Eleven Seconds

Recently, what emerged from the special card Jung Hyuk opened in the dormitory was a trait.

And not just any trait — one bearing the modifier very special trait.

Seeing that, Jung Hyuk couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.

It was only natural. That same modifier — very special trait — had once sat in front of One Who Never Gets Injured and Soccer Genius. The odds of drawing something on that same tier had just shot way up.

And the information on his newly acquired trait was as follows:

An effect that raised every single stat by a full five points!

Thirty seconds felt a little short, sure — but in soccer, anything could happen in thirty seconds. Used right, Master of Surprise Attack was the kind of trait that could produce something massive.

A touch of regret lingered, but even so, the "very special" label fit it well enough. It was an excellent trait.

And now—

Peeeeeep!

The moment the match between South Korea and Costa Rica kicked off, a message bloomed before Jung Hyuk's eyes.

Hoo.

Jung Hyuk drew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a deep breath. His face was flushed hotter than usual.

Ordinarily he would have settled into the match with calm control. Not today. How was anyone supposed to stay composed after a message like that?

He wanted to run like a man possessed.

And so he did.

Tok—

Receiving the ball from Oh Jung-hoon, Jung Hyuk surged forward without hesitation.

The match had only just started, so all eleven Costa Rican players were still settled in their positions. Trying to tear through every last one of them was, frankly, the kind of idea you could call insane without anyone arguing.

Jung Hyuk ran anyway. He fully intended to go through all eleven.

He was going to try something crazy.

He had the confidence that he could break them. The way every stat had jumped by five — the sheer feel of it — poured gasoline on that burning confidence.

And then a new message flared up and pushed it even higher.

"What the—?"

"What is he doing?!"

The moment Jung Hyuk exploded into a sudden full-throttle charge, startled Costa Rican players came flying in.

First among them was Costa Rica's striker, Jairo Arrieta.

Tadadad! Arrieta slammed into him at speed. Jung Hyuk snapped into a sharp change of direction and slipped the charge clean. Took— whish! Acceleration building, he switched direction again and left Marco Ureña in the dust as well.

Two players gone in an instant. Now a pair of Costa Rican midfielders closed on him. Knowing a pure direction-change dribble wouldn't cut through two at once, Jung Hyuk drove the ball diagonally at once, denying them the chance to surround him.

With the trait active, his Speed sat at 109. And with the S-class talent effect layered on top of that, he was moving even faster than the number suggested.

"You're not getting through!"

Costa Rica's midfielder Esteban Granados threw himself desperately into Jung Hyuk's sudden diagonal run. Puhk—

Except Jung Hyuk didn't budge. Granados, the one who'd initiated the charge, went flying instead.

"Ugh—!"

Sprawled on the grass, Granados's eyes went wide. He wasn't a soft player in physical duels — if anything, he prided himself on them. And still he hadn't stood a chance.

What is that body, a block of stone?!

Past Granados, Jung Hyuk kept accelerating. The speed was so extreme that he closed on Costa Rica's back line in a blink.

"Stop him! Foul him if you have to!"

Costa Rica's fullbacks scrambled into the penalty area to cut off the frontal assault, and one center-back rapidly closed the gap to press him.

Tok— took! Even with a defender right in front of him, Jung Hyuk didn't slow. He drove forward like a runaway locomotive that had forgotten how to stop.

Then Roy Miller, the Costa Rican center-back who'd been closing in, lunged into a surprise tackle.

"Enough already!"

Shhhk!

But Jung Hyuk had already read the movement. His reactions were just as sharp. He planted and slammed on the brakes. Shhh-shhh-shhhk! The turf tore up under the force of a stop from that kind of speed.

Most players would never attempt a brake that violent. It put direct strain on the knees. For Jung Hyuk — a man with no fear of injury — it was just another movement he could make without a second thought.

Naturally, Roy Miller never saw it coming.

"Hhk—!"

Miller looked up at the suddenly frozen Jung Hyuk, face twisted in shock.

Insane! He was flying and just killed all that speed on a dime?

Jung Hyuk grinned at him, then nudged the ball forward. Took—

Next—

Tad! He planted hard and whipped his leg through. Puhng! A mid-range shot from a completely unexpected timing.

"What—?"

Costa Rica's goalkeeper Leonel Moreira threw himself desperately across.

I have to stop this!

By feel, the match hadn't even been going twenty seconds. Conceding already was unthinkable. Absurd.

But the power behind Jung Hyuk's strike was overwhelming, the angle razor-sharp — the kind of shot a keeper almost couldn't reach.

Moreira stretched his arm as far as it would go. The ball screamed past where his hand could never be.

Clang!

The net bulged hard enough to rattle the frame.

And now, having scored, Jung Hyuk didn't celebrate wildly. He simply spread both arms wide and waited for the crowd's reaction with that trademark deadpan expression of his.

At the same time—

Wooooooooaaaaah!

The stadium erupted.

Eleven seconds into the first half.

That was how long it took Jung Hyuk to beat Costa Rica's players and put the ball in the net.

A scene so staggering it pulled the word monster out of people by force. And a perfect ambush on top of that.

In that moment, Costa Rican players stared at each other with hollow faces. Korean players looked at one another in pure bewilderment.

"W-what? Was that a goal? That was a goal, right?"

"Is that guy… actually insane? How many seconds was that?"

"Holy—… in a national team match? Wow…!"

At the same time, Korean fans watching on television were too stunned to process what they'd just seen.

"Th-this is… what? He just scored…?"

"…What did I just watch? Is this real?"

"Is this CGI? Was that… even possible?"

"Holy crap… is he out of his mind?"

"Huh? I've never… seen anything like that…"

"What is this, a goal out of a video game…?"

"Insane…… this is actually insane……"

The fans were forced to understand it all over again.

Just how high Jung Hyuk's class truly sat. That he was a player capable of the kind of dazzling play the national team had never shown before.

And right now, even Jung Hyuk himself — arms out, soaking in the crowd with his celebration — was stunned by his own goal.

Outwardly deadpan. Inside, thoroughly shaken.

Wow… I actually scored a goal like that.

Not for a club side — a one-man show for the national team, under the eyes of countless Korean fans. A one-man show where he'd literally driven straight through the opposition and finished.

Even across a long life as a footballer, memories of scoring quite like this barely existed.

And the Card of Dream system seemed to rate an absurd goal like this just as highly. The message floating before Jung Hyuk's eyes right now was the proof.

Jung Hyuk's mouth twitched. He barely managed to hold the laugh back.

A reward, out of nowhere! And not a small one — two whole stats going up.

Tackle went up.

On top of that, it was the Tackle stat he'd been steadily feeding points into lately for the sake of balance. That fact made him even happier.

After that, the Master of Surprise Attack effect wore off.

Even so, Jung Hyuk kept producing good movement. No — overwhelming performance.

Tok— A one-touch pass to Lee Myung-jun, then he pushed forward. Taat! He took the return ball and drove on again, the ball at his feet.

The intent was clear: drag Costa Rican players toward him.

They knew exactly what he was doing and still couldn't stop themselves from coming. Having just felt his breakthrough ability and long-range shooting firsthand, they had no choice but to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠keep harassing him, keep sticking close so he never got space.

And that was the trap Jung Hyuk had set.

He began exploiting that psychology perfectly.

Whish! Tok! An upper-body feint into a dribble took one Costa Rican out of the play; another immediately clamped onto him. Even under heavy pressure, Jung Hyuk kept shifting his center of gravity and slipping free.

Pull two men out like that, and space opened for the other Korean players.

Korea's starting strikers today were Oh Jung-hoon and Lee Geun-oh. In the current shape of the pitch, the better-positioned option in Jung Hyuk's eyes was Lee Geun-oh.

So he fed the pass to him.

Teong—

A low ball skimming the grass. But one traveling along a path the opposing defenders could never have predicted.

Of course they couldn't. It was a through ball played the instant he slipped two Costa Ricans, with his head turned the other way and an eye fake selling the whole thing.

Shhhk!

The ball knifed between Costa Rica's back line at speed.

Lee Geun-oh stretched a leg and collected it. Tat— Unfortunately the touch ran a little long. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scrambled to set himself, but a defender was already on him.

Instead of forcing a one-on-one, Lee Geun-oh chose to lay it off to a teammate.

Tat— Fullback Lee Woong took the ball. A player famous in the K League for quality crosses — and one who actually racked up plenty of assists to prove it.

Puhng—

The ball left Lee Woong's boot on a sharp, bending trajectory and sailed into Costa Rica's penalty area.

Korean attackers and Costa Rican defenders rose together. Both sides wanted the same thing: their forehead on that ball.

Their final purposes, though, were opposite. One side meant to put it in the net. The other meant to clear it as far from goal as possible.

Buung! Jumping from a slightly short position, Oh Jung-hoon swung his head at it — trying to cut Lee Woong's cross early.

But the delivery ran longer than it had in training. Tch! Oh Jung-hoon clicked his tongue in frustration.

Whoosh— The ball sailed past him.

The player who threw himself at it next was Jung Hyuk, who had already stormed into the box at blistering speed.

The height's awkward.

A little low for a clean header, a little high for a volley. Coming in fast at that in-between height, it was a nightmare ball to deal with. Turning something like that into a goal demanded an instant decision.

And Jung Hyuk made one.

Whish! Airborne, he twisted and threw his upper body hard backward, then used that force to whip his leg through.

A shot struck while falling backward in midair. Spectacular beyond measure — and notoriously inaccurate.

An overhead kick.

Even with Jung Hyuk's elevated stats and a lifetime of shooting and finishing experience behind him, the overhead kick remained one of the hardest finishes to convert.

And yet—

As he attempted that near-impossible shot, a smile touched the corner of Jung Hyuk's mouth.

Because the moment his leg came through, a message rose before his eyes.