Chapter 9:

He's A Witness?

Can He Become A Professional Athlete In Another World?


The coach called a timeout. Daniel, sitting on the bench, stared at his feet. Suddenly, a screen popped up and he couldn’t believe what he saw—the shoes he were wearing were cursed. It wasn’t any specific curse, which told Daniel that as of now he wouldn’t know what to expect from them if he were to get back on the court. He was about to relay this information to his teammates when thoughts crossed his mind that made him immediately stop. ‘What if they’ll blame this on William and Hawkes Wings? It’s obvious that he wasn’t the one responsible for this, I mean, his products worked really well before. And we hit it off, too, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to betray us. But would the other guys say the same? And I was the one that recommended their products, too, so what if the other guys stopped trusting me after this?’

“Mr. Max!” called Nico, snapping Daniel out of his thoughts. Daniel turned to see the boy approaching him from the crowd.

“Nico, you’re here to watch the game, aren’t you?” asked Daniel with a small smile. “Sorry that you have to see us suck today. But I’ll work harder so that we won’t have to suffer such a bad defeat!”

Nico gestured for Daniel to come closer. “I saw someone cursed the shoes when they came to the shop,” he told Daniel.

‘I knew it couldn’t have been William!’ thought Daniel triumphantly. Now that the shoemaker’s name had been cleared, the only question left was: who was the real culprit behind this curse? As he wondered this, Daniel gazed out into the crowd and his eyes found his answer. Sitting in seats at the topmost row reserved for wealthy merchants and nobles were the three shoe merchants from yesterday. They looked directly back at Daniel with arrogant smirks.

Daniel went over to the coach and explained to him everything. “It’s my fault that this is happening. I deeply apologize for the trouble I caused,” he apologized after finishing his explanation. Daniel was prepared for whatever punishment the coach will give him. As he waited for the coach’s harsh words of rebuke, he was instead answered back with an affirmative grunt.

“I knew something like this would happen someday,” said the coach calmly. “Nobles and merchants are disgusting creatures when it comes to doing whatever they can to raise their popularity and wealth. And a team like ours with players like you are more than guaranteed to attract their attention. Especially given how far we came in such a short time.”

“Coach, what are you talking about?” asked Daniel, confused about where the coach was going with this.

“I need to send a letter,” said the coach and he left. Two minutes later, he returned.

“Um, coach, what—,” began Daniel.

“You guys will need to go back out and try your best to play,” the coach told him.

“Did you forget? We’re cursed!” hissed Daniel.

“Cursed or not, we still have to play,” replied the coach. “We can still turn this around in the second half.”

“Second half?” asked Daniel.

The whistle blew and the players returned back to the court. The game resumed but the Stars’ situation remained more-or-less the same. Their string of bad luck continued well into the second quarter: constant turnovers, missed shots, embarrassing displays of defense, and easily-picked-apart offensive maneuvers. No matter what they tried—switching marks, scoring from the lane, pick-and-rolls, double-teaming, even substitutions—the situation did not improve one bit at all. The entire team was cursed! Even the current score: Stars – 15 and Wolves – 55, reflected just how deep they were in this pool of bad luck.

“Get off the court!” heckled one of the fans to the Stars.

“Looks like the Stars aren’t all they were hyped to be,” jeered another fan.

“I knew it was impossible for a new team like them to suddenly become contenders overnight,” added another fan.

“They should go defunct already!” shouted another aggressive fan.

“Max Power and Kody Pepper are just overhyped players who don't even deserve it,”
scoffed another fan.

‘No, you’re wrong!’ Daniel wanted to scream. ‘If not for these cursed shoes, we would be giving the Wolves a real fight! But if I just say that out loud right now, everyone will just accuse me of being a sore loser. I can’t make things bad for our image any further.’

The second quarter ended and the score was: Stars – 22 and Wolves – 64.

“I can’t believe it!” shouted Toby in frustration during half-time. “We already know that we’re not doing good this game to begin with! Those bastards didn’t need to say it to ours faces like that! I was this close to shutting them up with some magic!”

“Now, now, it’s understandable that everyone is frustrated with what’s going on,” calmed Erin.

“Even our combined defensive powers is not enough to get through this,” bemoaned Jack, referring to himself and Dan. The latter simply nodded his head glumly in agreement.

“We can work through this,” attempted Brock to dismiss the negative atmosphere around them.

“If we could, we wouldn’t have found ourselves this deep in the red!” barked back Toby.

“Is this the end of our run?” asked Jack dejectedly.

“Not yet!” came the coach’s voice. He appeared before his team in the locker room with Vito Fen right behind him.

“Father!” exclaimed Lira in surprise.

“Come with me,” Vito told the team.

An announcement was made to halt the game until further notice due to an urgent state of emergency. While this was happening, the Stars were led to an area at the topmost row reserved for nobles and the wealthy. Known as the ‘Sky Room’ (this world’s version of a ‘Sky Box’), the area was protected by a clear screen of magic glass that was reinforced with powerful magic to protect everyone inside from anything ranging from stray magic and balls to natural disasters.

“It is a pleasure for me to meet you gentlemen,” said Vito, greeting the three men who had the other day just attempted to strike a deal with Daniel.

“Mr. Fen, the pleasure is ours,” said Edward with a bow. He covertly flashed Daniel a smirk.

“If you gentlemen could, I have something I would like to discuss with you all,” said Vito politely.

“We are all ears!” quickly replied Edwards with a wide serpentine grin.

“As you gentlemen have seen, my team today has run into a string of bad luck. They are performing well below my expectations,” began Vito with a sigh.

“If I may,” interjected Charles, “every player on the Siraco Stars are more than capable of playing on a professional level. Their achievements are well deserved. Those that dare to call that a fluke and disregard their skills are well within the majority of those who possess the brains of a barnacle.”

“If anything, it is not the players’ fault. Rather, it must be something else that is hindering their performance,” agreed Francis.

“Oh? And what may that be?” asked Vito.

“Skills make up a player, but they play only half the role of a player’s performance on the court,” elaborated Edward.

“Are you suggesting that it is their shoes?” asked the coach with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” sighed Vito. He then called for William Hawkes and the shoemaker appeared before them with his son. “Mr. Hawkes, I had great trust in your products. But now seeing my players perform this way while sporting your products, I am not sure I can trust them anymore.”

“And why should you?” added Edward. “After all, a product made by a local shoemaker is bound to be of lesser quality. Can it really be compared to those made by expert magical tailors and engineers?”

Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Mr. Fen, don’t listen to a single word that man is saying!” he pleaded.

“Max, let Mr. Fen handle this. A player like you should not be meddling in the business side of things,” said the coach.

“But—!” protested Daniel.

“One more word out of you and I’ll put you back on the bench indefinitely!” announced the coach. “I assume you won’t have a problem with that?” he asked Vito. The team owner simply nodded his head in confirmation.

Daniel was forced to do as he was told and kept his mouth shut. However, his frustration found other outlets to express itself while still obeying the commands of the coach: glaring eyes, shaking body, snarling lips, an aura of pure unfiltered fury. ‘I seriously don’t want those bastards to win, but I also don’t want to sacrifice my position on the team. Gah! If I knew this was what being a professional athlete entailed, I would’ve chosen a different path in life! But my desire to see this second chance through is keeping me from going against this feeling.’

“Mr. Hawkes,” said Vito to the shoemaker, “please explain why your shoes have become like this.”

William had no words to say and simply stared at his feet in frustration.

“Isn’t it obvious? A defective product must be made with defective magic! Those shoes are basically cursed!” declared Edward with a laugh that was joined by his associates.

“Cursed? What an interesting idea!” said Vito with an amused smile. He then clapped his hands together and two figures appeared with a cloaked man trapped in between them. This reveal suddenly made Edward and his friends shut their mouths. “I actually put in the same inquiry when I saw how today’s game suddenly took a turn for the worse for my team. You see, I have a really good friend who is a professor of curses at the Royal Capital College. When I inquired him through letter, he explained to me that it is indeed possible for a curse to suddenly cause the downfall of an otherwise well-to-do team.”

“Ah, yes, I see,” said Edward with an awkward laugh. “Excuse me, but where are we going with this?”

“Furthermore, there are two types of curses,” continued Vito, ignoring Edward’s previous question. “The first kind is called an Automatic Curse, which, like its namesake, automatically takes effect once it is casted. The second kind is called a Conditional Curse, which is a curse that takes effect when particular conditions are met. For example, a curse that only activates when the cursed object is worn on the court during a game.”

“Mr. Fen, just what are you insinuating?” came Charles sharply.

“Well, a curse can only be undone by the same person who casted it in the first place,” continued Vito. “Therefore, if Mr. Hawkes truly cursed it, then that means that only he possess the ability to undo it. Should we ask him?” Before anyone else said anything, Vito continued, “I forgot to mention that I also received word that someone strange had entered the Hawkes Wings store and did some weird ritual on their shoes. The man we have right here is the one purported to be that very culprit. And so the only conclusion I can draw is this: if Mr. Hawkes was not the one who had cursed the shoes, then it must be this very man right here.” As he said that, he pointed to the cloaked man. When he did, Edward flinched. Vito turned to William and said, “Mr. Hawkes, if you want to prove your innocence, then this is your chance. Please remove the curse you have placed on the shoes.” William glanced at the shoes before shaking his head back with honest eyes. “Really? Then this could only mean…,” drawled Vito.

“Kale, undo it!” ordered Edward. The cloaked man scrambled forward and raised his hand. Black magical circles emanated from the shoes the Stars wore and shattered like glass. “How did you know?” Edward asked Vito with a snarl.

“As I have said before, an associate of mine brought to my attention the appearance of a strange man performing strange rituals on shoes in the shop,” repeated Vito mysteriously.

Daniel thought he saw the owner flash a wink in the direction of Nico. ‘Could it be?’ he wondered to himself.

“Furthermore, I had been made aware that one of my players was approached by the Big Three,” added Vito. “Although I knew that something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, it was an oversight on my part to not put in place a contingency plan to prevent situations like this from happening. Of course you gentlemen are aware of my position, so I now ask you, if you do not want your reputation to be ravaged by a scandal such as this, may you please refrain from approaching the Siraco Stars in the future?” Those words, coated with threatening gravity, made the three gentlemen shiver in fear.

Edward and his associates exchanged expressions of clear displeasure and fury before reluctantly acknowledging Vito’s demand. With a forced bow of politeness, the three gentleman furiously took their leave. Kale quickly followed after his employers like a scrambling rat.

Once the enemy was our of earshot, the entire team loudly let out celebratory cheers. “Did you plan all of this?” Daniel asked Vito, impressed with what he witnessed.

“Not exactly,” admitted the owner with a laugh. “However, this will make them think twice before deciding to put their hands on this team in the future. Now, on a happier note,” he said, turning to William, “Mr. Hawkes, in apology for what has transpired, and to reinforce my trust in your products, I have decided to increase your share to seventy-six percent.”

“Seventy-six percent?!” exclaimed William in happy surprise.

“Now, let’s go out there and win this game!” Vito announced to the team.

Gekkou
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Sen Kumo
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MCobra00
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