It wasn’t often that Mamoru got frustrated in the middle of the game. After all, he was always a bright boy who was loved and respected, sometimes even by his opponents. Unfortunately, today was one of the rare occasions where he was so vexed with everything on the pitch, as nothing really went well for his side.

"SHIT! THAT’S MAMORU AGAIN!"

"COME ON! SURROUND HIM! SURROUND HIM!"

BAM!

"HELL, YEAH!"

Mamoru scowled as the ball somehow got cleared away from his feet again. It was the fourth time in the last ten minutes that his penetration attempt met a huge encirclement, and honestly, so far, everything had gone well for his opponents. They always managed to put one body after another in the most suffocating way, cutting off all of his breathing space before killing him ruthlessly.

He could maybe take the first one or two players, but right after that, the third one would come up so quickly to support, and the fourth one would be there to make sure that he died on the spot for good.

The way the opponent’s defense was getting stacked up in the back also prevented the boy from passing the ball easily. Oh, he could see some of his teammates getting a good space. However, there would always be a player with the orange jersey hovering around there, ready to cut off the pass before it could arrive at the target.

That was why everything was so frustrating on his side.

’This is not my first time playing against a team that dumps all of their players on the back, but why is it so different this time?!’ He scowled, panting while holding his buckled knees in exhaustion. ’This is getting ridiculous!’

Yeah, this all-out defense was not a strange thing for a top team like Shimizu Higashi to face. After all, there were so many low-level teams throughout the Shizuoka prefecture that tried to drag them to hell like this, and yet they were unable to maintain their defensive layer until the end. Unfortunately, Hakodate Nishi was not one of them here.

Honestly, their defensive style was the most mature one that Mamoru had ever faced in his life. Not that it was much to say, since he had only played for four years at most so far. Still, that didn’t dismiss the brilliance of Hakodate Nishi’s defense.

It was as if every player was a piece of a chain getting connected to each other, with all of them always knowing when one was being too loose and needed support, and when one faced too much pressure, it was about to break and needed reinforcement. Their coordination was top-notch that sometimes, they didn’t have to ask each other, but help would always come in time.

The play right now was also one of the damn examples of this.

The ball was on Mamoru’s feet, and facing ten players who were standing parallel within the penalty box, he had no choice but to try making a space for himself. He beat the first player from Hakodate Nishi, then, with a simple fake move, the second one was left to the dust. However, as he was about to do more, the third Hakodate Nishi player suddenly arrived, sending a huge tackle straight to the ball.

BAM!

"Fucking hell! That’s the one, Sano!"

"Come on! You are such a beast!"

No foul was committed, and the referee didn’t even indulge the protest from his captain. Mamoru himself knew that everything was clean, and he didn’t get touched at all. The most infuriating thing, though, was that he didn’t know when that scary-looking boy abandoned his defense of Park Han-Gyeol to kill him.

’Fuck it! I cannot continue doing this futile effort anymore!’ He scowled, trying to support his raging knees once again. All the sharp direction-changes he made really took a toll on his lower limb, and right now, he felt the whole thing burning from the exhaustion. Still, that was the least thing he cared about, as the boy saw the referee had already glanced at the clock. ’This means one minute left before the game ends, right? I need to do something!’

With the determination to tear everything apart or die, Mamoru asked for the ball again before starting his dribble. This time, two Hakodate Nishi players were in the vicinity, ready to annoy him like a bunch of flies.

"Mamoru, get it done!"

"Here! Here!"

Even with his knees getting weak, Mamoru still managed to get past those two easily. With a quick one-two pass with his teammate, he managed to breach the first layer of the opponent’s defense. Then, one more player came to him, and before the boy knew it, all the gates were shut down for him to take a quick shot.

’Fuck!’ The boy gritted as he felt like he couldn’t run anymore.

However, when everything looked so bleak, the savior suddenly came from an unexpected direction.

"MAMORU! LEFT!"

That shout was enough to make Mamoru glance in that direction. It was just for a millisecond, but he could see Park Han-Gyeol, who had been isolated the whole second half inside Hakodate Nishi’s deepest defensive layer, suddenly drop back, asking for the ball. Knowing this, the boy gritted his teeth, passing the ball so desperately to that side.

’I’ll leave the rest to you, Han-Gyeol-a!’

Thud!

The move really startled everyone here. Not a single Hakodate Nishi player noticed Park Han-Gyeol suddenly drop back to the penalty arc to get the ball. This was also a part of the chemistry between that Korean striker and Mamoru as teammates.

Han-Gyeol trusted the boy enough to find him inside the box, but if Mamoru couldn’t do that, he would drop back to receive the ball as a support on the penalty arc, and he would do it once everyone’s attention was on his friend. Right now, everything was exactly the same as that scenario, and with a quick one-touch control to put the ball in front of his right foot...

BAM!

Another rocket was launched, and this time, it went straight to Hakodate Nishi’s goal.