"I'm not trying to humiliate anyone. I'm simply making a choice."
"I have no reason to trust some kid who's come out of nowhere."
"That's because you people never gave him a chance!" Thomas Essien stressed.
The "you people" he used clearly wasn't just referring to Corochano.
"I'm a head coach. Why should I give him a chance before he's proven his abilities?"
Corochano's tone heavily emphasized the words "head coach."
But an incensed Thomas Essien clearly didn't catch the nuance. "If you don't give him a chance, how can he prove himself?"
It was like an inescapable vicious cycle.
For the past two-plus months, he and Wang Shuo had been facing this problem at every turn.
"That has nothing to do with me. I only care about whether or not my team can win."
Corochano sneered. "Thomas, you were once an excellent football player, but as an agent... I think you should reconsider your career path."
"China may be the most populous country in the world with a very attractive market, but as you know, they've never even qualified for the World Cup finals. Their world ranking is always outside the top one hundred."
"Their players simply don't have what it takes to survive in the Bundesliga!"
"That's just your prejudice!" Thomas Essien flared up.
Corochano shook his head dismissively. "Maybe so. But what advantages does he have over my players?"
"Sure, he's fast and has stamina, but he's too skinny. He can't handle physical challenges. His footwork is barely passable. What else?"
"Diligence? Hard work? In the face of a massive skill gap, those things are worthless."
As he finished, Corochano let out a dry laugh. "Perhaps you should take him for a trial in England. To be honest, he's a good-looking kid. The English love pretty boys like that, just like Beckham."
Corochano's words dripped with sarcasm.
But was he mocking England, the sworn rival of German football, or was he mocking Wang Shuo?
Or maybe both.
...
Wang Shuo had no idea this conversation had taken place on the sidelines after he entered the game.
A mere three minutes after he took the field—no, to be precise, two minutes and thirty-eight seconds—the match ended.
And a message promptly flashed in his mind.
"Congratulations, Wang Shuo. You have now appeared in a total of 10 trial matches, successfully completing the European Trial Mission."
"[Ball God System] is now officially activated."
"Reward package received: One Passive Skill Card. Enter the system to draw it now?"
Wang Shuo was ecstatic.
'The Ball God I've been waiting over two years for... it's finally here!'
He was dying to know what kind of boost this so-called "Ball God System" would give him, but now was not the time.
He suppressed the urge and slowly walked off the field with his Frankfurt "teammates."
In just over two minutes, playing as a "goalkeeper," he didn't even get a chance to touch the ball.
The game was over before he even had a chance to warm up.
But he had managed to snag a precious trial match appearance, and with it, he'd completed the system's mission.
That was enough.
...
"I'm sorry, Wang. It's my fault."
In the car on the way from Frankfurt, his agent, Thomas Essien, said apologetically as he drove.
After calming down, he had a vague idea of what had set Corochano off.
Before this exhibition match, he had pulled some strings, hoping to persuade Corochano to give Wang Shuo more playing time.
Corochano must have thought that Thomas Essien, the agent, was trying to pressure him through the management, interfering with his team selection.
That must be why he did it on purpose.
"It has nothing to do with you, Thomas. You've already helped me so much," Wang Shuo said, surprisingly nonchalant.
He wasn't disappointed by the trial at Frankfurt.
He might have only played for three minutes, but he had completed the system's mission.
That was the biggest reward of all!
"Your visa is about to expire," Thomas Essien sighed resignedly.
He felt he had failed to fulfill the task entrusted to him by his dear friend, Gao Huairen.
It had been incredibly difficult for Wang Shuo to get this chance to trial abroad. Gao Huairen and the entire Huairun Football School had placed immense hope in this trip; you could even say they were betting everything on it.
As a former teammate from their days at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Thomas Essien was also doing everything in his power to help.
But unexpectedly, they had hit one wall after another.
Wang Shuo had gotten his visa just before Christmas. If he couldn't find a team by the end of March to convert his short-term visa into a long-term one, he would have to go back to China.
"Don't worry, Thomas. Even if my visa expires and this European trial is a failure, I won't give up."
"If it doesn't work out this time, there's always a next time."
"If no team in Germany wants me, then I'll go to other countries."
"Even if none of the top five leagues want me, I'll go to the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium..."
"I have to play football abroad!"
Wang Shuo's tone was absolutely resolute.
This wasn't just his own dream; it was also the hope that Coach Gao, Coach Ma, and all his teammates at the Huairun Football School had for him.
More than that, it was the hope of his parents and family, far away in their mountain village!
He had to play football, to make a name for himself, to change his own fate, and to lead his parents and family out of that poor, remote mountain village!
Hearing Wang Shuo's words, Thomas Essien nodded and smiled, gratified.
"We still have a chance, Wang. I've already contacted Mainz in the 2nd Bundesliga. I'm taking you there for a trial tomorrow."
"Mainz?"
"That's right. They're a pretty small club, but they've been developing well over the past few years. Especially since the turn of the century, under the leadership of head coach Jurgen Klopp, they've been performing better and better."
"They even made a historic promotion to the Bundesliga, then successfully avoided relegation for a few seasons in a row. They only dropped back down to the 2nd Bundesliga last summer. They're still a decent side, their youth academy is just a bit lacking."
'A lacking youth academy?'
'For someone like me, that's an opportunity.'
Since Thomas Essien had already made the arrangements, Wang Shuo didn't say anything more.
This would likely be the last stop on his trial tour in Germany. It was all or nothing.
Luckily, his cheat code had arrived!
...
Mainz is located about forty kilometers west of Frankfurt.
Since they were heading to Mainz for the trial the next day, the two of them didn't return to Thomas Essien's home in Freiburg.
They found a cheap hotel nearby in a small town just west of Frankfurt called Lüsselsheim.
The moment they checked in and he got to his room, Wang Shuo immediately entered the [Ball God System].
"[Ball God System] initializing."
Name: Wang Shuo
Nationality: China
Age: 17
Occupation: Amateur Player
Position: Forward
Team: None
Passive Value: 0
"Congratulations on completing the European Trial Mission. You have been awarded one Passive Skill Card. Enter the system to draw it now?"
Wang Shuo's heart pounded with excitement. He unhesitatingly selected [YES].
He couldn't wait to see what kind of power the [Ball God System] would grant him.