I woke up to the sound of my alarm and got up to brush my teeth. After finishing up in the bathroom, I had breakfast and completed my preparations before heading to the club. According to what I had learned yesterday, the first day would involve medical check-ups. I grabbed my backpack and dressed neatly to give a more professional impression. I had also packed a few spare clothes in case they were needed during the health examinations.
After getting everything ready, I left the house around 7:30 a.m. To calm my nerves, I walked for about 15–20 minutes before getting on the metro to head to the club. It took roughly 30 minutes to get there from home. After getting off the metro and walking a short distance, I finally saw the club entrance.
Since this was the first football club I had officially joined, I was extremely excited. When I entered, a facility staff member approached me and asked why I was there. After I told him that I had been accepted through the tryouts, he immediately led me to one of the gathering areas inside the facilities. When I arrived at the area next to the field, I noticed a tall blond guy standing there. With his sharp facial features, he had a striking appearance. He must have been one of the players who arrived before me.
I placed my bag on one of the seats and greeted him. "Hi, I'm Ryan."
With an expressionless face, he replied, "I'm Liam Harrington."
I had actually heard Liam's name during the tryouts. He stood out as a Level 14 player, but we hadn't had the chance to face each other back then. After exchanging greetings, I sat down and checked his stats through the system.
Liam Harrington (Level 14)
Agility: 15
Strength: 13
Endurance: 14
Resistance: 14
Left Winger Position (Level 9)
• Acceleration (Level 11)
• Dribbling (Level 10)
• Passing (Level 10)
• Finishing (Level 7)
• Shooting (Level 8)
…
His Agility being at 15 was surprising on its own, but what truly shocked me were his positional stats. Almost all of his key attributes as a left winger were extremely high, especially his acceleration. Even though I had invested heavily in that stat, I was still behind him. Not only his overall level, but his performance in the tryouts gave him an edge over almost everyone else. He was easily on par with players like Caleb and Evan, who had been in youth academies for two years.
I started wondering whether he had played for another club before. I decided I would ask him about it once we got closer.
To break the awkward silence between us, I asked, "What position do you play?"
Without changing his expression, he answered, "Left wing."
He didn't ask about my position, so I continued the conversation myself. "I play as a left back."
He nodded slightly, and once again, the conversation seemed to end there.
Fortunately, Alex and Ben joined us at that moment. Both of them had also passed the tryouts. They came over, and Ben was the first to speak.
"It's great that all of us made it. I was incredibly nervous until the results came out."
Alex and I nodded in agreement. It was obvious how stressful the process had been for all of us. When Alex and Ben greeted Liam, he responded with the same cold, short answers he had given me. His attitude was a bit irritating, but since it was our first meeting, I assumed he was just naturally reserved and didn't dwell on it too much. After all, we would be playing on the same team—I hoped we would get along better in the future.
Once Alex and Ben arrived, the strange silence completely disappeared. We chatted for a while, and then two more people entered the area together…