At eighteen, they were about to face the crossroads that would determine whether they could make it into the first team. In order to seize the opportunity and eliminate their competitors, many would stop at nothing. Taking out an opponent with a dirty tackle during training was a well-known tactic—nothing new at all. For the past ten years, such scenes had never been lacking in Chinese football clubs. A player with great talent and a bright future could be forced to say a final farewell to professional football, leaving in despair, all because he was seriously injured by a rival in team competition... Ethan Brooks's teammate clearly wanted to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.

Unfortunately, he picked the wrong target...

This serious conflict not only left the other party in the hospital for a month, but also caused Ethan Brooks to completely lose his chance to join a professional team and become a professional player—he was released from his contract by the club.

The club manager's words still echoed in his ears: "We don't need a football hooligan who is disorganized, undisciplined, and dares to violently attack his teammates!"

A local newspaper also reported on what it called "the most serious and shocking violent incident in the club's history." In the words of a reporter who had clearly accepted a bribe from the club, Ethan Brooks was portrayed as a habitual offender with poor discipline and questionable conduct: "...It is reported that this player has not had this kind of conflict with teammates for the first time... Not only does he have tense relationships with teammates, but he has also repeatedly argued with opposing players during matches... Last season, he received ten yellow cards and two red cards... He is the most undisciplined player on the team... The club is responding to the football association's call, determined to root out its own cancer and purify the domestic league environment..."

At the time, Ethan Brooks tore the newspaper to shreds.

The only child of the The Brooks Family, Ethan Brooks had shown a great interest in football since he was young, and he truly had a talent for the game—at the very least, his physical attributes were outstanding. He started shooting up in height at a young age, standing a head taller than his peers.

Since his son loved football so much, his father, Owen Brooks, sent him to play, from a professional football school to the youth and junior teams of a professional club. That was the path Ethan Brooks had taken. If all went well, this summer he would sign a professional contract with the club, be officially promoted to the first team, and become a professional player.

Although the club was only a China League One team, it was still professional. He would showcase his skills in League One, then transfer to a Chinese Super League team... and become a superstar. That was the career plan Ethan Brooks had mapped out for himself.

Who could have expected that a teammate's dirty tackle and his own impulsive temper would completely change his life?

Because Ethan Brooks had been training in football since childhood, his entire youth was tied to the sport. He knew nothing else; the basic academic classes he took were not enough for him to get into college.

After being released by the team, Ethan Brooks became deeply depressed and spent his days at home playing video games obsessively.

Even he himself had no idea what the future held, or what it would look like.

He knew nothing but football, and now that he had been released by the club, what else could he do?

He had always been the pride of his family, and his father had high hopes for him. You could tell just from his name—named "Hero," he carried great expectations.

Who could have foreseen such a disaster?

After he was released, his father was so angry that he didn't speak to him for an entire week.

From sending him to play football at age six, to twelve years of hard work and over half a million yuan spent, all of it had gone down the drain. In order to let his son keep playing and get game time, Owen Brooks had tried every kind of business over the years, and almost all the money he made was spent on his son.

Even now, the family of three still lived in a run-down apartment building in the old part of town, built in the 1980s, no more than five stories high. There wasn't a single yuan left in their bank account.

They had finally almost made it—his son was about to sign as a professional player and could start earning his own money. If he was lucky, maybe he could even make a fortune... Now, everything was gone.

Ethan Brooks once thought his father was completely disappointed in him, and he even began to feel hopeless and self-destructive.

At that moment, one day his father suddenly came to him and asked very seriously, "Do you still want to play football?"

Ethan Brooks was still lost in his days of despair. After staying up all night gaming, he looked haggard and lifeless. When he heard his father's question, he didn't even react.

He looked at his father, opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His father showed no impatience or anger at his son's current state. He simply repeated his question: "Do you still want to play football?"

Ethan Brooks glanced at his computer screen. As the main tank, he was supposed to be leading the guild raid in Upper Blackrock Spire. Now, the pink-haired gnome warrior "Hero Who Fears No One," whom he controlled, had lost its master and could only auto-attack. As a result, General Drakkisath, having lost aggro, turned to breathe fire on the rogue and began rampaging through the crowd.