"Woo woo!"
"Blue moon~!"
With the Citizens' voices heating the atmosphere, the first half was racing toward its end.
The match itself had also become extremely heated and very physical.
"You crazy bastards! Get your heads straight!"
Captain John Terry raised his voice.
It was because the team atmosphere had fallen into complete chaos after conceding the equalizer.
They had not even been turned around yet, they had only just conceded the equalizer, and already a few players were showing signs of despair.
That was understandable, since they had been helplessly beaten without being able to do anything.
It was the perfect situation for the phrase, robbed blind before you knew it.
Michael Essien in particular, who had made the decisive mistake, was on the verge of completely losing his mentality.
He was one of the strongest in the team when it came to mental strength, but he simply could not endure this moment.
The nightmare of the past was creeping back into his mind.
The 2010 South Africa World Cup.
The match against South Korea that day came back to torment him.
It had definitely been a frustrating defeat, but he had also been genuinely satisfied because he had been able to play one of the best matches of his life against Ho-young.
In fact, that experience had helped him a great deal.
His passion for football had risen again, and by training hard, he had been able to recover the ability that had been gradually fading with age.
That had also played a major part in lifting Chelsea to second place this season.
That was how clearly he had felt his own improvement.
But just now, he had realized one more thing.
Ho-young.
He had changed as well.
And by a huge amount.
'Damn it...'
A sense of self-loathing rose in him.
Until last year, it had felt as though if he stretched out as far as he could, he might at least brush the tip of Ho-young's foot. But now, even if he opened his eyes as wide as possible, he could not even see Ho-young's back.
The gap between them had widened far more than before.
'It has only been 1 year.'
It felt unfair and miserable.
They had definitely both worked hard and played the same football.
Of course, he had not lived on bland spaghetti like Ho-young, but he still believed he had worked hard in many different ways.
Yet the gap only kept growing.
"Haah."
Inferiority spilled out instinctively.
Half out of his mind, Essien found himself following Ho-young's trail.
"Essien! What are you doing!"
Lampard, who was directing both attack and defense in midfield, shouted at him.
But Essien kept chasing Ho-young.
And when he tried to force an aggressive physical battle, Ho-young bent his body like soft taffy the moment he received the ball and slipped away from the contact.
"You crazy bastard!"
In frustration, Essien at least reached out an arm, but Ho-young spun the other way and escaped once again.
"Y-you...!"
Next he even stuck out a leg, but Ho-young was no longer there.
A 90-degree right-angle change of direction.
Tak, tak!
Ho-young's back only grew farther away.
"Uooh!"
He shouted wildly, but it was already too late.
Without a shred of mercy, Ho-young slipped away from that spot like an eel and seized the chance.
It was a powerful strike with the instep of his right foot.
Thud!
[Goooooooooal!]
[The net shakes as if it is about to tear apart! Ho-young scores the go-ahead goal! That is his 22nd goal of the season!]
"What was that..."
Čech froze on the spot like a statue.
Valdés, Casillas, Reina, Van der Sar, and others.
The faces of countless world-class goalkeepers flashed through his mind.
He felt like he finally understood why they had all worn those expressions after conceding to Ho-young.
A goal fired like a laser.
It was not just the speed of the ball that was fast.
His shot was like a work of art.
It was a shot containing countless calculations and the right judgment about how to score.
The difference in level was simply too great.
And even the celebration.
"Hooo!"
Ho-young leapt high, then slammed back down onto the ground.
And in front of him appeared a welcome message.
[You have coveted Innately Gifted African Musculature (S-).]
[The synthesis of 'Innately Gifted African Musculature (S-)' and 'Lively Muscles (W+2)' has succeeded.]
[Lively Muscles (W+2)]
It was the talent he had coveted after successfully completing the hidden condition, "Beat Essien 5 times."
Even though it had not grown into W+3, the effect would surely still be significant.
'My physical abilities will reach their limit soon as well.'
Not much longer now.
And there were still talents left to take from today's match.
Half-time.
Chelsea's dressing room, after finally giving up the lead, was filled with sighs.
At least John Terry and Lampard, who had experience and strong mentalities, were trying to lift the players.
"I know all of you are struggling. But we have to endure this. The title is right in front of us."
That was right, no one knew yet.
There were still 45 minutes left, and the match could still be turned around.
And then.
"Get it together, you idiots!"
As Lampard's voice rang through the room like a rebuke, the players slowly began lifting their heads one by one.
"The opponent is just a little brat who still smells of milk. Have some shame."
That was certainly the kind of thing that could motivate the players.
But one man alone.
Manager Ancelotti's face remained dark.
'No.'
He realized that his thinking had been wrong.
'Manchester City are not just a team with a strong attack.'
They were simply strong.
And they were becoming even stronger with every match.
Hope was gradually fading.
At this point, even a draw might be the best they could hope for.
Peeeeep.
As the second half began, several changes appeared in Chelsea.
Fernando Torres came on for Anelka and formed a front two with Drogba.
Ramires, who had been supporting Drogba as a wing forward, dropped into central midfield, and Lampard moved up to attacking midfielder.
It was an even more attack-minded setup.
The pitch truly became a battlefield.
A fierce contest unfolded, and time passed quickly.
[55th minute of the second half, Lampard drives deep into attack.]
[Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba form a triangle with him and create link-up play.]
[Vincent Kompany charges in!]
Bang!
Near the penalty area, a collision occurred between Kompany and Drogba.
A physical battle broke out, with neither man willing to give an inch over a single ball.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Get lost!"
In the end, Kompany went down, and the whistle blew at the same time.
[The referee gives the foul. Drogba was too rough in the challenge.]
[The players look highly emotional. This is exactly when they need to stay calm.]
Chelsea had no time to stay calm.
They were not asking for much anymore.
Now they would have been satisfied with just a draw.
Just 1 goal.
They pushed their overall line higher and launched wave after wave of attack for an equalizer.
Build-up, passing, playmaking, crossing.
They attacked from every angle to make the most of Torres's movement in behind and Drogba's aerial strength.
The chance came in an instant.
[Lampard slides a low pass straight into the front line!]
[Torres is onto it!]
As expected of a master of line-breaking, Torres shattered the offside trap and instantly created a one-on-one chance.
"Damn it!"
"Richards! Cover!"
Richards, the quickest defender, desperately rushed over and stretched out a leg.
But it was not necessary.
Bang!
[Joe Hart with the save!!]
[He stops Torres's shot!]
As expected of the version of him now mockingly called "Torresh," he wasted another chance today as well.
Before coming to Chelsea, he had been a world-class striker, but the moment he put on a blue shirt, his form had mysteriously collapsed.
There was a reason people called him 90 billion won of garbage.
But Chelsea's attack did not end there.
Of all things, the ball Joe Hart punched away fell right to Lampard's feet, and moments later a crushing long-range shot ripped into the net.
Thud!
[Goooooooooal! Lampard gets the equalizer! That was a brilliant long-range strike!]
[2-2! The match is level once again!]
Then he roared as he passed in front of Ho-young.
"Uoooooh!"
It was both a provocation and a celebration meant to lift the team's spirit.
But Ho-young showed no reaction at all.
He only looked at Lampard with an expressionless face, like a machine.
[Frank Lampard]
[Possessed Talents: Midfielder-Striker (T), Long-Range Shooting of the Midfielder-Striker (SU), Wondrous Football Intelligence (S+3), Perfect Space Penetration (S), Wondrous Stamina (S-), (More...)]
(You may covet one talent if the conditions are met.)
(If you covet a T-grade Title, you may acquire part of its sense. However, you may only covet it after turning 18.)
(For S-grade or higher, you must fulfill the hidden conditions before coveting it.)
(Condition 1: Play football together for 60 minutes)
(Condition 2: Score with a long-range shot from 30 meters or more)
(Condition 3: Record at least 2 attacking points)
(Hidden Condition: Opens when you covet at least one talent)
Frank Lampard, the highest-scoring midfielder in EPL history.
After moving into the attacking midfield role at the start of the second half, he seemed to be guiding the match back in Chelsea's favor with creative and adventurous play.
But after some time passed, just like in the first half, the match once again began drifting in a strange direction.
Penetration.
Ho-young focused on distinguishing what he had to do from what he should not do.
And by the time that took shape, the ball was once again rolling in the palm of his hand.
Control of the match.
It was the moment Manchester City took back control of the attack.
"Young!"
David Silva's shout rang out.
A low pass was slipped into the right half-space.
"Nice pass!"
It was Ho-young.
In that instant, his eyes narrowed slightly.
'It's open.'
Because the defenders were preparing for a dribble, the shooting angle had opened just a little.
Naturally.
36 meters.
This was not a good position for a long-range shot, not in terms of distance, and not in terms of angle either.
But for Ho-young, this kind of situation was good enough.
It was at that very moment that Ho-young's left foot moved.
[A pass forward... w-wait, whaaat?!]
[He hits it!! A shooooooot right away!]
It was not a pass, but a shot no one had expected.
Boom!
Because he struck it without even properly planting his standing foot, the shot was not incredibly fast.
But he drove all of his body rotation into it and whipped it with force, so Čech had no choice but to struggle with it.
"Ghk."
He barely got a palm to it, but the spin on the ball was beyond imagination.
The rebound on the ball, something he had never experienced before, bit into his goalkeeper glove as if it would burn through it.
And then.
Swoosh!
In the end, the ball slipped out of his grasp and into the goal.
68th minute of the second half, Manchester City had taken the lead again.
[Goal! An incredible long-range strike! Once again, it is Ho-young! He completes the hat-trick!]
"Hooo!!"
There was no way he could avoid celebrating.
Because welcome news had appeared right before his eyes.
[You have coveted Long-Range Shooting of the Midfielder-Striker (SU).]
[The synthesis of 'Long-Range Shooting of the Midfielder-Striker (SU)' and 'Crushing Long-Range Shot (SU)' has succeeded.]
[Ultimate Long-Range Shot (W+2)]
'Good.'
As expected of a team he had never faced before, Chelsea really were a treasure trove.
There were still things left to covet.
However, the physical talent he most wanted from Drogba could not be taken right away because of the condition, "Win the EPL Golden Boot."
Of course, even this much was more than enough to satisfy him.
Now all that remained was victory.
Ho-young focused on the match again.
Chelsea began to pour forward in attack one more time.
But Manchester City disrupted their flow with substitutions, then calmly controlled the game for the next 20 minutes by moving the ball around.
In fact, by the 90th minute, Manchester City had won a corner and created another chance.
The taker was Kolarov, and the targets were the heads of Ho-young and Kompany.
John Terry, who was marking Ho-young, had already begun a rough physical battle even before the cross came in, trying to unsettle him.
"You little brat who still smells of milk."
"I wondered where that filthy smell was coming from."
More than anyone, Ho-young wanted to stamp on John Terry.
He was the player who had had an affair with the long-time partner of his teammate Wayne Bridge.
He wanted to take revenge on behalf of his teammate.
Then he focused all his concentration on the ball.
That was when Kolarov's left-footed corner came in.
And it was that same moment John Terry forcefully shoved Ho-young in the neck with his elbow.
But.
"Ghk!"
The aerial duel ended almost too easily.
Ho-young's neck, far sturdier than anyone could have imagined, did not give an inch, and the one who was pushed away was John Terry instead.
And in the end.
Thud!
Ho-young's header, powered by the rotation of his neck, generated incredible speed and shook the net.
4-2.
It was the killer goal.
[Gooooooooooooal!! This is unbelievable! Ho-young scores his fourth goal!]
[His 24th goal of the season! A super hat-trick!]
There was nothing left to watch in the match after that.
Chelsea, who had tried not to lose their fighting spirit to the end, were on the verge of giving up, and the match ultimately ended in a Manchester City victory.
Peeeeep!
It was the moment the final whistle rang out.
[You have coveted Peerless Dynamic Visual Acuity (W+3).]
[Time required to fully obtain the talent has decreased from 400 days to 15 days. You cannot covet other talents for 15 days.]
Schumacher's talent.
Just then, Schumacher's face, as he watched from the stadium, appeared on the giant screen.
It felt like the greatest talent he had obtained from today's match.
And that was not all, he had achieved many things.
[Manchester City have recorded 13 straight league wins and climbed into second place.]
[Truly incredible. On top of that, Ho-young has also risen to first place in the scoring charts.]
Now only one thing remained.
Manchester United FC.
If they could beat them, they could take the throne.
(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.)