[You are acquiring Nightmare-Inducing Quick Feet (SU).]
[Nightmare-Inducing Quick Feet (SU) has successfully fused with Transcendent Dribbling (TS+2).]
[Transcendent Dribbling (TS+2)]
'It stayed the same.'
Unfortunately, the talent did not grow any further, but Hazard's quick feet were still more than satisfying.
Quick feet.
'So this is what it feels like.'
During the break.
The moment Ho-young acquired Hazard's talent, he started dribbling with the ball.
He could clearly feel what had changed.
Because he was already so versatile and so gifted in football, he could now acquire another person's talent and immediately make it his own.
'My changes of direction have become smoother, and the flow of my dribbling is cleaner.'
The first thing he noticed was that the sensation in his ankles had become much more delicate and sensitive, as if life had been breathed into them.
It would be accurate to say that elegance had been added to sharpness.
If he could fully handle this level of detail, he would be able to produce even greater plays.
'Good.'
Ho-young lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
Clouds were slowly gathering.
The same was true of Ho-young's heart.
Everything was good, but there was still one thing that kept bothering him.
'It's almost September now.'
It had already been 6 weeks since he turned 18.
'Still no title talent.'
It definitely did not appear the moment he turned 18.
That had already been proven through several other players.
Football Prodigy Without Precedent (W) still had not disappeared either.
'Am I still considered a prodigy?'
By British age, he was already an adult, but by Korean age, he was still a minor.
So when exactly would it appear?
It was frustrating not knowing the exact condition.
'Most players who have title talents are people whose level has already stabilized, or who have already gone through their prime.'
Viewed that way, Ho-young was not there yet.
Because even now, yesterday and today alike, he was still growing nonstop.
But now he felt as though he was slowly reaching the end.
He had no doubt that a title would appear soon enough.
After the first set ended, there were changes on both teams.
Ronaldinho and Adebayor left Team A, while Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale moved over from Team B to Team A.
Other players filled the empty spots, and the 7-against-11 game resumed.
And before the next set began, Team B's defensive line went into a discussion.
Fellaini, Casemiro, Thiago Silva, Clichy, and Kyle Walker.
Along with Phil Jones, who had come on in place of Shay Logan.
Among them, Thiago Silva, who had both the most experience and by far the best ability, gathered the players together.
"Focus. I know very well that none of you are fully loosened up yet, but we can do this. We're professional players just like Ho-young. This time, we do not concede a single goal."
At that moment, everyone's gaze turned in one direction.
"We only mark one man."
It was Ho-young, talking with the players in the opposite half.
And from that moment on.
Team B's defenders began focusing all their efforts on Ho-young.
Like sailors hunting a whale, they surrounded that one man and closed him down from every side with suffocating defending.
But reality did not change.
Ordinary players like them could no longer touch Ho-young, who had already reached a transcendent realm.
Tok.
Ho-young placed the ball on his forehead like a seal balancing it, then started toying with it freely, simply running down the clock.
The sight was so absurd that the players froze.
That was when Thiago Silva shouted at the top of his lungs.
"What are you doing! Press him!"
"Damn!"
Only then did Fellaini and Casemiro snap back to their senses and step in from behind.
At the same time, Phil Jones and Thiago Silva closed the space from the front.
4 against 1.
Surrounded on all sides.
Yet Ho-young still had space left.
An absurd kind of space.
Namely, his own body.
Tok.
From his forehead to his chin.
Tuk.
Then to his chest.
After that, from his knee to his ankle.
Tap, tap.
And then back onto his shoulder.
Taak!
Ho-young kept creating spaces in which he could handle the ball, constantly hiding its position.
Through that, he disrupted all 4 defenders at the same time.
Fellaini, who recovered first, tried to overpower him with his large frame and aggressive physical contact, but Ho-young held his balance to the very end like a roly-poly toy and kept the ball under control.
That was the moment.
"...!!"
Ho-young's concise and rapid footwork.
After letting the ball run down his strong thigh, he fixed it to his left ankle, then quickly flicked it up with the outside of his foot.
It was a killer pass delivered with perfect precision to Eden Hazard, who was making a run into the open space ahead.
"Nice pass."
The words came out of Hazard's mouth naturally.
The game was still going on, but it was a pass too good not to admire.
If he failed to score from there, he would have had no right to complain even if he were thrown out on the spot.
And as expected, Hazard scored his first goal.
Thud!
It was a left-footed finish with the inside of the foot.
The second set ended in a 6-3 win for Team A.
The players on Team B had run out of energy, and the A team were no longer physically capable of defending any further.
But regardless of that, Ho-young's influence continued afterward.
If he had stamina, he played with stamina. If he did not, he played without it. One way or another, he kept creating plays and doing everything he could to produce decisive chances.
"Damn it."
"I don't even know what I'm looking at anymore."
"How is he even moving his body like that?"
Everyone who faced Ho-young reacted the same way.
Their heads were filled with nothing but the thought that he was incredible.
It was no surprise that they felt a sense of inferiority.
And then, after that, came fear.
"Seriously..."
"He's completely different from the player I knew..."
The fact that a player like that existed in the world felt incomprehensible.
Those rumors that Ho-young was not human but an alien.
Casemiro, a pure 19-year-old who knew nothing but football, was even beginning to believe them a little.
'My God. What in the world happened to him?'
Casemiro had played with Ho-young 8 years earlier and had kept watching his matches ever since.
And this season, when Ho-young called for him, he had been so overjoyed that he nearly jumped for it, and had spent all of last season studying Ho-young's matches.
Because as a teammate, he had wanted to know everything about him perfectly.
But something felt strange.
The Ho-young from last season, the one Casemiro knew, had been far below this.
Of course, he had still been world-class last season, but not to the point of looking this absurd.
Casemiro was not the only one thinking that.
In particular, the defenders facing Ho-young could feel it most clearly.
Thiago Silva was one of them.
'He's changed far too much.'
Thiago Silva.
He was an intelligent player.
Not only was he an excellent defender, but he also had an outstanding football brain and an exceptional eye for forwards.
That was why the word perfect followed him around.
And because of that, he knew for certain.
He knew exactly how much Ho-young had improved compared to last season.
'This is on a completely different level.'
Because of that, Thiago Silva was able to arrive at one clear conclusion.
'This season, he's really going to cause something huge.'
There was nothing that could stop him.
Even as a teammate, Thiago Silva felt an unexplainable fear creeping in.
But only for a moment.
Once the sets changed and the teams were reshuffled, the players who ended up on the same side as Ho-young were quickly freed from that fear.
'What kind of team have I joined?'
'He really is incredible. If I just play comfortably, Ho-young does everything else on his own.'
Fear became respect.
'I'm glad I came to Manchester City.'
'If I'm playing alongside someone like that, winning the Champions League is absolutely possible.'
'Maybe even winning everything...'
'We can do it.'
'We'll win everything, no matter what.'
And respect turned into hope and ambition.
Like that, the new signings and the existing players all came to share the same thought.
First taking control of the squad, then uniting it.
That was Ho-young's real aim.
Of course, it would be hard to say that alone had completely united the squad, but at the very least, he had given them one shared goal, and that was enough.
The effect showed itself from the very next day.
The mood at the training ground was clearly better than it had been the day before.
The split many people had feared never happened.
Instead of wasting time on that, the players focused on training together for even 1 more minute and building chemistry with one another.
Because they had seen the possibility yesterday.
The hope that, if they did things right, they could set an unprecedented record this season.
In particular, the Belgian clique, which had been the biggest concern, never formed at all.
There had been some slight concern about Eden Hazard, but he only threw himself into training with even more intensity.
The humiliation he had suffered at Ho-young's hands the day before had become the very thing driving his growth.
As for the rest, everything was fine.
There was no need to worry about Marouane Fellaini either, because he was obedient and naturally friendly.
On the pitch he was rough enough to bully even Stoke City's shock-cross style, but off the pitch he was a quiet and introverted type.
'And with Vincent Kompany, who has a strong mentality, there's very little chance of a Belgian faction forming. Unless Hazard starts clashing with Guardiola.'
That was how Ho-young thoroughly analyzed the players, trying to prevent any split within the team.
On top of that, veterans like Ronaldinho and Vieira served as pillars of mentality and set the standard for the rest of the squad.
And time passed quickly.
September 3.
It was the day before the match, just as training was nearing its end.
"Everyone, gather around."
Guardiola called all the players together in one place, then began to speak.
"Over the past few days, we have achieved an unbelievable miracle."
That was exactly what it was.
In just a few days, a miracle had happened.
Players of different races, languages, and nationalities had grown close at remarkable speed, and as a result they had been able to develop excellent chemistry on the pitch.
Because of that, Guardiola did not hold back in praising them.
"We are gradually becoming one complete team."
At first, he had thought it would already be a success if the new signings merely adapted to the team to a certain degree. But this was far beyond that.
He was sincerely amazed by the players' effort and passion.
"You've all worked hard. So tomorrow, show it without holding back. Show what kind of miracle you've created. Wipe away the media's mockery and concern in one stroke."
Premier League Round 3.
The opponent was Arsenal FC, who had been making headlines with the permanent signing of Park Ju-hyung and the loan signing of Henry.
The match was played the next day at the Etihad Stadium.
The players stepped onto the pitch at around 4 p.m.
"Wooooooooooooh!"
"You Are My City!"
"Singing the Blues!"
"I'm City till I Die!!"
The fierce roar of the Citizens shook the entire stadium.
Then Ho-young stepped onto the pitch and gave himself over to the burning emotion rising in his body, enjoying this very moment.
His heart would not stop pounding as if it were about to burst.
Perfection.
At last, he had arrived right in front of that summit.
Now it was time to show the fans the result without regret.
And then.
Piiiiiiik!
The whistle sounded, and his body and mind cooled instantly.
"Let's go."
From this very moment onward, this was his prime.
(To be continued.)