Chapter 41: The Launch Rate of 99.99% Plus 9 Fragments

"What? Why is it 99%?"

Tang Ye suddenly stood up, counting on his fingers as he slowly analyzed the situation for ten Hag: "It goes up by 10% each time. I was at 90% before this training session, so now it should be 100%. Coach, you can't just confiscate my 1%!"

Ten Hag shook his head. "Remember what I said? Effort brings reward. It's 99% now, which means your effort still isn't quite enough."

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

"..."

Tang Ye didn't speak.

Although this fellow ten Hag was a bit cunning, Tang Ye simply couldn't find any flaws in the Dutchman's logic.

99%...

To be honest, Tang Ye didn't really want to run anymore, but after all, he was currently under the effect of the [Jack Grealish Draft Beer] status.

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

"Fantastic, that's the spirit."

Ten Hag patted Tang Ye's shoulder. "I can feel your determination. You'll get closer and closer to the starting lineup!"

After the training session, in the first-team cafeteria, Tang Ye sat with his familiar teammates to grab some food.

He picked up a slice of raw herring from his plate and skillfully transferred it onto Sofyan Amrabat's plate.

René Hake had very strict dietary requirements for Tang Ye, but Tang Ye was smart and knew how to lighten his own burden.

Amrabat was already used to this behavior from Tang Ye. He didn't like raw herring either, so he simply left it on his plate and ignored it.

Sébastien Haller quickly finished his food and then stared at Tang Ye sitting beside him. "Will you start the next match?"

"I don't know yet," Tang Ye said, chewing on an Angus super-sized beef burger with three extra beef patties. "Erik always announces the roster very late. I guess he won't tell us which players are starting until tomorrow night."

"But I saw you talking to Mr. Erik about starting," reminded Zakaria Labyad, who was sitting across from Haller. Tang Ye nodded. "Yeah, I've talked to him about it many times, but..."

"But what?"

Yassine Ayoub, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke up.

Tang Ye asked Amrabat to pass the salad dressing from the next table, and as he poured it on, he explained, "Mr. Erik didn't guarantee me a starting spot. He told me that if I want to start, I need to keep training endlessly, and only then will he consider letting me start."

Ten Hag had emphasized this to Tang Ye multiple times.

The current Tang Ye was far from the level required to start in the Eredivisie.

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

"Erik is a sadist! He just wants to watch me suffer during training!"

Hearing that ten Hag had not confirmed Tang Ye's starting position, Ayoub breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "You're eating so much for dinner, are you still going to train later?"

"There's still training tonight."

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

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

"Wow, I couldn't tell, Tang. You're actually working this hard!"

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

"Eh, it's just average. As a professional player, this is all stuff I should be doing."

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

"Hahaha."

Amrabat pointed his fork at Tang Ye across the table. "Damn it, what are you talking about? Stop lying, okay? Tang, I know your true face!"

"Hey, people change!"

Tang Ye put the burger back on his plate, wiped his hands on his clothes, and explained, "People always change. I'm completely different from the old me. You know what? The extra training tonight was my own idea!"

Extra training by his own choice!

Tang Ye's words were astonishing, instantly stunning Amrabat.

Damn it!

We both got promoted from the reserve team, but you suddenly working this hard makes me look like an idiot!

...

At night, after two hours of massage and stretching, Tang Ye arrived at FC Utrecht's indoor football pitch.

Ten Hag was already sitting on the bench chair, having waited there for about 10 minutes.

"The early bird catches the worm, Tang. Start warming up!"

"I just finished stretching, my body's still warm," Tang Ye said, plumping down onto the turf and immediately putting on his football boots.

Now the progress had reached 99%, and he was just a hair away from an absolute starting spot in the next match.

Quick battle, quick resolution!

Tang Ye demanded to start training sooner, and ten Hag certainly wouldn't refuse, quickly telling the overtime staff to set up the training pitch.

Thud, thud, thud. A wall of dummies was placed at the edge of the penalty arc. Ten Hag walked over with Tang Ye, talking as they moved.

"In the KNVB Cup match against NEC Nijmegen, you scored with a curling shot to the far corner. Remember that?"

"Don't remember," Tang Ye shook his head.

"..."

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

Ten Hag pointed to the top-right corner of the goal, and then pointed to the five-man wall in front of them. "You managed to execute that kind of curling shot without any prior training, which means you have some talent in this area."

"Talent!?"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

[Kevin De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot] was currently only at Lv1, and the chances of pulling it off successfully weren't high.

Yet ten Hag was actually praising his talent.

Gosh, Tang Ye suddenly felt a sense of being valued.

"Hey, what are you so happy about!"

Ten Hag noticed something was amiss and quickly corrected what he just said. "I mean, your talent for curling shots to the far corner is only slightly better than an average person's. Understand what I mean? Compared to the players in this team, your talent is still ordinary!"

"Fine..."

Tang Ye sighed.

It seemed Kevin De Bruyne was still too weak.

The system was just as mediocre; most likely, it was also just freeloading.

If Tang Ye really wanted to develop his abilities, he still had to rely on his own hard training!

Under ten Hag's guidance, Tang Ye began his shooting practice.

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

Anyway, upgrading the curling shot still had a long progress bar ahead, so Tang Ye decided to practice on his own for now.

Whack!

Whack!

Bang!

The sound of boots striking the ball and the ball smashing into the crossbar alternated.

[Kevin De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot, Lv1: Imitation]

Proficiency: 2.4/50

Proficiency: 2.5/50

...

Proficiency: 12.2/50

"Damn it, hoo..."

Tang Ye gasped for breath with his hands on his hips and found ten Hag, who was reading a newspaper nearby.

The latter raised an eyebrow. "Okay, 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're still at 99.99%. The remaining 0.01% requires 10 fragments."

"Given that you completed your training with such outstanding results, I can give you 9 fragments first!"

Ten Hag was quite generous; tossing out 10 fragments meant giving 9 of them right away.

Tang Ye buried his face in his hands.

A 99.99% probability.

The remaining 0.01% needed 10 fragments.

And Tang Ye currently had 9 fragments.

9 fragments...

Uh.

Tang Ye realized he was a complete fool.

Ten Hag himself was a fool, and Tang Ye had actually believed what ten Hag said.

Only a fool would believe a fool.

Doesn't that make him a fool?

This is seriously fucking annoying!