The Aviva Stadium reacted in two completely different ways.
Sky-blue flags were waving like mad, and tens of thousands of voices had become one as they sang Blue Moon.
It was the final match.
Manchester City's final match, and Ho-young's final match.
The first half was not even over yet, but some people were already in tears.
It was not because they were overly emotional.
Just look at that scene.
Look at the play of that young boy who had come from Asia.
That boy who was fighting all over the pitch.
With plays that were unbelievable even while watching them, he was captivating tens of thousands.
"Hoo..."
"This is driving me crazy."
"Me too..."
Normally, watching Ho-young play should have made people happy, but sighs could be heard all around the stands.
It was not an overreaction.
They were all true Citizens who genuinely loved Manchester City.
The fact that they had come all the way to Ireland to watch the match proved it.
And they loved Ho-young too.
As a fellow human being, they were sincerely grateful for the miracle he had created.
It had been 5 months since he came to Manchester City.
You could tell just from the fact that he already had more than 10 personal chants dedicated to him.
So naturally, they could not help but feel sad.
A true final match.
Just thinking that they would never see Ho-young at Manchester City again made their hearts ache as though they were being torn apart.
On top of that, Ho-young's play looked especially brilliant today, which only made the regret greater.
To exaggerate a little, every single second passing by right now felt precious.
[I've got goosebumps. He clearly came into this match fully determined. It really does feel like the perfect way to describe him is that he's flying across the pitch.]
[That's right. There were concerns, weren't there? Since Ho-young had been so outstanding in the Champions League, some thought he might lose motivation in the Europa League. But it looks like his motivation is exactly where it needs to be.]
[That's what mental strength is.]
The Champions League and the Europa League are essentially the same in nature, but there is a huge gap in status.
Even though they are both European competitions, the level is quite different.
If you had to compare them, it was like the difference between the major leagues and the minor leagues.
But such things meant nothing to Ho-young.
This season, the Europa League mattered far more than the Champions League.
He was simply approaching the match the same way he always did.
[That consistency in particular is something not only footballers but athletes in other sports should learn from. Because in truth, once a person reaches the very top, they tend to grow complacent.]
[I agree. The fact that we still do not see any sign of that makes him all the more impressive.]
How could he possibly do otherwise?
He had gained this chance at the cost of his lifespan.
A heaven-sent fortune.
This was an opportunity granted by the heavens.
He had received a chance that others could never obtain no matter how much they wanted it.
That was why, every morning when Ho-young opened his eyes, the only thing on his mind was that he had to go train.
Of course, being human, there were days when he wanted to bury his face in the pillow.
But the moment he thought of his past life, that laziness vanished at once.
He had already said goodbye to the world once, so he knew how precious life was.
That was why he had no choice but to work even harder.
There was a famous saying from an athlete somewhere.
If you cannot be bothered to go train in the morning, then it is time for you to retire.
Consistency and diligence.
And how important tireless effort is.
Mental strength.
That was the real reason Ho-young had been able to do all this.
In other words, it all came down to talent.
And now he was almost there.
What would happen once he crossed that limit could only be left to the imagination.
Since he would literally be surpassing the limits of a human being, he would surely gain talents beyond common sense.
Ho-young could not calm the swelling excitement in his chest.
Even right now, as he ran across the pitch, the tension and excitement would not stop.
There were only 70 minutes left.
The moment he had waited for so long was about to arrive.
He could not stop wondering what next season would be like, or what kind of achievements he would build from here on.
Smile.
As Ho-young ran across the pitch, a faint dimple appeared at the corner of his mouth.
This was his first time experiencing something like this too.
This is strange.
Ho-young was not fully focused on the match.
But the even stranger thing was that he was still pressing the opposition tightly.
His body was moving on its own.
Awakening.
Was his body reacting first because he was getting close to breaking through his limits?
Sometimes, this kind of thing was not so bad.
It felt as though too many endorphins were being released, lifting both body and mind into the air.
It felt like his body was moving with his emotions, and yet at the same time, his body was still under Ho-young's control exactly as he wanted.
[Manchester City's momentum is absolutely ferocious. It feels like a fearless rhinoceros charging mercilessly into the opponent's half.]
[The Juventus players just cannot seem to gather themselves. They must be badly rattled. They probably prepared by focusing on Ho-young and a few key players before the match, but once the game started, all 11 Manchester City players were performing at an incredible level.]
Joe Hart, Kolarov, Kompany, Boateng, Barry, James Milner, and the rest.
They could never even have imagined that they would one day reach a Europa League final.
Their youth and spirit were overcoming the veterans' experience and composure.
But Juventus could not keep hiding forever.
One way or another, they had to fight back at least a little.
Juventus manager Luigi Delneri took off his glasses and shouted.
"Forget about the goals we've conceded! Once your spirit dies, your body dies too!"
It was from then on.
That the cowering Juventus side slowly began to regain some momentum.
[Juventus are patiently building from the back. Grosso, Chiellini, Bonucci, and Grygera are all joining actively in the attacking buildup.]
[The midfield is also starting to click more and more. Giovinco, Marchisio, Diego, and Pepe are combining well and adjusting the line. They clearly prepared a great deal to avoid getting caught by Ho-young. We are only starting to see that now.]
Because Ho-young's movement covered such a vast area, they could not focus on breaking through just one spot.
So they stirred things up all over the pitch and searched for different attacking routes.
As the attacking and defensive exchanges from both sides grew fiercer, the match gradually became more and more exciting.
"Don't pass to the obvious option!"
"Change the way you think! Don't move in the usual way! Think of nothing else but that!"
The voice of the fantasy star, Del Piero, covered the field.
Pressing, tackling, covering, physical battles, condition.
Those things did not help much against Ho-young.
No matter how well you did them, you still could not stop him.
But creativity was different.
That was the most important ability when facing Ho-young.
At least, that was what Del Piero believed.
Ho-young is basically Manchester City's watchtower.
In other words, if they made obvious plays, they would hand the ball over to him too easily.
So they tried not to make any ordinary plays at all.
And at the center of that stood Sebastian Giovinco.
Once regarded as a top-class wonderkid alongside Ho-young, he had excellent kicking and passing ability, and his creativity was also top level, which made him more than fit for that role.
At the same time, the fantasy star Del Piero swept across the ground while Iaquinta dominated in the air as Juventus tried to attack carefully.
It almost felt as though the match was finally starting to open up for them.
[Grosso looks for Giovinco. Pass out wide.]
[Diego joins in as well. Giovinco exchanges triangular passes and drives down the flank. Wayne Bridge tries to follow, but he cannot match him for pace.]
[Giovinco drives it inside! Diego receives once more!]
Escaping Ho-young's surveillance with creative link-up play, Giovinco used his genius to create a decisive chance.
It was the moment Diego, the Brazilian attacking midfielder, got the ball.
[Diego cuts inside once and lets fly from range!]
[Ah, it's blocked! Ho-young with the tackle from behind!!]
Ho-young burst out like a sports car launching at full speed and slid in on Diego with a tackle.
His speed was absurd, yet the tackle itself was clean and tidy without any wasted motion.
There was no reason at all for the whistle to blow.
[The ball takes a deflection off the foot and rolls to Kolarov.]
[Kolarov scans forward. Simone Pepe closes him down!]
[But it comes to nothing. Kolarov slips away from the pressure with ease.]
But that was not the end of it.
[Now Giovinco closes him down as well!]
"Urk!"
A sudden battle for the ball.
Giovinco moved cleverly and managed to win it back.
[Juventus get another attacking chance! That was a clean tackle!]
Giovinco had improved dramatically compared to before.
Now he possessed excellent defensive ability as well as attacking quality.
His fatal weakness was that he was only 164 centimeters tall, but through steady conditioning and special training, he had lowered his center of gravity and improved his explosiveness, covering for that weakness.
In a way, it was because he had been pushed by Ho-young that he had been able to grow this much.
What a stubborn and bitter rivalry it was.
Today, I end it.
It was not that he hoped to become better than Ho-young.
There was only one thing Giovinco wanted.
Just this one thing.
To score against Ho-young.
It sounded like a very modest wish, but in reality it was an extremely difficult one.
Tap!
[Ho-young's sudden challenge! The ball keeps rolling!]
[Ah, Giovinco has to stay focused. He has to keep hold of himself until the very end!]
A collision near the center.
I break through...!
Giovinco moved creatively and protected the ball.
He fought desperately to avoid letting it turn into a physical battle.
But in the end.
Poke.
"Ghk."
[And Sebastian Giovinco goes down!]
[Ho-young pokes the ball through his legs.]
He had thought he would still have a chance as long as he avoided a physical battle, but when it actually happened, that had been nothing more than a ridiculous illusion.
His shoulder had only brushed Ho-young's for a moment, yet even that was enough to send him flying.
Ah...
They were on completely different levels.
Genius and creativity?
No matter how high those things were, it was all the same if you were still playing in the palm of Ho-young's hand.
It was then.
Pop.
"...!"
Tap!
"What the...!!"
[Ooooh! He lifts the ball over the top! Ho-young is off!!]
Ho-young flicked the ball high with his instep.
At the same time, he burst forward, brought down the ball he had lifted with his chest, and then knocked it ahead with his knee as he sprinted on.
It was a creative play that destroyed in one move the line formed by Giovinco, Marchisio, Diego, and Pepe.
And it did not stop there.
Whoosh!
Driving forward at wind-like speed, Ho-young used body feints at exactly the right moments and beat Chiellini and Bonucci one after another.
First once to the left.
"Ah!"
Then to the right.
"Gr, Grosso!!"
Once he had beaten Bonucci as well, Grosso burst in from the right with a two-footed tackle.
But Ho-young was no longer there.
"Aaaah!"
Because he had already leapt into the air with the ball trapped between his feet.
[There it is again! The Bicycle Flick!]
It was a genius piece of skill that destroyed Juventus's final defensive line.
"Ah..."
Watching Ho-young's back from far away, Giovinco let out a groan.
Don't score. Please, please...
He clasped both hands together and prayed desperately.
But no miracle came.
Swish!
[Goooooooal! Ho-young's left-footed shot flies precisely into the top left corner! That makes it a hat-trick for Ho-young!]
3-0.
It was a first half that showed what true genius and creativity really were.
(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.)