U-20 World Cup Champions

The match between Korea and Uruguay was over.

The final score: 7–3.

It was an overwhelming scoreline that barely suited the weight of a final. The victorious side was Korea. Jung Hyuk had influenced the result more than anyone, finishing with two goals and four assists.

U-20 World Cup champions. Confirmed.

The Korean players who had achieved that extraordinary feat poured out hot tears. Manager Yoo Jung-seok, who had worn a stern face throughout the entire tournament, could not hold his own tears back either.

At the same moment, soccer fans across Korea were roaring with faces full of raw emotion.

"Waaaaah! We won! We actually won!"

"Korea won! Chicken's on me—everyone eats free!"

"Hahahaha! See? What did I tell you! I said Jung Hyuk would pull it off!"

"Long live Manager Yoo Jung-seok! Long live Jung Hyuk! Long live Korea!"

The miracle the Korea U-20 national team had created set off a massive wave of reaction.

And now, the awards ceremony began.

Jung Hyuk stood with his teammates and looked at the championship trophy.

This is surreal.

Winning the U-20 World Cup. He had never managed it even before his regression. Pulling off something that enormous filled him with wonder. There had been hard stretches, but they had found a way through every one of them, and that left him deeply proud.

And right in front of him sat that glorious trophy.

Together with Manager Yoo Jung-seok, his teammates, and the coaching staff, Jung Hyuk hoisted it high into the sky.

Wooooooo!

A roar of mixed voices from players and crowd exploded across the stadium. For once, Jung Hyuk shouted until his throat burned.

In that exact moment—

"What?"

Jung Hyuk's eyes went wide. A message had appeared in midair.

A reward for the championship. And not just any reward—a special card.

But Jung Hyuk wiped the expression from his face almost immediately. Right now he wanted to focus only on the fact that they had won. He wanted to savor this fantastic atmosphere. Checking the special card could wait… for later.

A short while after, the Golden Ball was awarded to the player who had put on the finest performance of the entire U-20 World Cup. The recipient was Jung Hyuk.

"Haha… this is a little embarrassing."

On the outside he was eighteen. In reality he was thirty-eight. The feeling of a full-grown man snatching an award meant for kids left him mildly sheepish. Jung Hyuk flushed as he posed for the photos—the glorious photo time reserved for the Golden Ball winner.

But then his eyes began to widen again. The embarrassment vanished from his face. In its place came pure fluster.

"Again?"

Another message had floated up.

That was not the end of it. Jung Hyuk also received the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer.

The volume of rewards was almost dizzying. He had expected something, but never this much.

And even that was not the end. A brand-new string of messages rose before Jung Hyuk's eyes.

Right after the U-20 World Cup in Turkey ended, Jung Hyuk flew back to Korea and sat through a flood of interviews. He was exhausted, but he accepted them as positively as he could. He knew exactly how feverish the atmosphere in Korea had become, and he knew how many people had celebrated and cheered for them. So he took as many interviews as possible.

Afterward he finally returned home and spent time with his family. Once he finished a meal with his parents, he headed straight to Kang Chul-gon's gym and completed a high-intensity weight session. He had no intention of taking even a single day off from training.

Thud.

"Urrrgh… I'm wiped."

Jung Hyuk collapsed onto his bed with a groan. Fatigue filled every part of his body. Without the trait One Who Never Gets Injured, it would not have been strange for something to already be wrong with him.

After lying still for a long while, he pushed himself upright. His phone was vibrating.

Bzzzz— Bzzzz—

"Hello?"

"Hyuk, were you resting?"

The caller was his agent, Park Young-nam.

"Yeah, hyung. I was resting."

"How's the body?"

"Pretty tired, but it should be fine once I rest up."

"Good. Rest properly. You know we have to head to England in two days, right?"

"I know. You told me last time."

"Right. The club also said not to push yourself too hard—rest as much as you can with the time you have left. But… an ad offer came in."

"An ad?"

"Yeah. An ad. From a major corporation, no less. I filtered hard and left two solid ones. What do you want to do?"

"Wouldn't taking them be good for you too, hyung? You should make some money."

"Hyuk, your condition comes first. You can turn them all down if you want. Your soccer career still has a long road ahead, and I'm going to be living off your blood for at least the next ten years, so it's fine. Don't worry about my money."

"Wow, how much blood are you planning to suck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to say something like that?"

"Just a little sluuurp~! Enough that you won't even be able to donate."

Jung Hyuk burst out laughing. This guy had not changed one bit from the past. Even when he talked like that, it was clearly meant to keep the pressure off Jung Hyuk. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Park Young-nam he knew was a man who thought things through carefully.

"That so? I was thinking of shooting one of them, but after hearing you, maybe I should leave it for next time. I'll just rest."

"…You will?"

"Huh? Why does your voice sound like that? Why'd you suddenly deflate?"

"Hey! Deflate? Not even a little. But Hyuk—you like ramen, don't you? You said it's been ages since you last ate any because of body management."

"A ramen commercial came in?"

The corner of Jung Hyuk's mouth lifted. Park Young-nam clearly wanted him to shoot something after all.

"Yeah. A ramen ad—non-fried noodles, apparently. Still ramen, so it won't be great for you, but it's a way to legally eat ramen that's a little less bad for the body…"

"Then how about we shoot that one and head to England?"

In truth, shooting commercials was not difficult for Jung Hyuk. He had filmed plenty of them before his regression and had decent confidence in his commercial-acting skills.

I'm not full pro as an ad model, but I'm at least semi-pro level.

And Park Young-nam's reaction was excellent.

"Oh! That's my boy! Hahahaha! Our Hyuk is this thoughtful? Hyuk! You know hyung really loves you, right?"

"Hyung… that's a bit much."

After shooting the ramen commercial, Jung Hyuk boarded a flight to England with Oh Jung-hoon and Park Young-nam. The moment he landed, the first thing he did was set his alarms—to adapt to the time difference. Then he loosened his stiff muscles with stretching.

"Uuuugh! Why is my body this sore?"

Oh Jung-hoon, following along beside him, groaned.

"The schedule was brutal. You're only this functional because you kept up with the stretching."

"Ugh, I'm dying! Hyuk, you okay?"

"I'm tired too. Body's stiff."

"I didn't realize going back to Korea, running a whole World Cup schedule, and coming back would be this hard. Ahh! How am I supposed to train tomorrow? Jet lag alone is going to wreck me…"

"Don't push for about three days. Don't rush it either."

"Yeah? But what if the coaches tell me to do it properly?"

Jung Hyuk's expression hardened.

"Jung-hoon. This isn't school. Nobody here is going to take care of you. This is a battlefield. You manage your own body. No one does it for you. A coach tells you to push through? You refuse. Tell them you're not at a hundred percent yet and you're still building back up. Then recover completely and prove yourself with your ability. That's how you survive here."

"…It's always weird. How do you know all this so well? And everything you say always sounds right. Hyuk, looking at you feels like looking at someone who already spent ten years in the EPL."

"…I read it in a book."

"What book?"

"Steven Gerrard's autobiography."

"Huh? Hyuk, I read that too, and none of what you just said was in there."

"…Maybe it was Lampard's?"

"You're not lying right now, are you?"

Ahem. Jung Hyuk avoided Oh Jung-hoon's gaze.

The next day, Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon arrived at the training ground for the first time in a while and received a warm welcome from their Southampton FC teammates. The first to greet them was starting defender Dejan Lovren. Nearly 190 centimeters of massive frame strode quickly toward Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon.

"Ohhh! The heroes of the U-20 World Cup are here!"

Dejan Lovren pulled Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon into hugs one after the other, then urged the rest of the squad.

"Everyone gather up! The kids are back!"

Nearby, Victor Wanyama approached with his trademark booming laugh.

"Hahahaha! So you actually went and won it? Hey, Jung Hyuk. I heard your form ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was pretty damn good."

Lovren answered for him.

"This kid scored nineteen goals. That's why he took both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball."

Wanyama looked stunned.

"What? Nineteen goals? He took the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball? Is that even possible? Jung Hyuk, you sure you didn't just play in some youth league instead of a World Cup?"

Jung Hyuk answered with a smile.

"It was the U-20 World Cup."

Lovren snickered at Wanyama, who was still wearing a shocked face.

"What did I tell you? I said Jung Hyuk going to the U-20 World Cup was basically cheating. Hey! Jung Hyuk! Because of you, Wanyama's about to piss himself from shock."

"Lovren! When did I ever piss myself?"

"Did I say you did? I said you were about to."

"I wasn't about to either!"

Haha. Jung Hyuk laughed. Watching the two big men bicker was pure comedy. Those two hulking figures arguing in front of him were another reason he had chosen Southampton in the first place.

Dejan Lovren especially was an excellent defender. A high-level defender made for a perfect sparring partner to raise physical contest ability and breakthrough skill. Wanyama was a step below Lovren, but still a strong defensive midfielder. Playing alongside him would clearly help raise Jung Hyuk's attributes.

Jung Hyuk exchanged warm greetings with the other teammates who followed after Wanyama. Oh Jung-hoon expressed his own delight in short English.

While they chatted with their teammates and prepared for training, Manager Mauricio Pochettino approached.

"Jung Hyuk, Oh Jung-hoon. You both worked hard."

Manager Pochettino held separate meetings with Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon. Because Jung-hoon's English was limited, Jung Hyuk helped interpret. Jung Hyuk spoke honestly about what he had learned at the U-20 World Cup and what he had felt while winning it. Oh Jung-hoon did the same.

Once the meetings ended, Pochettino spoke with his usual charismatic presence.

"Both of you have grown a great deal. That is enough for now. As you know, there is exactly one month left until the season begins. Now show me what you can do at Southampton."

"Yes."

"Understood!"

That was the end of the conversation.

Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon trained according to their current physical condition. On days when they felt good, they poured everything into the sessions as always. After team training finished, they stayed on the pitch for extra work. First ones out onto the training ground, last ones back to the dorms—day after day.

One month passed in a blink.

At last, the opening match of the 2013/14 Premier League season began.