The moment Ho-young was completely engraved into people's minds, the thing he had been waiting for so desperately finally happened.
The manifestation of a Title talent.
It happened the moment the match ended.
[God of Football (T)]
A phrase that could not even be compared with all the other modifiers such as crown prince, emperor, genius, and the like.
'God of football.'
The title of god.
Ho-young had expected it to some extent as well.
Having reached this level, he had thought a talent would manifest that could not even be compared to anyone else's.
It was not just a flashy title that looked good on the surface.
This was not simply a label indicating a nickname.
There was clearly something different about Ho-young now.
He had not literally become the god of football, but he felt he had now reached a level where it would be acceptable to call him that.
And in reality, that was gradually becoming true.
'My senses are different.'
His mind and body had been excited.
The side effects brought on by transcendence.
The feeling that he might be consumed by greed was gradually subsiding.
'Did my ability improve too?'
It seemed that way.
His overall senses had improved, and accordingly, his talents had improved as well.
He had gained one driving force that allowed him to endure the realm of superhumans.
And as expected, Football Prodigy Without Precedent (W) disappeared.
In other words, Act 2 of his life.
'Now it really begins.'
It was about to start in earnest.
Right after the match, the locker room was in uproar.
"7-0 against Arsenal."
"We really did that, right?"
No one had expected this result.
It was true that they had looked forward to today's match because the team had been so good in training, but even then, no one thought they could produce a result on this scale.
A miracle.
It really was a miracle.
Adebayor in particular, who had come on as a substitute around the 80th minute of the second half, was happier than anyone.
Having moved from Arsenal to Manchester City after problems there, he could not help but feel a thrilling sense of satisfaction.
And it was not just him.
As if they had already sealed the Premier League title, all the players were enjoying this moment.
"Let's go all the way and win the league!"
"And the FA Cup too!"
"Obviously."
"And the League Cup too!"
"Do you even need to say that?"
"And the Champions League too!"
"Let's go!"
"Wooooah!"
Confidence.
That was the most valuable thing Manchester City had gained today.
The confidence that they could achieve their goal.
The confidence that they could beat anyone was reaching the sky.
"Let's really make something happen this time."
"Woooooo!"
When Ho-young said that, the players responded positively.
The locker room was filled with positive energy.
And that energy spread all the way down to the media zone underground.
Seated at the press conference table, Guardiola said something meaningful.
"We are young."
Literally translated, it meant exactly that.
"We have successfully rebuilt."
Manchester City, having lowered the average age of the squad through rebuilding, had produced a successful result despite many concerns.
And they had done it in just a single match.
"We have already reached perfection. But we still have plenty of time left."
In other words, they still had limitless room for growth.
"As time passes, we will become even stronger."
In the end, time was on Manchester City's side.
If they continued building chemistry and improving their organization, no one could predict just how strong they would become.
Still, there was one thing that was certain.
"Before long, the greatest club in the history of the world will be born."
His tone was full of conviction.
It was only a matter of time before he proved it.
After match day, countless football articles poured out.
The hottest topic in world football was, of course, Manchester City.
[Premier League Round 3, Manchester City cruise to victory]
[Etihad Stadium filled with 'GOF']
[God Of Football, an embarrassing nickname, but one that cannot be denied]
[Ho-young, "From this moment on, this is my prime."]
[Guardiola, "Manchester City will become the greatest club in history."]
Countless football experts around the world all said the same thing.
Something unprecedented in history was happening.
And their words soon became reality.
September.
After Premier League Round 3 against Arsenal, Manchester City beat Wigan Athletic, Fulham, Everton, and Blackburn in turn to go clear at the top of the league.
Producing outstanding performances in every match, they clearly proved who the new masters of the Premier League were.
In particular, they showed the difference in class clearly by thrashing struggling Blackburn 9-0.
Ho-young ran riot that day and recorded a double hat-trick.
And that was not the end of it.
[Ho-young named Premier League Player of the Month for August]
[Guardiola named Premier League Manager of the Month for August]
[Manchester City's 7-match winning streak... just how far will it go? Interest rises over whether they can break multiple Premier League records]
[Ho-young, "We'll rewrite every record that can be rewritten. We'll leave Manchester City's mark all over Premier League history."]
Ho-young endlessly showed confidence and lifted the team's morale.
In response, football emperor Pelé, who had remained quiet until then, stepped forward and said this.
[At present, there is no team capable of stopping Manchester City. The only area that had been regarded as their weakness after the squad rebuild is being improved more and more, and as a result they are producing fearsome performances. The key question is no longer 'Which team will win the title?', but rather, 'With how many points will Manchester City win the title?' I am especially looking forward to Ho-young's path. Perhaps he might even break my record of three World Cup titles.]
└So he managed to curse both Spain and Man City at the same time like this, lol
└Seeing how serious that interview is, the curse effect feels real
└Pelé, you bastard, did Man United pay you?
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Manchester City's real opponent was here after all. Pelé vs Manchester City begins for real
The clash between the two drew enormous attention.
Pelé's curse, notorious for its reputation.
And Manchester City's momentum, which looked as though it would never stop.
Just when many people were watching closely to see which of the two would break first.
[Manchester City's right-back Pablo Zabaleta ruled out for at least one month with an ankle injury]
[Marouane Fellaini expected to miss two weeks with a minor knee injury]
Things eerie enough not to be dismissed as coincidence happened one after another.
But fortunately, the bad luck stopped there.
There were no further injuries, and Yaya Touré and Patrick Vieira filled Fellaini's absence well while taking charge of the team's balance.
Vieira in particular, whose heart was set on winning the Champions League, sacrificed himself for the team like a man possessed despite being in the twilight of his career.
And whenever problems arose in defense, Ho-young dropped into attacking midfield or actively helped out defensively to cover the weak points.
In addition, Kyle Walker took over Zabaleta's place and contributed to the team.
He still had quite a few shortcomings as a starter, but the other ten teammates each helped a little, and together they were able to cover most of them.
In the end, even Pelé's curse could not stop their march.
The same went for October, as Manchester City continued their winning run and held onto the throne.
[Premier League Round 8
[Premier League Round 9
[Premier League Round 10
[Eden Hazard, "Every day I learn from an alien and a god. Training is more fun than matches and helps me improve even more. Every day feels different and exciting."]
['Gareth Bale' with 4 goals and 6 assists in the last 5 matches, now more comfortable on the right flank... thanks to Ho-young's tutoring]
As the abilities of the young players improved day by day, Manchester City even earned the nickname 'football weapon factory.'
With these young players playing such major roles, Manchester City won every match in October as well, and Ho-young and Guardiola once again received the Player of the Month and Manager of the Month awards for September.
On top of that, they kept their run going by winning in the third and fourth rounds of the League Cup.
November was no different.
However, with the number of matches steadily increasing, their performances could not always be perfect.
But the same was true for every other team, and Manchester City continued their winning streak by beating Newcastle, Liverpool, and Norwich in succession.
In the process, Ho-young was able to covet Gerrard's All-Round Midfielder (T) talent.
It felt as though all of his talents as a midfielder were improving.
Using that as a foundation, Ho-young scored five goals in November as well.
The Player and Manager of the Month awards for October were the same as the month before.
Manchester City had achieved 14 wins from 14 matches and were challenging for the great feat of an unbeaten title.
Some said they might even win every single match, but the general expert opinion was that, given the nature of the Premier League, that was realistically impossible.
And then December.
The real cold had arrived, but the players' passion never cooled.
They recorded 16 straight league wins by earning dominant victories in Rounds 15 and 16 against Stoke City and West Bromwich.
One week before Christmas, the league table looked like this.
<1> Manchester City, 16 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses, 48 points, 68 goals scored, 10 conceded
<2> Manchester United, 12 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss, 39 points, 32 goals scored, 15 conceded
<3> Chelsea, 11 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, 35 points, 28 goals scored, 12 conceded
An absurd record.
It was an even more remarkable league record than Rangers FC's 18 wins from 18 matches in the Scottish league.
And even more remarkable than that were the individual records.
2. Gareth Bale, 8 assists in 14 matches (Man City)
3. Eden Hazard, 7 assists in 14 matches (Man City)
4. David Silva, 7 assists in 16 matches (Man City)
5. Ho-young, 7 assists in 16 matches (Man City)
Manchester City were sweeping every kind of record.
The goal-scoring rankings were no different, and not much different from the assist rankings either.
2. van Persie, 14 goals in 16 matches (Arsenal)
3. Eden Hazard, 11 goals in 14 matches (Man City)
4. Gareth Bale, 10 goals in 14 matches (Man City)
Ho-young had started all 16 of those 16 matches and scored 30 goals.
That alone was an unprecedented record.
People were beginning to wonder if he might even break the 50-goal mark.
His energy would naturally drop in the second half of the season, so he might not be able to maintain this pace, but as long as he avoided injury, 50 goals looked possible.
And Manchester City's rampant run was not limited to the league.
They also finished top of their Champions League group with 5 wins and 1 draw from 6 matches.
They had been drawn in a group with Italian powerhouse Napoli and Spanish powerhouse Villarreal, but the gap in quality between them was like heaven and earth.
In this situation, Manchester City were in festival mode every single day.
Chants supporting the players filled the streets and the areas around the stadium every day.
There was even a chant praising Ho-young, "We are young!"
And it echoed in Zurich, Switzerland as well.
On a day just before Christmas.
It was the day of the 2011 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
At the same time, it was also the day Ho-young would see his family and Monica again after a long time, as they had been invited to the ceremony.
(To be continued.)