NOVEL WEB Chapter 97: 97
Ding~
Another blue skill bubble dropped from Belward!
But Gu Ran had no time to care!
His blood was boiling!
Dopamine and adrenaline surged through his veins!
Charge! Charge! Charge!
Gu Ran accelerated even more! His legs moved so fast they blurred in motion!
His high-speed dribbling skill, stamina advantage, explosive attributes, sprinting speed, and sheer will to win all ignited at once!
The Wild Boar Jazz's strongest defensive midfield setup—once their proudest strength—was instantly torn apart like ripped stockings under Gu Ran's relentless sprint!
Almost every Wild Boar Jazz player was desperately chasing and blocking him!
Their stamina was already severely depleted—they couldn't even foul him properly!
In the blink of an eye, Gu Ran reached the arc of the penalty box!
His eyes quickly scanned the field—
Watergate was making a run down the left flank, trying to pull defenders away, but he was marked by two Wild Boar Jazz defenders.
There was also one more defender positioned in the passing lane, ready to intercept.
Unless Watergate could create space within a second, passing to him was impossible.
At the same time, two central defenders were closing in on Gu Ran, trying to trap him.
Another midfielder reached out from behind, trying to pull him back.
And behind him, at least three more defenders were in pursuit.
If he stopped, he'd be trapped. If he kept dribbling forward, he'd crash straight into a wall of defenders.
Then—
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an open space on the right side of the penalty box—
Striker "Glider" was already in position!
Pass!
Gu Ran made an instant decision!
He slowed down slightly to adjust his stance, and before the defenders could fully close in on him, he flicked the ball with his toe—
A rainbow flick!
The ball arched beautifully, like a rainbow, soaring over the defenders and heading straight for Glider's head!
Glider instinctively jumped and pressed his header downward!
The ball bounced at a tight angle towards the near post!
Wild Boar Jazz's goalkeeper was completely caught off guard—he just stood there, frozen!
The ball…
WENT IN!!!
From the moment Gu Ran "passed to his future self" to his final rainbow assist—
It took less than seven seconds!
The goal was too fast! Too fluid! Too smooth!
Before the Wild Boar Jazz defenders could even react, the ball was already in the net!
Glider looked completely stunned, as if he couldn't believe he had scored.
Only when the referee signaled the goal was valid did he finally snap out of it!
Bucks Steel Horns players immediately swarmed Gu Ran!
Even though the goal was technically Glider's, everyone knew he was just the finisher.
As Coach Carter often said—
"Even if you dug up my grandma and put her in that spot, she could've scored!"
The real MVP of the goal was Gu Ran!
Gu Ran single-handedly tore apart the Wild Boar Jazz's strongest defensive setup!
Score update:
Wild Boar Jazz 1:2 Bucks Steel Horns!
Bucks Steel Horns take the lead again!
On the visitor's bench, the Bucks Steel Horns substitutes exploded in cheers!
Coach Carter was jumping up and down on the sidelines like a kid!
In the stands, Maria was screaming in excitement, jumping up and down—
"Aaaahhh! This goal is thanks to me too! Gu Ran, you have to thank me properly!"
At that moment—every single Wild Boar Jazz player was in despair.
They had thought this would be an easy three points, so much so that they hadn't even planned on playing their hardest.
Yet even after going all out, they still couldn't stop that Chinese kid's insane dribbling!
The very player they had looked down on had slapped them in the face twice!
Time was running out for Wild Boar Jazz!
Their coach was furiously screaming at his players on the field.
Meanwhile, the Tonbridge students in the stands were losing their minds.
They cursed Gu Ran with racial slurs, yelling "stinky fish-seller!" and other insults while throwing water bottles onto the field!
The game had to be stopped. The situation was spiraling out of control!
The Bucks Steel Horns players were fuming, but they couldn't fight back—throwing a bottle back at the crowd would earn them a red card and possibly a three-match suspension.
Instead—
Gu Ran stepped up.
He walked to the corner flag closest to the crowd, faced the entitled noble students, and—
Mimicked a dramatic fishing rod cast.
Then, he roared:
"Yeah, I'm a stinky fish-seller! And you're the fish I just caught!"
"That's right! You're the fish!"
The entire Bucks Steel Horns squad lined up behind Gu Ran, copying his fishing motion!
The Tonbridge students went ballistic!
Some of them couldn't handle it and stormed out of the stadium in rage.
If only they were within 10 meters, Gu Ran was sure the entire field would have been littered with blue skill bubbles!
Meanwhile, in the VIP box, Old Lais saw Gu Ran's celebration and couldn't help but smile.
At this point, stadium staff rushed onto the field to clear the water bottles.
The game was paused for a full five minutes.
Taking advantage of the break, Gu Ran and his teammates huddled near the bench, hydrating and listening to Carter's final instructions.
"DEFENSE! From now on, everything is about defense!"
Carter spoke rapidly, pointing at the tactics board.
"Shut down Belward! Block his through-ball connections with their No. 10 striker! If we hold them off, we WIN! Go out there and PROVE we're not pushovers!"
"YES, COACH!"
The Bucks Steel Horns players were fired up!
The game resumed.
Wild Boar Jazz went absolutely berserk on offense.
Carter was yelling positional reminders from the sideline.
Even though the Wild Boar Jazz were technically stronger, the Bucks Steel Horns still had more stamina.
They threw everything into their defense.
And for a while—Wild Boar Jazz had no answers!
85th minute—
Carter made substitutions.
He took off three attackers and replaced them with defenders.
Bucks Steel Horns parked the bus.
A defensive approach, but if it held, they would pull off an upset and steal three points!
Then, because of the bottle-throwing incident, the referee added 8 minutes of injury time!
Wild Boar Jazz saw a sliver of hope and threw everything forward.
But the Bucks Steel Horns players defended with everything they had!
Every single player was pushing their limits.
Time ticked down—Wild Boar Jazz grew more desperate and resorted to dirty tactics.
Then—the final minute of stoppage time.
Wild Boar Jazz won a last-second corner.
Their goalkeeper even ran up into the box.
Belward took the corner—
Rusty jumped first and headed the ball away!
But as he did, his forehead collided HARD with the Wild Boar Jazz goalkeeper's head.
Blood trickled down his face!
Rusty got up immediately and kept defending!
Then—
Gu Ran saw Belward rushing in—
They both lunged—
CRASH!
Gu Ran cleared the ball, but Belward STOMPED on his left foot!
Both players collapsed!
Players rushed in, pushing and shoving!
The referee intervened, booked Belward, and awarded Bucks Steel Horns an indirect free kick.
The game was over.
But on the sideline—
Maria was already waiting to storm onto the field.
If Gu Ran was hurt—she was going to take off his shoe right there.
(End of Chapter.)
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