Chapter 1.3
TL: Pineapple
Editor: Isalee
*Pang!*
"Wh-what?!"
Coach Jeon Sang Shik abruptly got up from his chair which caused it to topple over. It made a commotion, but no one seemed to care.
The more surprising thing happened on the court.
Looking at the green ball that was falling in the air, Han Woo Jin was felt a strange sensation.
"… Is this the special skill?"
The moment when Han Woo Jin had the intention of using Sparrow, his body moved against his will. His foot naturally moved back, he gripped his racket, and he swung as he grunted.
As soon as the greenish-yellow ball was about 30 cm above his head, Han Woo Jin"s body turned at a frightening speed that even he couldn"t follow. His wrist snapped in an incomprehensible direction as he swung his racket, and he was absolutely thrilled when he reached the end of the stroke.
Sparrow.
When he first heard the name of this skill….
Han Woo Jin"s racket launched the greenish-yellow ball like a missile to the other side of the court.
*Pang!*
Fast and straight to the point. True to its name, …
"This is… the special skill!
"World-cla.s.s athletes are able to perform feats that sometimes look inhumane! I myself can now do that!"
Lee Jin Seob, who was the one receiving the special technique, was confused. He was astonished by the speed of the ball, but then it suddenly moved even faster and the ball disappeared right in front of his eyes.
"Whwhat? Where did it go?"
Han Woo Jin"s racket fired a green light that was going straight, but it suddenly curved and disappeared from his eyesight, hitting the ground. It was a near 90-degree change in direction! It was practically magic considering the amount of force you have to put on the ball for it to spin like that.
Even if you knew where the ball was going to land, you couldn"t hit it. It was a magic ball.
Furthermore, the ball that was supposed to bounce back up after it hit the ground barely bounced back up at all and rolled past him.
Huh!?
The ball that was flying in the air was caught by the net in the middle of the court and fell to the ground. Lee Jin Seob, whose mouth was wide open, just watched the ball roll on the floor.
It was silent for a while. Even the referee didn"t announce the score as he too had his mouth wide open. The sound of the chair falling in the spectator area echoed as Coach Jeon Sang Shik stepped out in the silence.
*Kudadang!*
"Wh-what is that?"
He forgot to put on his usual grumpy face and his small eyes widened in shock. Han Woo Jin saw his expression was also surprised by his actions, but he couldn"t help but laugh after seeing his face.
He didn"t know the current Jeon Sang Shik, but in his previous life, he"d never shown that kind of expression before. He was now younger than before and not as mature. Jeon Sang Shik saw Han Woo Jin"s laughing face and he immediately controlled his expression. This was very shocking for him also to have changed his expression.
"… he is definitely the NK coach that makes the best tennis players in all of Korea."
Coach Jeon Sang Shik was also the man that would be leading the tennis team ten years from now. The media and the press praised him as a veteran coach that cultivated Choi Yeon Hyuk. Han Woo Jin had a bitter taste in his mouth, because although the coach saved him from getting kicked off the team, he wasn"t one of his most valuable players.
Woo Jin had no idea why but the coach was walking toward him in the noisy environment in a serious manner and shouted at everyone to be quiet.
"Quiet!"
Quiet…quiet…qui..et…
His voice echoed throughout the large indoor tennis court. The coach…
"Han Woo Jin, you pa.s.s. No need to finish your game. Wait until the rest of the games are finished. Okay?"
"Ah, yes Coach."
Han Woo Jin knew that he would be accepted but he didn"t expect it to happen in such a fashion. Therefore, he struggled to reply as he looked at the coach from head to toe.
It was strange that a player like him had feelings like the coach was more like his friend than a coach. Nonetheless, he was happy.
Jeon Sang Shik unconsciously looked at Han Woo Jin strangely as he smiled and put back the racket.
He turned his head and saw Lee Jin Seob walk towards the exit with his racket. Han Woo Jin turned his head. In sports, there were winners and losers. He won today. Tomorrow would be completely different. He could also end up losing.
Han Woo Jin went back to the waiting room where the other players had mocked him and those players that mocked him turned their heads as they couldn"t face him. They knew that they had made a mistake earlier and did their best to be respectful to him now.
But Han Woo Jin never paid any attention to them from the beginning. He went back to the seat that he sat in before. At that moment,
"Wow, Woo Jin, you"re pretty good!"
"Eh? Th-thank you."
Choi Yeon Hyuk came up to him and tapped his shoulder. Han Woo Jin surprised by his actions, and that made him stutter. He was the Choi Yeon Hyuk who would become the genius that would place 2nd in the Wimbledon tournament even though he didn"t know it now. He never had never spoken to him before. Maybe the previous Choi Yeon Hyuk never even knew that Han Woo Jin existed at all.
Han Woo Jin didn"t know what to say but his eyes shined brightly.
"I wonder what the future 2nd best player in the world"s stats are right now?"
In order to find out his stats, he needed one thing.
"Yeon Hyuk, you finished your exam right?"
"I already finished earlier. My opponent gave up, so I didn"t even get a decent warm up."
He didn"t remember the opponent but Han Woo Jin felt pity for him. Choi Yeon Hyuk was monstrously strong ever since he entered the company. He was a genius at serves, volleys, drop shots, lobs, everything.
"This is expected."
As soon as he grabbed ahold of the racket, he was able to see Choi Yeon Hyuk"s stats.
[Choi Yeon Hyuk]
Strength 57 / Stamina 60 / Agility 62
HP 2280/2400 SP 640/640
Forehand: 11/20
Backhand: 8/20
Serve: 9/20
Volley: 11/20
Smash: 9/20
Drop Shot: 8/20
Lob: 8/20
Special skills: ??? (volley)
He was a monster.
That was the first thing that popped up in Han Woo Jin"s head. His serve level went up by two because of his previous match, and the total of all his skill levels was 33. However, Choi Yeon Hyuk"s total skill level exceeded 60. In addition to that, two of his skill stats were at 9 and one was even at 10!
"Ha… I"m not that great."
Han Woo Jin was determined. He came back ten years from the future without knowing anything. He was just excited that he got another chance to become even better at tennis, but meeting him felt like he suddenly got dumped by a bucket of cold water which brought him back to his senses. Although Choi Yeon Hyuk was supposed to be the 2nd place in the future, he was still a genius, even now. It was truly laughable that he believed himself to be amazing since he came back to the past when there was someone like Choi Yeon Hyuk in front of him.
"That person said that I would be rewarded for my efforts.
"Then I will do my best. I"ll put in more sweat and effort than the previous ten years of my life." Choi Yeon Hyuk played a big role in awakening Han Woo Jin"s life without even knowing it. He was just overwhelmed by the look of Han Woo Jin"s eyes when he saw him gripping his racket.
The examination continued well after Han Woo Jin caused a stir. There was laughter and sobs as the losers quickly packed their things and left. There were other companies than NK anyway. Those that couldn"t pa.s.s the examination quickly gave up and decided to search for another agency.
When the test was finished, the number of people had decreased by half. Coach Jeon Sang Shik stepped up.
The players who remembered seeing him yell earlier were intimidated by him. If the players got into NK, Coach Jeon Sang Shik would be one of the coaches that would coach them so they were a little scared.
Only Han Woo Jin smiled and he looked at Jeon Sang Shik clear his throat.
"Why does that kid keep smiling at me?"
Coach Jeon Sang Shik looked at Han Woo Jin with a confused expression and then turned away. He looked very charismatic as he began his speech.
"From today on, all of you in this room are now a part of NK company as tennis players. In our country, tennis isn"t a popular sport. We all have the responsibility to spread the greatness and how enjoyable tennis is across the nation."
His speech was very concise but what he said was correct. The tennis players who are able to receive sponsorship from NK company have the responsibility to represent with their name and skills through professional tennis. If the player is unskilled or doesn"t meet expectations, then they will receive a couple warnings before they are let go.
But Coach Jeon Sang Shik"s speech wasn"t about the business model of the company. He was the NK company"s head coach, but he was also a pro player in his youth.
"There are four major tournaments in the world. Australia Open, France Open, England Wimbledon, and American Open."
How many tennis players dreamed of winning those tournaments? Among those four tournaments, world cla.s.s players from all over the world come to play in them. Currently, if someone ranked 16th, no, even 32nd in one of those tournaments, they would become the best player in Korea.
The other players didn"t understand why he was talking about those four major tournaments. Only Han Woo Jin and Choi Yeon Hyuk understood where he was going and they patiently waited for him to continue.
One of them knew that he could reach that level and beat it.
The other"s life goal was to have the chance of entering one of those tournaments.
Finally, Coach Jeon Sang Shik"s speech reached a climax as he spoke louder.
"Within ten years, I will make a player from this NK company who will attend those four major tournaments! No! Not just attend. I will make him win! Please, I hope that he must be one of you that are in this room."
The entire room was silent.
All the players" jaws dropped and they stared at him incomprehensibly as Jeon Sang Shik put down the mic and left the stage. Then the other players began speaking to themselves about how impossible that was. But two players in the crowd were fiercely determined to help make Jeon Sang Shik"s dream come true.
One man in the crowd had his fist clenched.
That man was Han Woo Jin.
The pa.s.sion for his dream that he had given up was now reignited.
/ /