Korean football fans watching the match live erupted at Ho-young's go-ahead goal.
It was not just because it completed a hat-trick, but because the process of scoring was so rare.
[Breaking News: Ho-young scores his 7th league goal following his 5th and 6th, becomes the youngest player to record a hat-trick]
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ!
└What is this lol, is this even a real goal?
└I seriously burst out laughing at dawn, thought they were playing dodgeball.
└I was eating ramen and laughed so hard it came out my nose.
└But is that actually allowed?
└It says if you intentionally throw the ball at an opponent, as long as you do not use excessive force, the referee must let play continue.
└Stuff like that does happen sometimes.
└What about Coupet lol, look at his face, it is exactly my face right now.
At the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, Spain, the atmosphere was even more intense.
Faced with a goal no one could have predicted, the home fans were stunned into silence.
Hardcore supporters hurled boos at Ho-young, accusing him angrily.
Some unruly fans even threw water bottles onto the pitch.
Police were immediately deployed to calm the situation, but the unrest showed no sign of dying down.
"What the hell kind of goal is that!"
"Hey, bald ref! Did you get paid off?"
Some spectators who clearly did not understand the rules of football directed their anger at the referee, but nothing changed.
[It is a clear goal. Ho-young's throw-in was not an unsporting act intended to cause harm, but a creative and intelligent decision made purely for play. If the match had been stopped here, that would have been the real issue.]
[That's right. Let's take another look.]
In Europe, replays are often avoided during controversial refereeing decisions, but unless something exceptional happens, goal scenes are usually replayed.
The fact that Ho-young's goal was being shown on the giant screen meant there was no controversy in the decision.
As the replay of Ho-young's throw-in played on the massive screen high above the stadium, the commentators fell silent.
They were struggling to hold back laughter at Coupet's ridiculous expression.
[Ah… seeing Coupet get hit in the back while running toward goal and immediately turning his head, it is strangely funny and a bit pitiful at the same time.]
[Ahem. If we feel this way, imagine how the player himself feels. Gregory Coupet looks completely stunned. No matter how experienced he is, this must be a first for him.]
Gregory Coupet.
He had one hand on his hip, while the other clawed at his hair.
When the ball first hit him, he had no idea what had happened.
When he turned his head back, he doubted his own eyes.
It was truly an absurd play.
In his sixteen-year career, he had never experienced anything like this.
"Damn it."
It was his own misjudgment for not anticipating that far.
He should have dealt with the ball more safely, knocking it out for a throw-in was a mistake to begin with.
He had assumed Ho-young would be exhausted by then, but he was still full of energy, and his acceleration exceeded expectations.
That was the fatal error.
There was no humiliation greater than this.
"Haa…"
Watching Ho-young sprint toward the away end to celebrate made his face burn.
He felt like chasing him down and smacking the back of his head, and the fact that he could not made it even more frustrating.
Only then did he understand what Florent Malouda had meant.
Coupet, who had spent many years at Lyon alongside Malouda, had once asked him not long ago.
What is that Ho-young kid like?
Malouda had answered like this.
Normally he is kind, well-mannered, friendly, like a model student who knows how to have fun. But once he steps onto the pitch, he becomes a genius. Completely ruthless.
That was right.
Those words were correct a hundred times over.
Ho-young was a genius who showed things in real matches that others could hardly imagine.
For better or worse.
3-1.
With the score heavily tilted to one side, the flow of the match became extremely interesting.
With nowhere left to retreat, Atletico Madrid committed even more players forward, focusing entirely on attack.
At the very least, they needed a draw.
But Real Madrid was not about to let themselves be pushed around.
Bernd Schuster reinforced the defensive line by adjusting the second line, including substituting Zidane, whose pace had slowed.
At the same time, he left fast players up front to preserve counter-attack options.
Then, in the 80th minute of the second half.
Schuster's plan came to life.
[Sergio Agüero tries to break through, but is stopped cold by Cannavaro's iron defense. Cannavaro wins the ball and immediately plays a short pass to Diarra.]
[Diarra sends it long to Marcelo on the left!]
[Marcelo follows up with a run down the flank!]
Another counter-attacking chance.
After beating Georgios Seitaridis with a feint, Marcelo exchanged a one-two with Robben and tore open the space behind the defense.
The through ball found Ho-young's feet just outside the box.
Coupet was already charging out to close him down.
Ho-young did not force it and laid the ball off to Marcelo on the left.
Heart-stopping.
And just like that, Marcelo scored his first goal of the season.
"Hey Young!"
"Nice!"
It was the decisive goal that silenced the home crowd.
Many fans left the stadium cursing under their breath.
It was a wise decision.
Because Real Madrid was not done scoring.
[Arjen Robben! He bursts into the space behind the defense to chase Marcelo's long pass!]
Less than five minutes later, another counter unfolded, and Robben sprinted sixty meters to score the fifth goal.
5-1.
[Real Madrid is playing a winning game. They are simply too strong. It is impossible to predict what kind of achievements they will reach this season.]
[That's right. La Liga this season is shaping up as a two-horse race. Real Madrid, who started with a perfect run of wins, and Barcelona, who have come back to life as if nothing happened. It is still early, so nothing can be predicted yet.]
After that, the flow of the match did not change.
Just before full time, Forlan's cannon shot found the net, but that was the end of it.
Whistle.
Full time.
Real Madrid secured a 5-2 victory, extending their winning streak to an incredible seven straight league wins.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid's players fell into despair.
It was truly the worst day.
Forlan scoring two goals was one thing, but the most devastated was Gregory Coupet.
In his long-awaited return match, he had been thoroughly beaten.
Still, it was not entirely bitterness.
A sense of awe.
The thought that Ho-young would soon cause a sensation in the football world stirred a strange feeling.
It was a match like a nightmare, yet part of him wanted to applaud.
One thing was certain, it was an experience he would never forget.
And there was one more.
Sergio Agüero.
Still unable to shed his boyish air, he looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
"We lost…"
It was a painful defeat.
Overshadowed by Messi and Ho-young at the Beijing Olympics, he had not received much attention, and he had desperately wanted to win this match, yet failed to make any impact.
Before Ho-young arrived in La Liga, he had been regarded as the most promising prospect after Messi, which made his desire even stronger.
He wanted to beat Ho-young through skill, not team strength.
That was why he had endured grueling training over the past two weeks.
So why.
"Sniff."
Had he been able to do nothing?
Real Madrid was simply too strong.
With a defense and midfield full of world-class players, he could not break through on his own.
He wanted to produce a wonder play like Ho-young had done at the Beijing Olympics, tearing apart Argentina's defense by himself, but reality was far from ideal.
Was this how Ho-young had felt back then, when he had to play for the Korean team?
"It must have been even worse."
Without support from the team, there were limits to what one could do.
In contrast, Ho-young, already excellent, now had brilliant wings on his back.
Last season, La Liga fans used to say this about him.
Agüero of Atletico Madrid is a player right between Higuain of Real Madrid and Messi of Barcelona.
But recently, the saying had changed.
Agüero's position is right between Higuain and Ho-young.
At first, he had denied it, but now he could not help but accept it.
They were both elite prospects, but their genius was different.
Unless a miracle occurred, this year's Golden Boy would go to Ho-young.
That made Ho-young seem even more remarkable.
Somewhere in his heart, admiration began to grow.
He wanted to run over immediately and exchange shirts, but with Atletico fans watching, he could not.
After such a heavy defeat, adding fuel to the fire was not an option.
At that moment, Ho-young was assessing what he had gained from today's match.
"The Cannon Shooter's mid-range shot, and S-rank potential."
Good.
If he raised his existing mid-range shooting talent to S rank, he would be able to merge it into a Special Unique grade.
Shortly after, he did a brief interview with Marca, and when he returned to the locker room, he noticed someone waiting for him.
Surprisingly, it was Sergio Agüero.
"What is it, why?"
"Uh… the shirt… want to swap…?"
Scratching the back of his head, Agüero shyly held out his jersey.
Ho-young was more flustered than expected.
It was not because Agüero came to see him.
Even among rivals, it was common for players to secretly swap shirts after matches.
But Ho-young was surprised for another reason.
"Wait, is this really the Agüero I know?"
The monster striker who would dominate the Premier League in 2016 was nowhere to be seen.
He knew Agüero was gentle and quiet, but this was far from the image he had imagined.
The Agüero standing before him was an innocent, untainted young man.
A future rival and also a comrade who would lead the football world together.
Ho-young gladly handed over his shirt.
"It was a good game."
"Thanks."
But Atletico players kept coming.
"Um."
"Hm?"
"Oh, damn. I'm a bit late."
It was none other than Coupet, who wanted to keep today's memory close.
"Ahem. I came to swap shirts."
At that moment.
Agüero's eyes turned to Coupet, and their gazes collided in midair.
It was an awkward situation.
That day, Ho-young was selected as the official Man of the Match by the La Liga office, and his name filled the headlines.
[Ho-young, first La Liga hat-trick followed by first Man of the Match award…]
[After a hat-trick, is a super hat-trick next?]
[According to reporters, Agüero and Coupet visited Real Madrid's locker room after the match… However, both players strongly denied it, saying, "That never happened," and dismissed fans' mockery with, "Our only enemy is always Real Madrid," and "Have you no pride?"]
Ho-young lay on his bed, laughing softly, having given his first-half jersey to Coupet and his second-half jersey to Agüero.
"So things like this really happen."
Players he had only ever seen on TV asking to swap shirts.
Who would have thought.
But there was no time to bask in happiness.
"The next match is more important."
One mountain after another.
The biggest match yet awaited.
Ho-young jumped out of bed and logged into the players-only website, carefully analyzing footage of the next opponent.
The team they would face in the Champions League in just two days.
Juventus.
"They're vicious."
Among the players to watch most closely was one in particular, known as the greatest two-footed player in history and called a man with two hearts.
Pavel Nedved.
(To be continued.)
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◇ 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.)