Chapter 41: The Debut Probability of 99,999 Fragments

"What? Why is it 99%?"

Tang Ye suddenly stood up, counting on his fingers as he slowly analyzed the situation for Ten Hag: "One time equals 10%; before today's training I was at 90%, so now it should be 100%. Mr. Ten Hag, you cannot confiscate my 1%!"

Ten Hag shook his head: "Do you remember what I said? Only hard work brings rewards. Being at 99% means your efforts still aren't quite enough."

Tang Ye lowered his head, looking somewhat speechless. Seeing this, Ten Hag immediately added: "Tang, you should focus on the positive side of things. You're at 99%, which means you're just one step away from locking down a starting spot, isn't that right?"

"..."

Tang Ye said nothing.

Although this guy Ten Hag was a bit cunning, Tang Ye simply couldn't find any flaw in the Dutchman's words.

99%...

To be honest, Tang Ye really didn't want to run anymore, but he was currently under the influence of the 【Grealish Draft Beer】 status.

In the end, Tang Ye negotiated with Ten Hag, expressing his willingness to stay behind after dinner tonight for extra training.

"Excellent, that's the right attitude."

Ten Hag placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "I can feel your determination; you will get closer and closer to that starting position!"

After training ended, in the first-team cafeteria, Tang Ye sat together with teammates he was relatively familiar with to eat.

He picked up the raw herring slices from his plate and skillfully transferred them to Amrabat's plate.

Ten Hag had imposed very strict dietary requirements on Tang Ye, but Tang Ye was smart; he knew how to lighten his own burden.

Amrabat was already accustomed to Tang Ye's maneuver; he didn't like eating raw herring either, so he simply left them on his plate untouched.

Haller quickly finished his food, then stared at Tang Ye beside him: "Will you be in the starting lineup for the next match?"

"It's still unknown for now."

Eating his Angus super beef burger topped with three beef patties, Tang Ye chewed while speaking: "Erik always announces the list very late; I estimate he won't tell us which players are starting until tomorrow evening."

"But I saw you talking to Mr. Erik about the starting lineup."

Balazite, sitting opposite Haller, reminded him. Tang Ye nodded: "Yes, I spoke to him about it many times, but..."

"But what?"

Ayoub, who rarely spoke, suddenly opened his mouth.

Tang Ye asked Amrabat to pass the salad dressing from the next table over; while adding dressing, he explained: "Mr. Erik didn't guarantee me a starting spot. He told me that if I want to start, I need to train continuously; only then will he consider letting me start."

Ten Hag had emphasized this to Tang Ye many times.

Currently, Tang Ye was far from possessing the level required to start in the Eredivisie.

Therefore, if Tang Ye wanted to start, he needed to make a small "sacrifice," and this "sacrifice" was his rest time.

"Erik has a sadistic streak; he just wants to see me suffer during training!"

Hearing that Ten Hag had not explicitly confirmed Tang Ye's starting position, Ayoub breathed a sigh of relief, then asked: "You're eating so much for dinner; are you still training later?"

"There's training tonight."

Tang Ye took another bite of the large burger in his hand.

Four poached eggs and three large beef patties; the nutritional value was maxed out!

"Wow, I didn't realize it, Tang, so you're actually this hardworking!"

Haller took a sip of juice and gave Tang Ye a thumbs-up, making Tang Ye feel a bit embarrassed.

"Eh, it's just so-so. As a professional player, these are things I should be doing."

"Hard work and such, you just get used to it!"

"Hahahaha."

Amrabat pointed his fork at Tang Ye across from him: "Damn it, what nonsense are you spouting? Stop lying, okay? Tang, I know your true colors!"

"Hey, people can change!"

Tang Ye put the burger back on his plate, wiped his hands on his shirt, and then explained: "People always change; I'm completely different from my former self. Do you know what? Tonight's extra training was something I voluntarily requested!"

Voluntarily requested extra training!

Tang Ye's words stunned everyone, completely shocking Amrabat.

Damn it!

We all came up from the second team together; suddenly working this hard makes me look like an idiot!

That evening, after two hours of massage and stretching, Tang Ye arrived at the Utrecht first team's indoor football pitch.

Ten Hag was sitting on a bench in the substitution area; he had already been waiting there for about ten minutes.

"The bird that sleeps late gets the worm, Tang. Start warming up!"

"I just finished stretching; my body is still warm."

Tang Ye said, plopping down onto the grass and immediately starting to put on his football boots.

His progress had now reached 99%; he was merely a hair's breadth away from an absolute starting position for the next match.

Quick battle, quick resolution!

Tang Ye requested to start training immediately; Ten Hag naturally did not refuse, quickly instructing the overtime staff to set up the training ground.

Poke, poke, poke—several training dummies were inserted at the edge of the penalty arc. Ten Hag walked over with Tang Ye, speaking as they walked.

"In that KNVB Cup match against Sneek, you scored with a far-corner curling shot. Do you remember?"

"I don't remember," Tang Ye shook his head.

"..."

"Cough, well, it doesn't matter if you don't remember; anyway, I saw it."

Ten Hag pointed to the dead corner at the top right of the goal, then pointed to the five training dummies in front: "Executing that kind of curling shot without any prior training indicates you have some talent in this aspect."

"I have talent!?"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot】 was only at lv1, so the chances of it producing an effect were slim.

But Ten Hag had actually praised his talent.

Good heavens, Tang Ye suddenly felt valued.

"Hey, what are you so happy about!"

Noticing something amiss, Ten Hag hurried to correct his earlier words: "What I mean is, your talent for curling shots into the far corner is only slightly better than an ordinary person's; do you understand? Compared to the players on this team, your talent is still just average!"

"Alright..."

Tang Ye let out a sigh.

It seemed De Bruyne was still too weak.

The System and he were six of one, half a dozen of the other; most likely, he was just a slacker too.

If Tang Ye truly wanted to develop his abilities, he would have to rely on his own hard training!

Under Ten Hag's guidance, Tang Ye began his shooting training.

Checking his balance, Tang Ye couldn't bear to buy Cristiano Ronaldo's broccoli.

Since there was still a long way to go on the progress bar for upgrading the curling shot distance, Tang Ye decided to practice on his own for now.

Slap!

Slap!

Duang!

The sound of the instep striking the ball and the ball smashing against the crossbar rose and fell in succession.

【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot, lv1: Emulation】

Proficiency: 2.4/50

Proficiency: 2.5/50

Proficiency: 12.2/50

"Holy crap, huff..."

With hands on his hips, panting, Tang Ye walked over to Ten Hag, who was reading a newspaper nearby.

The latter raised an eyebrow: "OK, good training; now your chance of starting has reached 99.99%!"

"But I was already at 99.99% just now," Tang Ye reminded him.

Oh?

Ten Hag put down the newspaper: "I know, but you are still at 99.99%, and the remaining 0.01% requires 10 fragments."

"Given that you just completed the training with excellent results, I can give you 9 fragments in advance!"

(End of Chapter)