Chapter 38: Discovery and Problem Solving

At 7 a.m., Suke arrived at the training ground. Upon arriving, he found that fitness coach Hatbach had already arrived early and was placing training equipment on the field. Suke jogged over immediately. "Coach, I'm here!" Suke's cheerful voice marked the start of the day's training. "No rush! Go eat breakfast first!" Hatbach scanned the field before turning to Suke. Suke blinked. "I'm not hungry!" "Breakfast is important." Hatbach didn't feel the need to explain — he was a no-nonsense coach. With no choice, Suke jogged to the dining hall and came back about five minutes later. "I told you to eat," Hatbach frowned. Suke wiped bread crumbs from the corner of his mouth. "I ate already." Hatbach raised an eyebrow. "That fast?" Suke replied, "I eat really quickly." The whole trip took five minutes — two minutes on the road and three minutes to eat. He downed a glass of milk, devoured a sandwich, and practically swallowed an egg whole. Efficiency was the goal. Hatbach looked at Suke oddly. He had never seen someone so eager to train. "My training method is different from others. Your training will be short but intense — one hour of strength training, twice a week." Suke blinked. "Only twice a week?" "Twice is the limit. Kids shouldn't overdo strength training. You're still developing, so the training must promote growth, and we avoid all weighted exercises." Then Hatbach clapped his hands. "Let's get started." Suke nodded immediately. Even though it was just one hour, Hatbach's methods were professional and science-based. "Hug your knees, push with your toes, don't use the whole foot, and keep the movement controlled. No rushing — form is everything." Under the morning sun, Suke was at the edge of the pitch doing a 10-meter knee-hug walk. He wrapped his arms around his knees, stepping forward using only his toes. It resembled a duck walk, but targeted the calf muscles even more. It didn't hurt at first, but after five meters it started to burn. By the time he finished the 10 meters, both his thighs and calves were burning. When he tried to stand upright, Hatbach shouted immediately. "Stay down! Now do side knee-hug walks on the way back. Use both hands to hold one leg at a time. Left side first, then turn and switch to the right. Keep alternating." Suke followed Hatbach's instructions, but after five meters his legs began to tremble like trees in a storm. Sweat was dripping from Suke's forehead, and he gritted his teeth. In just 15 meters, his legs were swollen, burning, and even slightly painful. "Five more meters!" Hatbach's voice suddenly rose. "Argh!!" Suke roared. "Let's do it!" He continued the side walk. "Too fast! Do you want to do it again?" Suke had sped up instinctively due to the soreness, trying to finish quickly — but Hatbach immediately shut that down. He had to slow down again, breaking each move into careful steps. When he finally dragged himself back to the starting point, Hatbach calmly said, "Ten seconds to rest." Suke jumped up and began slapping his thighs and calves vigorously. "So sore! So sore!" Before he could recover, Hatbach called out again. "Next! Heel-to-butt squatting walk. On the return, keep the same motion but lean your body forward to increase pressure." Suke, gritting his teeth and enduring the soreness in his legs, kept going. Hatbach's training was progressive, with clear planning and purpose. After some load-bearing exercises, he mixed in other routines: Knee-hug walk (out) – Side knee-hug walk (back) Heel-to-butt walk (out) – Forward-leaning heel-to-butt walk (back) Straight-leg deadlift walk (out) – Skip steps (back) High-knee run (out) – Leg-lift follow run (back) Straight-leg walk (out) – Slide steps (back) Torso-twist run (out) – Back step (back) Full sprint (out) – Relaxed jog (back) After four rounds of this, Suke was gasping for air. "Alright, warm-up is done. Now for the main training." Next came the core training session. Besides leg work, Hatbach also included throwing drills. He explained that strength training must be balanced. It's not about isolating muscles, but developing overall coordination. For the full hour, Suke pushed hard to keep up. At first, he struggled with the difficulty, but he persisted. Hatbach secretly nodded in approval. His training plans weren't fixed; he adjusted them based on Suke's performance. The goal was to make Suke feel fatigue and some muscle load, but never overdo it. The program also included jumping and stretching, to improve muscle resilience and tendon flexibility. After the final interval sprints, Suke collapsed on the ground. Sweat was dripping like rain, and his legs felt like they might fall off from the pain. Hatbach walked over and handed him an energy drink. Suke grabbed it and chugged it down. "You can join the morning team training if you're up to it, but if your body feels exhausted, don't push it." Suke nodded. "It's fine, I recover quickly!" Hatbach chuckled. He assumed Suke was bluffing. He'd see soon enough. Two hours later, Suke kept up with the full morning team training. Van Stoyak turned and asked, "He trained this morning, right?" Hatbach remained silent. What kind of freakish recovery speed is this? Just hours ago, Suke looked half-dead after training — now he was bouncing around. There's a saying that Asian muscles have strong endurance. Is this some kind of genetic advantage? At this point, Hatbach was wondering whether to increase the intensity for tomorrow's session. Of course, Suke was tired. He had used a Recovery Card. Since he had just joined the team, he needed to build chemistry. He didn't want to miss a single training session. Besides, he still had six Recovery Cards. Using two per week wouldn't be a problem. In the afternoon intra-squad match, Suke didn't perform well. The coach raised the difficulty level, assigning a player to mark him exclusively. This made Suke's runs and transitions much more difficult. The same issue again — his body was too weak. Even basic challenges made it hard for him to pass or receive. Bang! Barton knocked Suke down. The two collided while going for the ball, and unsurprisingly, Suke hit the ground. "You okay?" Barton walked over and offered a hand. Ptooey! Suke spat out a mouthful of grass and stood right up. Barton looked at the grass and dirt all over Suke. He had knocked him down countless times. But never once did Suke complain. Not even a word. Just like this time, he would get right up and rejoin the game. Even when he was clearly hurt, he'd lie on the ground for a bit, then get up and continue. If it were someone else, they'd have lost their temper long ago. But Suke seemed immune to frustration. "His weakness is still physicality. If someone marks him tightly, his performance drops significantly." Van Stoyak observed the field and summed things up. As head coach, he needed to maximize Suke's strengths — but also think like an opponent, anticipating how others might shut Suke down. If he didn't prepare, someone else eventually would. "His physical condition can't be fixed in the short term. But there's one solution — let Kosovic wear down the opponent, and unleash Suke in the second half. That way, he'll have more space." Van Stoyak stroked his chin as he spoke. Assistant coach Vandeer replied, "Suke and Kosovic fit into completely different tactical systems. I think your idea works." Van Stoyak nodded. "Then that's the plan for now." On the field, Suke was undeniably frustrated. Being repeatedly targeted, repeatedly knocked down — it was humiliating. But he knew that complaining or throwing tantrums was a sign of weakness. What he needed was a solution. Right now, Suke had no advantage in physical contests, and he didn't plan on fighting anyone head-on. So he had to avoid them. But passes were obvious — everyone could see them. It was hard to escape attention. The only solution was faster, more deceptive off-the-ball movement. With that in mind, Suke approached Modrić. "Luka, when you pass to me, aim for the opposite direction of my fake turn." Suke explained, "After I drop deep, I'll do a feint turning left or right. You pass to the opposite side." Suke scratched his head. "The timing should be slightly delayed, and definitely not to my feet." Modrić looked at him and nodded gently. He understood — Suke was trying to avoid physical duels. But that kind of passing chemistry takes time and practice. Suke and Modrić began working on this style together. When Suke turned one way, Modrić would pass in the opposite direction. Easy to say, hard to do. It required precise timing, rhythm, and perfect body positioning from Suke. All these details had to be refined through repetition.