Journey

NEW IDENTITY

At a single-family home in Croydon, Greater London, July 29.

Wan Sheng stood in front of a mirror in the bathroom and carefully observe himself. He is quite satisfied with ‘his’ current body. With the slight curl of his black hair, and not too excessive three-dimensional face, clearly, he is not an ugly man.

« Hey, Handsome! » He could not help himself and grin at the mirror.

Wan Sheng’s real identity was a senior high school student in a prestigious high school in China. He is also an avid fan of football. He come from the future and transmigrated to his current body.

This story starts on the night of the Champions League final between Liverpool vs Tottenham in 2019. As a hardcore fan, Wan Sheng and his father watched the game in high spirit and could not bring himself to sleep after the game so he spent his time playing Football Manager on his PC. The last thing he knows, he wakes up on his current body. The previous owner of his body was named Daniel. Daniel was dead but as Wan Sheng currently the owner of this body naturally he inherited some memories and information about Daniel but not so much.

Wan Sheng who has just experienced the strangest thing in his life began to panic but after resting for sometimes his mind become stabilized and he flew back to China to see his family. However, when he went to his home, he could not find his Mom and Dad, his family seemed to be gone. There is no information about them, it seems as if they did not exist in this world. After searching everywhere, he gives up and began to wonder if this is not all real. Maybe he could wake up from this dream and reunite with his Dad and Mom. But reality crushes his heart. He does not have a family anymore in this world. Not his nor Daniel. Since he does not have anyone, he can only live alone.

Daniel also has the same family name as Wen Sheng. His full name is Daniel Wen. His father was Chinese and went to the UK to study. Later on, he met with Daniel’s mother who was a native in Croydon, and married her. Daniel was also an orphan and he was an only child. His parents died in a car accident two years ago. He was 23 years old when the accident happened.

Daniel is a gifted student. He is a top student at the London School of Economics. He is also a coach though he can only coach in an amateur team. He did not have any sort of talent as a footballer but his love and passion for this sport are endless. So he decided that if he can’t play in football at least he must know how to coach a team.

Wen Sheng who is also a hardcore football fan, glad that Daniel has at least a coaching certificate as he is also want to become a coach. A University diploma is useless in his eyes as football is his life. His mind is up and he wants to be a football coach. Daniel has obtained an A-level certificate in English football. His knowledge and understanding of football are astonishing. He got a certificate a such a young age means that he is some sort of genius! With this certificate, there will be no obstacle if he applies for a head coach in the amateur team.

Anyway, Wen Sheng does not have a standard for that as he is just beginning his coaching career. If he can not become a head coach, becoming an assistant coach is also a good idea. As a beginner, he did not need money but accumulated experience and he is still young. Anyway, all of that is secondary for Wen Sheng as right now the most important thing for him is joining a professional team.

Daniel was a little dull in character and did not have any interaction with his past coworker as a coach therefore he lack contacts in the football circle. As mentioned, Daniel often participate as a volunteer in some football events and coached and trained some teams under 15. After Wen Sheng transmigrated he has to worry about his career. He guesses as he is now Daniel, he must start to familiarize his name as Daniel.

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Wayne Collins is a lawyer and he is also the legal adviser of Croydon FC. On the day Wen Sheng transmigrated, Wayne, sent Daniel a message that Croydon FC want to invite Daniel to be an interim head coach. Indeed this is a temporary position, but it also serves the purpose of gaining some experience for Daniel. The position vacancy was mainly due to the previous head coach, Norwood who resigned after the team continuos bad performances in the league. Norwood was not a poor coach as evidently, he led Croydon to the Isthmian league through promotion in the previous season.

Croydon head coach position has been vacant since the end of February and the search for a new head coach remains fruitless. As England is a country where football is very popular, naturally many people have a football coach certificate. Therefore, many are qualified to coach in Croydon FC as they are in the eighth tier of the English football pyramid. This is where the problem began. As They are in the lower league, some coaches do not have an ounce of interest in joining the team.

Also, as the club is not at a professional level, they can not hire a full-time coach. It will be costly to hire a full-time coach. An amateur team such as theirs does not have much money. Croydon’s selection of coaches is quite narrow because there is just a Croydon native who can try as long they have a coaching badge. A combination of various factors causes Croydon does not have any progress in its search for a coach. It is already July and the league will start soon. The team must be led for training so Wayne remembers about Daniel. His nephew! But Wayne does not have any confidence that Daniel will accept the position because Daniel prefers working in a professional team.

Fortunately for Wayne, Wen Sheng, no, the current Daniel is different. Daniel did not expect such a thing to happen as he does not have experience conducting a team on the sideline. He was so excited that Wayne thought of him and offer him the position and immediately agreed to coach Croyford FC to Wayne’s astonishment.

« It’s just a part-time job, did you understand Danny? » Wayne said puzzled by his nephew’s change of attitude. Before he would refuse instantly for this kind of offer but now he accepted it immediately. Is his nephew so fickle-mind?

« No problem Uncle! » Danny replied grinning ear to ear.

« You also won’t be given any salary either, are you fine with that? »

« I said no problem Uncle! I’m loaded! I don’t need money! » He replied still grinning.

On that day, Wayne never thought his nephew would agree so easily. His son, Joey who is also Daniel’s cousin told in the previous that Daniel was going to apply for a job at Crystal Palace FC. He thought Daniel was already accepted but who knows now Daniel is an interim head coach of Croyford FC.

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Today is the day Croyford FC starts training after the summer holiday so Daniel stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom to give himself some motivational speeches. The previous Daniel has passed the UEFA A-level certificate and experienced some action as a coach. But the current Daniel has none of that apart from the coaching certificate he still lacks experience. Now is the time to gain it and he does not want to mess it up. It is time to focus! He has already some sort of ideas on how to approach the plan in his mind but he needs to be serious if he wants to do it.