Huh?
Seeing Coach Carter speed up ahead, Gu Ran's interest was piqued.
Old man, you're quite competitive, aren't you?
Thank you, Coach Carter, for successfully igniting my competitive spirit!
Gu Ran quickened his pace!
Gu Ran wasn't in a rush to overtake; he just stayed close behind Coach Carter.
After two minutes, Coach Carter couldn't keep up anymore, and his running speed noticeably dropped.
This kind of close pursuit was actually quite thrilling!
Gu Ran secretly chuckled to himself, then said in a warm tone, "Hey, Coach, watch your left. I'm about to pass you."
Coach Carter was completely stunned.
Normally, if someone dared to act so cocky in front of him, he would've already started yelling.
But since it was Gu Ran, it was fine.
Coach Carter wasn't angry at all. In fact, he was secretly pleased: Ha, this kid Gu is just like me when I was young! I've been surpassed by myself, but it's fine! As long as I put myself in his shoes, I don't feel ashamed. In fact, I feel a little excited.
—Coach Carter was the first one to be lapped by Gu Ran during this warm-up run.
Soon after, Watergate came panting up behind him, "Coach, watch your left, I'm about to—"
"Get lost!" Coach Carter raised his fist, ready to hit Watergate.
Watergate quickly stuck out his tongue and sped up to get away from the suddenly irritable old man.
Ten minutes later.
Gu Ran said in a warm tone, "Hey, Coach, I'm about to pass you again. Watch your left."
Coach Carter happily nodded at Gu Ran, "Gu, you're so polite. Take it easy, don't use up all your energy—"
This was already the second time Gu Ran had lapped him.
Five minutes later, when Watergate caught up to Coach Carter again, ready to lap him a second time, Coach Carter shot him a murderous glare, forcing Watergate to back off.
By the time the 20-minute warm-up run was over, every member of the Buckhorn Hornets had been lapped by Gu Ran twice.
Coach Carter had it the worst—he was lapped three times by Gu Ran.
As soon as the warm-up run ended, the ever-competitive Coach Carter knelt on the grass, dry heaving.
As the leader of the Buckhorn Hornets locker room, Coach Carter had actually made himself throw up from his own warm-up run!
These little brats, hehehe…
They've improved so much!
While Coach Carter was dry heaving, he was secretly pleased.
With such a positive team attitude and a super talent like Gu Ran… the Buckhorn Hornets could definitely make history this time! They absolutely could!
"Coach! Are you okay?"
"Coach, I told you to think twice."
"Coach, since you came in last, you'll have to sing 'There's a young, handsome Eastern man named Gu Ran' ten times solo during lunch."
"Coach, can you handle it? Do you need us to call an ambulance?"
"Coach, let Sissy give you mouth-to-mouth!"
The Buckhorn Hornets players gathered around Coach Carter, pretending to be concerned but actually teasing him.
Glider pulled out his new phone and secretly recorded Coach Carter's embarrassing state.
Coach Carter, pale-faced, growled, "…All of you, get the hell out of here! This time, Gu Ran is the standard. Anyone who was lapped by him has to go sing in the cafeteria—except for me!"
"Huh?"
"Coach! You can't do this!"
Coach Carter straightened up, "I'm the coach! I can—ugh!"
Coach Carter bent over and dry heaved again.
The Buckhorn Hornets players were dropping bubbles left and right!
Gu Ran took the opportunity to focus his mind and scan: Besides the white stamina training, passing training bubbles, there were also two blue skill bubbles.
Rusty dropped a +1 Shoulder Charge skill bubble, and Watergate dropped a +1 One-Two Pass skill bubble.
Now that he was at B-rank, he could stack skills up to +4 through pickups!
Gu Ran immediately collected Rusty and Watergate's bubbles.
With this, Gu Ran's skills upgraded to Shoulder Charge +4 and One-Two Pass +3.
After picking up these two blue skill bubbles, Gu Ran also selected 7 white stamina training, sprint training, passing training, and jumping training bubbles.
Combined with the remaining training results, he once again accumulated 100 hours of training, automatically converting into a new talent point.
To upgrade to A-rank, he needed at least 15 sub-attributes to reach 75 points.
Therefore, besides the stamina sub-attribute, he needed to focus on other sub-attributes that were easier to reach 75 points.
Among the remaining sub-attributes, his explosive power was at 66 points, and his physique was at 68 points—both of which could be part of the 15 sub-attributes to improve.
Explosive power was crucial for sprinting, which was one of Gu Ran's core strengths.
With stamina nearly maxed out, the next focus should be on sprinting to further enhance his strengths.
After a quick thought, Gu Ran added the newly acquired talent point to his explosive power attribute.
With this, his explosive power increased to 67 points.
…Still far from reaching professional standards.
He needed to continue strengthening his training. His own training could be combined with the training results from pickups, and he could also gain growth-based improvements after matches.
The more he trained, the better his performance in matches, and the greater his growth would be.
After the warm-up, the team, led by Captain Bread, did 15 minutes of stretching.
The morning training focused on team technical drills, mainly revolving around transition play and building attacks from the back.
The Buckhorn Hornets' strategy was built on defensive counterattacks, with a specific focus on transition play and advancing down the left flank.
The previous matches had proven that Coach Carter's approach was spot on.
The Buckhorn Hornets' games weren't the most aesthetically pleasing, but they were highly effective.
To play beautiful football like tiki-taka, you first needed players with the technical skills to pull it off.
But the reality for the Buckhorn Hornets was—aside from Watergate, who had some technical ability, the rest of the players relied on physicality and aggression.
Even a "genius" like Gu Ran didn't have a strong technical foundation yet. His game was built on physicality, speed, and high football IQ.
So, the Buckhorn Hornets had a clear understanding of their identity.
Football matches might seem like a battle between 11 players on the field, but they're also a duel between coaches.
The real beauty of football isn't just the goals—it's the scouting, the tactical setups, and the in-game adjustments.
By the end of the morning training session, most of the starting players were sprawled on the grass, exhausted.
Normally, these two training drills weren't too intense, but once Gu Ran got the ball and started sprinting like crazy, the entire team followed suit, pushing the training intensity to a semi-professional level.
While everyone else was resting, Gu Ran continued to train.
Besides wanting to train hard and accelerate his growth, Gu Ran also wanted to exhaust his stamina so he could fall asleep as soon as he got home.
This was called passive discipline.
Don't give your young body a chance!
At lunchtime, Gu Ran had the team assistant, Drummer, bring him food so he could eat on the training field.
This saved time and allowed him to train a bit more.
Of course, the main reason was to avoid being caught by the GR fan club, which would cause unnecessary chaos.
After lunch, Gu Ran took a quick half-hour break, then started sprint training.
The next focus was on explosive power. If he didn't train more and suddenly increased his sprinting speed, it would raise suspicions.
"Gu, you're insane!"
"Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache?"
"Gu, give us a break!"
"Gu, I hate you…"
The Buckhorn Hornets players were on the verge of tears from Gu Ran's relentless training.
They had saved up their energy to compete with Gu Ran, but they couldn't even last half a day.
The afternoon training focused on attacking from the back and passing combinations.
These were relatively lighter technical drills.
But…
As long as Gu Ran was in the mix, nothing was light.
Gu Ran maintained a high-speed sprint during passing drills, pushing the training intensity to a semi-professional level.
The starting players were all exhausted again.
Coach Carter was very pleased with Gu Ran's performance.
After the afternoon training session, Coach Carter called Gu Ran over, "Gu, the match is in three days. You need to preserve your stamina. Don't train too hard, and don't get injured chasing intensity. The closer we get, the more careful you need to be."
Gu Ran immediately replied, "Yes, Coach."
"Also…" Coach Carter said earnestly, "For these three days, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely no fooling around. This next match is really important for you—there will be important people watching."
Gu Ran was slightly taken aback: Important people?
Well, it made sense. This was only the second time in a century that Southamptom High had reached the quarterfinals, and the first time they were hosting a quarterfinal match. It was normal for important people from Southampton to attend.
Gu Ran didn't overthink it, "Don't worry, Coach! For these three days, I won't fool around at all!"
I can make this promise!
Coach Carter patted Gu Ran's shoulder, "Good. Well, I have things to do, so I'll head out now."
Gu Ran said, "Leaving so early? Coach, aren't you going to train with us some more?"
Coach Carter walked stiffly off the field, not looking back, "No, no. I just remembered, I think I left the gas on at home…"
Gu Ran: …Stay safe.
Once Coach Carter left, the other Buckhorn Hornets players also went home to rest—they simply couldn't keep up with Gu Ran's intensity.
Gu Ran felt he still had some stamina left, so he stayed on the training field for another hour of resistance sprint training.
Only when he was completely drained and couldn't sprint anymore did Gu Ran finally feel satisfied. He leaned against the wall as he walked into the locker room.
The feeling of sweating profusely after training and the dopamine rush in his brain—it was so damn satisfying!
He felt completely refreshed!
After showering, Gu Ran climbed over the school wall, got into his Porsche Cayenne, and drove back to the dune villa.
When he opened the door, it was already 7:30 PM.
Ding~
As soon as Gu Ran entered the villa, a clear system notification sounded in his mind.
No need to guess—Anne, who had been cooped up at home all day, was full of negative emotions again.
"Anne, I'm back!"
Gu Ran immediately headed to Anne's room.
When Anne saw Gu Ran, she happily flew into his arms, wrapping herself around him like a koala, "Gu, you're finally back!"
This time, Anne didn't cry, which showed that while she still had negative emotions, her depression was gradually improving. She wasn't as emotionally unstable as before.
This was a good thing!
Gu Ran happily held Anne by her waist and hips.
Even though Gu Ran had mostly exhausted his stamina during training, holding Anne now felt effortless.
—This was probably the primal instinct of a man.
Gu Ran kissed Anne on the lips, "You've been waiting so long. Did you miss me?"
"I didn't miss you," Anne said coquettishly. "I just wanted to… help you."
Holy crap…
So direct!
So bold!
Goddess, don't be like this!
It's all my fault for being too strong, making you obsessed!
We can't just jump into this as soon as we meet!
I'm a man who needs to be disciplined!
I just made a promise to Coach Carter!
—Gu Ran felt that even though he didn't have much stamina left, his young body still wanted to act up.
No, no!
Gu Ran took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but all he could smell was Anne's intoxicating perfume.
How could anyone resist a pure goddess who only acts seductive for you?
This is too hard!
Why does it feel like I can hold Anne without using my hands now?
Gu Ran held his breath, quickly suppressing his racing heart.
Calm down! Calm down!
Discipline! Discipline!
"…Anne, you must be starving, right? Did you eat lunch on time? Let me make your favorite Scottish noodles, okay?" Gu Ran tried to change the subject.
Anne was slightly stunned. She widened her innocent yet seductive peach-blossom eyes and looked at Gu Ran with a pitiful expression, "Gu, have you… already lost interest in me?"
Holy crap!
Goddess, you're overthinking it!
How could I lose interest in you?
We've only just started!
To put it bluntly—someone like you, I could play with every day, day and night, and never get enough!
Gu Ran quickly said, "No! That's not it! Really, it's not!"
Anne said dejectedly, "You didn't do anything with me last night. That means my body no longer attracts you."
What kind of bold talk is this!
Gu Ran swallowed hard, "No, no, Anne! I really want to, but I… for the sake of training and the match, I have to hold back! My next match isn't just important for me—it's crucial for our entire team! Anne, believe me, give me three days! After the match on the fourth day, I'll prove to you just how fresh you are in my heart!"
Anne burst out laughing, "Alright, alright! Of course, I know you have an important match! I was just teasing you earlier. Look how serious you got. Do you really think I'm the kind of woman who would prioritize fooling around over your important matters? Besides, I'm exhausted from the past two days. Even if you wanted to, I wouldn't do it with you."
…I don't believe you!
Should we test it?
Forget it, don't play with fire!
Hold back! Endure these three days, and on the fourth day, it'll be fine!
Gu Ran steadied his mind, "Anne, I'll go make you some Scottish noodles."
"Mhm, I'll come with you. I love watching you cook. Watching you cook is like the ultimate spiritual spa!"
Gu Ran: …
Great, more praise.
This was exactly why he couldn't bring Anne to the training field.
Just warming up on the field would earn him endless praise from Anne, making it impossible to train.
Not only would he be unable to train, but the other players would also collapse.
As Gu Ran set Anne down, he focused his mind and collected the red talent point bubble she had dropped.
Then, without drawing attention, he added this talent point to his explosive power attribute.
His explosive power increased from 67 to 68.
My sprinting just got even stronger!
A thought suddenly popped into Gu Ran's mind:
I wonder if…?
It should, since these are all body attributes.
After the match in three days, I can test it out with Anne.
Then, hehehe…
Gu Ran chuckled to himself as he walked into the kitchen to cook.
After dinner and a walk, Gu Ran spent two hours continuing to hand-draw the storyboard for *The Dark Knight Rises*.
Before bed, Gu Ran used the cryotherapy chamber and sauna again to recover his stamina.
His stamina attribute, combined with scientific methods, allowed Gu Ran to recover most of his energy quickly.
A disciplined night's sleep, and he'd be 70-80% recovered by morning.
This wasn't the optimal recovery state, but for a non-professional high school player, this was an insane recovery speed.
—Tomorrow, I can keep pushing!
That night, Gu Ran wrapped a towel around his waist and returned to his room.
Anne was already lying in bed, waiting.
Gu Ran: …
Anne poked her head out from under the covers and gave him a gentle, innocent smile, "Gu, don't get the wrong idea. I'm just here to sleep. We're not doing anything."
Holy crap…
A Hollywood goddess lying in my bed, telling me we're not doing anything…
This is the most brutal test in history!
Stay calm!
Gu Ran! You're a man who's been through countless trials and tribulations in your past life!
You can do this!
Gu Ran took a deep breath, dropped the towel, and confidently got into bed.
Now, the pressure was on Anne.
Anne's face was flushed as she burrowed under the covers.
Just as Gu Ran was about to relax, Anne wriggled to the middle of the bed.
"Hey, no funny business."
Anne's warm breath brushed against him.
Holy crap!
Gu Ran felt blood rush to his head!
Anne, you're too mischievous!
You really are a cat!
Gu Ran grabbed Anne.
Anne cooed, "Gu, what are you doing?"
I, I'm going to… be disciplined!
Gu Ran gritted his teeth, breathing heavily, "Anne, you're being naughty now, but in three days, you'll regret it!"
"Ah~ I'm so scared! But there are still three days!" Anne giggled, turned over, found a comfortable position, and said contentedly, "Goodnight."
Damn you!
Gu Ran forced himself to recite 16 calculus formulas in his mind… no, positions.
Before he even got to the eighth one, Gu Ran couldn't keep his eyes open and fell asleep.
So, calculus is really a good thing.
The next morning.
These days… enduring is so hard!
Gu Ran got up, made two nutritious breakfasts, left a note for Anne, and drove to school for training.
As the quarterfinal match approached, not only were the Buckhorn Hornets preparing intensely, but the entire Southamptom High School had also entered "battle mode."
From the students' perspective, everyone was talking about the Buckhorn Hornets, especially Gu Ran.
All extracurricular activities were canceled for the students, and no one was allowed near the training field to avoid disturbing the team's preparation.
The GR fan club had expanded beyond the school, with many girls from other schools making support signs after watching Gu Ran's videos and sending them to Southamptom Private School.
The girls at Southamptom Private School had already covered the entire campus with slogans.
The告白 wall and the fences leading to the Buckhorn Hornets' home field were plastered with photos of Gu Ran's stunning free kicks.
It was safe to say that Gu Ran had become the school idol in the hearts of all Southamptom students.
Even the teachers were talking about him.
Rumors circulated among the teachers that Gu Ran had been "conquered" by Ms. Maria.
This gave some unmarried female teachers a glimmer of hope.
From the school's perspective—the board of directors was very satisfied with the team's performance in the tournament. This was the first time in Southamptom Private School's history that they were hosting a national high school quarterfinal match.
To mark the occasion, the board and the parents' association held a meeting and decided to fund the renovation of the school's home field turf.
They also raised £20,000 for fireworks. If the Buckhorn Hornets won the quarterfinal, it would be the first time in the school's history that fireworks would be set off at the home field.
As a reward for the donations, Southamptom Private School agreed to open the campus on match day, allowing parents to attend and experience the school's football atmosphere.
The Buckhorn Hornets' home field, aside from the main stand, had four other stands with metal bleachers, not standard seating. These bleachers could accommodate about 800 spectators, but Southamptom Private School alone had 800 students. The school was urgently installing more metal bleachers.
Even with the additional sections, the maximum capacity would only be around 1,200.
There was no other way—if you wanted to watch the Buckhorn Hornets play, you had to get there early.
Additionally, the school had received numerous formal requests for visits from professional clubs and local media.
These requests were very formal, sent through official channels via fax.
These formal requests needed to be officially responded to and arranged. The visitors would be seated in the main stand and allowed to conduct interviews.
Among these requests was one from Everton's scouts—they were naturally there to observe the Rosall High Angel Wings.
There were also scouts from Northampton, Brentford, Carlisle United, Portsmouth, Notts County, Swindon, and other League Two and League One clubs.
They were all there to scout talent during the quarterfinals.
The most significant requests came from Chelsea's scouts and Southampton's senior management.
…
(End of chapter)
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