Around the time Ho-young transferred to Manchester City, there was one joke people used to make.
"No way, what if Ho-young ends up winning the La Liga Golden Boot too?"
It was not completely impossible.
When Ho-young left Real Madrid, he had already scored 27 goals.
And that was while the season was only around halfway through, so quite a few people wondered whether Ho-young might actually end up winning the Golden Boot as it was.
But after that, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were both chasing steadily from far behind, so the chances of it happening did not seem very high.
At the time, most people thought Ronaldo would end up winning La Liga's Golden Boot.
Since Ho-young, who had been responsible for most of Real Madrid's goals, had left the team, it was only natural to think Ronaldo would take over that role.
But there was one thing people overlooked.
When Ho-young left, Real Madrid's goal output dropped sharply.
With Ho-young gone, the team's attacking power decreased significantly, and Ronaldo's scoring output dropped along with it.
On top of that, an upset no one had expected took place.
Ronaldo suffered a long-term injury that kept him out for 3 months during the Copa del Rey.
In the end, Ronaldo had no choice but to give up the Golden Boot race in tears.
That was when the possibility of Ho-young winning La Liga's Golden Boot began to emerge in earnest.
But even then, people dismissed it as a joke, saying, "No way that happens."
It was common sense.
A player who left the league after playing only the first half of the season becomes the top scorer?
That was far beyond common sense.
Besides, La Liga was a league where goals tended to come more easily than in other leagues, so there would have been nothing strange about Ho-young's record of 27 goals being broken at any time.
However.
[FC Barcelona, a crushing run of 12 straight wins... David Villa's goalscoring explodes]
[Real Madrid rise again on the back of Gonzalo Higuaín's brilliant form after returning from injury]
It was an article published back in February.
Since Mourinho had been dismissed, Tito Vilanova had taken charge at Barcelona, and their style of play had changed quite a lot.
David Villa's scoring rose far more than Messi's, and as a result Messi naturally failed to make much headway in the Golden Boot race.
Meanwhile, at Real Madrid, Gonzalo Higuaín regained his form and was able to produce goals in bunches.
In other words, there was no one in La Liga who kept scoring consistently on his own.
And in the end, things came to this.
[With Round 38 played on May 24, the breathless La Liga season came to a close. Two matches drew the most attention that day. The first was Real Madrid against Sevilla. Gonzalo Higuaín and Cristiano Ronaldo scored in turn, but their defense weakened in the second half and they ended up conceding two straight goals to Sevilla. Meanwhile, Barcelona defeated Valencia thanks to a David Villa penalty. They reclaimed the throne after 4 years. However, David Villa was limited to 1 goal that day and failed in the Golden Boot race.]
The winner of the 2010-2011 La Liga season was none other than Barcelona.
At the end of December, they had trailed Real Madrid by as many as 11 points, but by May the points were level, and in the end Barcelona smiled after winning the final match.
But the individual awards were a different story.
As of Round 38, the top scorers were as follows.
<1> Ho-young, former Real Madrid, 27 goals
<2> David Villa, Barcelona, 25 goals
<3> Lionel Messi, Barcelona, 23 goals
<4> Gonzalo Higuaín, Real Madrid, 23 goals
The thing people thought could never happen had actually happened.
[Ho-young confirmed as La Liga Golden Boot winner, wins it for the second straight year...]
[Ho-young becomes the first player in history to win the top scorer title in two leagues, sweeping both the EPL and La Liga]
[Marca formally invites Ho-young to the awards ceremony... his current league is completely irrelevant]
[The official EPL awards and the Marca awards happen to fall on the same day...]
└Has he become the kind of person who can no longer be satisfied with just one?
└What a greedy man... So where is Ho-young supposed to go?
└Obviously he has to attend the EPL awards since he's with Manchester City now
That was a problem too.
But Ho-young did not give up either one.
On the day of the ceremony.
Dressed sharply in a suit, Ho-young attended the Premier League awards early in the morning.
The awards moved along smoothly.
In truth, everyone had already expected the results, so there was not much tension.
Manager of the Year went to Mancini of Manchester City, who had won both the FA Cup and the EPL, and as everyone expected, both the EPL Golden Boot and the EPL Player of the Year went to Ho-young.
And that was not the end.
Ho-young was also selected as a nominee for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.
The PFA Players' Player of the Year is chosen by direct votes from all players active in England, not just the EPL.
In other words, the recipient was the best player recognized by current professionals themselves.
This year, the winner was of course Ho-young.
On top of that, he was selected for the PFA Team of the Year, completing a quadruple crown.
The interview was brief because there was not much time.
"Thank you. I believe I received these awards on behalf of my teammates. I want to dedicate them to the fans and my teammates. And in the Europa League final in a few days, I will do my best again. Thank you."
That was the end of the EPL awards.
But Ho-young's schedule continued.
1:30 p.m.
Thanks to chairman Al Mubarak's help, Ho-young was able to arrive in Madrid, Spain, almost exactly on time.
It was the venue for the Marca awards.
And Ho-young's run of awards did not stop here either.
"Ho-young Woo!"
Clap clap clap!
First, Ho-young's name was called for Marca's Foreign Player of the Year, chosen by the magazine's subscribers.
It showed that Ho-young was still enormously popular in Spain.
Then the Pichichi award, given to La Liga's top scorer, was handed to Ho-young, who had scored 27 goals in just 16 matches.
There was an interview here as well.
"I actually just came over from England to Madrid. This suit was made by a tailor in England."
Ho-young continued, lightening the mood.
"Maybe because it's been so long since I came back to Madrid, it feels different. It feels like visiting my hometown. I want to thank the people here who still support me so passionately."
There was a lot he wanted to say.
His apologetic feelings toward the Madrid fans, why he had no choice but to make that decision, how the incident with Calderón had been resolved, and more.
But for now, he held back his words.
Soon enough.
All of those issues would be resolved before long.
Just a few weeks.
If he endured until then, every question would be answered.
After the ceremony, he spent time with his former Real Madrid teammates.
He was able to relax with players who had attended the ceremony, including Casillas, Ramos, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Higuaín, and Ronaldo.
Ramos in particular greeted him as if he were meeting a younger brother he had been separated from in childhood.
"My little brother!"
Ramos had kept in frequent contact even after Ho-young went to Manchester City.
Especially when City secured the Premier League title recently, he had sent a long message and even called to congratulate him.
Marcelo was the same.
"You crazy bastard! Why are you here!"
"Hahaha. It just kind of turned out this way."
"I'm joking, it's good to see you. I thought I was going to die because I missed you. This must be heaven's will telling you to come back to Real Madrid already."
It would have been understandable if things had felt awkward, but not at all.
They were still family.
Cristiano Ronaldo also pulled Ho-young into his broad shoulders in a show of camaraderie.
And what he said was quite surprising.
"So you're coming back now."
"Crist..."
The atmosphere suddenly turned solemn.
It was a sight that felt not just touching, but almost sad.
And for good reason, because Real Madrid's situation was currently very serious.
They had failed to win a single trophy in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League.
No trophies.
Since Ho-young, who had been at the heart of Real Madrid, left, the team had faltered, and with all sorts of bad news piling on, the team had collapsed rapidly.
The players looked visibly worn out.
In particular, manager Scolari, who attended the ceremony, looked at least 10 years older.
As the world's strongest team collapsed in an instant, people began calling it the Madrid Shock.
Ho-young was their only remaining hope.
That was why everyone desperately wanted him to return.
But cruelly enough, Ho-young could not give them a definite answer.
Not yet...
I still have something left to do.
Whether he returned or not, he had to focus on the Europa League first.
Etihad Campus.
With 2 days left before the Europa League final, intense training was underway.
Their opponent was Italian giant Juventus.
Of course, they were now little more than a toothless tiger, but they still had sharp claws left.
"If we let our guard down, we'll concede before we know it. That's their real strength."
During a break.
Ronaldinho, who had gathered the players around him, spoke.
He had moved from Milan to Manchester in the winter, and because he had faced Juventus last December, he knew very well what they were capable of.
As a result, he was able to fulfill his role as a senior player and make sure no one became complacent.
"But there's no need to be scared. They're just an old tiger. Even if they swing their claws, they won't be able to do it many times. We just can't relax."
"Yes, sir!"
At the same time.
Ho-young was accelerating his efforts to acquire his teammates' talents.
Before transcendence came, he intended to acquire as many as possible.
If we win the very next match, transcendence will happen immediately.
Since he had no idea what might happen, he needed to prepare as much as possible.
It was one way of preventing side effects.
And as that continued, the match drew near.
[
[Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero: "I will achieve one final feat before retirement. I fear no opponent."]
[Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez: "Ho-young said he is confident, so we will win."]
May 27.
The final that would decide the strongest team in the Europa League was about to begin.
The venue was Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
With nearly 50,000 spectators filling the ground, both dressing rooms were busy.
The starting lineups for both sides had just been announced.
"Buffon, Grosso, Chiellini, Bonucci, Grygera, Giovinco, Marchisio, Diego, Pepe, Del Piero, Iaquinta. As expected, Juventus have come out in a 4-4-2."
With those words, manager Mancini began the final check.
Normally, he would leave the players to themselves for an hour before kick-off, but today was different.
Every word and every action was carried out in a grave and solemn atmosphere.
"This is our last match."
The match that would define this season, and open the door to Ho-young's true life as a player, was about to begin.
(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.)