The Forest fans in the stands didn’t seem to care about the life or death of their head coach. They took this opportunity to loudly curse their own team’s terrible performance, spitting out all sorts of words starting with “F” or “S.” Countless raised middle fingers made the “0:2” on the big screen look even more glaring.

The Forest team doctor, Gary Fleming (Gary Fleming), was still doing his best. He had clearly seen Tony’s eyeballs move just now—so why was there no response now?

He patted Tony Dunn’s face, but still got no reaction. The team’s acting head coach lay on the ground like a wax figure, mouth slightly open, eyes wide as if he’d seen something shocking.

A blue sky, clouds like cotton candy, faces of all colors and expressions, the noisy environment—everything was so familiar, yet so strange, as if it was thousands of miles away.

What the hell is going on?!

※※※

The referee signaled for the team doctor to handle things himself; he couldn’t let the match be endlessly paused because of an off-field injury. He blew his whistle for the players to return to the pitch—the game had to go on, even though the Forest players had already lost their fighting spirit.

“But he could be in real danger!” Fleming was furious at the referee’s indifference, pointing at Dunn still lying on the ground and shouting at the official.

“Then call an ambulance! I’m just the referee!” the referee shot back, not backing down. “Besides, he doesn’t look as bad as you say.” He pointed behind Fleming, then ran back onto the field.

Fleming turned around and saw Dunn slowly getting up, rubbing the back of his head. He hurried over to support him. “How are you feeling, Tony?”

Dunn asked in confusion, “Where is this?”

Fleming turned away and cursed—this really was a run of bad luck. “Des, Des, get over here!” He waved to a blond man on the coaching bench.

The man called “Des” ran over. “How’s Tony?” he asked in a low voice.

“Terrible. He just asked me where this is.”

Des reacted just like Fleming had earlier, turning his head and cursing.

“I suspect it’s the result of him hitting the back of his head when he fell.”

“Is it serious, Gary?” Des bit his lip, looking grave.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s fine, maybe it’s bad.” Fleming shook his head.

“What does that mean?”

“In the best case, it’s just temporary amnesia—he’ll recover after a rest. In the worst case… do I need to say it?”

Des waved his hand, indicating he understood. “So what do you think we should do now? Send him to the hospital? But the match is still going, and we’re behind—we need him to direct the team…” As he spoke, he glanced at Tony Dunn beside him, only to be surprised to see Dunn slowly shuffling alone toward the players’ tunnel.

“Hey!” Des quickly left Fleming and ran up to grab his colleague. “Tony, where are you going?” In the noisy environment, Des’s wild shouting was really just a “whisper.”

Dunn turned back and looked at Des in confusion. That look made Des’s heart go cold. The golden glow of the setting sun shone above them, but he couldn’t see any light in those eyes.

“Tony, where are you going?” Des repeated.

“I… I don’t know, maybe… going home…” Dunn muttered, still trying to shake off Des’s hand.

Fleming also ran over. “Tony, you can’t go home now. We’re in the middle of a match, you’re the head coach, you need to direct the team!”

The tussle at the tunnel entrance drew the attention of both teams’ benches and the stands—even the players on the field glanced over from time to time.

Suddenly, Dunn laughed. “I’m the coach?” That’s ridiculous. How could I be the coach? Sure, I’m a fan, and I play Football Manager sometimes, but how could I be the coach? This must be a dream—a damn nightmare! “Alright… fine, you are…” he said, looking at Des.

Fleming, standing by, introduced them as if they were meeting for the first time: “This is Des, Des Walker (Des Walker). Former England international, played as a center-back, just retired from the team last season. Now he’s your colleague, your assistant.”

Dunn nodded, then said to Des, “Okay, you take over for me and direct the match. I’m going to rest.” With that, he broke free from Des’s hand, ignoring the huge boos behind him and the two dumbfounded men, and walked into the tunnel.

Fleming looked at Dunn’s back, then at Des Walker.

Walker let out a heavy sigh and turned to walk back. “There’s no way to play this match!”

※※※

Dunn sat inside the tunnel, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at his surroundings. On the white wall opposite him was a huge emblem: a big red “mushroom” with three wavy lines underneath, and below that, an English word: Forest.