After returning to Real Madrid, Ho-young's value kept rising day by day.
Even so, requests for TV and film appearances never stopped, and especially around winter, when the 14-15 season was nearing its midpoint, many countries invited Ho-young.
After reaching the realm of the gods, Ho-young had much more room to breathe, and since La Liga had a Christmas break unlike the EPL, he had quite a bit of time for activities outside football.
But since he only had one body, the places he could go were limited, so Ho-young thought it over again and again before deciding where to go.
And so, the region he chose was Asia.
That was because a large-scale Real Madrid Asia tour was scheduled after this season ended.
Therefore, Ho-young was planning to work in several countries this winter, including Korea.
One of those appearances was on a famous Japanese football variety show.
The reason he chose a Japanese variety show was nothing special.
It was simply because it was such a famous program that world-class players like Messi, Ronaldo, Kaká, and Henry had already appeared on it.
"So you're saying I just go there and do what I usually do?"
"Yes. The network tells us everything in advance anyway."
That was Lucci's reply, after thoroughly researching the variety show Ho-young would be appearing on.
Since they had already received all the details of what Ho-young would be doing during filming, there was nothing in particular to worry about.
"The shoot is simple. You just challenge the recent Lifting High record that Messi set. That's all."
Lionel Messi had most recently appeared on the show and set a new world record for Lifting High.
Ho-young's filming assignment was to challenge that record.
"There's nothing else. To be honest, I was pretty worried too, but they are not making any unreasonable demands."
Since Japan had been humiliated by Ho-young several times in internationals, there had been some concern, but there was no need to worry too much.
Everything looked fine.
And then, on the day of filming.
Ho-young, visiting Japan for the first time in a while, was able to feel his popularity from the airport, where he was surrounded by huge crowds.
The filming also went smoothly.
The network and production staff treated him very well, and the filming proceeded without issue, exactly as had been discussed beforehand, breaking the Lifting High record.
There was just one problem...
Boom!
"26 meters, success!"
Lifting High is a game where you kick the ball high enough to clear a barricade, then complete three juggles after it drops for the attempt to count.
But Ho-young broke the world record Messi had set in a single try.
Ho-young's shooting power was far greater than the staff had expected.
As a result, the filming time was much shorter than anticipated.
For the production staff, it was a difficult situation.
It would have been more entertaining if he had struggled with the challenge a little, but since he had succeeded so easily, there was not much to air.
"Wow, did you hear that just now? I thought the ball was going to rip apart."
"So this is what the realm of the gods looks like."
"Hey, stop talking nonsense and bring that guy here."
"Who?"
"The sensor developer."
"Are you really going to do it?"
"Do you know how much we're paying him? Are you crazy, saying we should just end it here? We have to do something."
In the end, the production staff decided to reveal the trick they had been hiding.
And that was when the "mini goal" and the "robot goalkeeper" standing in front of it appeared.
It was obvious that they intended to shoot something new besides Lifting High.
When Lucci asked about it, the production staff shamelessly offered an absurd explanation.
"The filming time we agreed on was three hours, right? There is still an hour and twenty minutes left."
"But the agreed filming was only Lifting High, wasn't it?"
"This one thing is enough. It won't even take an hour."
"No, if you do this, he will never come near Japan again. Cancel it right now. We clearly agreed to do only Lifting High."
"It's just one extra thing..."
"Hey. What is this supposed to be?"
"Ahem... I'm sorry."
As the one responsible for protecting Ho-young, Lucci had every reason to explode in anger, but for the moment he suppressed it and responded rationally.
Ho-young also helped calm things down from the side.
"Lucci, it's okay."
A showdown between a human and a robot.
This had never been discussed in advance.
Of course, there would be no problem if he refused.
But it was highly likely to end up on the front page of Japanese sports papers the next day.
'Ho-young gets scared of a Japanese robot before it even begins. That's the kind of headline they'd run.'
You did not even need to see it to know.
That was their way, doing whatever they could to make it provocative and attract attention.
But Ho-young had no intention of playing along with that.
It was not that you avoided filth because you were afraid of it, but because it was filthy.
But then.
"Haha. I guess it really won't work, right? No matter what, he's still human..."
The remark sounded dismissive.
The one who said it was none other than the robot's developer.
He was not looking down on Ho-young, but was immensely proud of the robot he had created.
In fact, the robot he had developed had such fast reactions that it could even block badminton smash shots.
So the idea that it could not stop a much larger football was close to nonsense.
In other words, the intent to openly humiliate Ho-young was clear.
But then.
"Fine. Let's give it a try."
Ho-young volunteered himself.
The developer's remark had provoked Ho-young's competitive spirit.
'A machine.'
It had been a long time since machines surpassed human limits, but Ho-young, who had gone far beyond human limits himself, was confident too.
The realm of the gods.
He was still adapting to that talent, so he was not using all of his abilities on the pitch.
But what if he used more of that ability than usual right now?
'It's possible.'
As long as he used only enough that there was no risk, there would be no problem.
And so the filming began as a penalty shootout against the robot.
"Heh heh. Then I will turn it on."
The developer was showing tremendous confidence in this contest.
'Do you know how much it cost to develop this? No matter how much people say Ho-young has surpassed human limits, it makes no sense that a mere footballer's shot would be too much for it to react to.'
This reaction sensor had been developed with astronomical investment costs.
And the robot goalkeeper was fitted with exactly that.
It was on a completely different level from the cheap machines used in previous variety shows.
The idea that it could lose to a mere human made no sense.
"Then we'll start from Level 1, the lowest reaction speed."
That may have been why he overestimated his robot.
But then.
"No, set it to the highest level possible."
"...!"
The atmosphere turned cold.
As soon as the signal was given, Ho-young, full of confidence, struck the ball.
All the energy generated by his body was transmitted into the football, and it flew toward the bottom right corner while spinning in a bizarre way.
Then, in that instant, a roar rang out and people's eyes widened.
"Huh."
"No way."
The football had slipped cleverly beyond the robot goalkeeper's movement and gone into the corner of the net.
'T-This is insane!'
In that moment, the developer realized something.
He had not overestimated his robot, he had underestimated Ho-young.
Still, he had his pride. He could not collapse here.
If this aired as it was, the investors might stop funding him.
In the end, the developer made a reckless move.
"This isn't over!"
He intended to reveal the secret weapon he had hidden away in order to prevent any possible disaster.
"Fine. Let's do it again."
It was right after that that Ho-young struck the ball once more.
Boom!
This time the direction was the top left corner.
Judging by the speed and spin, it looked just as difficult to stop.
But.
"!"
In an instant, an auxiliary device sprang out from the robot's arm and blocked off the shooting angle completely.
Any meaning the fair contest had once had was already long gone.
Unless the auxiliary device was broken, it was impossible for the ball to go in.
But then.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
A shot that easily exceeded 200 km/h.
The ball that flew forward at furious speed crushed the joint of the suddenly deployed auxiliary device and dropped to the ground.
And that was not the end of it.
The ball, having lost its power, rolled slowly and went into the goal.
"My God."
"....."
To make matters worse, as the ball curved, it also destroyed the sensor inside.
"Ah..."
Even the goddess of luck was on Ho-young's side.
He had not done it with the intention of breaking it.
There was no way Ho-young could have known such an auxiliary device would suddenly come out.
It was simply the developer's fault for not explaining it beforehand.
And so, the filming could no longer continue and was forcibly brought to an end.
The related article was splashed across major overseas media outlets the very next day.
[Ho-young appears on a Japanese TV show and smashes Japan's pride!
Ho-young, who appeared on a Japanese TV show, unintentionally broke the robot of Japanese developer Ando (46). On that day, the schedule, which had originally been agreed to film only what was planned, was changed because of unreasonable demands from the Japanese broadcaster...]
└Those idiots got properly taught a lesson. Last time they brought in Ronaldo and made him do weird stuff to humiliate him too. Serves them right.
As public opinion around the world boiled over in criticism of the Japanese broadcaster after that exposure, no broadcaster anywhere could be found making unreasonable demands of Ho-young after that.
Good news kept arriving after that as well.
As his sponsorship deal with Nike neared its end, several sportswear companies such as Adidas and Puma came forward with unprecedented blockbuster offers.
In response, Nike strongly showed that they could not afford to lose Ho-young by offering the biggest contract in their history.
[Nike complete a 7-year, €700 million deal with Ho-young]
It was only a matter of time before Ho-young became the richest athlete of all.
What was more, Nike's contract terms did not end there.
[The fashion brand Y10, launched by Ho-young's mother Kim Hee-sun, to collaborate with the Jordan Brand, brand value expected to surge]
[Ho-young to invest more than half of his Nike signing bonus into the Y10 business, says "I won't be taking fashion advice from Ronaldo," causing reporters to burst into laughter... investors flock after the news]
While good news continued to break one after another like this, Ho-young's Christmas break came to an end.
At the same time, the 14-15 season also headed into its final stretch.
Real Madrid achieved the feat of 15 straight league wins, overtook Barcelona, and climbed into first place early.
They also produced overwhelming results in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, achieving the feat of reaching the finals of every competition.
And then, in May.
Real Madrid finally reclaimed the throne of La Liga by reaching 100 points with a record of 32 wins, 4 draws, and 2 defeats in 38 matches.
Naturally, the top scorer title went to Ho-young, who had scored 64 goals.
They also continued their winning run by crushing Atlético Madrid 4-1 in the Copa del Rey final.
And then, in late May, ahead of the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City.
The happiest news that no one had anticipated suddenly arrived.
"Pregnant..."
Ho-young was greatly surprised by the sudden news, but at the same time, for some reason, he also felt a quiet sense of pride.
It seemed likely that he would be heading to a wedding hall before long.
(To be continued.)