After the match ended, the reactions on the pitch split into just two kinds.
"Uwooooooo!"
"Kuhahaha!"
"Well done, everyone, well done!"
Most of Manchester City's players, celebrating with the bench players and coaching staff, were shouting without being able to hide their joy.
But there were also those who could not.
Yaya Touré and Iniesta.
Having both belonged to Barcelona just a few years ago, they could not openly celebrate.
That was because the other side looked so devastated it resembled a house of mourning.
Iniesta in particular, having still been with them until last year, kept his expression hidden out of respect for the opposing players and Barcelona's fans.
Ronaldinho, however, was an exception.
Having lifted the Big Ears with Barcelona long ago, he was fully enjoying the moment while also encouraging the opposing players.
The first of them was Lionel Messi.
"Leo, you worked hard."
Ronaldinho, Messi's mentor and elder-brother figure, patted him on the shoulder and warmly comforted him.
"Haaa..."
A sigh escaped Messi's lips.
It felt unfair.
At 25.
Young enough to still be considered young, and yet he had already achieved countless feats others never could.
But he was not the best.
Of course, there had been many times in his life when he had been number one.
When he was young, just his dribbling alone had earned him the label of football prodigy, and once he had moved past childhood, the greatest of great clubs, Barcelona, had come and scouted him.
Looking back, it had always been a life of being first.
There had been nothing to fear.
Even in his youth, his rate of growth had been extraordinary, and he had received the attention of countless people.
Then, after making his professional debut, he reached the summit while being called "the god of football."
The best footballer in the world.
He had been only one step away from claiming that title.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had blossomed earlier, had stood in his way, but before long he would be able to surpass him and become the best.
Yet a completely unexpected obstacle blocked his future.
Ho-young.
The moment he appeared, the entire balance of the football world changed.
Even during the Beijing Olympics, he had never imagined it would turn out like this.
At that time, he had thought he would become the best in the world.
But it turned out the true god of football had been someone else.
"Ho-young..."
There had once been a saying that football meant Lionel Messi, but that was no longer true at all.
Sadly, the world did not care much about second place.
No matter what he did, he was always compared to Ho-young and mocked for it.
This season had been no different.
League Golden Boot, breaking his own UEFA Champions League record, winning the league with overwhelming performances, winning the Copa del Rey, achievements that even a world-class footballer could hardly dream of, and yet what came back to him was still ridicule mixed with laughter.
That was why he had endured brutal training, sweating blood, all for today.
After the 20th minute of the first half, the match had slipped away from him and his movement had dropped sharply, but he could say with confidence that he had poured in everything he had.
And yet.
"Khh..."
All that came back was defeat.
At that moment, tears welled in Messi's eyes.
"Khh."
The moment he fell into Ronaldinho's arms, emotion surged up without him realizing it.
"It is okay. You did more than enough. This season, you showed everything you could show. You were just unlucky."
"I know... but..."
"Yes, enough. Do not think beyond that. He is not the kind of existence we can solve just by worrying about him. I only realized it after becoming his teammate. He is far beyond our common sense."
Advice about Ho-young.
If you tried to think about him rationally, only the person doing the thinking would suffer.
As Ronaldinho said, the answer was simply not to think about it at all.
"You can do better next time. You are still young. So do not take it too hard."
"But... Ho-young is much younger than I am."
Which was the same as saying that unless Ho-young retired first, he could never beat him.
Then, suddenly, Ronaldinho's expression turned serious.
"One day, Young said this to Hazard. Do not compete, just play football. Play the football you loved when you were a kid."
"..."
"Do you still enjoy football?"
"Ah..."
Messi could not answer right away.
At some point, he had become obsessed with being conscious of Ho-young without even realizing it.
"If you think of him as a rival, you will only make things harder for yourself."
Ronaldinho's sincere advice.
But even that could not console Messi.
What moved his devastated heart was none other than Ho-young himself.
"Lionel Messi."
Ho-young approached Messi, who had his head lowered deeply.
He took off his shirt and held out his hand to Messi.
Then he spoke.
"When I was young, I grew my dream watching you."
"...Are you saying that sincerely?"
"I am. I have always thought that. Even now. I do not know what a great blessing it is to be able to play football in the same era, and on the same pitch, as a player as great as you."
When Ho-young spoke with complete sincerity, the atmosphere changed all at once.
It was as if the heavy air had suddenly become much lighter.
And at that moment, Messi's hand came forward.
"Thank you."
Messi thanked him as he took Ho-young's handshake.
Only now did it feel like he was finally being comforted.
Encouragement from Ho-young, the best in the world.
It was on a completely different level from encouragement given by anyone else.
No one knew how Ho-young's warm words might change Messi's life from here on, but Messi himself was sure of at least one thing.
That he should enjoy football.
That he needed to think once more about the direction of his life as a footballer.
After that, the grand award ceremony was held.
"Uwoooooooo!"
The moment Ho-young lifted the Big Ears, a thunderous roar erupted.
The second Big Ears of his life.
There were no words to fully express how it felt to lift it.
On top of that, by winning both the Champions League MVP and the Golden Boot, he earned the honor of sweeping the top individual award in every competition he had entered this season.
"So I really made it this far."
A flood of emotions crossed his mind.
His football life still had a long way to go, yet for some reason, he suddenly felt as if he had almost reached the end.
Separate from the emotions of winning, he felt as if tears might suddenly spill out.
And then, Ho-young's eyes caught someone who looked much the same as himself.
A little way off, Guardiola stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes glistening with tears.
He tried to hold them back, but he could not control the emotion rising within him.
And for good reason, because he had reached the throne by defeating Barcelona, his former club.
A flood of emotions crossed his mind.
It felt as if all the moments of hardship he had endured until now were crashing down on him at once.
At that moment, Ho-young walked over and spoke.
"Boss. Congratulations. And thank you for all your hard work."
That was right.
Guardiola had now become a legendary manager who had set a record no one would dare imitate.
And he thought all of it was thanks to Ho-young.
"Thank you. I will never forget this moment until the day I die."
"The same goes for me."
Words of gratitude.
That was all Guardiola could say.
[Manchester City achieve the grand slam, rising into the ranks of the greatest clubs in history in just two years]
Articles announcing City's historic achievement were printed in giant headlines in newspapers all around the world.
As befitted that achievement, Manchester City entered the greatest boom in their history.
Around 32 million euros in broadcasting revenue from winning the Premier League.
Around 75 million euros from equal Premier League distribution.
Around 43 million euros distributed based on the number of television appearances.
From the Premier League alone, Manchester City had earned about 150 million euros in broadcasting revenue.
Adding the FA Cup and League Cup pushed it close to 173 million euros.
Then, by also winning the Champions League, they brought in around 100 million euros from broadcasting rights, international television revenue, ticket sales, prize money, and more.
In truth, most of that could be considered revenue created by Ho-young.
Because of that, Mansour came to Manchester and met with Ho-young.
Holding a map of the city of Manchester, he pointed at a huge plot of land and spoke.
"Do you see this?"
"Yes."
"Take it."
"Yes?"
"From today, it is your home."
"..."
"If you do not like it, tell me."
"How could that possibly be..."
A wide garden in perfect left-right symmetry, with a large fountain placed in the middle.
And behind it stood a mansion that looked almost like a cathedral.
It was the sort of thing that belonged in a drama.
He had already thought Mansour might do something for him this time, but he had never imagined he would gift him an entire mansion.
It looked even better than Beckham Palace, the 9 million euro home David Beckham had once lived in during his time in Manchester.
"The place you are living in now was provided by the club, was it not? Take this opportunity to move into your own home."
"Thank you. But even so..."
Ho-young refused at first.
It was not as if he could not afford to buy a house when he earned around 350 million euros a year.
It was simply that he still was not sure whether he would continue living in Manchester, so he had hesitated to buy one.
In other words, it was because of the burden.
But Mansour seemed to understand all of that.
"If it feels like a burden or anything like that, do not think of it that way and just take it. Wherever you go, it is always good to have a villa in England."
A gift.
It meant no more than that.
Even if you calculated only the profits Ho-young had brought the club, this was no more than pocket change.
Not only had the financial profit grown, but Mansour's public image and the value of all the companies he ran had risen as well.
On top of that, having gained influence over FIFA was also one of the major benefits.
So this much was more than possible for him to do.
Then Mansour asked,
"What are your plans from here?"
"Hmm... For now, I plan to take part lightly in a world tour charity event. With several legendary footballers."
"No, I mean next season."
Mansour asked the question directly.
Whether Ho-young intended to stay next season, or whether he was thinking of leaving.
In truth, the original promise between Ho-young and Mansour had only been for one year.
But now two years had passed.
And it would not have been an exaggeration to say he had achieved everything there was to achieve at club level.
Naturally, Mansour did not want to let Ho-young go, but he was not the kind of man who broke a promise.
If Ho-young said he would leave, he would let him go gladly, and if he said he would stay, he intended to give him treatment on an unprecedented level.
Ho-young gave a short answer.
"Thank you for always looking after me."
It was not yet the time to give a definite answer about anything.
Because he could not see even an inch ahead.
Ho-young set his worries aside for the moment and chose to enjoy the present.
One thing was certain.
There was still a road left for him to walk.
All he could do was continue quietly down that path.
After the final, one piece of good news after another burst out around Ho-young.
There were countless advertising offers, and as his value soared through the roof, even the contracts he had already signed were renewed at far higher figures.
And the good news did not stop there.
Best of all, Monica had been selected for the national team and was now able to take part in the 2012 London Olympics.
Then a few days later, news even more astonishing than all of that arrived.
On a drowsy afternoon.
It came in the form of a phone call to Lucci, Ho-young's agent.
"This is Alfonso, chairman of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee of the Spanish Athletics Federation."
With around three months left until the London Olympics.
A new opportunity opened up for Ho-young.
The limit of a superhuman.
It might become a good chance to go beyond it and reach the very end.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)