About five minutes into Manchester City's attack.
Ho-young's playmaking was gradually starting to take effect.
There had already been several attacks, but they had failed to produce a goal by the finest of margins.
'The pass was a little too long.'
Wolverhampton's defending was very solid.
Their problem was that they tended to waver as time passed, but they were famous for being extremely compact in the first half.
That was Wolverhampton's trademark.
'Then should I try a different approach?'
So Ho-young decided to change his style of play.
[Manchester City win the ball once again. Yaya Touré plays it forward. Ho-young receives.]
[And Karl Henry charges in at the same time!]
Thud!
It did not matter. Ho-young held off Henry's challenge with his back and protected the ball.
At the same time, he slipped the ball through his legs and escaped the pressure.
[Ho-young, and he drives forward!]
The chance opened up in an instant.
In no time, he had crossed midfield and arrived in the central area of the second line.
He could pass to Adebayor, or open up the angle himself and hit a long-range shot.
But there was one thing he had not expected.
Thud!
"Urgh."
A giant standing at 191 centimetres.
Defender Richard Stearman came in suddenly from the side and shoved Ho-young away.
It was not even shoulder-to-shoulder contact, it was practically just barging into him with his body and forcing him off.
Luckily, Ho-young reacted quickly and turned his body. Otherwise, he might have been injured.
Tweet!
[Richard Stearman is shown a yellow card. That was far too reckless.]
Adebayor, who had been nearby, hurried over and helped Ho-young back up.
"You okay?!"
"Yes."
"That's a relief. That bastard. I'll get revenge for you."
Adebayor glared at Stearman with a vicious expression, as if he wanted to kill him.
"It's fine. We just need to win the match."
After saying that, Ho-young set himself for the free kick and struck a powerful knuckleball.
But unfortunately, it clipped the wall slightly, so it did not result in a goal.
Again, it was Stearman.
[Ah, the momentum they had built settles down again like this. That's unfortunate.]
The atmosphere turned strange in an instant.
It reached its peak about five minutes later, when Wolverhampton had a corner.
Tweet!
[Ah… Adebayor has finally caused an incident.]
While jostling for the ball and marking Stearman, Adebayor threw a knee and struck Stearman in the backside.
And of all things, the referee caught it.
In his own way, he had been taking revenge for Ho-young, but the problem was that his method had been completely wrong.
Tweeeeeet.
The decision was naturally a red card and a penalty.
But what was even more unbelievable was his reaction.
"Young. I dealt with it."
"..."
He bared his white teeth with a grin, and even as a teammate, it was unsettling to look at.
One of his nicknames.
Death Lion.
A mix of A-debayor and grim reaper, a nickname given to him because when he occasionally lost his head, he became a merciless man.
Even he seemed to realize he had gone too far, but he had no regrets.
"Young, no one's going to come at you now. I'll leave the rest to you."
Ho-young was speechless.
He could only stare blankly at Adebayor's back as he walked off proudly.
[Emmanuel Adebayor]
[Possessed Talents: Springy Muscles of Goddebayor (U), Fantastic Individual Skills (S-), Balanced Body Control (A+3), Deceptive Space Penetration (A+2), (More...)]
(You may covet one talent if the conditions are met.)
(For talents S grade or higher, hidden conditions must be achieved before they can be coveted.)
(Condition 1: Start the match together)
(Condition 2: Record 3 attacking points)
(Condition 3: Win the match)
(Hidden Condition: Unlocked when coveting 1 or more talents)
'He really was insane.'
He appreciated the intention, but there was no way he could unconditionally defend Adebayor's actions.
On top of that, Wolverhampton converted the penalty and took the lead.
[What an upset. Wolverhampton are ahead 1-0.]
[Adebayor was far too emotional today. No matter how much of a fan he is of Ho-young, on the pitch he still has to separate private feelings from professional duty.]
[At this point, it's impossible to predict how the match will unfold.]
"Hoo."
It was a situation that showed just how unstable Manchester City could be as a team.
Ten against eleven.
It was a very difficult fight.
On top of that, the lack of a striker to finish the attacks was also a problem.
'It can't be helped.'
Ho-young walked over to Robinho and said,
"Robinho, take charge of the playmaking."
"Me?"
Robinho's eyes widened.
It was a strange feeling.
The greatest playmaker in history was asking him to handle the playmaking?
A smile almost rose to his lips on its own.
But Robinho forced himself to hide it as he answered.
"Ahem. Sure, why not. I'll do it."
And so, the two of them began to link up in a way neither had expected.
"Good. Then let's sort out the situation first before we push up."
"The situation?"
"From now on, move as much as possible according to my signals."
It was the moment Ho-young's command began.
After Adebayor was sent off, the atmosphere in the stadium turned unsettled.
"That lunatic… He causes trouble every time you start to forget about it."
What Adebayor had done to Stearman had certainly felt satisfying, but that did not mean anyone could accept the fact that he had ruined the match.
It was the worst.
"We're not actually going to lose like this, are we?"
"Don't be ridiculous. It's Wolverhampton."
"Yeah, no way. That can't happen…"
The fans believed in the team.
Losing a man early in the first half was a huge disadvantage, but the opponent was Wolverhampton, the weakest side in the league.
There was no way Ho-young's Manchester City would lose to a team like that at home.
[Even if Manchester City are down to ten men, Wolverhampton cannot relax. Manchester City still have strong players all over the pitch.]
[That's right. On the flanks they still have Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips, in midfield there's Gareth Barry and Yaya Touré. And at the center of it all, Ho-young is still there. Wolverhampton absolutely cannot afford to switch off.]
'We're still at a disadvantage.'
Wolverhampton manager Mick McCarthy was thinking the exact same thing.
No, even if he wanted to relax, he simply could not.
They were leading 1-0, but this was precisely the moment when they needed to focus even more.
'Now is the time to be defensive.'
Mick McCarthy.
He was a self-proclaimed manager who 'knew Ho-young well.'
He had become interested two or three years earlier, when Ho-young broke down Guardiola's tiki-taka, and had been observing his play ever since.
The way Ho-young orchestrated playmaking had been very helpful in studying tactics.
'Usually, in a situation like this, he massively increases the work rate to overcome the numerical disadvantage. Then he grabs a goal, and from there he drags the opponent down with him. Once their mentality breaks, they collapse completely.'
A thorough analysis.
'As long as Ho-young is on the other team, a hasty tactical change will only backfire. First, we need to build a defensive base, then adjust later.'
There could be no rash decisions.
It was the only path to securing at least one point.
Mick McCarthy first instructed his side to change shape.
Then he intended to watch and analyze Ho-young's play closely before responding with the best possible tactic.
[Wolverhampton are changing shape. Karl Henry is dropping from midfield into the defensive line. He's joining David Edwards in front of the back line. That means Wolverhampton now have two defensive midfielders positioned in front of the defense. It's a 5-4-1.]
[They're looking to protect the back five completely.]
The commentator was right.
Wolverhampton dropped their line as a whole and chose extremely defensive football.
Even Kevin Doyle, who had been deployed as the lone striker, dropped into midfield and actively joined the battle there.
In the end, Wolverhampton held the edge physically, so the intention was to stick to City like leeches in midfield and buy as much time as possible.
"They're rattled right now. We need to play a little dirtier than this."
"Kevin, press hard from the front!"
"Henry and Edwards, you handle the back!"
"No mercy!"
"Disrupt Ho-young's playmaking as much as possible!"
The players burned with determination and raised their intensity.
The rebellion of a weak side.
What a beautiful sight it was.
It was not as if they could not do it.
But apparently, today was not going to be that day.
[…Ah!]
[Manchester City are changing formation. Ho-young goes up front, and Yaya Touré fills in behind him.]
The 4-2-3-1 shifted into a 4-1-3-1.
It was a tactic that sacrificed defensive stability in exchange for a massive increase in attacking power.
Looking at that alone, it seemed as though Mick McCarthy's prediction had come true.
But almost as if mocking Mick's tactics, Ho-young introduced a new variable by moving up to the front line.
[This is extreme attacking intent. They clearly want to score as many as possible before the first half ends.]
[But Wolverhampton are strengthening the midfield. On top of that, Manchester City are a man down, so how can they survive the midfield battle? Right now, Gareth Barry is the only man in City's central midfield.]
Gareth Barry was an excellent worker who took care of the dirty work for the team.
But he was not the type who could cover the midfield all by himself.
However.
[Ho-young drops from the front line into the second line! At the same time, Touré and Shaun Wright-Phillips drop into midfield as well!]
[This is remarkable. It's like watching a transforming robot.]
The conductor of the battlefield.
At Ho-young's gestures, the players moved in unconventional ways and formed a bewildering shape.
First, Ho-young controlled the second line on his own.
In the meantime, Touré and Shaun Wright-Phillips dropped into midfield, joined the battle there, and brought the ball out directly.
That ball was then delivered to Robinho.
To make that process run smoothly, Ho-young and Gareth Barry supported from the front and back.
[This is incredibly flexible and creative thinking. It almost feels as if Manchester City are looking down at the pitch from above. Is this Mancini's work?]
[Well, at least in my opinion, this is not Mancini's style.]
[Then surely…]
[It's him again.]
Even if it was not exactly the picture Ho-young had in mind, the players moved according to their abilities and shook apart the shape Wolverhampton had built.
It looked as if a tightly woven spider's web was being torn to shreds.
'This is absurd.'
Mick denied what he was seeing.
He could not believe it even while watching it unfold.
The opposition definitely had ten men.
Then how were they controlling both the midfield and the second line at the same time?
With their unconventional and creative movement, they were creating numerical superiority from moment to moment.
They were like waves that could not be grasped by hand.
'How?'
Ho-young.
Again, it was him.
Moving between the front line and the second line, he controlled the rhythm and guided the match at a calm, measured pace.
Work rate, passing, press resistance, positioning, speed.
Using all of it, he erased the presence of Henry and Edwards.
'How on earth can he do that? Every decision he makes flows seamlessly into the next.'
Only then did Mick realize it.
Far from knowing Ho-young well, he had actually understood nothing important about him at all.
And that had been arrogance and complacency.
But it was already too late to turn things around.
The force of the waves kept growing, until they finally became a storm.
"Young! Make the run!"
It was the moment Robinho's playmaking began.
Tap, tap!
A few passes clicked into place like interlocking gears, and in the blink of an eye, a decisive chance was created.
Robinho continued his dribble.
[Robinho beats Kevin Foley on the left flank.]
[And he cuts inside!]
His playmaking was more than enough to shake Wolverhampton's defense.
And at the same time, Ho-young changed his route and began making a run into the empty space.
It was the perfect position, the kind of run you simply had to pass to.
But.
'No.'
Robinho did not release it right away.
[Robinho! Robinho keeps carrying it forward!]
[Stearman comes across to cover! He has to decide quickly!]
He kept drawing attention and dragging defenders toward him, and only then did he finally release the ball from his feet.
It was not a shot, but a pass.
Tap!
Right in front of goal.
While everyone had been preoccupied with Robinho's dribble, Ho-young was standing in front of goal in a completely unmarked position and collected the ball.
A perfect scoring chance, one he could have finished with his eyes closed.
Even so, Ho-young narrowed his eyes sharply and struck a precise shot.
Thud!
It was the equalizer, coming after thirty minutes of the first half.
[Goooooal!]
[Ho-young's third league goal! You've waited a long time for it! Manchester City finally have their goal!]
They really had waited a long time.
But now there was no need to wait any longer.
Ho-young and Robinho's understanding gradually improved, and the time it took to create chances grew shorter and shorter.
And in the second half, their chemistry exploded.
No, rather than chemistry, it was more like one side was doing everything possible to adjust to the other.
No matter how Robinho handled the playmaking, Ho-young kept receiving the chances and turning them into goals one after another.
By the time the second half was nearing its end, the scoreboard looked like a baseball score.
And then.
Tweet!
Despite all their efforts, Wolverhampton suffered a humiliating thrashing.
The result was 6-3.
It was exactly the kind of explosive match the fans had been longing for.
[With Ho-young scoring four goals, Manchester City secure all three points.]
[Remarkable. Six league goals in just two matches. This match proves that the talk of Ho-young becoming the Premier League top scorer is not just empty nonsense.]
[That's right. On top of that, we were also able to see that the understanding between Ho-young and Robinho is steadily improving.]
That was right.
Through this match, Ho-young was able to repair his relationship with Robinho, at least a little.
And he gained something else as well.
[You covet Springy Muscles of Goddebayor (U).]
[Springy Muscles of Goddebayor (U) and Elastic Muscles of the Black Panther (U) have successfully fused.]
[You covet Vibrant Muscles (W).]
'That's it.'
The fusion time into W rank was only one week.
It was a very meaningful talent.
Hadn't Mammon said so?
If one wanted to safely go beyond the limits of a human being, the body had to serve as the foundation as well.
'It's a good start.'
What was more, before the match had begun, he had heard that the signing of David Silva had been settled successfully as well.
That meant they had found the winger to replace Shaun Wright-Phillips.
If they placed David Silva out wide and let him drift inward, it seemed they would get the shape they wanted.
And next…
'We need a substitute who can cover winger, attacking midfielder, and striker.'
He had already heard that work was underway on other players as well.
But there was no guarantee that player would come to Manchester City.
After all, he was already a player who had once reached the very top.
That afternoon in Milan, Italy.
A guest arrived at the vice president's office at AC Milan headquarters.
"Galliani, I'm here."
"Ah, come in and have a seat."
Vice President Galliani greeted him with a dark expression.
Unlike his usual self, he looked very serious.
"Sorry for calling you in so suddenly. I thought I needed to tell you right away."
"Then is this about the wages?"
"If that were the case, I would have called your agent."
In other words, it was something more serious than that.
Galliani did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"Manchester City have made an offer for you."
"!"
Even for him, a player whose recent form had dropped and who had been stuck warming the bench, it was a tempting proposal.
"Hmm…"
He thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.
"Let's hear what City have to offer first."
Then he grinned, showing all his gums.
'City… this could make the end of my career quite interesting.'
(To be continued.)