"You know," Coach Matsumoto had said, seeing the exhaustion on Ryo's and Kazuki's faces. "This was supposed to be light training, not an all-out brawl."
Now that Ryo felt like melting into his bed, he regretted not taking it easy during the training. However, since it was the day after their previous match, Matsumoto prioritized rest and held only one practice in the morning. Thanks to that, they would be free from physical activity in the afternoon, but unfortunately, their training wasn't over. It simply became tactical training instead.
During the season, they didn't focus as much on training the players' tactics. During practices, the coaches often offered suggestions on their style of play or briefly talked through tactics, but that never became a centerpiece of their training; at least not until Ryusei's first Nationals.
Two weeks after winning the Regional tournament, Coach Matsumoto introduced this. In short, he said the team's understanding of tactics was passable, but it needed to be much better for the national tournament. Sadly, Ryusei lost in the first round to Seiwa Elementary, so their efforts didn't go far. Only after the tournament did Matsumoto properly implement training for the team's tactical knowledge.
As a result, the team would soon be doing "classroom learning," as Assistant Coach Takigawa liked to call it, in the afternoon. Once they left the practice field, they would have lunch and a short break before heading to one of the several clubhouses in Camp Atsu for classroom learning.
"Don't worry about us, Sensei," Kazuki said with his usual smile, although the exhaustion was clearly showing all over his face. "As long as we can eat good food, we'll be all recovered for your teachings."
Even now, this idiot is spewing his usual nonsense. But I guess I did accept this idiot as my friend.
"What are you doing, Kazuki?" Ryo said, his voice rising as he pointed at his friend accusatorially. "You can't address 'Master' as a mere 'Sensei'! If you want his teachings, you must bow and beg him!"
"Ah, of course," Kazuki responded frantically, immediately dropping to his knees and groveling to Matsumoto. "Master! Please forgive this disciple's rudeness! This disciple humbly asks for your guidance and wisdom!"
This is hilarious; only Kazuki could pull this off. Where did he even learn these words anyway? It's not like they taught us that in school yet. Ryo wondered, wholeheartedly praising Kazuki's commitment.
Meanwhile, Matsumoto seemed to have a look that hovered between confusion, disgust, and resignation.
"If you two have enough time to make a fool of yourselves, then make yourselves useful and help clean up," He said simply as he turned around and left.
Once Matsumoto was far away, Ryo began chuckling to himself. Most of the time, he didn't join Kazuki in his antics, but every once in a while, Ryo indulged him. For Ryo, it was refreshing. In his second life, he had been blessed with good health, friends he'd never had before, and his younger body. Being a child again, why shouldn't he sometimes take advantage of that carefree life and have fun?
"Ryo!" Kazuki bounced back to his feet excitedly. "What did Coach's face look like? I didn't see if he laughed or not."
"Well, he didn't show much…" Ryo started, but saw Kazuki's beaming face next to him. "But I think he was holding back laughter."
"Really? That makes me so happy."
Well, that's not exactly the truth, but I can't just spoil his mood. Ryo thought, watching Kazuki hum as he took off his cleats.
"Should we keep calling him 'Master' th—"
"Don't get too carried away, Kazuki," Ryo interrupted before Kazuki's thoughts became too dangerous.
Kazuki quickly laughed it off as a joke, and Ryo sat down next to him and also changed shoes. The entire team had brought their own bags and would change into clean clothes before lunch; it was hard to stay focused when your clothes were full of sweat and dirt after all.
Inevitably, Ryo's mind drifted to their upcoming game. One big reason Matsumoto introduced classroom learning was to study how their opponents played. Their training today would likely cover their next opponents, Kyoto City FC.
I don't remember much about this team from previous years. Are they a team that made it to Nationals for the first time this year?
Suddenly, Ryo's face brightened as he remembered something. That's right! I got another stat level-up notification!
{Player Stat Increase!}
—[Dribbling: 59 —> 60]
Ryo looked at the translucent screen, clearly moved by the notification. His stats had come a long way since his first year, and ever since then, it had gotten harder to raise his stat level. Although he had leveled up a few stats during their first game, outside of Nationals, his stats leveled up a lot slower.
{Player Stats}
{Overall: 54}
—(Player Rank: C)
{Agility: 55}
—[Acceleration: 57]
—[Jumping Power: 52]
—[Top Speed: 56]
{Ball Control: 57}
—[Dribbling: 60]
—[Feinting: 57]
—[Trapping: 56]
{Defense: 55}
—[Defensive Pressure: 61]
—[Goaltending: 51]
—[Tackling: 54]
{Intelligence: 56}
—[Positioning: 55]
—[Reaction Speed: 59]
—[Tactics: 56]
{Passing: 54}
—[Corner Kicks: 54]
—[Long Passing: 54]
—[Short Passing: 55]
{Physicality: 47}
—[Lung Capacity: 46]
—[Stamina: 48]
—[Strength: 47]
{Shooting: 56}
—[Long Distance Shooting: 58]
—[Shooting Technique: 56]
—[Short Distance Shooting: 54]
{Vision: 53}
—[Awareness Of Ally Positions: 53]
—[Awareness Of Enemy Positions: 54]
—[Field Of Vision: 53]
On top of his stats, some of his skills had improved. Although The System never rewarded him with any additional skills since his first year, he had gained a lot from the upgrades. Burst Step had recently become A-rank, and now the skill gave a boost to his next three steps instead of two. Mental Fortitude became B-rank, though the mysterious skill didn't seem to change much. The biggest change, however, came from his Crowd Support skill.
{Crowd Support: C —> B [Max]}
—[Crowd Support (B [Max]) – When The Skill Is Activated, A Temporary Boost In The Overall Stat Is Given Based On The Crowd's Cheers. The Higher The Rank, The Higher The Boost In Stats. Can Only Be Activated Twice Per Game.]
—[Max Level Bonus: Crowd Resonance — When Crowd Support Is Activated, The Player Becomes Increasingly Attuned To The Crowd's Energy. The Stronger And More Sustained The Cheers, The Longer The Temporary Overall Boost Remains Active.]
Although the skill didn't give him more activations per game, it had reached its maximum, which gave Ryo quite the surprise when he first saw it. He had not been aware that skills gave him a bonus when they were maxed out, let alone such a good one. Through Crowd Support, Ryo eventually understood that the Max Level Bonus, or at least Crowd Resonance, behaved more like a subsidiary skill. It had increased his skill's potency so much that if there were a substantial amount of cheers, then his skill could persist even after the cheering had stopped.
In this last game alone, it lasted for a full minute from the sheer number of people cheering in the stadium.
From that, Ryo could only dream of the effect the skill would have if he played in the Tokyo Coliseum. However, that moment might be closer than he thought.
—————————————————————————————————
"Welcome back to the 2030 U–12 National Tournament at Mirai Stadium in Camp Atsu. For those of you just joining us, I am Kurosawa Shogo, the official commentator for this tournament," the man said, looking straight into the camera recording him. "I am kindly joined by Kisaragi Shuji and Tachibana Mio, who have gladly accepted the call to be your commentators alongside me."
"Hey, Kurosawa-san, why are you making it sound like we're enlisting in the military?" The older man, Kisaragi Shuji, said in a low voice.
"Huh? Not at all," Kurosawa answered calmly. "I am simply thankful to be joined by two legends in the sport. How about you two introduce yourselves for those who may not know you?"
Although they had already been commentators for the sixteen games so far in the tournament, the JFA found that viewers were more engaged whenever they knew a little bit about each commentator. So even though it was a bit tedious, having them introduce themselves at the beginning of each broadcast made it much friendlier and more comfortable for casual viewers.
"Alright, I'll go first then," the third commentator spoke up. "I am Tachibana Mio. I am a full-back playing for Manchester United in England's Women's Super League. Our winter break started much earlier than usual this year, so I was able to join as a commentator for this tournament. Don't worry, though, I am not slacking off on my training."
Tachibana was currently one of the most famous female Japanese players in the sport, with exceptional skill, great looks, and an extremely likeable personality. Simply having her on TV would guarantee the broadcast would succeed, in addition to being an expert who could provide critical analysis on the games themselves.
"I am Kisaragi Shuji," the older gentleman answered. "I played in a few European clubs during my career as a player, and then became a coach here in Japan. I am now retired, but I am coming back to the sport for the first time during this national tournament."
Kisaragi was no less impressive than Tachibana, having played for some fairly well-known clubs throughout Europe and even built up a small club in Nagoya to one of the biggest in the J-League during his tenure as coach. He became one of the figures who led Japan's immense explosion of interest in football and its growing popularity.
"I can't believe you two are still being so modest," Kurosawa said jokingly. "But either way, I am glad both of you are joining me throughout this tournament. Today marks the start of the second round of the bracket for our U–12 group, and our first game is between Ryusei Elementary and Kyoto City FC."
"Oh, both of these teams marked me as being quite special when we saw their games over the weekend," Tachibana said, taking over the discussion. "Kyoto City FC have made it to Nationals for the first time, haven't they? Their goalie, Mori Shun, has already made some incredible saves this tournament, managing to stop a penalty when it mattered most. Their right winger, Nakamura Daichi, is also a core member of their team, holding the spot as the top scorer in the entire Kyoto Prefecture."
"Wow, in that case, it's no wonder they won their regional tournament and advanced all the way here," Kurosawa added. "What about our other team, Ryusei Elementary? Isn't this their third consecutive year coming to Nationals?"
"That's right, they had quite a few spectacular performances in the previous years, but seeing them play on Sunday was quite shocking," Kisaragi smoothly took over Ryusei's introduction. "Their whole team is quite talented, and it's clear their coaches did a fantastic job leading them. However, even among them, a few stand out. First, we have the Nagano Prefecture top scorer, Aoyama Ren, playing as the sole center forward. In my opinion, he is one of the most talented forwards in this tournament and a dangerous element for any team facing them. Of course, we can't forget his brother, Aoyama Ryo, the Prefecture's second-best goal scorer, in the right midfield."
"No way!" Kurosawa interjected, "Ryusei has the two best scorers not just in their league but in their entire Prefecture?"
"That's right," Kisaragi continued. "But this year, we have already seen quite remarkable work from their newer players, such as Mizuno Kazuki as a right full-back and Ishida Yuto as a left midfielder."
"That's quite a remarkable roster coming from both teams," Kurosawa laughed. "Kisaragi-san, Tachibana-san, it looks like we'll all be relying on both of you to break down every good play during the game."
"Haha, you must be joking, Kurosawa-san," Tachibana said. "My voice will go hoarse if I break down every play in these ninety minutes."
"Yeah, I agree. Let's all enjoy this game," Kisaragi added.
Meanwhile, Kurosawa looked back and forth between them. I wasn't joking, though…