"Come on!"

"This is it! Just get in there!"

All the people on the stand rose instantly as they saw the shot was coming. It wasn’t like the chance itself was good. No, Park Han-Gyeol took the shot one meter away from the penalty box, and inside, a big crowd gathered to block the route toward the goal.

Still, most people jumped immediately when they saw this. They had been on their edge in the last couple of minutes, getting teased by one chance after another without finding any result in any of them. Now that this was going to be the last chance of the game, of course, they would react quite big, inwardly wondering whether this would be enough to break through Hakodate Nishi’s wall or not.

However, after getting blocked by the sea of people inside the penalty box, somehow, some people forgot that the key to Hakodate Nishi’s defense was never in their defenders. No, they might be important, but the most crucial part was always the person between the posts.

This time, the boy showed why he deserved to be the key piece of that defense, as when the ball came like a missile piercing through the whole crowd, managing to escape to get through the goal, he was still there, standing the tallest to block the goal from all the bullets outside.

BAM!

With a Superman-esque dive, he flew to the left side of the goal quickly, extending one hand far to block the shot with it.

"ARGH! FUCK IT!" Park Han-Gyeol cursed in disbelief as he clutched his disheveled hair. "You can still save that?!"

People also stared at Higo in awe. If it were just one game, they might still brush everything off as a coincidence, a good performance when the boy was on fire. However, the boy had been performing like this since the beginning of the tournament, showing a consistency that no one could have thought of.

It was as if he were the best player in the entire nation right now.

"Fucking hell... That goalkeeper is ridiculous."

"He should be the scout’s wet dream, right?"

"I heard some teams from abroad also paid attention to him right now."

"Really?!"

All the whispers and talks on the stand were aimed at him. However, the boy was deaf to that noise right now. No, instead, after getting helped by his teammates to get up from the ground, he turned around to the referee and asked, "How much time left?"

The man was startled for a second at the question, but instead of answering verbally, he just raised one finger to him. Still, Higo understood the sign immediately, shouting at his teammates, "COME ON! CONCENTRATE! ONE CHANCE LEFT!"

The voice echoed throughout the whole stadium, and right after that, all the Hakodate Nishi players repeated the last sentence like a gospel, using it to muster every little strength left in their bodies.

"ONE CHANCE LEFT!"

COME ON! WE CAN DO THIS!"

Of course, Shimizu Higashi would also not give away this chance so easily. Even though they were so frustrated beyond everything, they still had a glimmer of hope that something could happen in the last sequence. Right now, all the players rushed toward the box, trying to fight in one big crowd to at least create some chaos there.

Hell, Shimizu Higashi’s coach even shouted at the goalkeeper so loudly. "DO-JIN! GO FORWARD! JOIN THE LAST ATTACK!"

This startled the Korean goalkeeper for a moment. After all, one mistake would be enough to let Hakodate Nishi strike back in the last second, and the team couldn’t really afford it. Still, since the coach asked for it, Kang Do-Jin also moved forward, adding a single person in the sea of people there.

"Come on, Mamoru! Send it high!"

"Hey, don’t push around! Fuck!"

"Kuroki, keep an eye on that number 2! He is quite slippery, don’t let him escape from your sight!"

Everyone was so tense right now, fighting inside the penalty box. In fact, not just the players, but the whole stadium was on the edge, knowing that this was going to be the last play of the game. On the corner kick, Mamoru took a deep breath, trying to keep his composure while glancing at the box for a moment.

’At this point, so many tactics have been blocked by Hakodate Nishi, with only one remaining that we haven’t tried yet...’ A wry smile curled slightly on the corner of his face. ’I cannot believe that after everything that happened in this game, the final result will be determined by a brute tactic like this...’

No sign was given for this play. Mamoru would only send the ball high, praying that his teammates would be able to win the dog-fight there. After waiting for a while...

FWEEE!

The referee finally blew the whistle, and Mamoru delivered a perfect cross here. It wasn’t too far from the box, but he also made sure that Higo couldn’t reach it. The ball went straight to Ishimaru, the team’s central defender, whose height was around 186 cm. There, he fought against Kuroki as those two pulled each other’s jerseys so fiercely, not wanting to give an edge to their opponent.

BAM!

"FUCK!" Kuroki cursed as he lost the aerial battle. "MIDDLE, GET READY!"

Yeah, Ishimaru didn’t aim the ball straight at the goal. No, his position was too awkward to do that. Instead, he just let the ball fly to the center of the crowd once again, the place where the fight continued.

There, Usami was trying his hardest to gain a better position against his opponent, Sano, and Han-Gyeol were in their physical battle to get a slight edge, and so many more mingled into the chaos. Higo himself couldn’t help but scowl, finding even his clairvoyant vision to be messy.

’No, I cannot do this! I have to take the initiative here!’

With that thought in mind, the boy finally gritted his teeth, rushing forward to fight in the chaos. What he didn’t expect, though, was that before he could join, the ball suddenly changed direction, zooming closely into his face. He didn’t know who took that action, but the last thing that came into his mind was just a curse.

’FUCK!’