The boy's name was Kang Min-Jae. He was 16 years old and had come from South Korea only a few months earlier.
Min-Jae's father, Kang Dae-Hyun, was once a professional footballer in Korea. He had played as a winger for several years and was known for his speed and aggressive attacking style. Unfortunately, a serious knee injury ended his career earlier than expected.
After retiring from football, his father opened a small sports equipment store in their hometown. The shop was not very successful, but it was enough to support the family with difficulty. Min-Jae's mother, Park Seo-Yeon, worked as a fashion designer, spending long nights sketching clothing designs and sewing garments to help earn extra income.
Min-Jae also had a younger sister named Kang Ji-Eun. She admired her older brother very much and always told her friends that one day he would become a famous football player in Europe.
Growing up in such an environment, Min-Jae naturally fell in love with football. His father often trained with him when he was young, teaching him basic techniques and telling stories about European football leagues and legendary stadiums.
Those stories slowly turned into a dream.
A dream to one day play professional football in Europe.
After many attempts and several trial requests sent by his father, Min-Jae finally received an opportunity to join the youth training program of Hércules CF, a historic Spanish club currently competing in the third division of Spanish football.
For Min-Jae, this opportunity meant everything.
However, reality was far more difficult than he had imagined.
Most players in the academy had trained professionally since childhood. Their technique, tactical awareness, and physical ability were far superior to his. Even during simple training drills, Min-Jae often struggled to keep up with the others.
Although he trained harder than anyone else, the coaches rarely paid much attention to him.
So far, he had not been selected for any official youth team matches.
The coaching staff had already hinted that if his performance did not improve significantly before the next evaluation period, he might not be allowed to continue in the academy.
If that happened, he would have no choice but to return to Korea.
Every time he thought about his parents' sacrifices and his sister's proud smile, Min-Jae felt a heavy weight pressing on his chest. That was why he came to the park every evening after team training ended, practicing alone long after everyone else had gone home.
Today was no different.
After finally completing nearly four hundred consecutive ball juggles, Min-Jae stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His legs felt slightly numb from the constant movement.
At that moment, Ding a sound went through his brain with somewhat his body lost control as some thing entered his body.
Instinctively, Min-Jae raised his hand to shield his face, but the light seemed to pass directly through him, like a brief spark of lightning entering his mind.
His vision went dark.
The next thing he knew, he heard a voice calling beside him.
"Hey, kid, wake up. Are you alright?"
Min-Jae slowly opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged man crouching next to him with a worried expression.
"you seems like in pain" the man asked.
Min-Jae quickly sat up and shook his head.
"No, I'm fine. just tripped over ."
The man looked at him carefully and asked, "You suddenly collapsed just now. Are you sure you're okay?"
Min-Jae nodded and slowly stood up. Apart from a slight dizziness, he didn't feel anything unusual.
After confirming that the boy was alright, the man eventually left.
Min-Jae dusted the dirt off his clothes and looked at the football lying on the grass. Even though he still felt a bit confused about what had just happened, he decided to continue training.
After all, practice was the only thing he could rely on.
When he tapped the ball with the tip of his foot again, a strange sensation suddenly appeared in his mind.
The angle was slightly wrong.
The force was a little too strong.
Before Min-Jae could fully understand the feeling, the ball bounced away to the side.
He stared at it in surprise.
"Was that… my imagination?"
Curious, he picked up the ball and began juggling again.
His touches became softer.
The rhythm became smoother.
The football moved up and down between his feet with increasing stability.
Before he realized it, several passers-by had stopped to watch him.
They watched the young boy skillfully juggling the ball again and again without letting it fall.
When Min-Jae finally stopped after more than 100 passes, the small crowd around him even applauded.
Min-Jae stood there, slightly stunned.
His ball control had never felt this precise before.
It was as if his body suddenly understood football in a completely different way.
He didn't know what had caused the strange change.
But one thing was certain.
Something inside him had awakened.
And perhaps, for the first time since arriving in Spain, his dream of becoming a professional football player no longer seemed impossible.