<h4>Chapter 369 Rapid growth</h4>


    Those simple words of Manager Haruki were enough to soothe some of his worries. And, for such reasons, he found sce in those simple words as he felt appreciated.


    For a while, he kept staring deeply at Manager Haruki without uttering anything.


    Then, without saying anything further, Manager Haruki turned to leave. Until the end, however, he still didn''t look at him.


    It seemed as if he was only present there to say those few words. Or it might be, that he''s just bad at expressing himself. Who knows what it could be?


    But, Taki didn''t mind his attitude not in the least. Instead, his respect for the coach only grew. From this exchange, he got to know that even though the coach doesn''t talk much, he''s still looking at them.


    ???? ????


    November 17, 2023


    Before the sun could even grace the surface with its presence, Hiro found himself awake in his bed quite early in the morning. For some reason, an unusually early awakening had seized him, rousing him from slumber even before the insistent chime of his rm could intrude upon the silence.


    Yet, despite his wide-awake state, he lingered beneath the covers with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. It was almost as if a peculiar reluctance was anchoring him to the bed. No, it wasn''t fatigue that tethered him nor sheerziness; but rather, an inexplicable inertia seemed to hold him in its grip.


    In fact, since he hadn''t done anything tiresome yesterday, he was fully rested. And, neither was he a victim of procrastination. Yet still, he remained suspended in that liminal space between wakefulness and action.


    But, since he had already woken up, he didn''t feel like going back to sleep either. He then slightly cocked his head to look at the digital rm clock ced atop the drawer beside his bed, its numbers casting a faint glow in the dim room.


    It was 4:43 AM right now. And, there were still 17 minutes for his rm clock to start ringing.


    Then again, his gaze fell on the person sleeping on the adjacent bed.


    Snore! Snore!


    In the other bed, Shun was in a state of deep sleep, snoring loudly, sleeping like a pig. Looking at him, it felt as if even an apocalypse wouldn''t be enough to wake him from his slumber.


    Listening to him snore like that, one might really wonder how one could even sleep in such a noisy environment. Nheless, Hiro, however, had developed a special talent for sleeping amidst his ear-piercing snores.


    After getting out of bed, he then turned off the rm so that it won''t start ringingter. Then, with deliberate steps, he approached the window, drawn by the allure of the pre-dawn stillness awaiting beyond the veil of curtains.


    Parting the fabric, he opened the window to get some fresh air. Beyond the pane, the worldy cloaked in darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow of the waning moon and the distant shimmer of stars, casting a spell of tranquility over the nocturnalndscape.


    Breathing in the crisp air, he felt quite rejuvenated. And, even that lingering drowsiness that was hiding somewhere deep in his body, immediately faded away as he felt the sensation of the cold air rustling outside the window caressing his skin.


    "If we lose today, our journey might end here. But, if we win today, we can still dream about the road ahead," Hiro murmured in a low whisper, his eyes glowing with determination.


    Today was the day when they were topete against Senegal, the group leader of their group. And, it was also the day that would determine their fate in the tournament.


    Yet, even though he had woken up just recently, his mind was as clear as ice. Not to mention his determination, he was more determined than ever.


    "There''s still some time for morning training," he continued, looking at the sky.


    Since, it was match day, even though they weren''t going to train intensely, they still had to attend some light training to maintain their sharpness. But considering the timing of the match, it was also perfect timing for revising their strategy as well.


    Though there was still some time left for the morning training session, he still didn''t feel like sitting idle, waiting for it to begin.


    Then, he went to fetch his cleats. Since he performed routine cleanups, his cleats were rather clean and tidy. They were almost as good as new. Packing up his cleats and clothes, he then headed out to the training field.


    After a short walk, he arrived at his destination. But for some reason, upon his arrival, he noticed that the lights were on. And, there were two possibilities; either somebody was present there or the staff had forgotten to turn the lights off.


    The second was unlikely to happen which only left him with the first possibility.


    Who could it be? He wondered as he walked inside, appearing rather curious.


    Then as he entered the field, he was taken aback by the figure of the person that was present on the training grounds.


    "Taki?" he muttered, pausing his steps.


    Already dressed, right now when there was still an hour left for the morning training to begin, Taki was stretching his body.


    It was the first time, he had seen someone on the field clocking in earlier than him since their World Cup campaign had begun. Once, Shun had beaten him to clock in first but other than him none had ever arrived earlier than him.


    "Did something change in him since thest time we met?" he muttered absentmindedly while remaining still at his ce, "Or..., did he grow too?" after a brief pause, he added.


    The thought of someone growing so suddenly made him quite excited. It had happened before but he hadn''t noticed it right away. But, today it was different.


    Using his skill magic vision on him, he then analyzed his stats. Sure enough, he had grown exponentially from thest time he had checked his stat.


    Slow growth was pretty muchmon, but there were instances where somebody''s stat would shoot forth to another level as if they had received some kind of divination.