This FIFA presidential election drew enormous attention from all over the world.
Football fans usually only show interest in matches or player transfers, not politics.
But this time was different.
Countless football fans around the world held their breath as they watched the 61st FIFA presidential election with great interest.
The result was victory for Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation.
[61st FIFA Presidential Election, president Mohammed Bin Hammam wins overwhelming support with 186 votes out of 203, announces that a new era will begin]
That alone was a huge upset, but the real central figure was someone else.
Joseph Blatter.
Having served as FIFA president since June 1998, he was finally brought to account as one corruption scandal after another came to light.
The FIFA Ethics Committee imposed a fine of 80,000 Swiss francs on former president Blatter, about €74,000, along with a ten-year ban.
And that was far from the end of it.
The biggest issue now was the matter related to the selection of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
As more and more of what Blatter had done was exposed, investigations began into everything he had been involved in, and as expected, it was revealed that his influence had also played a major role in the selection of the World Cup hosts.
[Russia and Qatar to be stripped of World Cup hosting rights immediately if corruption is confirmed... If it is confirmed that Russia and Qatar, who won the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups last year, accepted bribes, their hosting rights will be stripped at once]
[A senior executive close to Blatter, while under investigation, speaks out about the hosting of the Russia and Qatar World Cups following the South Africa World Cup]
[Switzerland's controversial refereeing benefit during the 2010 South Africa World Cup also implicated]
Signs of corruption began to surface everywhere.
In response, the American and Swiss judicial authorities indicted all 14 former and current FIFA officials involved in the World Cup host selection.
They were conducting a sweeping investigation into every incident that had taken place over the past twenty years, and not only the World Cup hosting, but also the unfair gains taken during negotiations over broadcasting fees and sponsorship contracts were being investigated.
[The biggest scandal, more and more of former president Blatter's corruption continues to come to light...]
There was especially a lot of talk about the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
That was because, unlike previous custom, FIFA had selected the host countries for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups at the same time.
At the time, Putin's Russia, which had actively thrown itself into the bid, managed to beat England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain to win the hosting rights.
Likewise, Qatar also won the hosting rights by beating the United States, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.
But suspicions were growing that those two countries had used massive bribes during the process.
[Evidence has emerged that president Putin personally delivered a Picasso painting to UEFA president Platini in order to lobby for Russia's selection as host of the 2018 World Cup.
It is reported that, in return for voting for Russia as the World Cup host, a Picasso painting stored at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg was delivered to FIFA's executive committee.]
[Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, understood to have secured supporting votes through natural gas lobbying...]
[Evidence emerges that South Korea and England agreed to exchange votes during the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup, but South Korea betrayed the agreement]
It was the first time in FIFA history that a president had voluntarily resigned during his term because of corruption allegations.
Moreover, a corruption scandal of this scale was also unprecedented.
The greatest crisis.
Naturally, FIFA was thrown into chaos, and so Bin Hammam, who took over afterward, had to shoulder a heavy burden from the very start of his term.
At present they had stated that there would be no changes to the upcoming World Cup schedule, but prosecutors continued their investigation regardless and were announcing new findings.
If former president Blatter were arrested through this investigation, there was a strong possibility that the World Cup bids would also be overturned again.
Countries that had competed with Russia or Qatar would surely call for a re-vote.
For example, there was a very high chance that South Korea or Japan, which had dreamed of hosting the World Cup alone and fallen in the final third round of voting, would demand another vote.
And that was not the end of it.
The various incidents that occurred in that process also drew the world's attention.
[Ho-young's sudden retirement from the national team...]
[Ho-young brings vice president Chung Mong-joon and chairman Chung Hyun-kyu to their knees, and even president Blatter as well... New 9th FIFA president Mohammed Bin Hammam, "Everything began with Ho-young."]
To summarise the events of the past month, it went like this.
1. Ho-young's anger over the refereeing controversy in the third-place play-off between South Korea and Switzerland
2. Giuliano Lucci's meticulous investigation, backed by his dense network within FIFA
3. The corruption surrounding the South Africa World Cup beginning to surface from there
4. Ho-young roughly grasping the truth and exposing it to Mansour
5. Mansour and Bin Hammam formally organising an investigation team and conducting a secret inquiry backed by vast intelligence and financial resources
6. Securing clear evidence from Ireland and the South African government
7. Bin Hammam, who made a huge contribution to the investigation into president Blatter's corruption, being elected as the next president
In truth, all of this had only been possible because Ho-young knew the future.
In fact, before Ho-young regressed, president Blatter had voluntarily resigned in 2015 as all of his corruption came to light.
In that process, the corruption he had committed had been exposed one after another, and Ho-young, who remembered it, had joined hands with Mansour to bring this about.
"Until then, I hadn't believed it was true. I had no idea Lucci's information network was that strong."
"Haha."
Chairman's office, Etihad Stadium.
As he spoke with Mansour, Ho-young smiled faintly.
It was true that Lucci's information network was outstanding, but in truth, it was not enough to dig up Blatter's corruption on its own.
Everything had only been possible because Ho-young's information had supported it.
"Now that everything has been resolved, you can finally focus only on football."
"It's thanks to you, sir."
"No, I'm the one who should be saying that. You let me win an election I never even expected to win."
In truth, Mansour could have run for FIFA president himself.
But with national affairs and club management alone already keeping him endlessly busy, taking on the FIFA presidency as well would have been close to impossible.
That was why he had backed Bin Hammam's side and put him forward as FIFA president.
In other words, Mansour's role was the investor.
The actor was president Mohammed Bin Hammam.
And Ho-young had become the director and made an entire film.
Therefore, there was also a high chance that the UEFA presidency, one of FIFA's subordinate bodies, would change in next year's election.
In other words, Mansour's Manchester City would grow that much stronger while receiving the protection of absolute power.
It was only natural that several clubs across Europe had recently been trying to build friendly ties with Manchester City.
"So I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve this season. We already witnessed a miracle last season, but they say a man without greed is as good as dead."
This season, there was still much left to achieve, not only the Champions League, but also the League Cup, Super Cup, and more.
"I feel the same way. Greed is the driving force of my life."
This time too, Ho-young decided to be greedy.
A clean sweep of every trophy.
He quietly dreamed of that goal, which no team had achieved since 1972.
"This summer transfer window will be a busy one."
A major overhaul was about to begin.
No, it had already begun.
Players not included in the plan had already been placed on the release list, while the club was actively trying to sign the resources it needed through aggressive courting.
Because the club's reputation had risen sharply, the work was going far more smoothly than before.
The first step toward a great journey was proceeding smoothly.
What mattered was what came next.
"What are you planning to do about the manager?"
"Borrowing the chairman's words, there will be no contract renewal. He says Mancini suffers too badly from Champions League nerves."
That was true enough.
Even when he had managed Inter, he had never gone beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
"Then a new manager will be coming in."
"Do you have anyone in particular you want?"
"I'm not sure."
He could not name one exactly, but there were many managers he would love to play under as a player.
"If it's trophies you're after, José Mourinho would be the best choice."
Mansour's words made sense.
And from Ho-young's point of view, he was certainly one of the managers he wanted to experience working with.
'But he's far from the kind of Manchester City I want.'
After sorting out his thoughts, Ho-young spoke carefully.
"Would it be alright if I think about that a little more before answering?"
"Of course."
After this incident, Mansour, who had gained enormous benefits, was supporting Ho-young absolutely.
"By the way, are you really thinking of changing nationality? From what I've heard, the new executive leadership is going to rush through the naturalisation policy and use it to bury this whole incident."
"Already?"
"They need a fresh start, don't they? They can't spend their entire term cleaning up the past."
Since they could not afford to waste time cleaning up the mess Blatter had left behind, the legislative procedures for various pledges were moving quickly.
The intention was to shift public attention elsewhere before FIFA's power weakened further under continued outside attacks.
In particular, they were watching the present situation closely in order to pass the amendment to the naturalisation law.
At the same time, the process of naturalising players who had emerged as possible candidates had already begun.
Ho-young was no exception.
That afternoon, at Ho-young's house.
Ho-young was talking with people from the Royal Spanish Football Federation, who had made an appointment and come to see him a few days earlier.
Their purpose was only one.
"We hope you will give positive consideration to switching to Spain. We will accommodate everything that player Ho-young wants."
What more was there to say at that point?
"I'll be in touch."
Switching to Spain.
That would soon become reality.
And Ho-young had one more piece of good news.
He had recently succeeded in completely obtaining the talent of transcendent ball sense.
[You have broken through the limits of humanity.]
[The limit point has opened.]
[Transcendent Ball Sense (TS) and The First Touch of the Non-Flying Dutchman (L) have successfully fused.]
[Transcendent Ball Sense (TS+)↑]
[You covet Transcendent Versatility (TS).]
The realm of the superhuman.
He had completely surpassed the limits of humanity and stepped into a realm beyond it.
Transcendental.
A transcendent, supernatural talent.
The feeling itself was different.
Before, it had felt vague, but now he could understand it clearly.
The true nature of disharmony.
Whenever he touched the ball, his heart pounded so hard it felt as though his chest would burst, and even his mind grew hazy.
His obsession with the ball had also become far stronger than before.
TS alone had already been tremendous, so it made sense now that it had grown into TS+.
Which meant that if it were developed all the way to +3, something even more staggering than now would unfold.
[If your talent reaches its limit, you can arrive at the final realm.]
If there was an end, that place was it.
(To be continued.)