The match restarted.
Luo Xiaoxiang's reserve team was a bit dejected after conceding that goal.
The main team's offense came in waves, pressing them until they couldn't breathe.
Luo Xiaoxiang stood in his position as a right winger, his heart still thumping.
He took several deep breaths before he could barely calm himself down.
“System, how exactly do I use 'Misdirection'?” he murmured to himself.
【Please concentrate, Host, and imagine yourself as the most inconspicuous presence on the field, transferring your 'light' to a teammate or the football itself.】
“Light? What light? Is this metaphysics?” Luo Xiaoxiang couldn't help but complain.
Why did the system speak in such cryptic ways?
But at this point, he could only try anything.
He watched as the main team's left-back dribbled the ball over, while his own team's defenders were standing by, ready for battle.
Luo Xiaoxiang followed the system's instructions and began to concentrate.
He no longer deliberately looked for open spaces to run into, nor did he think about how to receive the ball; instead, he emptied his mind.
He tried hard to convince himself that he was just a blade of grass, a clod of dirt, an unimportant background.
The shouts of his teammates around him, the sound of the ball rolling, all seemed to drift away from him.
In his world, there was only one thought: I am transparent, no one will notice me.
Just then, something miraculous happened.
The main team's left-back, who was dribbling the ball, glanced over him as if he hadn't seen him at all, and directly focused his attention on Zhang Hao, who was supporting in the middle.
It was as if the area where Luo Xiaoxiang stood was a vacuum.
“Hey! Over here!”
Luo Xiaoxiang's teammate, right-back Wang Lei, seized an opportunity and intercepted the ball.
He looked up and around, subconsciously about to pass the ball to the midfield.
But just as he was about to kick, the corner of his eye seemed to catch a glimpse of a blue figure.
“Hmm?” Wang Lei was stunned for a moment.
Luo Xiaoxiang, at some unknown point, had silently run forward more than ten meters along the sideline, and within three meters of him, there wasn't a single defending player!
The main team's left-back was still foolishly looking at the center, completely unaware of such a large open space behind him.
“Xiaoxiang?!” Wang Lei could hardly believe his eyes.
This guy usually ran around like a headless chicken; how did he suddenly become so enlightened today?
However, opportunities are fleeting.
Wang Lei didn't have time to think much, and with a precise through ball, it rolled along the grass towards Luo Xiaoxiang's path.
“Good ball!”
Luo Xiaoxiang shouted in his heart, and his whole body instantly awoke from that “transparent” state.
He looked at the rolling football, feeling his blood boiling.
It worked!
This “Misdirection” really was useful!
He immediately accelerated, chasing after the ball.
“Damn it! Where is he?!”
Only when the ball rolled past did the main team's left-back awaken as if from a dream, turning his head sharply and seeing Luo Xiaoxiang chasing the ball, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat.
How did he get past?! I was clearly looking over here just now, and there was nothing!
“Fall back! Quickly fall back!” A chorus of panicked shouts instantly rang out from the main team's defense.
The center-back closest to Luo Xiaoxiang, like a fierce tiger, charged towards him menacingly.
This center-back was Liu Meng, tall and strong, the toughest defender on the team; during training, Luo Xiaoxiang's legs would go weak whenever he saw him.
But today, Luo Xiaoxiang felt no fear at all.
While dribbling, he calmly observed Liu Meng's movements.
Liu Meng was very fast, covering several large strides to block his path for an inside cut, forcing him towards the sideline.
Luo Xiaoxiang knew that if it came to a contest of physicality and absolute speed, he definitely wasn't Liu Meng's opponent.
Going head-to-head would surely be a dead end.
“Calm down, calm down…” Luo Xiaoxiang told himself in his heart, “Try that 'Misdirection' again!”
He concentrated again, trying to make himself “inconspicuous.”
But this time, the effect wasn't very good.
Because he was still dribbling the ball!
The football was the focus of the entire field, and the person dribbling it was like a firefly in the dark; it was hard not to be noticed.
Liu Meng's eyes were fixed on the ball at his feet, his gaze fierce, pressing closer with every step.
“Damn it, this move doesn't work when dribbling!” Luo Xiaoxiang's heart sank.
Seeing that he was about to be forced into a corner, he was sweating profusely with anxiety.
Coach Li Tiejun on the sidelines also frowned at this moment.
Luo Xiaoxiang's ghostly run just now had made his eyes light up.
But now, it seemed this kid's fundamentals were still too poor.
His dribbling was clumsy, completely lacking rhythm, and as soon as a defender pressed him, his true colors were revealed.
“Alas, he's just a piece of rotten wood after all.” Li Tiejun sighed in his heart; the little hope that had just ignited was extinguished again.
“Kid, don't struggle!” Liu Meng growled, seizing the opportunity, and launched a fierce slide tackle towards the ball at Luo Xiaoxiang's feet.
This tackle was both fast and brutal; if it connected solidly, not only would the ball be lost, but the person might even be sent flying.
Luo Xiaoxiang's pupils suddenly contracted.
In a flash, his mind went blank.
He couldn't dodge it!
Just at this critical moment, the information stream about “Misdirection” flashed through his mind again.
【Transfer your 'light' to… the football itself!】
That's right!
Draw attention to the ball!
Luo Xiaoxiang had an epiphany; he no longer thought about how to make himself disappear, but instead used all his intention to “strengthen” the football's presence.
He made an extremely slight pause with his foot, then gently nudged it outwards with his right foot.
This action itself was unremarkable.
But in Liu Meng's eyes, it was infinitely magnified.
In that instant, he felt as if the entire world was reduced to that rolling football, and Luo Xiaoxiang himself seemed to fade from his vision.
His brain issued the most direct command—tackle!
Liu Meng's body faithfully executed this command.
His slide tackle went precisely in the direction of the ball.
However… just a split second before he slid out, Luo Xiaoxiang's left foot, as if it had eyes in the back of its head, gently pulled the ball back, and immediately after, his body followed with a turn.
A most basic, most simple drag-back turn!