Chapter 73
***
The district mayor cautiously glanced to the side.
Though she had deliberately dressed to look older, the skin that was almost painfully youthful—almost childlike—was hard to hide.
I’d heard that, although her father was the CEO, it was this girl who steered the company’s direction.
‘So both siblings are geniuses….’
This girl had created a messenger app used not only across Europe, but around the world.
The district mayor had seen plenty of people called geniuses, but it was rare to see someone this young running a company.
The German government wasn’t stupid enough to let talent that had rolled into their lap slip away.
Once they had moved away from family-run secrecy and accepted the shackles of investment, there was no need to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs with needless scrutiny.
In fact, the company they ran had grown rapidly and was now preparing to go public on Nasdaq in the United States.
Where they chose to list was the company’s business, and as long as the headquarters stayed in Germany, they decided not to interfere.
‘She’s acting like she’s seen the future or something.’
She was certain about the future.
She felt no fear and no hesitation.
She raced ahead, convinced of the path she was taking.
‘Investing in cloud and AI….’
He didn’t really understand why they had bothered moving headquarters here, but if the region developed, that would be good for him as district mayor.
Yanik Foyt’s goal went in, and the district mayor loudly sang Union Berlin’s chant.
He wasn’t a Union Berlin fan from birth. In fact, the district mayor had only started supporting Union Berlin recently.
There was some calculation behind it.
‘There are twenty thousand votes here alone….’
Politicians live and die by votes, after all.
***
The match was unfolding in Union Berlin’s usual style.
Naturally.
The two teams were in completely different weight classes.
‘Sure enough, being five-star means he’s more aggressive and sharper than usual.’
Yanik Foyt’s relentless threat on goal was impressive.
He had seemed ordinary in training, but in a real match, Yanik Foyt was like a hunter on the prowl.
Clank─.
I turned toward the metallic clink ringing in my ears and looked down at my ankle. A bling-bling silver anklet caught my eye.
I was sealed to the bench again today, as always.
‘Last time it was my right arm, and this time it’s my left foot.’
It felt like I’d become a sealed Exodia.
‘…I, Park Chan-hyeok, will always remember this.’
While I was clanking away, silently voicing my discomfort, Yanik Foyt’s shot tore through the net.
It was Union Berlin’s opening goal.
At the corner flag, Yanik Foyt was doing a pregnancy-themed celebration, and Daniel Teixeira unshackled him once the celebration ended.
Apparently, Yanik Foyt had prepared a celebration for his girlfriend, and the squad had promised to help him with it.
“…Wasn’t I supposed to do it too?”
“It’s a precaution.”
Geez… not even German, and he really likes precautions.
***
The DFB-Pokal second-round match between Union Berlin and Paderborn continued.
“Immer wieder Eisern Union!(Always Iron Union!)”
Union Berlin’s fans began singing the chant at the top of their lungs.
Objectively speaking, Union Berlin’s system had a lot of shortcomings for a second-division side.
Since being promoted to the second division, they’d improved quickly, but catching up in a short time to systems other teams had built over decades was difficult.
But matches aren’t played with systems.
The quality of the squad Park Chan-hyeok had carefully selected, and the passion of the fans, were on another level.
Taken altogether, Union Berlin was simply strong.
Their current league position proved just how strong they were.
League standings may not mean much in the DFB-Pokal, but by that logic, Union Berlin had even taken down a first-division veteran like Leverkusen.
“Hart sind die Zeiten und hart ist das Team. (The times are hard, and the team is hard.)”
The fans took pride in having bled to keep the club alive.
“Darum siegen wir mit Eisern Union. (That’s why we win with Iron Union.)”
They believed that no matter what crisis came, if they stood together as a wall of steel, they could get through it.
Of course, there were still many obstacles ahead, but they had already endured countless hardships together, so they had no fear.
“Yaaaanik──!”
Yanik Foyt slipped into the space behind the defense once more.
Robert Lewandowski’s pass headed toward Yanik Foyt.
‘This is insane. His movement is on a whole different level than before.’
A smile played at the corner of Lewandowski’s mouth as he made the pass.
It felt like the moment you think you’ve learned everything, the opponent levels up once more.
‘For the time being, I’ll have plenty to watch and learn from.’
After taking the ball, Yanik Foyt found himself in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper in an instant.
[Yanik Foyt! It’s a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper! Yanik Foyt, Yanik! ]
Yanik Foyt immediately swung his right foot through the ball.
He had already decided on the direction of the shot in his heart.
Bang─.
The ball that left Yanik Foyt’s toe
curved.
and made the net ripple.
“Scheiße─!”
Leaving the goalkeeper’s curse behind him,
Yanik Foyt ran toward the corner flag once more.
***
Yanik Foyt tried to remember the feeling of playing in the match.
At the moment, his movements belonged to the realm of uncalculated instinct.
‘It’s a little different from usual.’
Exactly what it was, he couldn’t say, but it felt like “something” had changed.
Yanik Foyt kept moving, focusing on memorizing his current sensations.
‘I need to rack up as many goal bonuses as possible….’
Having become a father, he kept battering Paderborn to earn money for formula.
[Hat trick! Yanik Foyt completes the hat trick!]
[Receiving Son Hong-min’s pass, Yanik Foyt finishes it off!]
Right before the final whistle, he succeeded in completing his hat trick.
***
The DFB-Pokal match against Paderborn ended in a huge win for Union Berlin.
[Union Berlin overpower Paderborn 4-0.]
The score was 4-0.
Possession was 76 to 24.
Against a fellow second-division side, Union Berlin had utterly dominated.
“Immer wieder Eisern Union!(Always Iron Union!)”
Union Berlin’s fans were thrilled by the result.
“You’re the best!”
Satisfied with the performance, the fans stayed after the match for a while, savoring the afterglow of victory with the players.
“Manuel Schmidt! Fußball God!!”
Union Berlin’s fans called each player’s name one by one and praised them as the best.
The players shared the joy of victory with those fans.
“Chan~~~hyeok!!!”
Among Union Berlin’s members, though, the most popular by far was Park Chan-hyeok. As soon as the interview ended and Park Chan-hyeok approached the stands, the cheers doubled.
“Best manager!”
The fans’ support for Park Chan-hyeok was, in a way, only natural.
Back in those despair-filled days, the contract between Park Chan-hyeok and Thomas Tuchel had been what started Union Berlin’s transformation.
Thomas Tuchel, who had led Union Berlin into the second division, had left for Bayern Munich, but Park Chan-hyeok was still there for them.
Park Chan-hyeok had perfectly filled the void Thomas Tuchel left behind, and the team was cruising along with good results.
It was only natural for the fans’ support for Park Chan-hyeok to rise.
***
[Union Berlin, the stands ablaze with support….]
└ Wow, holy crap, look at that atmosphere.
└ For real, if you watch it live, the support is insane.
└ If you travel to Europe, this is a place every Korean has to visit.
└ Union Berlin fans are kind to you if you say you’re Korean.
[Union Berlin, unbeaten in 13 home matches….]
[‘Hat-trick’ Yanik Foyt shuts down feud rumors….“My girlfriend recently got pregnant. The manager gave me some time off because of that.”]
└ They seriously called this a feud?
└ German journalists are just like Korean ones.
[Park Chan-hyeok, despite feud rumors with Yanik Foyt, stays silent about why….“Because that’s the team. And I am the captain of this team. As captain, I have a duty to protect my crew.”]
***
Even after the match against Paderborn, Union Berlin kept piling up points.
[Union Berlin overpower Freiburg 1-0. ‘Yanik Foyt’s winning goal.’]
[Yanik Foyt bags a brace against Alemannia Aachen. The team, unfortunately, settles for a draw.]
[Yanik Foyt strikes again! Powered by Yanik Foyt’s hat trick, Union Berlin crushes 1860 Munich 4-0.]
Unlike the fans who cheered the club’s fireworks display every match,
the staff in charge of the club’s finances began to go pale.
I had set Yanik Foyt’s scoring bonuses way too high.
‘…I didn’t know. Back then, I had no idea he’d do this well!’
Since coming back from vacation, Yanik Foyt had been scoring in every match, going on a goal spree.
Including the hat trick against Paderborn, he’d scored nine goals in four matches.
I don’t know the exact details, but according to the finance team, just the scoring bonuses alone had already eaten through two months’ worth of Yanik Foyt’s wages.
I began a dress rehearsal to persuade Yanik Foyt using the doll.
‘…Looks like I’m going to have to go back on the contract.’