Ordinary Football Player

In a simple bar on the city outskirts, in the early hours of the morning, a pair of people were drinking out of control without fear of passing out.

”Ahh, I can take it anymore ” I exclaimed with a tone which showed that alcohol was starting mingling with my words, I put the cup of rum and coke on the table and stared at my friend expecting a response, my vision was starting to get blurred . She was a girl with perfectly groomed black hair, you could notice by how straight and neat it was, her eyes were jet black in contrast to her long eyelashes, as much as it pained me to admit it, in this world she would be considered ”Attractive ”.

”Thats because you
e so bad, ” she said while gripping her beer glass tightly.

”Huh? ” I glared at her indignantly ”I invite you to cheer me up and you tell me that? ” in a quick gesture I grabbed the glass of beer from her hand, she tried to take it back but I was able to stop it, after this, I bent the cup and began to drink from it, I could see her blurred pissed off face through the glass ”heh, you deserve it ”.

”You little shit…. If you
e bad at playing you
e bad, deal with it hip ” she yelled while standing up from and pointing at me, her finger was wobbling as well as her entire body. I don know if it was my imagination messing with me, but it was confirmed when she started bending to the left and falling to the floor, I couldn hold back myself and began laughing.

”You… if you were as good at football as you are at being an asshole you would have approved much earlier, ” she smirked while trying to sit up again.

My smile was replaced by an angry expression as I rolled my eyes.

”Please, stop fighting ” interjected the bartender.

Ignoring what he said I continued arguing with her.

”Ahh, we just got kicked out because of you ” I said as we walked through the narrow streets

”Eh?! If you were the one who started ” she replied indignantly.

I began to feel nauseous and dizzy suddenly, I leaned on a light pole to my left trying to stay upright.

”Hey, are you okay? ”.

I tried to compose myself but with little success, ”Yes, Im better than ever ” I replied ironically.

Without warning, as if my guts were dying, something began to rise up my throat, I had no choice but to expel it from my body, exactly, I vomited on that pole, while expelling the waste I thought about the person who would have to clean it, Im sorry I thought , hoping that somehow he would hear my lament.

”If you need help, just say so ” she said as he held out her hand to me.

He had a deceitful grin on her face, so I knew he was making fun of me, I gathered what all the strength I had and pulled myself together, after vomiting, the truth is that I felt better.

The dark night obscured almost every trace of light coming from the headlights, my eyes began to get used to it, if my intuition is correct, we would arrive at the station soon, I could not help but observe the sky full of stars, it seemed so close but at the same time so far… am… am I so far from being a star?.

”So are you going? *hip ” she asked, breaking the silence between us and snapping me out of my thoughts.

”Yes, I have to go ” my gaze inevitably moved to the ground, honestly what Hyori said before was true, Im not cut out to play football, Im mediocre, I get tired quickly, and worst of all, my shooting strength is unfortunate for a striker, so far I haven given up on my dream… But Im already tired of always failing… so…

”This will be the last time I try ” I said clenching my fist until even feeling a little pain.

”So youve finally decided? ”.

”Yes ” I said turning to her.

”Aghh, you
e such a pain… ” she said as he scratched the top of her head.

My gaze was still strong and I emitted conviction that I supported with my words, I will give everything in the test, I will pass no matter what, I thought.

She sighed and finished by saying ”Okay, but you have to do something about that stubbornness of yours. ”

Softening my expression, I replied proudly and with a slight air of greatness ”Heh, you don need to flatter me ”, looking at her dissatisfied expression and blank look, I could guess what she was thinking.

”Im sorry ” I told him while maintaining a goofy smile.

”Ahh, your foolishness has made my alcohol rush down ” she lowered her head in annoyance.

The walk to the station became shorter than I thought, it was surrounded by adjoining buildings on both sides, which made the large station seem small, continuing through the entrance we did not see many people, after all, it was 4 oclock in the morning, only fools like us would stay this late, I looked at the screen where they indicated the time of each tram.

”Looks like its about time ” I could hear the engines sounding in the distance of the tunnel, the place was quite bright compared to the outside, still, there was only light around the tracks and near the entrance, but I couldn make out any trail of light coming from the tunnels through which the tram was traveling.

”Your tram is next to mine right? ” I asked as I made my way to the stop.

”Yes ” she answered vaguely, I don know if its because of the alcohol but I noticed it was a bit off.

Making a smile I asked him with the most sarcastic face I could make ”Are you sorry that Im leaving? ”.

”Ehhh? who would be sad for you idiot? ” she said quickly as she had an embarrassed expression.

”Ahahaha, Sorry ” I couldn contain my laughter.

”Do not laugh! ” she said as she patted me on the back

You see? I said while he looked at her

”Mhm ” she looked my way in response as she waited for me to continue.

”You look much better now ” I said as I headed towards the tracks, waiting for the train to come out of the tunnel.

After a few moments with no response, Ahh, this silence is killing me, whats wrong with her? Shes angry about what Ive told her? I was just trying to cheer her up, when I was about to speak, It had finally arrived, a white train with blue lines began to slow down making the metal tracks screech, the door casually coincided with my position.

”Here we say goodbye ” I said as I walked towards the narrow doors.

”Hey ”

”About before, are you really going? I know you already told me yes, but I need to confirm… ” I could feel her doubts about this, but there was nothing I could do, I just gave in to silence.

”Don you remember what happened last time? ” she replied with a more severe tone of voice.

”Yes, I remember… how could I forget ” I said as I looked away, a despicable feeling ran through my whole body, I felt a repulsive nostalgia.

”All those people treated me like trash for being better than me ” without even realizing it I began to squeeze both hands ”I could never forget… ”

”Then no… ”

Cutting off her sentence, I told her with as much determination as I could gather ”But…for that, all the more reason I have to go, I have to prove them wrong, otherwise…this feeling of helplessness and anger will never go away… ” To tell the truth, there were still doubts in my mind, questions like Will I be able to do it? or Even if I train, will I be able to enter without having talent?, those types of questions are what held me back, the only thing that made me move forward were the words of…

”Attention Attention, the tram bound for Seoul is about to leave ” said the robotic voice that came from the loudspeakers, pulling me out of my thoughts and without realizing it I began to observe Hyoris face that showed an expression that I had not seen before.

”I know Im being irrational but… ” I kept quiet, I couldn continue my sentence, an uncomfortable silence filled the atmosphere, the few people who were at the stop were gone, the tram would leave soon, however, I was standing there, I didn know what to say, the words didn they came out of my mouth, at that moment I didn know why I felt that way, but now I know, confidence that was what I lacked, I didn have confidence in myself to meet her expectations, still she cared about someone like me.

In the end I didn say anything, instead I just nodded and replied keeping a smile, ”Thank you for everything ”, I tried to hide how regrettable I felt at that moment, but she knew me, it was enough for me to see her expression to know that I did not convince her, after this, without waiting any longer, I entered the tram.

The wagon was completely empty, there was not a single person, the flickering light of the car did not pass through the thick glass, I felt as if I was inside a speck of light passing through the dark space, I sat next to the window, rested my head on the back and due to fatigue added to this deep silence, with this relaxing atmosphere, my body gave in to sleep.

A completely black place, I could not see any kind of end here, I could not even see my own hands, I did not know where I was or what had happened, the last thing I remembered was to have fallen asleep, but… where? and how the hell had I gotten here, this place gave me a bad feeling so I started to move, I tried to call someone for help but there was no answer or, there was no question from the beginning, I did not know, since I could not even hear my own voice.

As I continued to wander in the darkness, I noticed in the distance a small rectangle from which came a light of an intense blue color, I brightened my expression and began to run for what I did not know if it had been seconds minutes or hours, with each step I noticed that the distance was getting shorter and closer and closer, I began to see that on the rectangle there was something written, finally I got close enough to read it, when it was right in front of me I read Welcome Player.

What is this? Player? I tried to touch it, but my fingers were going through what seemed to be a projection, is this real? Im sure Im dreaming I closed and opened my eyes repeatedly but I was still in that place with that rectangle hovering, I was starting to get impatient and a little panicky, the message it displayed changed, Player: Tech Yale .

I was surprised that the message would suddenly change but what really surprised me was that my name appeared there, without giving me time to process what was happening, it changed again Initiating reboot I didn understand anything, I just wanted to get out of there any way I could, the color of the rectangle changed to an orange tone while everything started to shake and a dull noise started to sound, I instinctively covered my ears and curled up on the floor, while waiting for everything to end, I was hoping that all this was just a bad dream, ”Restart Complete ” fortunately, it wasn , and like a radio signal fading out, it eventually ended up.