After receiving a call-up request from the Korea Football Association, Ho-young was set to leave for South Korea just a few days later.
[Ho-young called up for the June A-match friendlies... Is his goal to score for the national team? Or is it a surprise event for Korean football fans?]
[Ho-young, who even skipped the Asian Cup to focus on the league, is set to be called up for the friendlies. This runs contrary to Ho-young's recent press conference, where he said he intended to focus on off-season training and rest. Various opinions are being raised over this, and the most credible among them is that he is visiting Korea for a cosmetics modelling contract. There is also analysis in some quarters that Ho-young is trying to strengthen his standing in Korea.]
└Reporter, did you write this with your feet? Why would Ho-young need to strengthen his standing in Korea? Even if he retired right now, he could still secure a position at FIFA.
└Saying Ho-young has to watch his step around the KFA is the kind of nonsense that would make even a passing dog laugh.
└It would laugh, then get mad enough to bite.
└Exactly. Why is Ho-young really showing up for every friendly like this? Third place at the World Cup is already more than enough, haha. I mean, we're grateful, though.
└Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange.
└He said just a few days ago that he would rest and focus on training, but now he's taking part in all the A-match fixtures?
└We'll have to hear Ho-young's side first. Remember what happened with Park Ji-sung at the Asian Cup? He got forcibly called up, and for what? It's not even like they won. The team went out in the semi-finals, and Park Ji-sung got injured.
Korean netizens held considerable distrust toward the Korea Football Association.
And with good reason, because suspicions had recently been raised that the KFA was trying to use Ho-young.
Of course, they were only suspicions.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The side holding the initiative was still the KFA.
Now that Mansour had aligned himself with Bin Hammam, and Ho-young had aligned himself with Mansour, there was no way the Korea Football Association would continue to accommodate Ho-young.
If Ho-young had not played in A-matches such as the World Cup, he might have been able to use "naturalisation" as a line of defence, but at this point, even that was impossible.
In other words, the side holding the initiative was the Korea Football Association.
There were limits to what could be done through media play alone.
Ho-young was still just a player who had no choice but to follow their orders.
There were things he could never resolve by himself.
This was literally the kind of problem that could only be solved by turning the world upside down.
That was why Ho-young had a lot on his mind.
He had an idea of his own as well, but to carry it out, he would need the help of many people.
And he could not even be sure it was possible.
But nothing in this world was truly impossible.
And there were people in this world who could make the impossible possible.
One of them was Mansour.
Strangely enough, after completing Ho-young's contract renewal, he had been meeting with Ho-young more often, and they usually talked about the next season.
But today's reason for meeting was quite different.
"I thought this might happen, and they really did call you up."
Mansour understood the current situation almost as well as Ho-young himself.
Birds of a feather flock together.
As a politician himself, Mansour had more or less predicted vice president Chung Mong-joon's actions.
"It was always more or less inevitable that if I sided with Bin Hammam, you would suffer for it."
That was also why he had called Ho-young out to meet privately today.
"I have a feeling there is something I need to help with."
And it was to respond to Chung Mong-joon's actions.
"You should stay out of this matter. I do not want you to suffer because of me."
"But I never got involved in the first place."
"I'm saying I do not want you getting dragged into an unnecessary mess."
"Then what should I do? Honestly, I want to support you and land a blow on Chung Mong-joon, but I'm holding myself back."
"You're doing the right thing. If you support me publicly, there is a high chance it will backfire instead. You are Korean, just like them."
If he stepped forward rashly without being prepared, he would only get hurt instead.
So for now, the best thing to do was simply remain still.
"As I see it, you absolutely cannot beat the Korea Football Association right now."
That was true a hundred times over.
"If you were to hold a press conference and expose the fact that vice president Chung Mong-joon and chairman Chung Hyun-kyu threatened you, the entire situation might turn around."
They would face tremendous criticism from an outraged public.
But.
"That would only last for a while. Your call-ups might become less frequent for some time, but once things quiet down, there is a high chance they would retaliate later."
No matter how much the public made an uproar, only the leadership of the Korea Football Association would be replaced. Its roots would never truly change.
There was no way the entrenched powers that had kept their grip on authority for so many years despite all kinds of scandals would suddenly disappear.
That much was obvious from how things had always been.
Moreover, vice president Chung Mong-joon was not someone they could realistically damage.
"If Chung Mong-joon remains at FIFA, he will pressure our club over your national team call-up issue. If we try to avoid the call-ups through various tricks, he will do everything he can to punish us."
Then again, with a position as enormous as FIFA president moving in and out of reach, it was only natural that he would stop at nothing.
There was no helping it.
'If FIFA gets reformed and naturalisation becomes possible, then I either go to Spain, or I announce my retirement right now and give up on the next World Cup.'
He could not keep being pushed around like this forever.
Of course, if he could be certain that naturalisation would become possible, then declaring retirement right away would be the simplest and least stressful option.
But that was not something he could take lightly either.
If he retired from the national team entirely, the next problem would come after that.
Leaving aside the disappointment of the fans, he would have to give up not only next year's Olympics, but the next World Cup as well.
If he could be certain that within a few years the naturalisation policy would loosen enough for him to switch to another country, then he would do it, but right now he could not be sure of anything.
If president Blatter won, then Ho-young would not be able to play in A-matches for the next four years.
But Ho-young still had the dream of the World Cup.
And if he suddenly declared a return at that point, they might accuse him at the Court of Arbitration for Sport of deliberately evading national team call-ups.
They were the sort of people who would absolutely do that.
Everything had to be carried out only after it had been prepared thoroughly.
"So it comes to this in the end."
"That's right. For now, the best option is to follow vice president Chung Mong-joon's wishes. As a fellow Korean, supporting vice president Chung Mong-joon also looks better on the surface."
It was frustrating, but no matter how he thought about it, that really was the best option for now.
Even if there was nothing to gain, at least he would lose less.
"Will you really be alright with that?"
"It makes no difference to me. Even if you support him, nothing will change."
It was tremendous confidence.
Mansour, who had sided with Bin Hammam, did not regard Chung Mong-joon as a true rival.
"The real opponent is president Blatter, not Chung Mong-joon. Once enough time passes, the Asian votes will come over to our side in the end. No matter how hard Ali bin Al Hussein struggles, he will not be able to escape our grasp. The Middle East will belong to us no matter what."
Meaning that if they secured the Middle East, Asia would come with it.
In other words, Mansour had nothing to worry about at all.
Of course, Ho-young could become a variable, but since he had virtually no status or power within FIFA, there were clear limits to how much influence he could have on the vote.
It was the same logic as Blatter winning even if Alex Ferguson, Maradona, and Pelé all supported someone else every single day.
In the end, money and power were everything.
"But that does not mean I am telling you to keep supporting vice president Chung Mong-joon from now on. You cannot keep being pushed around like this forever."
"Then is there a way?"
"This election will be vice president Chung Mong-joon's last. After that, all you will have to deal with is the Korea Football Association."
"I understand exactly what you mean. You're saying I just have to hold out until the election."
After that, it would become Ho-young's problem to solve.
And if, after that, he intended to stand against the tyranny of the Korea Football Association, he would need at least one strong safeguard in place.
No matter what Ho-young did, the side with the real advantage would still be the one that could legally push him around at any time.
The KFA was already swollen with pride after achieving the unprecedented results of an Olympic bronze medal and third place at the World Cup over the past few years.
That was why Ho-young had already been considering one way to respond.
But he needed help.
The help of Mansour, someone who could make the impossible possible.
"I intend to use naturalisation as my shield."
"Hm?"
It was not something that made sense at first glance.
Under the current rules, there was absolutely no situation in which he could actually naturalise, no matter how hard he tried. So how could he threaten the Korea Football Association with naturalisation?
When Mansour showed an expression that clearly said he did not understand, Ho-young added an explanation.
"I have one idea in mind. But I do not know whether it will be possible."
"I think I roughly understand what you're getting at. It sounds like you're saying this because of the reform plan on naturalisation policy that we put forward as an election pledge."
Having more or less grasped Ho-young's intention, Mansour looked uneasy.
"But that is only one part of the plan. In truth, we are not aiming for this year at all. We are merely laying the groundwork for four years from now, or eight years, and if not, then twelve years from now."
"You're saying the chances of beating Blatter in this election are slim."
"That's right. Even if we sweep up the votes from Asia and Africa, the existing powers will still vote for Blatter no matter what. In the end, even the forces that joined our side will read the room and all move over to Blatter's side. Just as always, it will be nearly unanimous."
As expected of a thorough politician, Mansour had a precise grasp of the problems within FIFA and the surrounding circumstances.
He also knew very well that winning this election was as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.
What he did not know at all was that the person who could pluck that star was sitting right across from him.
Right then, Ho-young spoke meaningfully.
"What if they were put in a situation where they absolutely could not vote for president Blatter?"
"Then our victory would be guaranteed. The problem is that it is a meaningless assumption."
That was true.
It was such an absurd idea that even a passing dog would laugh.
But.
"I can help."
Ho-young had one absolute weapon that no one else could possess.
Regression.
Ho-young knew things that had not yet been revealed to the world.
If someone kept blocking his path like this.
'And if I cannot overturn the board.'
Then he would simply smash the board to pieces.
June.
As the heat slowly began to roll in, Ho-young arrived in Jeonju, South Korea.
The reason was that the A-match friendly between Korea and China was scheduled to be held at Jeonju World Cup Stadium.
The stadium was already full and wrapped in a heated atmosphere before kick-off.
A sell-out.
The tickets had sold out long ago as soon as the news broke that Ho-young had been called up, and ticket scalping was active around the stadium.
There were even quite a lot of foreign tourists who had come as Ho-young's personal fans.
[Yes, you've waited a long time. The match is finally about to begin. Korea, our proud national team, will kick off first. One notable point in today's match is that, aside from Ho-young, most of the players are second-string players promoted from the reserve pool.]
[That's right. While the other overseas-based players are resting, Ho-young has come all the way to Jeonju. Maybe that's why he stands out even more than usual today.]
A crane among chickens.
That was already plain to see before the match had even started.
The Chinese players were openly showing their admiration for Ho-young.
They were gathered in one place like fans of an idol, looking at Ho-young with eyes full of longing.
But none of them could easily bring themselves to approach him.
Strangely enough, even a meaningless expression or small gesture from Ho-young felt immensely imposing to them.
Putting the hostility between their teams aside, they were tense simply because a player they had long admired was standing right in front of them.
There was, however, one exception.
There was one Chinese player among them who had at least some confidence.
With his hedgehog-like hairstyle making a strong impression, he walked up boldly and offered Ho-young a handshake.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dong Fangzhuo. You know who I am, right?"
China's best striker.
He was China's pride, Dong Fangzhuo, the first Chinese player to join Manchester United, only to be released later.
"Of course. I know you well."
There was no way Ho-young would not know the name of the man famous for the shot that disappointed 1.3 billion people.
But it did not end there.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Du Wei."
"I'm Yang Hao. Looking forward to a good match."
"My name is Gao Lin!"
"I'm Yu Hai. Nice to meet you."
Starting with Dong Fangzhuo, the other Chinese players began approaching first and asking for handshakes one after another.
It was an extremely unusual sight.
It was not exactly respectful to the travelling supporters who had come to the stadium, but for them, this was the kind of chance that might come only once in a lifetime, and they could not let the moment pass.
And it did not apply only to the Chinese players.
[You can see FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon seated in the supporters' section behind China's goal. He is waving to the camera. And beside him is Korea Football Association chairman Chung Hyun-kyu.]
There was a reason the two of them had come all the way down to Jeonju despite their busy schedules.
'That insolent brat. I'm settling this today no matter what.'
Vice president Chung Mong-joon had already decided that he would get Ho-young under his control and thoroughly bend him to his will.
He intended to call Ho-young aside for a private talk as soon as the match ended.
But even then, he still did not know.
That coming to the stadium had been the worst mistake he could have made.
He realised it only two minutes after the match had kicked off.
[Ho-young drives forward with the ball himself. Ho-young, he goes past Yang Hao just like that, Ho-young, and he beats Du Wei as well!!]
[He hits it, shoooooot!!]
A sudden long-range strike in the 2nd minute of the first half.
Ho-young's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and the shot was more accurate than ever.
And then.
"Ah, aaagh!"
"H-hyungnim!"
"Vice president!"
The ball flew just wide of the post and into the supporters' section.
Travelling at fierce speed, it brushed past vice president Chung Mong-joon's face by the finest of margins.
"Are you alright?!"
"Uh... uhhhhh..."
A warning delivered through action rather than words.
In that instant, vice president Chung Mong-joon felt a bad premonition.
A sense spread through his mind that he had done something he should never have done.
But there was still one thing he did not realise.
Ho-young had not even started yet.
And it was already too late to turn back.
(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.)