Author’s note: Another special thanks have to be given right now! Thanks to Crazyjr_96, Hattorin, and Masatoshi_K for two Golden TIckets from each one of them, totaling in 6 Golden Tickets yesterday! Thank you once again for the support, as I really appreciate all the loves here!

A note for the double-update day, the schedule will be today, 16/5, 18/5, and 20/5. If you want to add more, please show your support to this story! Every power stone and Golden Ticket matters here! Thanks a lot, once again, everyone!

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"Hey, what the hell?! Since when did our school have someone who could fly like that?!"

"That’s Higo-senpai, you know?! Shishida-senpai’s rumored boyfriend!"

"Really?!"

"No, he is just her childhood friend!"

"Well, what’s the difference?!"

Somehow, the topic on the stand went astray from them talking about the save to gossiping about Higo’s love life. However, the topic still stayed in Higo’s shocking performance here, as this was probably their first time seeing Higo in action. Before this, only so few of them went to the football game, and that was only when it was on their own turf. So, this was definitely an eye-opener for them. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Minami herself couldn’t help but feel so smug right now.

This was the second time she heard people praising her son, and the woman knew that this meant a lot for her boy. After all, even though she didn’t know what this NPC life meant that Higo had always uttered in the past, she had an educational guess about it, and this saddened her that her son was quite transparent at school. Now that he stepped into the limelight, she was so proud that her smile beamed from ear to ear.

"Come on, Ryukkun! You can do this!" She shouted from afar, joining the cheers with the people around her.

Of course, Higo couldn’t care less about that right now. No, after the double-save that he had just made in the last one minute, his head was spinning so fast, recalling and evaluating his command ability earlier.

’No, I froze and forgot to say anything to them, making them react instinctively. I need to be more proactive here.’ He shook his head strongly, wiping the sweat on his forehead. Then, his eyes caught Makino’s movement, and he waved at the captain subtly. ’Oi, Teme, come here for a second.’

Makino was startled for a second, but still nodding at him.

"Teme, tell the others to push him out to the side. It doesn’t matter if you got fooled and he shot from that spot, the angle will be too tight, and I can still handle it. But if he is in the cutting position, he has a bigger angle to aim, and I will be more vulnerable." He explained quickly.

"Get it. I will relay it to the others." Makino nodded before whispering something to Jun and Ishinori.

After this, they were in another corner kick situation, and honestly, this scared the shit out of Higo. After all, he still had a reservation in confronting the ball in the air, what with what happened in the last game. Fortunately, everything was still under control, as Jun managed to clear the imperfect cross from Kenji Harada before it could get into Yuwell’s head.

The next ten minutes, though, Hakodate Nishi got completely encircled, not being able to see any way to get out of this position. Hell, almost all the players on the pitch were on their own half, with only the opponent’s goalkeeper and one defender still being there to protect the counterattack situation.

However, they still played solid defense. Their shape was intact, and they moved so coordinately that they were always able to push the ball either to the flank or back to the middle, not allowing any leak in any spot. Besides the first attack from Yuwell, basically, they had a perfect game, never letting Yuwell get an easy ball again.

However, that was in the eyes of those who knew ball. Unfortunately, most of their supporters didn’t really know anything about this sport, so watching the team getting dominated like this was enough to put them on edge.

"Hey, hey! What is going on here?! We are getting destroyed!" Someone whispered loudly, enough for everyone to hear it.

"Bah! This is a normal thing, you know?! Our opponent is the best in the prefecture!" Another boy, this time a little bit rational, retorted calmly.

"Well, I know that, but I didn’t expect the gap would be this big... Can we really win this game?"

"I don’t care... I just want to see Kenji-kun in action, you know?"

It was clear that the supporters started to get restless, and the negative energy from there also had an impact on the players on the pitch. For those who were clear-headed like Higo or Makino, this didn’t really matter. However, for those weak-willed ones like Jun, this was enough to shake him off a little.

When the boy heard this, he suddenly had the urge to give a show and shut down the doubt on the stand’s side. It was an impulsive action, as when he received the ball under the opponent’s pressure, instead of passing it immediately, he tried to dribble on his own.

The first time he did it, Jun was able to pass through Hiroto Yamada’s pressure. However, it was enough to give his teammates a heart attack here, as everyone shouted in panic.

"Goddamnit, Jun! What the hell are you trying to do?!"

"Pass the ball, you idiot! Pass it!"

Of course, Jun wouldn’t hear it. The first success was enough to get his confidence up to the sky. It also helped that with him passing one player, there would be another to get onto him, allowing one of his teammates to get an open position. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but smirk, strolling with the ball on his feet.

’Well, I don’t need to do a lot. Just getting past two players is enough, and then, at least, there will be more room in the middle. I will pass the ball after that.’ He made up his mind.

However, little did the boy know that when his focus was on the opponent in front of him, another Sapporo Otani player came from behind. It was the opponent’s central midfielder with the number 6, Ayase, who made a run to the front to help the team put more pressure on Hakodate Nishi’s side.

Hell, he didn’t even need to sneak here. The boy saw that Jun was preoccupied with his own mind, so he rushed immediately, charging with his shoulder first. Even though Jun was taller, Ayase had the advantage of his low central gravity, allowing him to unbalance Jun in one go.

Brugh!

"FUCK!" The boy stumbled in shock, confused about what was going on here. "SENSEI! FOUL!"