No one cared who said it first, they were all shouting the same thing.
"Woo is God!"
"Of football!"
The god of football.
Voices calling out to Ho-young echoed through the stadium.
Ho-young felt strange.
Tens of thousands of fans chanting "God" at him.
Listening to it, he almost felt as if he really had become a god.
'A god...'
In any field, the title of god is not given lightly.
In football, Diego Maradona was once called that, and after him, Lionel Messi was called the god of football.
At least, that had been the case in his previous life.
But in this life, that was no longer the case.
Lionel Messi only had titles like "god of dribbling" or "a once-in-a-generation football genius," but he had not earned the nickname "god of football."
Because he had been overshadowed by Ho-young.
As recently as two years ago, many people thought Messi and Ho-young possessed roughly equal talent, but now it was hard to find anyone saying that.
If someone did say that, they would be mistaken for someone who knew absolutely nothing about football.
The same went for Cristiano Ronaldo.
That was how big the gap was between number one and everyone below him.
The human world and the inhuman world.
They existed in completely different realms, so it was only natural.
When people called him a god, it was not just a figure of speech.
"If a god took an interest in football, this is exactly what would happen. It's like he's been blessed by god."
"Or maybe an actual god is playing football in human form?"
"Heh. That's not complete nonsense."
The man closest to being a god among footballers.
No, perhaps the man closest to being one in all of humanity.
"Woo is God!"
"Of football!"
Even after a long time, the cries aimed at Ho-young showed no signs of stopping.
If anything, they only grew louder as time passed.
And then it happened.
'I can feel it.'
That sensation, as though his mind and body were about to separate.
Ho-young's heart began to pound.
'It's starting again.'
But it was far better than last time.
He knew very well what he had to do to avoid being consumed by greed.
Ho-young shook off his thoughts and walked again.
Then he ran.
Until now, Manchester City's team play had stood out, but from this point on, the flow of the match was about to change completely.
The one who stood out was Ho-young.
["Ho-young's movement is anything but ordinary. He's putting Arsenal under intense pressure."]
Arsenal finally had another chance to attack after a long while.
They slowly built from deep at the back, exchanging passes.
All they needed was a single goal.
But the ball was not moving forward easily.
Because of Manchester City's intense high press.
Ho-young was moving at an easy pace while still showing impressive defensive ability.
Without wasting too much stamina, he positioned himself in the key areas.
That alone put immense psychological pressure on Arsenal's players.
His positioning in defense was flawless.
In the end, Arsenal's defenders had no choice but to take a step back.
If they lost the ball carelessly, they would not just fail to score, they would likely concede again.
Van Persie, who had dropped from the front line into midfield, shouted at the top of his voice.
"Spread out wider! Use the pitch more than you think! This place is narrower than the Emirates!"
Arsenal's home ground, the Emirates Stadium, had a pitch measuring 105 x 68 meters, the largest in the Premier League.
Compared to that, the Etihad Stadium was smaller.
That was also why Ho-young's pressing from the front was more effective.
So for Arsenal, it was better to use the width of the pitch in order to escape the press.
Sure enough, as Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna widened their positions, the situation gradually started to improve.
But only for a moment.
"Not happening!"
On the right was Gareth Bale.
As expected from a former defender, he showed excellent defending out wide and pinned Kieran Gibbs down.
Ho-young covered for Hazard's lack of defensive contribution.
"Damn it."
"Shit."
An insane performance.
No matter what weapon Arsenal tried to use, Manchester City found a way to shut it down and hit back on the counter.
There was no opening at all.
The Arsenal players, actually out there on the pitch, felt like they were going mad from frustration.
Arsenal were being toyed with in the palm of Manchester City's hand.
"This can't go on."
Were they going to lose by more than 6-0?
Or would they risk everything, score a consolation goal, and still lose?
Van Persie chose the latter.
In other words, they had to force the issue.
'It can't be helped. If we lose like this, the team's morale will collapse. We have no choice but to push the line up.'
Unable to accept defeat like this, van Persie conveyed his thoughts to Wenger, and soon he got the manager's answer.
"Go."
"Understood."
From that point on, Arsenal began their all-out attack.
Even the defenders pushed forward, raising the entire line.
It was a tactic that had almost given up on defense.
'There will only be one chance.'
But Manchester City's back four of Clichy, Kompany, Thiago Silva, and Zabaleta were not easy to break down.
Van Persie, who was leading the attack from the front, felt that better than anyone.
'It's too thick.'
The defensive wall was too high.
"For fuck's sake."
There was not a single weak point anywhere.
"Damn it. What the hell is this..."
Even with their numbers in attack increased this much, the fact that they still could not find a gap was unbelievable.
There was no team like this in the Premier League.
No, there had not been.
Even Arsenal's Invincibles from seven years ago had not been this perfect.
Attack, midfield, defense.
Every part of Manchester City was perfect.
Even after they somehow got past Ho-young, there were Iniesta and David Silva, and even if they got through them, Fellaini and that terrifying back four were still waiting.
He had never felt such despair before.
["In both attack and defense, Manchester City are dominating the match. The detailed numbers such as possession, pass completion, number of passes, and work rate all prove it."]
["Well... I don't have anything left to say. There's nothing to evaluate anymore. The only thing that comes to mind is just how incredible they are. If they're this good even against Arsenal, then what will they look like against the other teams? I can hardly wait to see what Manchester City will do this season."]
Those words were completely right.
Arsenal were doing this well just because they were Arsenal. If it had been a lower-table side with weak defending, they might have conceded into double digits.
["Well then. Arsenal are battling hard, but Manchester City's goal doesn't look likely to be breached anytime soon."]
["At the very least, van Persie is continuously making sharp runs."]
Full Persie mode.
Even so, van Persie kept threatening with miraculous movement.
There would be only one chance.
It came around the 74th minute of the second half, from deeper behind the front line.
["Brilliant dribbling! He beats Fellaini in an instant with just two touches!"]
His run did not stop there.
He exchanged passes with Jack Wilshere, who had pushed high up the pitch, and even managed to get past Kompany.
But the problem was Thiago Silva.
'Not ideal.'
Van Persie ultimately had no choice but to turn away.
His decision was the pass he played to Thierry Henry on the left.
And that was the biggest problem.
Thwack!
["Oh no! It's been cut out!"]
["It's Ho-young again!"]
Right around there.
Ho-young, who had already taken up the perfect defensive position, cut it out with lightning speed the moment Thierry Henry received the pass.
It was man-marking on a completely different level.
Henry immediately tried to tackle him, but...
["La Pelopina turn! Ho-young gets away from the pressure!"]
["And Manchester City are straight into a counter-attack!"]
Arsenal's defenders, who had pushed high up the pitch, sprinted desperately back toward their own goal.
Arteta and Walcott charged at Ho-young to buy time for them.
But instead of buying time, they only gave away space.
["Ho-young with the Marseille turn!"]
["Ahhh, another Marseille turn! This time in the opposite direction!"]
["And now he drives forward!"]
With a full 360-degree spin to the right, Ho-young shrugged off Arteta, then with another 360-degree spin to the left, he turned Walcott into a training cone.
["Kyaa! It's like a combination of Zidane's ball control and Iniesta's press resistance!"]
A play that left no choice but admiration.
All of it came from experience and instinct.
In other words, it was thanks to Ho-young having made Iniesta's 'Immaculate Playmaking (W)' his own.
Iniesta's ability to escape pressure was a mystical kind of sense.
His trapping, close control, wide field of vision, and instant decision-making were exactly why Iniesta was unmatched at evading pressure.
And all of that was the result of effort.
'Iniesta mastered through training how to respond to countless pressing situations.'
What to do in one situation, what to do in another.
He anticipated the key situations in advance and prepared for them.
That was Iniesta's sense, and now it was Ho-young's talent too.
["Ho-young keeps driving forward!"]
["The man carrying the ball is faster than the men without it!"]
Beside him was Bale, bursting forward at frightening speed.
That was the key.
Ho-young's lofted pass sailed over Gibbs and went exactly where Bale was.
"Good."
Tap.
Bale's eyes flashed once as he received the pass.
The decision came quickly.
["Gareth Bale cuts inside!"]
["And at the same time he knocks it ahead and races through! He leaves Vermaelen behind!!"]
His trademark knock-and-run.
What had once been criticized for being too simple had now become his greatest weapon.
Because he was no longer a member of Tottenham, he belonged to Manchester City, the kind of team that could not be stopped even when you knew what was coming.
It was at that moment that Bale's voice rang out.
"Young!"
Thwack!
After getting past Vermaelen, Bale chose a pass instead of a shot.
It was a situation where he could easily have gone for goal himself, but he judged that passing was the better option.
The reason for that decision was simple.
Boom!
Whoosh!
Because Ho-young was standing in a perfect position.
Because he was certain Ho-young would score.
["Goooooal! Ho-young rifles in a left-footed finish with the inside of the boot!"]
["Manchester City, as always, do not waste their chance. With fantastic chemistry, they score another in an instant. 7-0!"]
["He really is flawless. He's showing complete perfection as a footballer. What an incredibly versatile player."]
After scoring his fifth goal, Ho-young held up all five fingers and ran toward the supporters behind the goal.
Then Gareth Bale came up behind him and copied the celebration.
"Hoo!"
"Hoo!!"
The good news did not stop there.
[You covet The King (T). You partially acquire Thierry Henry's experience and instincts. It will take 14 days to fully absorb that experience and those instincts.]
It was the result of achieving 'score at least 3 goals with inside-foot shooting.'
And as that happened, the match moved into its closing stages.
Around the 79th minute of the second half.
Thierry Henry, who had done nothing all match, walked off the pitch with lifeless steps.
[OUT 14. Thierry Henry]
[IN 9. Park Ju-hyung]
Wenger instructed Park Ju-hyung to receive van Persie's passes and sent him on in the left forward position.
["Park Ju-hyung makes his debut like this. It must feel special to be on the pitch with Ho-young, a fellow Korean."]
The Premier League debut of Park Ju-hyung, once called the future of South Korea.
But his debut was utterly miserable.
7-0.
And there were only around 15 minutes left.
"Damn."
There was nothing he could change.
Even so, he did not lose his mentality and approached the match positively to the end.
He could not give up from the start.
Turning the match around was realistically impossible, but he thought maybe they could at least score one goal.
"Ho-young. I'll learn a lesson from you today."
"The honor is mine."
With that, Park Ju-hyung exchanged a brief greeting with Ho-young and focused on the match.
And soon, he became a ghost.
Everywhere he went, Manchester City's excellent defending shut him down, and even the one important chance he barely managed to get fell to Ho-young.
'One goal should be fine, shouldn't it...?'
Far from scoring one goal, all he could do was clasp his hands and pray.
Not that it changed anything.
["Midfield, Arteta looks forward. A long pass goes upfield!"]
["Park Ju-hyung is chasing it!"]
["Ahhh, Ho-young cuts it out!! A fantastic sliding tackle!"]
'You cold bastard!'
Park Ju-hyung despaired.
In contrast, the crowd went wild for Ho-young's play and kept screaming without end.
And it was not only the people inside the stadium.
Countless viewers around the world watching the match on television.
Most of them were shouting as one.
"Woo is God!"
"Of football!"
And then, at the very moment the final whistle blew.
[You have achieved talent growth beyond a certain level.]
[You have been completely engraved into the minds of countless people.]
[A Title (T) talent is manifesting.]
(To be continued.)