After endless effort, he had finally fulfilled all the conditions.
For now, there were 5 talents that could be transcended.
The process began immediately.
[Transcending Peak Ball Sense (SSS+3).]
[Transcendent Ball Sense (TS↑)]
[It will take 30 days to fully transcend this talent. During those 30 days, no other talents can be transcended.]
[The vessel of talent is full. Half-Pitch Domination Versatility (W+3) will transcend in 30 days.]
[The vessel of talent is full. Ultimate Dribbling (W+3) will transcend in 60 days.]
[The vessel of talent is full. Peerless Finishing Ability (W+3) will transcend in 90 days.]
[The vessel of talent is full. Peak Mental Strength (SSS+3) will transcend in 120 days.]
A total of 150 days.
In other words, he would have to wait until November for all of them to fully transcend.
And if Vibrant Muscles and Ultimate Long-Range Shot were integrated as well, they would transcend too, which would add another 60 days.
If I include the talents that will be integrated later, I should expect it to take around a year.
It looked like things would be roughly finished by the time of the 2012 London Olympics next year.
In truth, however long it took was not what mattered.
The fact that he had done it at all was overwhelming in itself.
Maybe that was why.
"Hoo."
His body began to heat up.
It was partly because the weather was warm, but there was another reason.
A sense of achievement.
A sense of achievement so intense it could not even be compared to before came crashing over him like a violent wave.
His body was already feeling it.
His arms and legs tingled, and there was a strong feeling as if his shoulders were being pressed down by a heavy weight.
This is strange.
Ho-young could feel something writhing inside his body.
His heart began to pound.
It felt as though his body were floating.
Suddenly, he remembered what Mammon had said.
-The limits of a human are decided from birth. But I have seen humans who were consumed by greed while trying to surpass those limits. Every one of them became mad.
Had Mammon not said that?
That there were people who had been consumed and gone mad.
Only now did he truly understand what that meant.
Disharmony.
To be human, and yet surpass human limits.
It was clearly the disharmony caused by contradiction.
It felt as though his body were being pulled somewhere.
As if it might crumble into grains of sand and scatter like dust.
"Hup."
He had transcended only 1 talent so far, yet already his body was struggling.
If I want to avoid being consumed by greed, I will have to control it well myself.
That was the most basic requirement.
If he could not even do that, then he would be able to do nothing at all.
I will need to focus on physical training this offseason.
For now, he still could not be certain of anything.
All he could do was keep running forward, just as he always had.
And so, the dangerous coexistence between Ho-young and greed began.
[Manchester City complete the mini-treble and rise as the new kings of the Europa League. The award ceremony will begin shortly.]
[There are no words needed. I may not be a Manchester City fan, but I honestly want to go down there and congratulate them right now. Simply as a football fan. I want to thank them for letting us watch a match like this.]
After the title was secured, the atmosphere in the stadium split exactly in half.
6-1.
Juventus, who had lost helplessly, looked exactly like a house of mourning.
For a moment in the second half, it had felt as if they might create an emotional comeback, but Ho-young never allowed it.
They could only bow their heads in front of the fans who had come all the way to Ireland.
By contrast, Manchester City had no time to be sad.
"Woooooo!"
"Hooo!"
A treble.
It was no exaggeration to say that Ho-young had created all of it.
As proof of that, Ho-young swept the Match Man of the Match award, the Europa League Golden Boot, and the Best Player award.
UEFA president Michel Platini personally handed him the trophy.
"My sincere congratulations."
"Thank you."
"Now that the season is over, you must have a little more free time."
"I hope so."
"A player should rest when the season ends. No need to be running around here and there."
He smiled slyly, as though he knew everything.
It was almost as if he were pressuring him not to help Chung Mong-joon in the FIFA vice presidential election campaign.
Ho-young gave a suitable reply and ended the conversation there.
Then the second reward dropped.
[You have acquired Trezegol's One-Touch Shot (SU).]
[You have acquired Fantasista's Kick Accuracy (SU).]
Before long, his shooting-related talents also seemed likely to reach their limit once they were integrated.
After the match.
Mancini's press conference was held in the media room.
Meanwhile, Ho-young held a separate individual interview in the interview room.
"Hello. First of all, congratulations on winning the title."
"Nice to meet you."
"Yes, now that the season is over, the fans still have a lot of questions. So today, I would like to ask about that."
It was obvious what the question would be.
"You mean my future."
"That's right. When you are returning to Real Madrid, that is the biggest question in the world right now."
"There will be an official article about that soon. So right now, I want to think about nothing and simply enjoy the joy of winning."
The moment of choice.
Now it was truly time to make a decision.
"What is certain is that wherever I am, I will be able to show performances like I am showing now. No, I promise I will show performances even better than these."
"..."
The reporter was left speechless.
What on earth did he mean by performances even better than now?
Ho-young did not know either.
He simply.
"I will keep working hard, just as I do now."
All he could do was endure and wait.
And so the long, long 2010-2011 season came to an end.
The next day, articles about the match poured out.
[Ho-young ruthlessly tramples Juventus!]
[Juventus manager Delneri after the crushing defeat: "We were completely beaten. There was nothing that could break Ho-young. It felt like facing a robot with no emotions at all."]
[Emotion-breaker Ho-young sends Giovinco into hell... a match that truly showed what genius is... praised by everyone]
Meanwhile, people's attention shifted to Wembley Stadium in London.
Because of the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
[Bayern Munich unleash the Robben-Ribéry line... confidence for the title rises]
[Barcelona reach the final after many twists and turns, can they complete their revival?]
Ever since Ho-young left La Liga, Barcelona had risen again as if by magic.
Unfortunately for them, Bayern Munich were too much.
They could not cope with the insane attacking power of Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben, the so-called Robbery line, and conceded 2 goals in the first half alone.
Then in the second half, Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos produced brilliant performances and crushed Barcelona without mercy.
With that, Bayern Munich completed the treble and clearly proved that they were the new kings of Europe.
A new era was opening.
And it was not only Munich.
With Real Madrid, who had firmly held the throne, beginning to falter, many big clubs were dreaming of a resurgence.
And now Manchester City would be joining them as well.
A massive shift was taking place in European football.
After the season fully ended, Ho-young took 3 days of precious rest.
It was not enough to melt away all the fatigue that had built up over the past year, but thanks to the people around him, he was able to calm both body and mind.
Lucci, who acted as Ho-young's hands and feet, went without saying, and his mother, Kim Hee-sun, who had moved to London, took care of him whenever she could despite being busy.
His father, Woo Hwang-sun, encouraged him over the phone.
-No matter where you go, I will support you to the end. It is fine even if you fail. If it gets too hard, you can retire anytime. Health comes first, no matter what.
Woo Hwang-sun always supported Ho-young completely, just like that.
And that was not the end of it.
The fan letters and gifts that arrived by the hundreds every day from all over the world also gave him great strength.
Just thinking that hundreds of millions of people around the world were cheering for him was moving beyond words.
It was truly an unbelievable feeling.
That was why he had been able to endure, no matter how hard each day was.
And above all.
"Hello?"
-Ho-young?
It was Monica, whose voice alone gave him strength.
Now that all the schedules were over and his body had relaxed a little, he missed her even more.
That was why he had called late at night.
They could not see each other often because of their busy lives, but perhaps because they had known each other since childhood, his feelings for her felt all the more tender.
-You've had a hard time.
"It is just what I always do."
Then, for a moment, a tearful voice came through the phone.
-I miss you.
Come to think of it, it really had been a long time since they had seen each other.
And Ho-young felt the same.
He had already been thinking of making time to see her during this holiday.
-I want to hold you.
"Monica."
For someone as bad at showing emotion as she was, that was an extremely direct expression of affection.
Sure enough, perhaps because she was embarrassed, she hurriedly changed the subject.
-Don't worry. Everything will be fine.
Monica knew Ho-young as well as Ho-young knew himself.
The season was over, but she also knew very well how difficult and important this period was.
Ho-young was grateful for that.
Yes, everything will be fine.
He stood at a major crossroads.
The various events surrounding Ho-young were drawing close.
The first of those events happened the very next day.
Thanks to winning the Europa League, Manchester City received financial benefits worth around €65 million, and each player was also given a bonus of about €450,000.
Ho-young was no exception.
Since he had been the biggest contributor during the season, he was classified in Tier 1 and received the highest reward in the club.
And that was not the end of it.
Chairman's office, Etihad Stadium.
It all began with a meeting with Mansour, who had come to Manchester for the first time in a while.
"Now that the season is over, what are your plans going forward?"
"For now, I plan to rest properly for a few days, then go to the training ground."
"Hmm?"
The season was over, so what kind of nonsense was this about going to the training ground?
And yet it was not lip service meant to impress the owner either.
Mansour knew that better than anyone.
"If someone heard that, they would think someone was chasing you from behind. You need to think about your body too."
"Thank you for your concern."
"Haha. I have hardly done anything."
As those formal words brightened the mood, Mansour went straight to the main point.
"Your current wages are too low for your ability."
It meant he wanted to raise his wages, and at the same time it meant he wanted a new contract.
"I am a businessman. But I do not want to do business over you. You have already given me more than enough."
Then Mansour leaned forward and asked directly.
"There is not much time left on your contract. So I would like to hear your thoughts now."
"Yes, I understand what you mean. As for me."
The time had come to settle it.
Just as Ho-young, having made up his mind, was about to speak.
Bzzzt.
"I am sorry."
"It's fine, go ahead and answer it."
The phone in his trouser pocket had started ringing.
But surprisingly, the call was not from England.
It was from Spain.
A direct call from Real Madrid president Calderón.
(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.)