A few days later.
Kai left Spain.
He flew to England.
And arrived in South London!
In his previous life, he had been a football fan, so he already knew a lot about London, the city of football.
North London had Arsenal and Spurs, bitter rivals.
West London belonged to the Blues—Chelsea.
East London was the territory of the "Hammers"—West Ham United.
And South London? That was the base of Crystal Palace!
Chinese footballers Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai had once played here.
Fan Zhiyi had even captained Crystal Palace for a period of time!
Crystal Palace, nicknamed "The Eagles," has a crest featuring a majestic eagle.
Since its founding in 1905, the club has bounced between divisions—famously a "yo-yo" team in English football.
Last season, 2009–10, the club was docked 10 points by the FA due to financial issues.
Even after the penalty, they finished fourth from bottom in the Championship, just barely escaping relegation.
A narrow survival!
This season, the club continued its poor form and sank quickly into the relegation zone.
The situation was dire, and the coaching staff were under immense pressure!
In the upcoming rounds, Crystal Palace would face several strong Championship opponents.
Their chances of survival looked grim.
"Hello, I'm here for the trial."
Kai arrived at the gates of Crystal Palace's club and stated his purpose.
Soon, Keith Millen, the assistant coach, came over to greet him and led him inside.
"The head coach is at the training ground. We'll go straight to the trial!"
"I've heard about you—it was Fan himself who recommended you to the club! He's a club legend here. I trust him, so I trust you. I believe you'll pass this trial!"
"And you're from La Masia, no less! We're really looking forward to seeing what you can do!"
Millen looked kind and approachable as he chatted with Kai.
Millen and the head coach, Ian Holloway, had contrasting personalities—Millen was the "good cop," Holloway the "bad cop."
As they walked to the training ground, Millen explained a bit about the club's situation.
In recent years, Crystal Palace had been plagued by internal and external troubles.
The team lacked a core.
Their midfield talent pool was especially thin, and their tactics were overly simplistic.
Even in the high-tempo English football scene, the midfield was a battlefield.
Kai, a La Masia product and a midfielder, arrived with high expectations.
After all, La Masia is known for producing world-class midfield maestros:
Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets—
The legendary "Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets" trio, all came from La Masia!
"The team's current situation isn't great," Millen said with a worried expression.
"Coach Holloway has been under a lot of stress lately. We were docked points last season and barely survived. But this season, we started off with a losing streak and fell into the relegation zone. Our next matches are against strong teams—it's a nightmare."
The whole club was feeling the heat.
Financial problems, pressure from the FA, a lack of talent, disastrous results—
Everything was weighing down this once-proud English club.
They were broke, talent was leaving, and results kept getting worse—leading to even more financial trouble.
A vicious cycle.
Soon, Millen brought Kai to the training ground.
At that moment, the players were engaged in an internal scrimmage.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Coach Holloway stood on the sideline, barking criticisms at the players on the pitch.
It was clear that Palace's relegation battle was taking a serious toll.
Holloway, as head coach, was nearing the end of his patience.
If they were relegated this season, he'd already made up his mind—he'd resign and leave the mess to someone else.
From the sideline, he noticed Kai arriving and blew his whistle to stop the game.
He gave Kai a once-over and frowned.
"You're the kid from La Masia? Wait... you're only 16? You're pretty tall though..."
Kai nodded.
Hearing the conversation, the players on the field stopped and looked over, surprised.
Their eyes carried a strange look.
A La Masia player?
Yellow skin?
Asian? From Japan or Korea?
Their first impression of Kai was hard to put into words.
"A La Masia player, coming to trial in England?"
"In the past couple of years, Barca has been at the top of the world. All the talent flocks to Spain. Why would someone from Barca's academy come here?"
The players quickly figured it out:
This guy must've been kicked out of La Masia!
Otherwise, any La Masia graduate would naturally stay at Barca, or at least somewhere in Spain.
After all, Spain had become the epicenter of European football in recent years.
"What we need is a midfield maestro, not some youth academy reject!"
James Vaughan, Crystal Palace's striker, shook his head in disappointment.
The other players were equally let down.
They had heard that a midfielder was coming for a trial—recommended by a club legend, no less.
And this is who showed up?
Vaughan sighed, visibly disappointed.
He was the team's main striker, once hailed as an English prodigy, and held the record for the youngest Premier League goal scorer.
He had debuted at Everton and was once considered Wayne Rooney's heir.
But injuries derailed his career. He drifted from the Premier League to the Championship, now stuck in a slump at Crystal Palace.
He had hoped for a "world-class midfielder" to join the team and help him bounce back.
But looking at this kid—his hopes were dashed.
Most of the Palace players looked dejected, seemingly drained of all fighting spirit due to their disastrous season.
On the sidelines, Coach Holloway cleared his throat.
"Kai, I know you La Masia players all love Barca's tiki-taka style."
"But in this trial, I want to see something different! After all, this is England. Our style is completely different from Spain's."
When Fan Zhiyi recommended Kai to Holloway, he had emphasized the boy's excellent passing skills.
Holloway wasn't impressed.
Anyone from La Masia could pass—that's a given.
But good passing alone won't save Crystal Palace from disaster.
Their midfield was a complete mess, and that was one major reason they were in the relegation zone.
What they needed was a "midfield commander"—a Xavi-type player.
But then Kai spoke up.
With a smile, he shook his head:
"To be honest, I really hate tiki-taka."
As he spoke, he walked to the side, changed into his gear, and began warming up.
Holloway raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He hadn't expected that answer.
"Galvan, you're off!"
He called one of the players off and turned to Kai.
"Kai, you're up next. Play as the number 10. We're using a 4-3-3 formation. You'll be responsible for organizing and directing the midfield."
Holloway was extremely curious now.
A La Masia player who hated tiki-taka?
He couldn't figure out what kind of player Kai actually was.
Assistant coach Millen stood silently on the side.
The players glanced at each other, curiosity written all over their faces.
Soon, Kaihad changed and finished warming up.
He stepped onto the pitch.
"Tweet!"
Holloway blew the whistle, and the match resumed!
Kai started running in the midfield.
He was hungry for a professional contract.
So today—he was going all out.
[Ding! Side Quest Activated: Win Over Teammates, Pass the Trial!]
[Reward: +10 Custom Attribute Points!]