In the 67th minute, Nanchuan Lighthouse are trailing 1-0.
Their starting goalkeeper is injured and taken off, and there's a penalty waiting at the goalmouth.
The coach shoves Gu Ye, who's spent more than half a year on the bench, onto the touchline and gives him one instruction: "Just don't let in too many. Don't make this look too ugly."
People in the stands start heading for the exits, while his teammates argue over who lost their mark.
Twenty-year-old Gu Ye steps into the goal and first picks up the water bottle lying on the goal line.
Then he shouts at the defenders still bickering: "Done arguing? If not, get marked up anyway!"
He isn't some genius who suddenly awakened. His left-footed distribution is shaky, he hesitates when dealing with crosses, and when he gets nervous, he can even choke while drinking water.
But this time, he doesn't want to wait until someone else has lost the match before they call him on to kill the last few minutes.
From a muddy goal in the City Cup to a professional trial where people scrutinize every touch, Gu Ye is fighting for more than just one spectacular save.
He wants the person who said, "Just let him fill in for now," to write his name down in the starting lineup next time, and mean it.
The first ten chapters cover the story arc of the opening knockout match and the first round of trials. This does not mean the whole book is finished.
