The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 141: Three Players to Watch!

The moment the projector showed a familiar boy with an orange jersey on the screen, Higo perked up immediately, his gaze turning serious. That was the boy whom he and Kumiko met earlier, and even if they only had a short encounter, that was enough for him to realize how good the boy was.

However, it seemed his understanding was still quite superficial here, as the next introduction from Kumiko blew his mind completely.

"The name is Mamoru Suzuki, and don’t underestimate him just because he has this harmless expression." The girl warned everyone with a solemn look. "He is a freshman just like Kenji-kun and the others, but he is also the national MVP for the middle school’s inter-high last year. He is considered one of the best in the generation, and rumor even said that Shimizu S-Pulse, their local J-League team, had already offered a professional contract for him."

’Damn... That’s awesome...’ Higo couldn’t help but let out a low whistle when he heard that.

He wasn’t the only one who was astonished, though. No, some of the players here looked at that innocent boy with their jaws slackened open, while the others stared at him with their faces green with envy.

After all, while Shimizu S-Pulse was not as strong as Consadole Sapporo back home, they were still a middle to upper team in the country, having a large fanbase that would wreck the opponent’s nerves whenever they went there for the first team.

No, no, no, that was not the object of envy.

It should be the fact that this Mamoru Suzuki was getting a professional contract here, showing that even a top team had its eyes on him. Of course, some people would say that it was probably just a junior contract, what with the boy still far from being an adult. However, that was what made it terrifying.

The boy was still around 15 or 16, and yet, he had already had a job and got paid for it. The fact that the job itself was something the boy loved definitely added to the long list of what they were envying here.

Mamoru Suzuki was living the life of all the aspiring professional players in Japan, and they were so eager to follow in his footsteps in the future.

’No wonder he has such amazing control and ball feeling...’ Higo muttered, couldn’t help but remember the scene earlier. ’Still... Are all the professional players as talented as him?’ He couldn’t help but wonder.

"If there is one word that could describe his playing style..." Kumiko pondered for a moment before continuing, "It should be... Elegant."

Well, even Higo himself had to admit that there was no better word that could describe Mamoru’s playing style perfectly like this.

He didn’t really run that much in the game. Hell, if there was advanced data, everyone would be able to see the narrow heat map for the boy, as if he treated everything with a degree of laziness.

However, he would always be able to get the ball and take control of the game, and once he felt the contact with his foot, he became a complete monster in a blink.

"Close him down! Close him down! Don’t let him lead to the edge!"

"Bastard! What the hell are you doing?! This is just a boy we are talking about!"

"Foul him! Brats, shove him off! Tackle him! Anything, don’t let him get closer!"

Honestly, Higo felt pity toward the coach on that screen earlier. The man was even foaming, yet none of the approaches he ordered ever worked in that game. Even when he was surrounded by three or four players, Mamoru would always be able to get out of the entanglement in front of him.

Once again, Higo felt like there was a magnet on the boy’s boot, preventing it from getting snatched by the opponent.

"Damn, even a physical contact doesn’t work?" Fujinaga blinked in disbelief. He was going to be the one who had to face Mamoru in the next game, and it would be a lie if the DM said that he wasn’t being intimidated here. "Do we have to foul him all the time?" He asked Kumiko.

"No, because that would also be a disaster." The coach shook her head decisively. "At this point, he has already scored a goal and bagged three assists, all from either a free kick or a corner kick. He is so precise with the ball that it will be impossible to stop."

"Oh, for fuck’s sake! Is there really a cheat player like him?!" Some of them groaned when they heard that. Honestly, even Yuwell Carlson didn’t give them this kind of desperate feeling, and the Swedish striker was able to get two goals in their matchup.

"Unfortunately, we still have more players to watch out for in the next game." Kumiko dropped another bomb out of nowhere.

"More?!" The others had their eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Two more, to be honest." Kumiko nodded. "Two overseas students, Kang Do-Jin and Park Han-Gyeol. A goalkeeper and a striker."

Higo perked up for a moment when he heard a goalkeeper was there, staring at one of the Korean students who had a different jersey on the screen.

"They have been performing amazingly in this tournament, what with Do-Jin having the same level of performance as Ryukkun, preventing any goal from coming to their side, and Han-Gyeol destroying all the opponent’s defenses and even scoring a hat-trick in the first game. Those two are definitely not players you can beat so easily tomorrow."

The atmosphere turned somber as they all watched the clips in front of them solemnly. It was enough to have one Mamoru wreaking havoc in their territory tomorrow, and now, there was also Han-Gyeol?! That boy with a buzz cut was like a typical Korean striker; tall but fast and agile. He was charging like a bull, and for a big boy like him, that speed was monstrous.

Jun gulped nervously when he saw that, knowing that the task of stopping the boy would fall on his shoulders.

The attackers on the team, like Hiroshi and Kenji, also went silent, their brains spinning hard to think of how to get through Do-Jin tomorrow. The Korean GK was like the enhanced version of Higo with a taller body and superb ability with his feet.

Kang Do-Jin was definitely a perfect modern goalkeeper whom everyone would chase in the future.

"Wait a second!" Yuji widened his eyes in shock, as if he had just realized something.

This attracted everyone’s attention, as they were curious what kind of bombshell was about to be dropped again here. However, no matter how prepared they were, the moment they heard the boy’s question, it was as if thunder had just struck there, followed by a dead silence in the room.

After all, Yuji just asked a simple question, and somehow, this terrified them all to death.

"You mean to tell me that those three troublemakers are their newcomers?! What about their old players?!"