different kind of football with U15. You'll have to adjust to the league's style. But more importantly, you need to blend your skills into that style."
"Understood!"
Ho-young's eyes grew sharper with determination.
Carlos liked that about him.
The humility and the genuine love for football.
It had only become more apparent after his trip to Germany.
It felt like his mentality had matured.
A quality rarely found among Brazilian youth.
"Anything else you want to ask about? Or anything you'd like to request?"
"Ah, first of all, thank you for offering the promotion. But there's something I'd like to ask regarding the contract."
Carlos immediately noticed the look in Ho-young's eyes.
"What is it you're hoping for?"
"Thirty-one… I'd like that to be the number."
For a moment, Carlos imagined a blue 100-real note in his head.
A total of 3,100 reais.
That was about 2.1 million won.
"You want a weekly wage of 3,100 reais? That's insane."
Carlos twitched his mustache uncomfortably.
But Ho-young quickly followed up.
"I meant appearances. The medical team said I'm physically capable of playing 31 matches this season."
"Ah… you meant a match guarantee?"
"Of course. What else?"
"Ahem. No, forget it."
Carlos felt like he had just taken a hammer to the back of his head.
He had almost mistaken Ho-young for someone obsessed with money.
"Don't worry about that. The club will support you however it can for your development. Now that the senior league is over, I'll even look into the tutoring system for you."
"Thank you so much. I'll give it everything I've got!"
As Ho-young stood to leave after thanking him.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Carlos asked,
"If you do transfer in the future, do you have a club in mind?"
If Ho-young performed well this season, it was certain that offers from top clubs would come in.
That much was guaranteed.
Promising talents in Brazil were almost destined to move to Europe.
But Ho-young's answer was unexpected.
"I'm not thinking about that right now."
He figured he'd decide on the direction when the time came.
Right now, setting sail was the priority.
So,
"I'm going to focus on the present."
A perfect answer.
A few days later, on a weekend when the heat began creeping in.
Ho-young stepped foot into the main building of the Barra Funda training center.
"Welcome."
It was Bianca, the TSN manager he hadn't seen in a year.
She still carried an air of elegance.
"You've changed a lot, Ho-young."
"Haha. Have I?"
"You've gotten much taller. And more importantly, your salary has gone up too, hasn't it?"
His weekly wage.
Since he was now part of a higher-tier team, it made sense for his pay to increase as well.
For the next three years, Ho-young's weekly wage would be 1,010 reais after tax.
Triple what he made last year, which came out to about 700,000 won.
Of course, he could still renegotiate or transfer at any time.
'For a 12-year-old, 700,000 won per week…'
Considering that Messi was earning around 1.88 million won a week at age 17, this was quite generous.
And there were bonuses.
Top scorer, Golden Ball, 10 Man of the Match awards.
He'd earn 150 reais each for appearance bonuses and goal bonuses.
Ho-young reviewed the contract carefully.
'Okay.'
As written in the contract, he was guaranteed 31 appearances, just as he requested.
He had no complaints.
If the club had tried to lowball him, that would be another story.
But São Paulo FC was a club that knew how to take care of its own.
They didn't want to lose Ho-young.
Maybe that's why.
"The buyout clause went up too?"
The buyout clause had jumped from 5 million to 10 million reais.
Bianca commented.
"That's a reflection of your value, Ho-young."
As always, he was at the maximum cap.
Saturday, April 3rd.
The rain that had fallen almost every other day began to let up, and the skies slowly cleared.
It was one month before the national league began.
And today was the day the U15 squad officially assembled.
'Things are about to get hectic.'
An intense schedule lay ahead.
Brazilian football differed greatly from Europe's, particularly in the number of matches.
True to its football-obsessed reputation, Brazil packed in 10 months of relentless fixtures.
'National league, state league, FA Cup, South American Champions, Super Champs. Jeez…'
Even U15 was no exception.
A season would typically consist of at least 70 matches. In some cases, it could go up to 80.
Compared to Manchester United, who might play around 65 matches in a busy season, it was a heavy load.
It was a double-edged sword. While it gave young players more opportunities, teams without deep squads often saw their starters wear down quickly.
So naturally, training schedules were intense.
The U15 training ground located in the main building was already buzzing with activity.
Just like the start of a new semester, players were full of energy but also visibly anxious.
'The vibe is totally different.'
It wasn't outright hostility, but players whose positions overlapped with Ho-young clearly weren't thrilled about his arrival.
Even in a league with so many matches, competition for starting spots was inevitable.
Especially in the South American Champions League, where scouts from all over the world watched closely.
The best players would seize those opportunities.
That's why the U15 players weren't exactly welcoming toward Ho-young.
Everyone already knew about the Asian boy who had dominated the U13 league and was now promoted.
Among the five promoted players, Ho-young was clearly enemy number one.
But Ho-young didn't care.
Rather than wasting time picking sides and playing mind games, he'd rather kick the ball one more time.
That had always been his style.
The same at Cha Boom FC. The same at U13.
He simply focused on doing what he had to do.
Sooner or later, the team would come to accept him.
And with Casemiro and Douglas around, he didn't feel alone.
However—
'What is it?'
Someone had been staring at him for a while, and it was bothering him.
The boy was wearing a hoodie, so Ho-young couldn't make out his face clearly, but he looked about the same age.
Ho-young decided to go say hello.
But the moment he took a step forward.
"What are you staring at?"
"…?!"
The boy snapped irritably out of nowhere.
He got up from the bench and walked straight toward Ho-young.
Then looked down at him.
Most would be flustered by such an intense eye-to-eye confrontation, but Ho-young just thought the guy was a bit eccentric.
But then—
'Huh!'
After seeing the thick caterpillar-like eyebrows and intense eyes, he realized who it was.
'So this is where you were…'
The boy standing before him was the current ace of the U15 squad, who had transferred to São Paulo earlier this year.
He would later be called one of Brazil's top three prospects and was once even praised by Pelé himself as "a player destined for greatness."
But for some reason—
'Hmm…'
Ho-young got a weird feeling, like this guy was going to be trouble.
It gave him a bad vibe.
The boy had a reputation for having a pretty bad attitude.
Still, Ho-young wanted to at least introduce himself.
But just then, a whistle rang out across the field.
The signal to gather.
Pweeep!
The assistant coach called the players together, and soon, Coach Carlos began his briefing.
He gave a brief overview of the brutal training they'd be doing all season, and explained that today's focus would be on team-building exercises.
"Since we have new players joining, we'll focus on teamwork for now."
The morning program was set.
The players would split into two teams and play a match, with team members shuffled every so often so everyone could build chemistry.
A teammate now might be an opponent five minutes later.
Coincidentally, Ho-young was placed on the opposite team from that boy.
The ace versus the rising star.
Tension hung in the air.
Pweeep!
The match began the moment the whistle blew.
But then—
"… Wh-what!"
"Huh!"
"Hey! Stop him!"
The existing U15 players were in disbelief barely a second into the game.
Because the young Asian boy launched forward the moment the ball was kicked off.
Tap!
Ho-young.
He looked like a wild stallion.
With speed rivaling that of Kaká, he deftly penetrated the open space, faster than most adult players.
It happened so suddenly that the defenders didn't even have time to react.
They had assumed it was just training and let their guard down. That was their mistake.
Unable to mount a proper challenge, the defenders opened up like a parted sea.
The net rippled right after Ho-young struck a mid-range shot.
Thud!
A wondergoal.
An overwhelming performance that took immediate control of the game.
The boy watching scowled.
"Tch. What a show-off."
His expression said, bring it on.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)