Manchester, England.
A guest came to Ho-young's mansion.
It was Chairman Alfonso, who had called Lucci a few days earlier, along with his entourage.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Alfonso, chairman of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee of the Spanish Athletics Federation."
The fact that they had come in person was something Ho-young had never expected.
He had never even heard of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee before in his life.
He had only agreed to the meeting because he had already heard the rough outline over the phone in advance. Otherwise, he would have thought it was something related to politics.
"I always support you and make sure to watch your matches. I watched this Champions League very well too. Especially when you brought Barcelona down, it felt like such a weight had been lifted off my chest."
"Thank you. It is all thanks to everyone's support."
"Haha. So you are humble too, just as I had heard. It is an honor to meet you."
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well."
Chairman of the Enhancement Committee.
As the head of an official state organization, he kept praising Ho-young and skillfully creating a good atmosphere.
That made sense, because Ho-young was currently the second biggest sports star in Spain after Nadal.
Especially in Spain, the influence sports stars had on society was considerable, so for Alfonso, who worked in the same field, there was no choice but for him to take the lower position.
"In truth, our committee had to think very hard before making this decision. But after watching this Champions League final, we became certain. We decided that Ho-young absolutely had to be selected for the Olympic national team."
Selection for the Olympic national team.
That was the only reason Alfonso had come.
For Ho-young, who was already almost guaranteed to be selected for Spain's Olympic football team, it sounded absurd at first, but it turned out they were not talking about football.
As befitted the Spanish Athletics Federation, they wanted to select Ho-young as a national team athlete in athletics.
In fact, the possibility of Ho-young being selected for the athletics national team had been mentioned for a long time.
He was already fast enough to place highly even if he went to the Olympics immediately.
Then that possibility rose sharply through this Champions League final.
That was understandable, since it had been proven that the speed he showed in that match was faster than Usain Bolt.
Of course, they would only know for certain once he actually stepped onto the track, but in the currently recorded numbers, Ho-young was superior.
That was why the Spanish Athletics Federation wanted him selected for the national team.
It was certainly a good opportunity for Ho-young as well.
To challenge a new field.
The wider the scope of his challenges became, the more the range of talents he could covet would surely expand as well.
"Are you saying you want to select me, or that you can select me?"
"Of course the latter. As I said over the phone, everything has already been prepared on our side. All that remains is Ho-young's decision. How could we make such a proposal without having all of that prepared first? To be honest, since Ho-young has such a busy schedule with Euro 2012 and Olympic football, we also had many concerns. That is why we finished all the preparations first. We have also prepared compensation beyond your imagination."
Everything was perfect.
Alfonso had already finished coordinating with the Spanish Sports Council and the Spanish Football Federation, and he had arranged the schedule in the most convenient way possible for Ho-young.
This was not childish play, but state business, so that was only natural.
"In other words, all Ho-young has to do is accept."
Alfonso spoke in a confident tone.
But Ho-young wanted to clarify one more thing first.
"My selection for the athletics national team, there will be no problems with it?"
Competing in multiple events was not the issue.
If an athlete had the ability, one person could compete in multiple disciplines.
But what Ho-young was worried about was the issue of qualification.
Normally, Olympic national team athletes were selected through various competitions, and in Spain's case, they selected national team athletes by combining ranking points from domestic and international competitions.
But Ho-young had, naturally, never taken part in any such competition even once.
And yet in that situation he would be selected for the national team?
No matter how much national team selection lay within the country's discretion, selecting Ho-young without any qualification whatsoever would go against fairness.
That was what Ho-young was worried about.
In other words, he needed certainty.
In response, Alfonso confidently took out a business card and showed it.
"That is exactly why our Enhancement Committee exists."
The Enhancement Committee.
Alfonso's opinion was that for the sake of national competitiveness, the committee or the coach could recommend an athlete and select them for the national team.
Of course, even that kind of process was bound to create controversy.
But there was not much to worry about.
"Public opinion is completely on your side, Ho-young. A huge number of people already desperately want you to be selected for the athletics national team."
However, in events like athletics or shooting, if you did not meet the world standard qualifying marks, you could not participate in the Olympics even if you wanted to.
Therefore, he would have to compete once in a domestic event two months later.
"In other words, there is still one spot being kept open for me."
"That is correct."
"Then why have you still not selected an athlete for it? There are only three months left until the Olympics."
"Because we had kept considering Ho-young the right man for the place."
They had saved that place for Ho-young until the very end, all for this moment.
"But I would need time to train. Can I really handle the full schedule? I am supposed to take part in the charity world tour starting this week. On top of that, from next month I have to train with the Spanish national team in preparation for Euro 2012."
That was Ho-young's concern.
He could not easily make the decision because he worried that his multiple appearances might affect other athletes.
But Alfonso showed an expression that said it was not a problem at all.
"Of course, we know all of that very well. But is there really any need for you to train separately? If you went out and ran right now, you would probably break the world record straight away. There is no need to worry. We will arrange the entire schedule around Ho-young. No matter what, football is the top priority, isn't it?"
"Thank you for understanding."
If he could be certain of that part, there was no reason at all for Ho-young to refuse.
But before that, there was one thing he wanted to address.
"I would like to hear about the compensation you mentioned earlier."
If something was being given, then something had to be received as well.
Of course, Ho-young would likely gain various talents through the process.
But that was separate from the committee's compensation.
He would have been fine even without receiving anything, but since they had brought it up first, he had to hear it.
"I will gratefully accept anything, but if it is too excessive for me to receive, then I will respectfully decline. It could become a burden for me."
It was the same with Mansour's gift this time.
He had been forced to accept it in the end, but it was true that it weighed on him.
That was why Ho-young wanted to know in advance.
What exactly that compensation was.
But then.
"!"
The words Alfonso spoke next were beyond imagination.
Put simply, it was compensation so excessive that it was not something one could easily accept.
But it also did not feel right to turn it down.
So Ho-young asked,
"Is that really true?"
"Yes, His Majesty promised it personally."
Perhaps the greatest honor one could enjoy as a citizen of a nation.
After careful thought, Ho-young answered with a faint smile.
"Then I look forward to working with you."
The process of arranging his participation in multiple events was carried out in secret.
For Ho-young's safety, they planned not to reveal it to the media until the Olympic squad was finalized.
But news about it still came out only a few days later.
[Ho-young, possibility raised of becoming the first athlete in history to compete in both athletics and football... in some circles, rumors are already spreading that it is confirmed]
└Wow... what kind of jackpot is this for Spain. That is at least 2 gold medals, football and athletics
└Idiot, is there only one athletics event? If the schedule works, he could win more than that. Ho-young has the stamina too
└Damn! If it is true, Spain might move up in the rankings this time
└Assuming he reaches the football final, in athletics he could do the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m relay. Oh, and even the marathon on the last day. Of course, physically he would not be able to do all of that
Countless people poured their attention onto something unprecedented in history.
And it was not only netizens who reacted to the news.
[Usain Bolt, "Maybe not on the pitch, but on the track I am faster. Real competition and experience matter more than unofficial numbers. I am still the fastest man in the world."]
└Yeah, no, he is faster than you
└If you just go by raw speed, the gap was over 3 km/h. Under the same conditions, Ho-young could probably beat him by a tiny fraction of a second
└I can hear Bolt sweating from here lol
└Still, Usain Bolt keeps breaking records too, doesn't he? This might turn into the clash of the century
└But don't people usually run faster on a track than on a field?
└The key is how quickly Ho-young adapts to the track
Usain Bolt, said to have reached the limit of humanity.
And Ho-young, said to have reached the realm of the divine.
Their showdown drew the attention of the whole world before it had even happened.
But it was forgotten more quickly than expected.
Because it was buried by another issue that exploded a few days later.
[Ho-young to take part in charity match alongside Lothar Matthäus and Ruud Gullit, many legendary football stars from around the world expected to participate... legends who dominated the 20th century are also set to join the event as special players... beginning with Bayern Munich, they will head to Ajax in the Netherlands on day three]
[The participant list for 'Match for Children,' hosted by UNICEF and legendary footballers, has been finalized. There is also a possibility that more players may be added later, and all proceeds earned through the matches will be used as a child charity fund for UNICEF.
The first venue, Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, has already sold out, and scalped ticket prices are reported to start from at least 800 euros.]
It was only a charity match, but the fans' anticipation was so high that scalped tickets were going for around 800 euros.
That was because there was the attraction of being able to watch former legends and the greatest current legend play together with their own eyes.
And on top of that, since it was the largest charity event in history, the interest was greater than ever.
The first tour opponent for the legends team was FC Bayern Munich, the absolute powerhouse of the Bundesliga and one of Europe's eternal giants.
Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich's honorary president and club legend, and Gerd Müller, one of the greatest center forwards in history, were also set to make special appearances.
And the players taking part in the legends team called 'FC For Children' were as follows.
[FC For Children]
Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn (42), Peter Schmeichel (48)
Defenders: Cafu (41), Paolo Maldini (43), Alessandro Nesta (36), Jaap Stam (39), Fabio Cannavaro (38)
Midfielders: Ruud Gullit (49), Lothar Matthäus (51, captain), Michael Ballack (35), Luís Figo (39), Zinedine Zidane (39), David Beckham (37)
Forwards: Marco van Basten (47), George Weah (45), Ho-young (18)
An unbelievable lineup.
And the manager was Alex Ferguson.
In other words, for Ho-young, this was the greatest opportunity of his life.
(To be continued.)