My system allows me to copy talents

452  Late Bloomer

Kaoru readily accepted his flaws. He was indeed open to criticism. [New Quest Unlocked]

[Challenge Kaoru for a duel and earn his acknowledgment]

[Reward: Copy one of his talents]

[Failure: Temporary disablement of some random talents] Hiro's eyes perked up as he heard the notification. He was presented with a quest from out of nowhere. The reward appeared tempting since he lacked defensive talents. So, it was exactly what he needed at the moment. But the condition of the quest seemed rather demanding. He had to convince him for a duel. And, he also had to earn his acknowledgment. Simply beating him wouldn't be enough. Also, the punishment was rather cruel. After all, he needed his talents to get selected. So, if he were to lose any talents now, it'd be quite detrimental to his journey ahead. Even so, he had no other option than to accept the quest. For some reason, Hiro started regretting his decision to approach him. If he hadn't approached him then he wouldn't have gotten this quest. Hiro sighed submissively. "Is something wrong?" Kaoru asked, baffled by his sudden expression. "It's just that I wanted to ask a favor"

"Favor?"

"Yes, I wanted to ask you for a duel," Hiro said earnestly. "A duel huh?"

It wasn't that big of a deal. Honestly speaking, he too wanted to test himself against him. So, he accepted it. "Sure, let's duel. But what do you want to compete against? If it's shooting or dribbling then I doubt that I'd be any match to you."

Hiro heaved a sigh of relief as he heard his response. If he were to reject his challenge then he'd fail the quest even before starting it. Also, he had no idea how to convince him. Fortunately enough, his straightforwardness worked. Well, if not for Kaoru's openness, he might not have been so straightforward. If he was rather reserved then he might have actually tried to provoke him. But since he seemed like a nice guy, he preferred to be direct. "Since you're a defender then how about you defend and I try to beat you?" Hiro suggested. So he knows that I'm a defender huh? He hadn't told him that he was a defender yet he knew he played defense. Also, he hadn't talked to anyone yet. So, his knowing his position came somewhat of a surprise to him. But, he didn't think much of it. "Did Shun tell you?" Kaoru asked. He knows about Shun! Just who is he?

His eyes opened wide as he heard the mention of Shun. Wait a minute. Kaoru Sato. Where have I heard this name? Hiro started to rack his mind, trying to recall his name. Since he appeared as if he was familiar with Shun then he could only link up with him. He tried to recall his conversation with Shun. Yokohama FC. Right, he's the defender whom Shun had mentioned previously. Finally, after much thinking, he recalled his identity. The dependable one. The late bloomer. Because of his busy schedule, he hadn't had much opportunity to know about him. But he knew that he had heard of him from Shun. "You're his teammate right?" he asked. He nodded his head as he replied, "Yeah. But why do you look so surprised? Didn't you approach me because you knew me?"

Now what was he supposed to tell? How was he going to tell that he approached him out of sheer curiosity? And he didn't even know of him until a moment ago?

An alarm went off inside his head and he started panicking. But he kept his composure. He couldn't afford to show it on his face. Flustered, he answered smiling nervously, "Yeah..., Hahaha..., you appeared so familiar but I couldn't be sure. So, I had to approach you." Despite his attempt of trying to mask his nervousness, Kaoru saw through his facade. If he had chosen an acting career, he wouldn't have gotten many film offers. Yet still, he wasn't bothered. It was exactly as he said, he didn't know him at all. 23:18

"So, is it true that you were playing in the third division until the age of 24?" he had heard that he had been playing in the third division until he was 24 years old. "I can tell from your face that you didn't recognize me at all. Well, I wouldn't blame you for it though. Since we haven't met once. But, I've heard a lot about you from Shun. He keeps on talking about you all the time."

It was exactly as he said, he didn't know him at all. "So, is it true that you were playing in the third division until the age of 24?" he had heard that he had been playing in the third division until he was 24 years old. Only at the age of 25, he was discovered by a second-division club FC Gifu. Yet still, he continued to struggle as he failed to make an impression. If not for Yokohama FC signing him, he'd have quit football by now. But somebody who was on the verge of quitting football was right now in front of him, called up by the national team despite playing in the second division. Just how good one has to be to be able to achieve such a feat?

His stats were pretty mediocre. No, it was even below average. If not for his defending, he wouldn't even be considered fit to play for the second division.

So, how come such a player has been called up?

"Yeah, it's a bit embarrassing. No, it's extremely embarrassing. But until 24, I was a nobody. Let alone to get this opportunity, I had even thought about quitting football. If not for FC Gifu offering me a contract, I'd have already quit football, " He was rather earnest about it. Hearing his story, he couldn't help but overlap his previous self's reflection with him. But unlike him, he could talk about his failures cheerfully. Just how could he bring himself to smile after all those sufferings?

For sure, he wouldn't have it easy. So, how could he smile so warmly? Hiro couldn't figure out. It didn't make any sense to him. All those setbacks, did they not have any effect on him? Though they had suffered the same fate, he was different. Kaoru had risen through his setbacks. In contrast, he had chosen to give up. They were identical and different at the time.  Nôv(el)B\\jnn

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