Chapter 123: Hacker Hutch (1/2)

Leonel scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The truth was, even he, himself, had almost forgotten just how famous he was. But, he had neglected that fact for good reason.

First, it had been too long. His life of training everyday for football seemed like a lifetime ago. After all, it had been a bit over a year now since the Metamorphosis began and he had experienced longer than that within Zones.

Second, even if he was still playing football, people coming up to him like this was rare. After all, he usually lived on a Paradise Island. Everyone who lived on one was like family. They had watched him grow up, so obviously they wouldn't fanboy over him. And, when he wasn't home, he was on campus. Who on their campus wasn't an elite of an elite, obviously they wouldn't fawn over him like this.

Thirdly, he had still been an academy student. His level of fame compared to a player in the NAFL was still lacking. It could be said that he was only approaching them in name recognition because he was among the very best academy players of all time.

And, finally… football was a sport where everyone wore helmets. The average fan wouldn't be very familiar with his face to begin with. Only those who loved the sport and followed it diligently would know his face at first glance like this old man did.

Still, the embarrassment Leonel was feeling wasn't because the old man had spoken too loudly or even because numerous gazes had fallen onto him. Rather, he was embarrassed that he had neglected something so important.

How was he supposed to keep hiding his identity like this? By now, at the very least, those in the immediate vicinity all knew his name. And, because he hadn't thought anyone would be able to link his face to the Fort incident, he hadn't come with his face covered either.

It seemed he had made another mistake.

”Sure.” Leonel finally said, knowing he didn't have much of a way out of this.

The old man laughed like a little kid. His thoughts of going out for a smoke were thrown to the back of his mind. He hounded Leonel with questions, not minding the weird gazes he was getting.

It was only then that those who didn't follow football began asking around and finally learned a bit about who Leonel was. Of course, you couldn't expect everyone to be sports fans, but this day was the day Leonel learned that even those who couldn't be said to be his fans still recognized his name.

Leonel smiled bitterly. 'It seems that Royal Blue Academy made quite a bit of money marketing my name. Shouldn't I be a rich man, then? Why haven't I seen any of that money?”

”… Ah, look at me.” The old man smacked his own forehead. ”I completely forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Hutch or Old Man Hutch. I'm a big fan of yours, Morales. The game has gotten softer over the years, so I had lost interest in watching the NAFL. On a whim, I decided to watch the Academy League and haven't missed a single game of yours since. It's such a shame that the NAFL has been suspended until further notice, or else I would have loved to watch you teach those so-called professionals how to play.”

The old man rambled on and on. He seemingly had an endless supply of air to give to his words.

'This man's breath control is outstanding.'