Chapter 673: First Team, Here We Go!

It didn’t take long before the boy started spilling everything inside his mind. Hell, he even told the girl about confidential information like Nubel’s possible transfer next winter or his promotion to the new team. If the news platform outside knew about this, they would be in a frenzy, as this could be another decisive transfer from Bayern Munich.

Fortunately, Kumiko was never a tattle-tale person. She just listened quietly, and in the end, the girl asked, "So, you are hesitating because you seem to move too fast?"

"...Yeah, I mean, you yourself feel this way, right?" Higo asked back, his tone hesitant.

Instead of answering immediately, Kumiko pondered for a moment before saying, "Well, I mean, yeah, but this isn’t the first time, right? I mean, you also felt the same when you got called up to the Young Samurai team and when you got scouted by your team for the first time in the past. This is not a new feeling for you."

When Kumiko put it that way, of course Higo could understand it. However, that didn’t mean his irrational worry would be gone in a blink.

"In fact, you are not worried about moving too fast, but you are just seeking stability, right?" Kumiko’s voice rang again. "You have just been in the club for four months, and you have just established yourself in the second team as well, so moving to the first team means you have to start fighting from zero again. You are still exhausted from that process, and you don’t want to repeat it this soon, right?"

Well, Kumiko really hit the nail on the head in this case. Higo himself couldn’t express his thoughts and anxiety that clearly, just knowing that this situation made him feel uncomfortable. Only after he heard her words did the boy realize his current situation.

"Yeah, it seems that was the problem. Any thought about it?" Higo grumbled lightly, letting out a deep, tired sigh.

"Well, what kind of thought could I have here? You don’t have any choice, just go get it!" To his surprise, Kumiko didn’t hold back here. "In fact, this is probably the best situation you can think of to get promoted. Your reputation is rising, and you haven’t truly adapted to a comfortable second-team life. No, you are still full of motivation, full of ambition. Just go! Try to challenge the main team, and even if you fail, you will have to fight back again from the second team, right?"

Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching when he heard that. The girl sure knew how to make everything sound simple, huh?

Still, he couldn’t deny the truth behind her words. The worst he could do on the first team was being a bench warmer for a while, but Higo didn’t believe that he couldn’t compete even against Alexander Nubel himself. It was just... The news came out of nowhere, and he got caught off guard, enough to make his heart waver for a moment.

"Also, you said that Nubel will be transferred next winter, right?" Kumiko asked again, snapping Higo out of his thought.

"Allegedly, okay?" The boy smiled wryly, remembering that this was confidential information.

"Then, this is the perfect time for you to join the first team!" Kumiko exclaimed, ignoring Higo’s answer earlier. "You only have three more months before the winter transfer is open, so you need to use this time to squeeze out everything you can learn from Nubel! Make sure you know what makes him so special to the point that Bayern takes a great interest in him! He is a rising star in Germany right now; you have to steal as much of his knowledge and wisdom as you can before he is gone from the team!"

This time, Higo widened in realization. Indeed, while he could just stay comfortably in the second team, this chance was quite rare to have. Once Nubel was gone, they would be at most strangers, but if he went right now, the boy could build a connection to the one who was hailed as Manuel Neuer’s successor.

At least, observing him from a close distance and discussing the game with him would be an eye-opener for him.

"Yeah, you are right, Kumiko-chan. Thanks for the reminder." Higo nodded solemnly.

"So, you figured it out? Then, good." The boy could imagine his girlfriend nodding from the other side of the call. "Don’t get crushed by the pressure on the first team, and make sure that you show them why you belong there, okay?!"

"Sure!"

Once he was convinced of this decision, Higo didn’t wait for long. The first thing he did was to check on the first team’s situation, especially the goalkeeper’s side, wanting to understand Alexander Nubel’s performance better.

Well, when Higo read Nubel’s stats, he couldn’t say that he was impressed. Out of five games, he had already conceded 13 goals, averaging 2.6 per game. Not only that, so far, the goalkeeper had only made 9 saves in total, which was only 1.8 per game. This number was one of the worst in the league so far, showing how bad the goalkeeper was between the posts.

The only saving grace here was his high accuracy in long balls and progressive passes, always managing to help the team initiate a dangerous attack. However, Higo didn’t even bat an eye at those stats, finding them to be useless.

’At the end of the day, a goalkeeper has to be good at protecting his goal first, and anything is secondary. It seems I have a bigger chance than I have ever thought before.’ He murmured inside his heart.

In his mind, he had already forgotten all of his doubt and anxiety earlier, getting replaced by the thought of him dominating the training session tomorrow. Even though it was unrealistic, the boy couldn’t help it, thinking about what he would do once he played in the main Schalke stadium.

’Yeah, when that time comes, I have to call Mom and Aya-nee to come and watch the game!’