In the bottom left corner of the screen, the team chat was rapidly filling up with questions about what had happened to Ethan.

He withdrew his gaze, looked at his father, and then nodded: “I do.”

“Do you really want to?”

“Of course I do!” Ethan Brooks snapped back to reality, realizing that his father was discussing something very important with him, not just making small talk. “What else can I do besides playing soccer? What else do I even know how to do?” Ethan Brooks said, a bit sadly. Ever since he was kicked out of the club, he felt like the twelve years of youth and hard work he’d put in had been flushed away like waste down a toilet, mercilessly swept away. What was left for him? Just empty, hollow guts.

His father nodded: “Alright, then let’s go to Europe!”

Ethan Brooks was stunned. He thought he’d misheard, so he stared at his father—rudely, at that.

His father suddenly lowered his voice and leaned in a bit: “I borrowed some money from someone. We’ll go to Europe. There’s no future playing soccer in China; the whole environment for Chinese football is rotten. Let’s go to Europe instead!”

“Europe? Dad, do you have any connections over there? I’ve never heard you mention it…”

“No. We’ll just go door to door.” His father spoke with absolute certainty, while Ethan Brooks listened with his heart pounding. Door to door?

“We’re not salesmen going around the neighborhood, Dad…” Ethan Brooks thought his father was being completely crazy.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do—go door to door and sell you to those European clubs.”

“Uh…” Ethan Brooks was startled; he didn’t know what to say.

His father asked, “Didn’t you say you wanted to play soccer?”

“I did…”

“I’ve thought about it for a long time, and I think this is the only chance, Ethan. If you want to go, come with me. We’ll just tell your mom we’re going to Europe to watch the World Cup and relax a bit. If you don’t want to go, I’ll return the money.”

Ethan Brooks turned to look at the computer screen again. The image had already turned gray; his character was lying on the ground, and a window had popped up in the center of the screen: “Release soul?”

The bottom left corner of the screen was still scrolling, people asking with concern what had happened to Ethan.

Ethan Brooks said to his father, “Let me say goodbye to them.”

With that, he turned back and started typing furiously on the keyboard:

“Sorry, I have to AFK for a while…”

“???”

“What’s wrong, Ethan?”

“What happened?”

Another burst of typing: “I’m going to pursue my dream.”

And just like that, he and his father packed their bags and ran out together…

※※※

Looking back now, Ethan Brooks still thought it was all too crazy. He’d always thought his quiet, honest, and reserved father would never do something so bold.

Who would have thought that, just to let him play soccer again, his father would go a little crazy too!

So Ethan Brooks would never say a single bad word about his father.

When he first arrived in Europe, Ethan Brooks was very excited. Anyone who plays soccer dreams of coming to Europe. Just like basketball players hope to go to the NBA in America, soccer players all hope to play in Europe’s top five leagues and become a respected, well-paid star.

But this “self-promotion” journey didn’t go smoothly at all—just because you can play in a youth team in China’s second division doesn’t mean you can play for a professional team in Europe. And even getting to play in a Chinese youth team sometimes depended on slipping the coach some money…

Along the way, they went to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy—five countries—but not a single club was interested in him. Even those second-rate teams in second-rate leagues, which Ethan Brooks used to look down on, didn’t want him.

Aside from his good physical condition, the things he’d learned in China were completely unimpressive to these Europeans.

Some clubs wouldn’t even give Ethan Brooks a trial. They were very put off by this strange, unsolicited self-promotion. Plus, Ethan Brooks’s Chinese nationality also caused some trouble—who would want to waste a non-EU player slot on someone with only average ability?

They’d been abroad for half a month, the World Cup was long over, and they hadn’t seen a single match. They rushed from one place to another, tirelessly trying to break into European professional football.

No matter how many cold stares, ridicule, or humiliation they faced, they never gave up.

Owen Brooks had already made up his mind—no matter what, they’d spend every last cent before giving up. As long as they still had money, he and his son would keep wandering around Europe, looking for opportunities.

They had originally planned to go to Spain and Portugal after leaving Italy.

But just then, they were scammed out of a thousand euros. Suddenly, their budget became extremely tight…

“…This is all my fault… If I hadn’t trusted that person so easily, this wouldn’t have happened…” Owen Brooks was still muttering self-reproachfully.

Ethan Brooks suddenly interrupted his father.

“Dad, let’s go to Russia!”