My system allows me to copy talents

Appearing as if they were struck with a calamity, right now players of the Japan u17 team were slumped in their seats with their heads lowered. With none of them speaking, an unusual eeriness had engulfed their locker room.

Still, despite that silence, the air around the room was rather heavy with a palpable sense of disappointment and frustration.

Though their performance had been somewhat disappointing, until now, apart from that very first goal which they had conceded in the very first minute of the game, they hadn't conceded another goal. Yet, despite that, today it appeared as if everybody was thoroughly disappointed with their performance.

Outside the locker room, Manager Haruki while making his way towards the locker room, accompanied by his coaching staff appeared rather worried. With his brows knotted in a frown, he was wondering about the things he should say to motivate his players.

Though, they weren't losing miserably but still after the halftime whistle, it appeared to him that his players seemed rather dejected which shouldn't be the case. After all, they rarely reacted in such a way in any of the previous matches.

Sure they had made countless mistakes but it shouldn't be enough to turn them this way. Their reaction was rather surprising.

At first, he was just going to encourage them by telling them that apart from that very first mistake, they were doing quite well. But, after witnessing their reaction, he just couldn't bring himself to execute his already-thought plans.

Unable to hear any noise escaping through the door of the locker room, manager Haruki felt his heart pounding as he approached close to the locker room. Usually, it would have been quite hectic right now, but today the locker room of his team was unusually silent.

That silence, however, only added to his worries as he started feeling a little anxious. His anxiousness however only grew as he got close to the locker room.

What was he going to tell them? Tell them that they have performed well until now, or tell them to cheer up. Just what was he supposed to say?

The closer he got to the locker room, the more such thoughts haunted him. However, he could only think of questions but no answers came to him.

Then as he stepped foot into the locker room, his mind went blank. It was almost as if he had entered a different dimension.

It had been quite a long time since he started coaching these players, but it was his first time witnessing them in such a condition. Sure, he had seen them devastated countless times but today more than devastation he could see anger in their eyes.

And that fury was directed toward themselves and their helplessness, not at others. There was guilt hidden behind those eyes.

All along, while making his way to the locker room, he had been wondering about what to say once he met his players. But, now as he came against them, he no longer required to think. Those words he had been trying hard to come up with came naturally as if it was present right in front of him, all along.

"I'm sure you all are aware of the performance you have put on the field until now. So, I'm neither going to talk about it nor am I going to criticize you all," Manager Haruki's deep voice broke the air of silence lingering in the room.

At once, as his voice resonated many of the players turned to look at him while a few continued to sulk, ignoring him.

"And, neither am I going to instruct you nor am I going to lecture you. But, I'll say one thing, if you continue to let yourself be bothered by your performance in the first half, then I can tell with certainty that we'll be even more miserable in the second half. So, it's all up to you whether you want to learn from your mistakes or drown in the guilt of your mistakes"

Saying so, manager Haruki turned around and left the locker room. Based on the way he spoke and the way he reacted, it appeared that he was serious about what he meant— he wasn't going to speak more than this.

Witnessing this strange, never-before-seen actions of manager Haruki, other coaches were left perplexed. The head coach had walked out of the locker room without saying much, letting the players decide for themselves.

They could have never expected that manager Haruki who was the epitome of professionalism would do such an unprofessional thing. Now, what were they supposed to do, instruct the players about the strategy? Or try to lift this gloomy mood in the locker room through some pep talk?

None had any idea. Utterly perplexed, they just stood there awkwardly looking at each other's faces, trying to think about the actions they should be performing.

☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼

After a short moment of rest, as the break came to an end, players from both teams started to enter the field. Each looked completely different than what they looked like when they exited the field after the whistle that concluded the first half.

While the opposing team had made some changes to their formation, the players of Japan after that abrupt declaration of their coach during the break had entered the field with the same set of players with no changes in their formation.

Yet despite all that, they appeared more sharper than ever.

Even the coaching staff of the Japanese side other than manager Haruki and Kazan were surprised at their transformation. After manager Haruki walked out of the locker room, having no idea on what to do, they too had walked out of the locker room.

Thus, they were completely unaware of the stuff that happened in the locker room afterward. But now upon witnessing such drastic changes despite having said nothing, they couldn't help but feel surprised at their transformation.

What just happened in the locker room?

With their eyes widened, the coaching staff of the Japanese side thought as they perplexingly looked at the figure of their players walking out the aisle.