They were just talking.
After all, it took two to tango. Simps had an exceptional talent for finding shit to worship.
Who knew whether he would find someone else to support?
What if it was another Felix?
Whenever Dejan Lu thought of people like that, he wanted to form a research team to figure out what exactly was wrong with them.
For football stars, picking up girls was as easy as playing around. The photos they received on social media could fill an artistic photo album, yet they insisted on treating themselves like something less than human.
Wasn't that a personality disorder?
On his day off, Dejan Lu finished breakfast and prepared to go find Roberto Mancini.
Monica was living at school, and he was bored.
The moment he opened the door, he saw Kumatani Gensuke squatting outside his home.
"Good morning, Teacher!"
Dejan Lu: ...
"Kumatani, Kumatani-kun!" Dejan Lu said as he stepped aside to let him in. "You always like pulling this standing-in-the-snow-at-the-master's-gate routine, but you should know me by now. I prefer something practical. That Japanese habit of apologizing without compensation won't work on me."
Squatting outside Dejan the Football King's door whenever there was nothing else to do—what the fuck, had he come from Demacia?
"Teacher, I'm not here to rush your manuscript today. I have some good news to tell you."
The first thing Kumatani Gensuke did after entering was deliver the good news.
"I see. Wait a moment, I'll make us something to drink."
Dejan Lu bent down and pulled out a packet of unknown-vintage "Longjing" from the cupboard. He tossed a handful into the teapot and waited for the water to boil.
His uncle had left it behind years ago. After opening it and finding that it tasted fake, he had never touched it again.
More than ten minutes later, the two sat facing each other.
Kumatani Gensuke took a sip, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "Its fragrance is refreshing, its flavor crisp and mellow. It truly is fine tea."
"Then drink more."
Dejan Lu said.
After all that, it turned out this guy didn't know tea either.
"Teacher, this is the situation. Nintendo believes Pokémon is highly suited for adaptation into a game and promotion on their newly launched GameBoy console, so they would like to discuss it with you."
Kumatani Gensuke said.
Well, well.
His meal ticket had come knocking.
"But the manga hasn't finished serialization yet. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to make a game now?"
Dejan Lu said.
He was still fairly clear-headed at this point.
If the game came out first, it would somewhat restrict his creative direction. The upside was that game fans could quickly feed back into the anime and manga.
Letting Nintendo make the game first was not impossible, but they had to pay more.
Dejan Lu suddenly thought of the wizard's mother.
If he demanded too much now, Nintendo might well create a new IP called something like Digimon or Digital Monsters.
The Japanese had no moral principles worth trusting.
But if he let them taste some success first, once the IP became famous and they could no longer abandon it, Dejan the Football King would gain bargaining power.
Harry Potter had also been aggressively promoted by Warner before Rowling eventually made the biggest profits.
That was the advantage.
Nintendo probably had no idea just how valuable this IP was.
"Kumatani, arrange a meeting with them when you have time. I don't care much about the related fees. I only hope that more people can see my work and draw strength from it!"
Dejan Lu said.
Kumatani Gensuke's expression changed immediately.
Before this, he had considered Dejan Lu a talented but lazy young man.
Now, he saw that he possessed the integrity of a literary man as well.
He needed to adjust his attitude toward Teacher Lu once again.
You might not agree with someone else's ideals, but you had to respect their persistence.
Time moved into November.
Sampdoria's schedule entered the fast lane as well.
The Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinals would not begin until next year.
But at the end of the month, Sampdoria would contest their first trophy of the season—the Italian Super Cup.
This competition, which had only been held twice, pitted the league champions against the Italian Cup winners. Rather absurdly, it was not scheduled at the start of the season, but in the middle of it.
That was highly unreasonable.
Some players would be affected by injuries, and fighting for a trophy at this point would certainly affect the quality of the match.
That was why changes were made later.
Their first match in November was against Roma. Roma's results had been fairly steady, and they were currently fifth.
"You all know today's opponent. Another away match, and an extremely difficult one at that," Boskov said.
Roma were famously formidable at home.
Their players and fans all had a hint of street-thug swagger about them. No matter how things went, they refused to submit.
No team could easily conquer Rome Olympic Stadium.
"I want to emphasize several things. First, don't give away goals carelessly. Second, take every chance you can score from. Third, whenever you win the ball and have an opportunity, pass it to Dejan. Understood?"
"Understood!!!"
Vialli nudged Dejan Lu with his elbow and said, "If Roberto heard that, he'd be heartbroken for days. He's been with the team for so many years and never got treatment like that."
"Maybe it's not a matter of ability?"
Dejan Lu teased.
That guy's mouth was too foul.
Vialli smiled and nodded.
"I've been wondering whether I should dig a doomsday bunker," Dossena said.
That immediately caught everyone's interest.
"Because of the Soviet Union's nuclear leak?" Pari asked.
The Chernobyl incident had been viciously smeared in Europe and America. In reality, the Soviet response had been quite responsible.
"Yes," Dossena said. "I keep feeling that the Soviet Union and America are going to fight. Maybe nuclear war will break out one day. What will we do then?"
"Ask Dejan. His girlfriend is a university student," Pagliuca suddenly said.
Dejan Lu: ...
What, could knowledge be transmitted through sex?
"My advice is that you have more reason to guard against the Americans. Maybe their laboratories will release some virus, then sell you medicine to make money off you," Dejan Lu said.
"That sounds like something from a movie," Vialli complained.
"But in reality, there won't be heroes to stop them."
Dejan Lu said.
"Those Jews will do anything for money," Pari said.
The locker room immediately began echoing the sentiment.
Jews had never been particularly welcome in Italy. Apart from religious reasons, Jews had once lent money at usurious rates on this land.
For all they knew, some of these guys' ancestors had borrowed from them.
Dejan Lu glanced at the system and chose to draw a lottery.
Ding! Because your good brother Roberto Mancini repeatedly cheated during his time coaching Inter Milan, and his marriage to Federica ultimately ended in divorce, you have drawn a player whose wife repeatedly cheated and obtained a single-match experience card for Francesco Totti in the 2000 European Championship semifinal, Italy vs. the Netherlands.
The Wolf King.
One of the most handsome men in the Apennines.
He was also one of the few players in Italian history with truly exceptional footballing talent.
A man blessed with both physique and technique, he played with toughness and had a fiery temper, yet possessed an outstanding chipped finish that had toyed with countless goalkeepers.
What he did not know was that every week, while he sweated profusely on the pitch, his wife was sweating profusely as well.
If only he had chosen a different wife, his life would not have been so bleak.
Before you continue