Chapter 345 Japan u17 vs Poland u17
11 November 2023
Jalak Harupat Stadium
Far in the west horizon, as the sun drew closer to its slumber, the sky transformed into an ever-shifting portrait.
What had been a brilliant blue canvas just an hour earlier, was now awash in vivid streaks of fiery oranges, deep reds, and blazing pinks.
Wispy clouds, floating above the west horizon seemed to be set alight from within, glowing like hot embers against the deepening background of indigo and violet hues that crept in from the east.
Down on the pitch, the lush green grass seemed to shine an almost electric emerald under the bright stadium lights that had just flickered to life. The freshly painted lines and crisp markings stood out in stark whiteness, ready to form the boundaries of an impending battle.
In the stands, the crowd was a rolling murmur of excitement and anticipation while more and more fans were flocking into the stadium.
Few people dressed in guard uniforms were showing the seats to those who had come to seek help. And while some had already made themselves comfortable, some were still trying to find their seats.
Though, compared to the capacity the stadium could house, the stadium appeared mostly empty with only a specific portion of the stand being filled with people.
As impressive as the lively sound coming from the stadium appeared, the attendance was rather lacking. Well, this much was to be expected, after all, it wasn't the match of the home team.
Inside the dimly lit tunnel, the atmosphere was rather complicated to explain.
A Crescendo of cheers kept on bombarding from the mouth of the tunnel, yet players dressed in blue appeared rather tensed while the players dressed in white seemed unbothered and carefree.
It's almost as if an invisible wall was separating these two sides from one another.
Compared to the looks on the eyes of the Polish side which were brimming with confidence, the defeated looks on the eyes of the Japanese side were like a gloomy day.
But even so, not every eye appeared lifeless. There was also the presence of eyes which was raring to step foot in the field in front and emerge victorious.
One such eye was of the person leading this gloomy side.
His broad shoulders seemed capable of shouldering any responsibilities placed on them while he stood proudly in front, wearing the captain's armband and number 10 behind his back.
Jolting his gaze toward the opposing team, he secretively peeked at one of the opposing players with tousled blond hair, 'Patryk Mazur, currently playing for Juventus, if it weren't for the help of the system, I'd never have even dreamed of meeting you let alone playing against you. But now that we've met, I can't wait to see how my skills fair up to the talent from one of the best clubs in the world'
Right now while most of his teammates were anxious about facing players who've been showcasing their skills in one of the best leagues in the world, Hiro was raring to find out the skill difference between him and the world.
With eyes full of excitement he continued to steal a peek of that blond-haired boy who was unaware of Hiro's gaze until a moment ago. Suddenly, however, he turned his eyes towards the direction of Hiro.
'Why is he looking at me like that?' Patryk thought as he noticed that sly smile on Hiro's face.
Unknowingly right now, out of excitement, Hiro had been smiling while looking in the direction of Patryk Mazur.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the gaze of Patryk which was directed towards him.
But as he came back to his senses, he finally noticed that Patryk was looking at him weirdly as if he was some kind of psycho or a crazy stalker.
Now simply turning his head away would only make him more suspicious. Thus, instead, to combat this awkward situation, he forced a sweet smile on his face as he greeted Patryk.
This action of his however only made matters worse as Patryk contorted his face in disgust upon seeing that amiable smile on his face.
Immediately, he then abruptly jolted his gaze away from him.
'I guess, he's not fond of socializing' faced with Patryk's unresponsiveness, Hiro thought as he tried to justify Patryk's action completely unaware of the fact that he had creeped him out.
After much waiting, they finally started to move as they headed out of the tunnel after listening to the announcements of the commentator.
However the moment, he walked out of the aisle, the system's holographic panel floated in front of his eyes.
[New Quest Available]
[Quest Objectives]
1) Score a goal
2) Provide an assist
3) Achieve an 8.5 rating
[Rewards; Copy one talent of any one player of the opposing team]
[Failure; Random two skills you possessed will be suppressed in the next game]
Such a quest which required satisfying multiple objectives had never occurred to him before and that to on random.
Thus, for a brief moment as it caught him by surprise, it caused him to halt his movement midway while marching towards the field.
Yutaka who was walking right beside him, given his absent-
mindedness because of the pressure from the match, bumped into him.
"Ahh..." Losing his balance after bumping into Hiro, he let out a soft cry.
Hiro however didn't budge even an inch. Well if Yutaka had meant to push him, he'd have lost his footing in the least. But right now since Yutaka himself was walking absent-mindedly like a zombie, even if he was not prepared it could hardly cause him any damage.
"Why are you stopping so suddenly?"
The players from behind complained as many of them bumped into each other because of Hiro's actions.
Well just like Yutaka, many players were anxious right now and thus, had lost their focus which caused this incident to take place in the field.
But still, the core person responsible for this incident was Hiro.
Most of the people in the crowd upon witnessing this comedic scene taking place on the field burst into laughter while some became extremely anxious.
Just from this incident alone, they could vividly spot the nervousness in the players they supported.
Traveling to such a faraway land, just to show support to their team, how could they rest at ease upon seeing such miserable condition of the players they were going to support?
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