God of Tennis Chapter 24: New Goal

Translator: Pineapple

Editor: 

After the conclusion of the Metz Open, Han Woo Jin started his training schedule.

His next tournament, the Kimchun Open, still had four days before it began. So currently he was resting and rehabilitating his right arm that was injured along with some light exercise. Of course, the depth of his strength training was a bit more difficult that the rehab.

*Creek creek*

After he finishes eight sets of wrist curls he takes a small break and began doing a different exercise. Due to his harsh training, Han Woo Jin's arms were swollen due to the increased blood flow. You could clearly see the lines and striations of his forearm muscles. His veins were popping out of his skin and his arm felt slightly numb. If girls saw his veins, they might be grossed out.

"Hooo, it's not that heavy but it's hard."

Han Woo Jin mumbled as he frowned. He was doing an easy exercise but he felt discomfort in his body. He was using a grip machine that any adult could easily do. 

The grip could be closed, using 45 kg of grip strength. Han Woo Jin had 70 kg of grip strength, which made Han Woo Jin feel strange because it was difficult for him. 

But the work out wasn't just to increase his grip strength.

'21... 22... 23... 25...!'

He was barely able to reach the 25th repetition and put down the grip machine. This current exercise will increase his muscle endurance. Muscle strength and muscle endurance had similar names but they had completely different methods of training.

If he wanted to increase his strength, he needed to use higher weight grips and have lower repetitions. But as a tennis player, their muscles were needed for short explosive bursts and long endurance. 

Of course, it's good if this exercise increases his strength, but what he currently needed the most was endurance that would enable him to constantly use his special skills.

There were two things that he realized during the Metz Open. The first was that he depended/trusted on the system too much. The second was that he didn't fully understand the system's structure.

HP is a number that represents his overall body's strength. That means that if he only uses one body part, like his forearm to the point that it is exhausted. His HP doesn't decrease as much, than if he used his entire body to exercise. That's why he wasn't worried about his HP score until his forearm was injured. Because it still showed that his HP was pretty high.

'I lost as I gained.'

If it was in the past before he got the system, he would have known by himself instinctively, without the system, where his body was injured/exhausted and he would have been able to calculate how much longer he could go. But after he got the system, he lost that skill and became completely dependent on it. So he was now less sensitive to his body's situation.

He now needed to train from the beginning. He needed to retrain his dull senses and have a deeper understanding of the system. Han Woo Jin, calmed his rough breathing and resumed training. He still had one more hour left in the training room. 

But not long after, he put down his dumbell.

*Rrrrrr...*

"What's going on?"

Han Woo Jin tilted his head and moved his hand to the phone. He was currently the only person inside the training room. That means that this phone ringing was meant for him.

*Click*

As soon as he turned on the phone, he heard a tough sounding voice. It was Coach Jeon's voice, whom he could recognize in his sleep.

[Is this Woo Jin?]

"Yes but why did you call me through the building phone?"

Coach Jeon was still very active compared to his age group and he even prefers to run or walk to his destination rather than take his car. So it was more common for him to speak to the players inside the training room rather than calling them on the phone.

[You brat, do you want me to run everyday to you walking on my old feet? Sometimes, I just want to drink coffee and use the phone.}

"Yes, so what's going on? I'm training right now."

When a player becomes a big shot, then their training schedule is timed to the very second, even their break times. How long they train, how much they repeat and how long they take a break for. Han Woo Jin didn't want to break the rhythm for his work out due to nothing.

Coach Jeon, who understood what he was talking about, laughed because he also used to be an athlete. He understood the annoyance of being interrupted during a training session.

[Alright, alright, once you're done training, come over to my room. It's not a big deal, but there's something that you need to decide.]

"What's that?"

[You'll know once you get here. I'm gonna hang up! Work hard.]

"Ah coach..."

*Beep beep*

Coach Jeon hung up the phone and wondered what was going on. But he quickly went back to working out before his body cooled down. 

The training room that was quiet went back to the rhythmic cycle of exercise.

***

Coach Jeon's room. His room was messy, there were many books and newspapers lying around. Coach Jeon wasn't the type of person that liked to clean. But he was also the type of person that if he did something, then he did it perfectly, which was strange. 

Han Woo Jin always had to look for a spot to sit inside his office. Coach Jeon handed him a newspaper before speaking.

"You remember Kim Sangpil right?"

"Kim Sangpil..."

He couldn't remember the name right off the bat. But it wasn't a name that he wasn't unfamiliar with, but he suddenly remembered it. It wasn't too long ago.

"You're talking about the sports reporter right?"

"Right. He's the one that wrote this article. Take a look at it."

He was the one that wrote the article about Han Woo Jin and Choi Yeon Hyuk. Han Woo Jin took a look at the newspaper with an unpleasant face. This time the article was one of the major headlines. 

<< Korean Tennis Revitalized by Young Blood! >>

[ Nowadays in Korean tennis, NK company's two young tennis players that were sponsored by them, attended their first ATP tournament. I want to talk about the two players who went abroad to France who were able to attend their second ever tournament in a high tennis level country like France. 

Han Woo Jin (22), Choi Yeon Hyuk (22). These two players are newbies who debuted at the beginning of this year. Although both of them won a futures league that they attended for their debut, they were able to reach the top 16 at the ATP 250 league. This has never happened with our current and past Korean professional tennis players.

Of course, it's too early to compliment them for reaching that far for only reaching the top 16 and top 32. However... (continued)]

'Wow... there's only compliments.'

Han Woo Jin's face was flushed due to the high praises. Han Woo Jin was about to put down the newspaper but Coach Jeon hurriedly stopped him and urged him to keep reading.

"I know how embarrassed you feel but you should keep on reading and then talk."
"...Yes."

If he kept on reading he would probably feel like hiding underneath his blanket but he didn't go against Coach Jeon's words. Han Woo JIn raised the newspaper again and read it in detail. His face changed into a serious expression. 

Coach Jeon, who was waiting for that expression opened his mouth.

"How does it feel to have the gazes of many people on you?"

"This is... quite burdensome."

Han Woo Jin replied with a solemn voice. In fact he was also thinking, why the reporter praised him so much. At the end of the article, another person that was interviewed calmed him down from the praise. He said his name out loud.

"Player Kim Hyung Tae."

If you were a tennis player in Korea, then you would obviously know his name. In the future, where he came from, Kim Hyung Tae was the highest ranking player in Korea. Until Choi Yeon Hyuk overcomes his record, Kim Hyung Tae became a legend in Korean tennis.

He was similarly compared to Choi Yeon Hyuk when he reached second place in the Wimbledon. But in reality, Kim Hyung Tae was a name that was close to him. That was why he felt burdened. Kim Hyung Tae spoke about something at the end of the article.

[I'm very happy that two outstanding juniors appeared in the scene. Tennis is a lackluster sport in Korea today. I've tried my best to play this game and many people still don't know my name which makes me a bit disappointed. I feel like these two rookies will be able to reach higher heights than me in this sport. 

Q: Does this mean that Choi Yeon Hyuk and Han Woo Jin are currently stronger than you?
"... Kim Sang Pil has a pretty bad personality." ] (the reporter)

"Right? That's why you need to avoid him."

Kim Sang Pil may have already known the answer even if he didn't ask that question. He asked his question on purpose to stimulate the article some more. This question involved all three people, Choi Yeon Hyuk, Han Woo JIn and Kim Hyung Tae in order to make them angry and go against each other.

[ That's not it. I still think that I am the stronger player. There's no definite answer until we play on the court.

Q: Do you want to play against them in the same tournament in the future? Do you have anything you would like to say to them? ] 

Han Woo Jin unconsciously swallowed his saliva. Player Kim Hyung Tae was the only respectable tennis player in Korea. Choi Yeon Hyuk was the same age as him so he only felt envious of his skills but Kim Hyung Tae was a player from the older generation, so he only respected him.

[ Maybe we will play against each other this year. I hope that we can play a fun match as a senior and junior. PLayers should play for fun. Regardless of who wins it will be a fun match to watch.

Q: If you were to decide, who do you think is the more difficult player to play against?

(bitter laugher).... ]

Han Woo Jin put down the paper after reading the paper up until the last paragraph. Coach Jeon looked at him with an uncertain expression. He showed him the newspaper because of that newspaper. No tennis player in Korea wouldn't be moved by Kim Hyung Tae's words.

'He might be scared after this...'

But looking at Han Woo JIn's face, that didn't seem to have happened. Coach Jeon spoke to him with a dry tone.

"Kim Hyung Tae might attend the Tokyo Open on November this year. His world ranking is 88 so because he is in the top 100, he can get a seeded placement in the tournament.

"..."

Han Woo Jin listened to his words with wide eyes and he understood what Coach Jeon was trying to say to him. Kim Hyung Tae, Ranking. These two words had only once answer.

"Also, today, i got the information that Kim Hyung Tae submitted his application for the Seoul Open. It's the next tournament for you after the Kimchun Open. If you want, I can change your schedule to a different challenger tournament besides the Seoul Open. Because if you go against Kim Hyung Tae, then you might have problems, getting more points."

Coach Jeon asked him, already knowing the answer. Also Han Woo Jin expected him to ask that question. 

He's lying. 

Han Woo JIn lied. Coach Jeon waited for his answer bright-eyed and didn't want a disappointing reply. 

Han Woo Jin has lived the past ten years of his life passively, without taking action.

'I don't have a reason to step down.'

Although Kim Hyung Tae was the best player in Korea, he was only in the top 100 rankings. How can a person aiming for one of the grand slams be afraid of someone just in the top 100? He never thought like that.
"I'll go to the Seoul Open."
"Really? You won't regret it?"
Han Woo Jin almost told Coach Jeon to hide his expression from being too excited. Han Woo Jin stopped himself and quickly returned to his normal expression and spoke without hesitation.

"I won't regret it. Also..."

He remembered the end of the article that he read. It was a bad feeling like he could hear Kim Hyung Tae's voice in person.

[ I think player Choi Yeon Hyuk will be harder to play against. He is a player that has a greater physical build. Even though they are both newbies, I'm more scared of the person that has better physical attributes. ]

He was right. Han Woo Jin wasn't a famous player yet. If you compared Choi Yeon Hyuk and himself side by side, Choi Yeon Hyuk had a better impression on others. 

This made him feel slightly down. 

" I want to do something right now."

"What's that?"

Han Woo Jin mumbled in a small voice and Coach Jeon was able to hear with no problem. As soon as he heard what he wanted he couldn't help laughing.

It was one word.

"Counterattack." (so in korea what he really said was "하극상이요" which means a lower class/lower level beating a higher class. Like a smaller fish eating a big fish)

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