Chapter 97: Activate the Second Talent
After returning to Bremen, Lin immediately went to the team doctor to inquire about the extent of De Bruyne's injury.
De Bruyne's ankle was injured in a tackle, but fortunately, the injury was not particularly severe.
After the examination, the team doctor determined that De Bruyne needed to rest for two to three weeks.
Lin didn't fully trust the team doctor's judgment, so when De Bruyne went home to rest, he contacted the medical expert previously recommended by Guardiola to help with a second opinion.
"No problem, it's just a muscle and soft tissue contusion, nothing to be so nervous about," the expert said.
De Bruyne seemed unconcerned, whether genuine or just pretending not to care in front of his friend.
Regardless of De Bruyne's attitude, Lin forcibly took him to the medical expert for a check-up to ensure his well-being.
"The injury isn't too severe, the ligament is slightly damaged, but with some rest, it will heal."
The medical expert's diagnosis matched the team doctor's almost precisely, reassuring De Bruyne.
Although he felt like he had made a wasted trip, he was still touched by Lin's concern for his well-being.
"For a young person, this type of injury is not difficult to recover from, but you must remember, in the short term, the same position should not be injured again. Otherwise, it could easily become a habitual injury, resulting in serious sequelae, significantly impacting your athletic performance or even your entire professional career," the expert advised.
This advice made De Bruyne feel uneasy. At 21 years old, his professional career still lay ahead. The thought of jeopardizing his career due to this injury was a heavy burden.
"Alright, alright, I will definitely be careful," he assured.
Originally, De Bruyne planned to rest for only two weeks and then return to the field, but after hearing the expert's advice, he dared not risk it. Perhaps it would be better to rest for three weeks instead...
Yet, this decision meant he would miss at least three matches.
During his absence, the team would have to rely solely on Lin.
"It's up to you, I'll be rooting for you!" De Bruyne gestured encouragingly, and Lin rolled his eyes in response.
"Take care and rest well, don't overexert yourself!"
"What are you saying? I don't understand!" De Bruyne's response was met with a sly look from Lin, after which he greeted Caroline and left.
Watching Lin's departure, Caroline handed De Bruyne a glass of water and asked casually, "Is that the teammate you often mention?"
"Yes, he's my best friend at Werder Bremen and the most talented young player in the world!" De Bruyne proudly declared. Whenever he heard others praise Lin's exceptional talent, he felt proud.
As for the praises he himself received, he was not particularly concerned.
"Really? How talented is he?" Caroline, with limited knowledge of football, sought a reference from De Bruyne, wanting a more intuitive understanding.
"Do you know about the Golden Boy Award? This year's result is uncertain, but if there are no surprises, he will definitely win it next year!" De Bruyne's revelation surprised Caroline. The Golden Boy Award is the highest honor for young players, and even her boyfriend, De Bruyne, has never won it. The fact that his younger teammate could win it next year was astounding to her.
...
While Bremen won the crucial game against Schalke, the team was not entirely jubilant. De Bruyne's injury cast a shadow over their upcoming matches.
Although Lin could play as an attacking midfielder in the second half, his teammates felt his threat would be greater as a forward.
It seemed like a waste not to utilize such a talented striker to the fullest.
However, apart from Lin, no one in Werder Bremen had the same ability as De Bruyne to create scoring opportunities.
De Bruyne's defensive skills were not remarkable, nor was his ball control, but his ability to provide the final threatening pass in open play was truly commendable.
He was an attacking midfielder whose strengths lay predominantly in attacking and were significantly stronger than his defensive abilities.
Without him, the team's attacking firepower would immediately be reduced.
Without Lin playing as an attacking midfielder, who would replace De Bruyne? No one could replace him!
De Bruyne's injury made the club start to worry. At the moment, only one of the twin stars was injured, still allowing them a strong front.
But what if both of the twin stars were injured? What then? Since having Lin and De Bruyne, Werder Bremen had gotten used to playing with them as the core.
If these two were out of the game, the team would probably lose its backbone and forget how to play altogether.
The coaching staff was so worried that during regular training, they watched Lin closely, reminding him to be careful and avoid injuries.
Their concern even surpassed that of Lin's foster parents...
Lin was speechless. During internal training matches, his teammates didn't play rough enough to hurt him, so the coaches were clearly overly worried.
But no matter what he said, the coaches wouldn't change.
There was no way to control injuries.
You never knew if you'd get injured in the next game!
Their worries even made Lin nervous.
With De Bruyne sidelined for three weeks, if Lin got hurt, he'd also be out for several games.
Points were at stake!
If both he and De Bruyne were out, the chances of Werder Bremen losing increased substantially.
Losing a game meant losing two points.
In a season where points were hard to come by, losing like that would be devastating.
So, it was urgent to quickly buy an injury prevention talent!
After checking his personal stats on the system panel, Lin sighed.
His height had not changed for months, stuck at 173, and it seemed unlikely he'd grow any taller.
He looked at the system shop and focused on the injury talent section.
The highest-priced talent was the 100-point Injury Immunity, which could keep a player away from injuries, erasing any worries about getting hurt.
After the match against Schalke 04, Lin had a total of 28 points, far from the required 100 points for the top-level talent.
So, he could only consider the 10-point and 20-point talents.
After much consideration, he decided to buy the 20-point Rapid Recovery talent.
This talent had two effects: reduction of injuries and cooldown time.
Specifically, it reduced the direct damage a player received on the field by 30%.
If a player got injured, it could shorten the recovery time by 30%.
Both effects were decent, especially the former.
In games, collisions with defensive players were inevitable, and getting kicked, hit, or bruised was normal.
Sometimes, even though the injuries weren't severe, they could be quite painful and greatly affect a player's performance during the game.
Under the influence of pain, many techniques that a player could normally execute might become deformed or impossible to perform.
Reducing this kind of pain would greatly lessen the impact of such injuries on a player's performance.
After confirming with the system that the injury talent could also be upgraded for a price, Lin spent 20 points to activate this talent.
After activating the talent, he didn't feel anything special, a big difference from the previous physical fitness talent.
However, since it was a talent related to injuries, its effects would only be evident in relevance to injuries.
Thinking of this, Lin tried pinching himself.
Hiss!
Huh?
It didn't hurt much?
Lin was surprised, and he tried again, finding that it really didn't hurt.
Upon closer examination, it seemed that the contact with his skin was covered by a thin layer of soft cloth, providing some buffering effect.
He increased the pressure, finding that it would take twice the normal force to feel pain beyond the normal level.
In other words, this injury reduction effect added to the protection of his skin and muscles was much better than what the system talent marked.
This discovery excited Lin, and he couldn't wait to try it out on the field.
In the afternoon's team scrimmage, Lin ran with the ball on the sideline.
Two substitute players came to intercept him, and when he got past the first defender, the force of his touch on the ball increased slightly.
The ball was more than a meter away from him and temporarily out of his control.
Seeing an opportunity, another substitute defender immediately went to ground and tackled the ball out of bounds.
It was originally a clean tackle, but Lin's view was obstructed, and he couldn't make an evasive move in time, so he was tackled along with the ball.
The field was in an uproar, with both the main team and the substitutes, including the coaches on the sidelines, getting nervous.
"Darn it, why did you tackle like that, what if you hurt Lin?" Petersen rushed up and pushed the substitute defender to the ground, then quickly checked on Lin.
The other main players also surrounded them, not verbally berating the young substitute defender, but not consoling him either.
Lin was the absolute core of the team, and with De Bruyne sidelined due to injury, he absolutely couldn't get hurt.
If he got hurt again, how would the team play in the next few games?
"Lin, are you okay?"
A few teammates helped Lin up from the ground and asked about his condition with concern.
Back on the sidelines, the coaching staff called for the team doctor to help check Lin's injury.
Lin limped a few steps and tested his ankle, which surprisingly didn't hurt as much as he expected. He took off his sock and saw that the area where he was kicked was only slightly red, not even a skin injury.
"I'm okay, no injury!" Lin reassured everyone.
The team doctor, relieved, realized that even ice wasn't needed for the swelling.
"Heh, it's okay. Simo just pulled back, and didn't really kick me. Don't blame him; it's my fault for not seeing and avoiding it in time," Lin said as he patted Simo Rock's head reassuringly.
Simo Rock, an 18-year-old newcomer promoted from the U19 team, viewed Lin as an elder brother figure.
At the sidelines, the team, including Schaaf, felt relieved seeing Lin acting as if nothing happened. They decided to substitute him to ensure his well-being, which mattered more than a training match.
A few days later, in the 12th round of the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen hosted Dusseldorf at home. Dusseldorf, having a poor performance, aimed to challenge Werder Bremen, missing their midfield core, De Bruyne, due to injury.
Despite missing De Bruyne, Werder Bremen's offense remained strong with Lin leading. They took a 2-0 lead within 30 minutes with goals from Arnautovic and Petersen.
In the second half, Dusseldorf scored, but Werder Bremen responded with another goal from substitute Füllkrug, ultimately winning 4-1.
Lin didn't score in this match but contributed with three assists, bringing his season's assist count to 8, ranking second in the Bundesliga assists table. He also led the league's scoring charts with 15 goals.
Considering the possibility of closing the gap with De Bruyne, who was injured, and aiming for the assist crown, Lin began focusing on assists in matches.
In the 13th round, Werder Bremen faced Wolfsburg. Lin's strategic passing led to several attempts and fouls from Wolfsburg, one of which led to a contentious tackle on Lin.
The aggressive tackle earned a yellow card for Wolfsburg's player while Lin, although injured, continued playing, surprising many.
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