The One Who Sees Through
The U-20 World Cup is a stage where the most promising young talents from every corner of the globe clash, and the competition is mercilessly fierce.
Naturally, simply reaching the finals is no easy feat. Even nations long regarded as powerhouses frequently fail to qualify. Proof of that came this year: traditional football giants Brazil and Argentina—both historically strong at the U-20 level—failed to advance to the 2013 finals.
Football fans around the world reeled in shock.
“Brazil didn’t make it…? That’s impossible!”
“How can Argentina not qualify? How…?”
At the same time, anticipation surged.
“So who’s going to win it, then? France? Portugal? Spain?”
“No idea. This year’s completely unpredictable.”
“Exactly. Totally up in the air—which is what makes it even more fun.”
With Brazil and Argentina out of the picture, who would claim the title? What kind of stories would this U-20 World Cup write? Fans waited with bated breath.
And now, the Group A and Group B matches kicked off simultaneously in different stadiums.
In Group A, France faced Ghana.
In Group B, South Korea faced Cuba.
Before the Group B opener between South Korea and Cuba began, the starting lineups were announced—and Korean media zeroed in on one name.
At that very moment, Korean football communities exploded.
The fact that Jung Hyuk—the youngest player on the national team and the last to join the squad—had been handed a starting spot was the hottest topic among Korean football fans.
And the heat didn’t stop there.
Group B also contained two of the tournament favorites: Portugal and Nigeria. Korean fans immediately declared that their team had no chance of escaping the group. Some even claimed Korea would struggle to beat Cuba, let alone Portugal or Nigeria.
They said it out loud—but deep down, their hearts whispered something else.
Still… I hope Korea wins.
I hope we put on a good performance and take the three points.
I hope Korea shows the whole world something special on this stage.
That was the true wish of every Korean football fan: for their country to stun the world with brilliant football.
On paper, South Korea held the edge over Cuba. Fans agreed that while Cuba was a baseball powerhouse, their football side was weak. Most expected Korea to come out slightly ahead if the two met.
The experts, however, saw it differently.
“Korea has no superstars. Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon, maybe? But they’re just Southampton FC players.”
“Cuba’s nothing special either. Both teams are about the same level.”
The pundits rated both sides as weak. Their consensus: when Korea and Cuba faced off, the result was anyone’s guess.
They would realize, not long after kickoff, just how wrong they had been—and how badly they had underestimated Korea.
Beeeeeep!
The match began. Cuba took the kickoff.
The moment the whistle blew, Cuban striker Reyes rolled the ball to his partner Perez.
Thump!
Perez received it and immediately laid it back to a defender. The plan was clear: build slowly from the back.
Cuba’s formation today was a 3-4-3. Three at the back, three up front, and a packed midfield of four designed to dominate the center of the park. They felt no urgency. If they simply played the way they had trained—patiently feeding the ball into midfield—they would create chances. After all, their opponents were the supposedly weak Koreans: a team with no real identity beyond running hard.
Cuba did not take Korea seriously. Their expressions and movements carried an easy confidence as they began to build their attack.
Until one player cut it short.
Thud!
“Guh!”
Jung Hyuk slammed into Cuban midfielder Baquero with a sudden, powerful body check, sticking a leg in to win the ball. It was the same technique he had used on Bae Jong-soo. Baquero was never strong at shielding the ball; under heavy pressure he became even more vulnerable. Jung Hyuk read the exact moment Baquero turned to protect possession and stripped him clean.
Tap! Thump!
The instant he won it, Jung Hyuk stabbed a forward pass. The tempo was electric. Striker Cho Seong-jae collected it, using his physical presence to hold off Cuban center-back Martinez, then quickly laid it off to the onrushing Ryu Seung-wook.
Tap!
Ryu Seung-wook was quick and excelled at driving at defenses. He leaned into that strength, accelerating with the ball at his feet, looking to slice through Cuba’s back line.
But center-back Piedra read the move.
Thud!
Ryu was no physical monster. Piedra got his shoulder in first and sent him bouncing off. The ball was lost.
The attack fizzled out, yet Jung Hyuk didn’t spare it a second thought. The match had only just begun. There was still a mountain of time left.
The game turned into a scrap. Despite fielding only three defenders, Cuba showed real defensive steel. Conversely, for all their midfield numbers, they never truly seized control of the center—because Jung Hyuk was everywhere, pressing with relentless intensity.
Today he seemed almost supernatural at snuffing out Cuban build-up play. And every time he got on the ball, he manufactured danger. Dragging Cuban players out of position and creating space for his teammates, his movement was a constant threat. Had Cho Seong-jae’s shot found the net instead of the woodwork, had Kwon Jang-hoon’s header been on target, Jung Hyuk would already have two assists to his name.
Luck simply wasn’t with them.
Any ordinary playmaker would have been frustrated. Jung Hyuk, however, showed not a flicker of disappointment. Instead he ran with a grin, as if he were having the time of his life.
“This is actually really fun.”
It wasn’t an act or some self-hypnosis. He genuinely was enjoying every second—because a brand-new ability had just made the game infinitely more entertaining. Simply using it in a real match was pure joy.
Thirty minutes into the first half, Jung Hyuk activated that delightful new power once more.
“Info check. Cuban defender, Labrada.”
After finishing his first practice match with the national team, Jung Hyuk had cleared a condition and received a special card as a reward.
Even an ordinary card would have excited him. This was a special card—the kind that had given him wonderful memories before his regression. His expectations soared.
When he finally flipped it over, he could barely contain his laughter.
[Trait]
Grade: ?
Effect: A trait will be granted. The type of trait awarded is random.
A trait!
He had expected points. Instead, a trait had appeared. Jung Hyuk took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. Not every trait was earth-shattering; some offered only minor benefits.
Then the specific trait was revealed, and his expression turned complicated—neither pure delight nor disappointment. Just a faintly ambiguous look as he stared at the message.
You have obtained the very special trait, ‘One Who Sees Through’.
One Who Sees Through?
Jung Hyuk tilted his head. He had never seen this trait before—it was brand new.
Let’s check the details first.
He needed the information before he could form a real opinion. So he opened the description for One Who Sees Through.
One Who Sees Through
Effect: Allows you to view an opponent’s information.
The effect was written in the simplest possible terms.
…I can see an opponent’s information?
Understanding it wasn’t hard. The name and the description alone told him roughly how it worked.
If I use this right… this could be insanely efficient.
Jung Hyuk’s face brightened. One Who Sees Through was nothing more than a trait that let him read an opponent’s data—but used properly, it could become something truly powerful.
Jung Hyuk activated One Who Sees Through on Cuba’s right-back, Labrada. Almost the instant he did, the information bloomed before his eyes.
A sharp grin spread across Jung Hyuk’s face.
Being able to read an opponent’s information was, when used correctly, an enormous advantage. Right now was no exception.
Dribbling and passing are weak. Technique’s nothing special either.
The ability to spot weaknesses through raw stats was pure gold for someone about to face Labrada.
Thump! Tap!
Labrada advanced down the flank with the ball. Jung Hyuk closed him down at full speed. Labrada hated heavy pressure and preferred short, safe passes—exactly the kind of player Jung Hyuk had already seen through.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Jung Hyuk crashed into him hard. Labrada’s face twisted; his eyes immediately hunted for a teammate.
Get over here and take it already!
Lacking confidence in his ability to escape pressure, Labrada desperately wanted to offload the ball. But Jung Hyuk kept stretching a leg, disrupting every attempted pass. Finally, under relentless pressure, Labrada forced a ball toward the nearest teammate.
Thump!
His passing ability was already poor; under that kind of pressure it became even worse. The ball rolled along a completely inaccurate path—and Korean striker Ryu Seung-wook pounced on it.
Tap!
Ryu collected the ball and surged forward, scanning the field. In the next instant he spotted Jung Hyuk already ghosting into space on the wing.
When did he even get over there?
Ryu let out a disbelieving laugh.
He’s not Hong Gildong… A central midfielder covering both attack and defense like this?
Without hesitation he played the ball into the space Jung Hyuk was attacking. Ryu trusted his finishing far more than his passing, but in this moment the correct choice was obvious: feed Jung Hyuk.
Thump! As expected, the pass was imperfect—off-target and awkward. Ryu didn’t worry. The receiver was Jung Hyuk. As long as the ball arrived somewhere in the general vicinity, he would somehow make it stick.
He did exactly that.
Tap!
Jung Hyuk cushioned the ball with a silky first touch, already scanning his surroundings even as he controlled it. Behind him, Labrada—still smarting from the earlier mistake—was chasing. Ahead, center-back Piedra charged in.
Piedra’s weak in physical duels.
Jung Hyuk’s eyes flashed with predatory light. Early in the match he had already used One Who Sees Through on Piedra and discovered the man’s glaring weakness: physicality. He looked solid enough, but his physical stat was pitifully low.
A wolfish smile curved Jung Hyuk’s lips.
A center-back with a physical rating of 61…
A predator that shows its weakness becomes prey for another predator. In this moment, Piedra was nothing more than prey to Jung Hyuk—delicious, helpless prey.