The field was divided, and the participants were separated by skill type. While Min-jun and Tanaka went to challenges focused on speed and aerial balls, Kira and Yuta were taken to a reserved field, where professionals awaited: the club's forwards and defenders.
An older coach explained:
— You two will play as midfielders. You'll have forty attempts to create plays with the forwards and score goals. The defense is made up of experienced players, so it won't be easy. To pass this test, you need to score at least fifteen goals.
Yuta smiled confidently. Kira swallowed hard.
1st attempt: Kira exchanges quick passes with Yuta. They advance together until Yuta spots a free forward and crosses. Goal.
2nd attempt: Same start, but Yuta nutmegs the defender, leaving the forward one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Goal.
3rd attempt: With no passing options, Yuta dribbles past the defender and finishes alone. Goal.
4th attempt: Kira tries a long pass, but the ball is intercepted. No success.
5th to 10th attempts: Yuta tries everything: crosses, dribbles, quick touches. But the defense adapts. Kira, on the other hand, seems invisible. In one play, he tries a forced pass and loses the ball. Yuta complains:
— How did you not see the defender there?
Kira lowers his head. The pressure rises. He hasn't contributed anything decisive yet.
From the 11th to the 30th play, frustration only grows. Nothing works. Kira feels like dead weight on the field, while Yuta carries the game on his shoulders. Both are tired.
31st attempt
Kira approaches Yuta in the middle of the field and says:
— They've read all our patterns. I thought of something… pass me the ball and run toward the center.
Yuta hesitates but obeys. Kira receives the ball, fakes a dribble past the defender ahead, then stops at the last second and runs sideways in a diagonal.
The defender follows him, and the other defenders shift toward the ball as well.
At that moment, Kira sees a forward free on the other side. Without hesitation, he crosses. The forward takes advantage of the defense's distraction and scores.
Goal.
Yuta looks at Kira, surprised. That was smart.
Kira smiles for the first time during the test.
32nd to 49th attempts: Kira and Yuta adopt a new approach. Improvised plays, with no apparent logic. Unusual dribbles, changes of pace, passes out of the ordinary. The defense starts making mistakes. Goals start to come again.
They reach 14 goals. One more to go.
50th attempt. The last one.
Both are exhausted. The ball starts with Yuta. He passes to Kira.
Kira sees all the forwards are marked. There's nothing to do. No set play will work here.
Then, without knowing why, he advances with the ball. He sends a pass to a forward surrounded by three defenders.
— CROSS! — Kira shouts.
The forward, unsure what to do, crosses without letting the ball touch the ground.
The ball rises. Two defenders approach to block it — one from the left, the other from the right.
Kira rushes forward, jumps, and executes an improvised move — a volley that wasn't aimed at the goal but went over the defender on the right; a flick-over that, by instinct, turned into a cross.
On the opposite side of the box, Yuta appears free.
Goal.
---
From afar, Ford watched silently. His eyes fixed on Kira.
That play made no sense. It wasn't trained. It was pure intuition and spatial awareness.
And then, for the first time in this tryout, he smiled.