Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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"Lance, what's wrong with you?"
"You alright, Lance?"
"What? I'm fine, it's nothing."
At Westfalen Stadium.
The German Cup semi-final showdown was underway.
After 45 minutes of the first half, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen were tied 1-1, shaking hands for now.
Just 6 minutes into the game, both sides had scored a goal.
This was unexpected for both coaching staffs, an unplanned thrill.
Therefore, both coaching staffs quickly ran to the sidelines, gesturing with their hands for the players to calm down.
A knockout match for a final ticket couldn't be too reckless.
Otherwise, if the situation became chaotic, no one would be able to control it.
Both teams then slowed down their tempo and cautiously played through the remaining 40 minutes of the first half.
During this time, both sides were peaceful, which was also related to Lance's state.
It seemed that after scoring that goal, Lance's expression was a bit dazed, as if he was thinking about something.
"You sure you're alright?"
His good friend Son Heung-min was worried and came over, putting his arm around Lance's shoulder and asking in a low voice.
If we talk about the beginning of last season, Son Heung-min, due to the stereotype of Chinese football, had doubts about Lance's football skills.
After two years of proof, Son Heung-min had long lost his former arrogance and was completely subdued by Lance.
Even in an interview with Seoul TV, Son Heung-min openly admitted in front of the camera:
"Lance is the true number one in Asia; I'm far behind him."
Because of this, Son Heung-min faced a lot of abuse from Korean netizens on Korean websites, and his Twitter DMs had many extreme fans calling him "Shame of Korea" and "Korean traitor."
A group that is extremely insecure and repressed, yet arrogant and self-important, in terms of comprehensive national strength, economy, technology, culture, and sports, they were surpassed in many aspects by the neighbouring China.
The only thing these Koreans could boast about was Faker in the e-sports field, and football.
Football was one of the few areas where they could look down on China.
Even their last stronghold was encroached upon by a young man of Chinese descent, and their pride, Son Heung-min, bowed to the enemy.
No wonder Korean netizens were triggered.
Back on the pitch, looking at Son Heung-min's curious gaze, Lance just shook his head dismissively.
"I'm really fine, hurry back and rest."
Lance habitually kicked him.
It wasn't until Son Heung-min and his teammates entered the changing room that Lance, trailing behind the team, continued to ponder.
"What... what exactly happened just now?"
An inconspicuous information prompt in the system panel showed unexpected news.
"You comprehended the Tiger's Soul! Fusion value critical hit!"
"Fusion value +20%!"
What the hell?
Previously, it was only 25% Fusion Value, which had just unlocked the 1st skill of Hyuga Kojiro.
In the blink of an eye, the Fusion Value surged to 45%!
Wouldn't that mean with just another 5%, he could unlock the 2nd skill?
The Fusion Value surged by 20% directly before a match was even finished.
This was the first time Lance had seen such an anomaly.
If it wasn't a system bug, then it was a mechanism!
So in the first half, Lance was a bit distracted, constantly trying to replicate this "epiphany."
Unfortunately, several shots failed to be replicated successfully, which led to the 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund.
"It's probably that kick earlier, at some moment during the 2.5-second wind-up, it suddenly became quite compatible with the character."
Wait!
Could it be...
Lance had just walked into the changing room when an idea finally struck him.
Could it be that the closer one is to the character's soul, the easier it is to increase the Fusion Value?
At the moment of shooting, Lance was indeed single-minded, his attention was focused on the goal, the shooting motion, the exertion of muscles, and other details were almost perfect, and the whole person seemed to truly become the Kojiro Hyuga character from the anime.
Kicking out with the character's unstoppable momentum.
"Is the key really in acting?"
The better one plays the role, the easier it is to achieve an epiphany?
At this time, no web novel had appeared yet, there were no 22 sequence pathways, no steampunk + Cthulhu worldview, and no "acting method."
But Lance, like the protagonist of this novel, quickly discovered the key factor.
"Let's try again in the second half."
"Lance? What's wrong?"
De Bruyne, who was a substitute and hadn't played, also noticed that Lance wasn't quite himself today.
"Nothing, I'm getting ready to go on."
"This..."
De Bruyne wanted to talk to Lance, but swallowed his words.
Kevin De Bruyne was an introverted person who wasn't good with words.
He always felt that his former little brother now had a secret that no one knew.
Unfortunately, Lance always kept this secret to himself, always deflecting when asked.
Watching Lance and his teammates walk towards the pitch, De Bruyne could only give up.
Unless Lance brought it up himself, De Bruyne wouldn't ask further.
"As long as we can win together, nothing else matters. Come on, mate."
"I thought the first half would be a goal fest, but unfortunately, the goal fest only lasted 6 minutes."
"If you were late to watch the game today, you might have missed the most exciting moments of the match."
"But it doesn't matter, I believe the second half will be just as exciting."
"Both sides have reasons they must win, both are top teams in the Bundesliga!"
As commentator Scholl said, Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen—both teams played a high-level contest today.
"Borussia Dortmund, continuous passing combinations in the front! Very fluid!!"
"Mkhitaryan, a long-range pass to the left wing!!"
"Reus!! Will he shoot himself? No!! A sudden cross to the top of the arc!"
"Aubameyang!!"
"Unfortunately, his turn and shot after dropping back wasn't kept down, and it flew over."
"Bayer Leverkusen's counter-attack, very fast!! Son Heung-min, beating Piszczek on the left wing!"
"Left-footed cross!!"
"Kießling!!! Header flicked to the far post! Julian Brandt—"
"No shot, chose to pass back with a reverse triangle!"
"Lance—"
"Woooow!!! Weidenfeller!!"
"The shot quality was very high, but Weidenfeller's form today is also excellent!"
Goalkeeper Weidenfeller saved Lance's crucial shot for the third time.
He was Neuer's substitute, Germany's second-choice national goalkeeper, and Borussia Dortmund's most trusted guardian.
Once again, he denied Lance's attempt.
After the first goal, Borussia Dortmund also strengthened their marking on Lance, not allowing him to easily get the ball near the penalty area.
Something like a 2.5-second wind-up would probably be very difficult to achieve now.
"Lance—another shot!"
"Bayer Leverkusen teammates trust him a lot, constantly creating opportunities for Lance."
"This turn and volley inside the box was very difficult, and Lance's shot almost hit the top corner!"
"However, Weidenfeller's concentration was too high! He managed to save that too!"
Four consecutive times, Lance almost made Weidenfeller collapse.
To deal with this threat, Borussia Dortmund even neglected their offence, and the score remained deadlocked until the end of the match.
"If there are no goals from either side in the last 5 minutes, the game will go into extra time."
"This would be more favourable for Borussia Dortmund, because they have already been eliminated from European competitions and don't need to prepare for the next match."
"Bayer Leverkusen is different; they still have a tough battle ahead of them."
"Extra time is clearly not what Bayer Leverkusen wants to see."
Playing Barcelona in 4 days—how could they play 120 minutes here, or even a penalty shootout?
So Borussia Dortmund had only one word: stall!
"Bayer Leverkusen, playing as the away team, launched a furious siege in the final minutes."
"Son Heung-min's shot... didn't hit the target."
"Kießling!!! Header saved for a corner kick."
"Julian Brandt... his shot was also blocked by a defender."
"It's already the 3rd minute of injury time, it looks like extra time is a certainty."
Even the coaches on the sidelines were urgently discussing tactics for extra time, and the coach was even preparing a list for a penalty shootout.
Facing a critical moment, Bayer Leverkusen controlled the ball in the attacking third.
Son Heung-min found it difficult to break through on the left and saw Lance making a run in the middle.
He decisively chose to trust him.
"It's all up to you, Lance!"
At least 25 metres from the goal, with two defenders behind Lance, it seemed impossible for him to turn, let alone dribble and shoot to break through.
But Lance was madder than anyone imagined!
"My God!!! Lance!!!"
In the nick of time, Lance remained calm.
Activating Nagi Seishiro's assistance, he flicked the ball up with his toe, perfectly creating a shooting angle to the right!
With Hummels and Gündoğan challenging him from behind, Lance suddenly half-turned, and without looking, directly volleyed the ball—
4/4!
Tiger Shot!
Amidst the gasps of nearly 90,000 people at Westfalen!
The football flew like sand and stones!
With immense power!
Piercing through the net with an unstoppable force!