8:50 p.m.!
The Candy Box Stadium!
The Candy Box Stadium, usually a madhouse, was strangely quiet.
The Boca Juniors flags that had once flown high now hung limp.
The fans sat with their chins propped in their hands, watching the grounds crew tend to the pitch with disappointed looks.
On the giant screen at the side of the pitch!
That glaring 0–2 scoreline had doused the fans' once-burning enthusiasm like a bucket of cold water.
Only one half had passed.
Their proud Boca Juniors were shamefully trailing their opponents by two goals.
The most infuriating of all was that arrogant Magiar.
After Boca conceded their second goal, the arrogant Magiar had actually walked over to Boca's bench and flashed Xie Luotuo a victory sign.
Xie Luotuo had nearly lost it.
But the gesture had sent every fan in the Candy Box Stadium into a frenzy.
They began furiously cursing Magiar and all his long-dead female relatives.
Magiar didn't look bothered in the slightest. Instead, he waved both hands, urging the Boca fans to curse him even louder.
And compared to Magiar on the sidelines,
the Tucuman Athletic players on the pitch were even more fired up.
With the whole Tucuman Athletic team pressing relentlessly all over the pitch, Boca Juniors, a side that had always relied on technical football, seemed to have a hand clamped around its throat.
Their fluid combinations had disappeared completely.
The team's starting attacking midfielder, Pablo Pérez, was having an awful time.
He'd been taken down at least three times, and the number of fouls involving little dirty tricks was beyond counting.
If his shin guards hadn't saved him, poor Pablo Pérez would probably have ended up in an ambulance by now.
The refereeing standards in South America were incredibly lenient.
Even with the game this heated, the referee had shown only two yellow cards.
And one of them had gone to Pablo Pérez, who'd finally lost patience with his opponent's relentless fouling and shoved him.
In the home team's locker room!
Xie Luotuo roared furiously at his players!
"Attack!"
"Stop showing off those damn foot skills and tricks!"
"Move the ball quickly!"
"Don't you know who you're up against?"
Xie Luotuo was furious!
But there was nothing he could do.
Boca Juniors were facing their natural nemesis, Tucuman Athletic.
"Boss, that Bilalva plays so dirty. Every time—"
Pablo Pérez, who had suffered at his hands, complained about the opposing defensive midfielder.
"Then don't keep the ball at your feet! Get it to the wings quickly! Damn it!"
Xie Luotuo knew exactly why his team was trailing.
It was that Bilalva!
A 29-year-old all-around defensive midfielder, and Tucuman Athletic's captain on the pitch!
His physicality and defensive awareness were top-notch, and he had an extremely accurate long pass, too!
The worst thing about him was how dirty he played!
But he was too cunning. He always pulled some little trick when he was outside the head coach's line of sight.
He was the one who broke down nearly every Boca attack.
The halftime break was soon over.
Neither team made any substitutions!
When the match resumed,
the entire Tucuman Athletic team suddenly retreated into their own half.
"Boss, looks like they're going to play on the counter now!"
Almeida watched Tucuman Athletic's movements and warned him.
"I know!"
Xie Luotuo watched his players push forward, his brows furrowed.
Meanwhile!
Tucuman Athletic's coach, Magiar, wore an easy smile.
A 2–0 lead meant he could leave the Candy Box in comfort.
The championship?
That was never within reach for a club with Tucuman Athletic's level of investment.
All they needed was to beat damn Boca.
And on the pitch!
Bilalva produced another remarkable defensive play!
Boca's attacking midfielder passed diagonally to the right winger, Guillermo Sara.
Bilalva read the play, got into position early, and won the ball back cleanly, ending Boca's attack.
Then Bilalva, whose vision was excellent, launched a long ball toward the other side of the pitch.
And there,
Tucuman Athletic's speedy winger, Maroni, was already sprinting forward!
The roar that had just returned to the Candy Box Stadium died away once more.
Maroni cushioned the ball with his chest, nudged it forward, and took off down the wing!
"What a terrible performance!"
"How could Guillermo Sara let the opponent dispossess him so easily!"
"Boca Juniors are in trouble!"
"Maroni is incredibly fast!"
"He's gone past Barrios!!!"
"Magallan goes in for the tackle!"
"He's beaten him!!!"
"He's through on goal!!!"
"Maroni shoots!"
"It's in!!!"
"What a humiliating match!"
"0–3!!!!"
"Boca Juniors' most humiliating match of the season!"
"47th minute!"
"Tucuman Athletic lead Boca Juniors 3–0!"
"This is an absolute disgrace for Boca!"
At the broadcast desk on the sidelines, Dennis, the Boca-affiliated TV commentator, angrily pounded the table!
Aside from the thousands of away fans cheering wildly, the entire Candy Box Stadium was silent!
Countless Boca fans stared despairingly at the 0–3 score on the big screen!
They couldn't understand why their mighty Boca Juniors always ended up like this whenever they faced Tucuman Athletic!
Was there no one who could save Boca?
On the sidelines!
Magiar excitedly slid across the grass on his knees!
His wild, triumphant celebration prompted countless Boca fans to curse him all over again!
Meanwhile, Xie Luotuo looked ashen!
It was over!
They were three goals down!
And their opponents had an ironclad defense!
How could they—
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and looked behind him!
The Chinese boy had finished warming up and was sitting calmly on the bench.
"Su!!!"
Xie Luotuo shouted for Su Bai.
"Make a substitution!!!"
"Get that useless Guillermo off the pitch!!!"
In the 49th minute!
Boca Juniors made the first substitution!
"Number 8 Guillermo Sara is replaced by number 45 Su Bai!"
When the staff member on the sidelines held up the substitution board,
the fans in the stands looked confused.
Number 45?
Since when did the team have a number 45?
No one in the first team had ever worn that number!
"That's the Chinese kid from the youth team!!!"
"I know him. Last week, he scored three goals and assisted another all by himself, helping the U18s crush their opponents!"
Quite a few fans in the stands had also watched the youth team's last match.
"The youth team? Has Xie Luotuo gone crazy? Why isn't he putting Hara on? Why bring on a kid in his teens?"
"Damn Xie Luotuo! He's putting a 16-year-old kid on in a match this important?"
"It's over. Boca are finished! Xie Luotuo should be sacked!"
"Boca are making the first substitution. Number 45! Su Bai!"
"He's 16 years old!"
"He's only played in one youth team match. He scored three goals and assisted one!"
"Clumsy Guillermo has been replaced by a 16-year-old kid!"
"Is Xie Luotuo putting all his hopes on a child?"
At the commentary desk on the sidelines, commentator Dennis addressed the live camera with an unmistakably skeptical tone!
And at that moment!
Su Bai stood silently on the touchline, waiting for Guillermo to come off, clearly unhappy about being subbed.
After a perfunctory high-five,
Su Bai stepped onto the pitch!
The same pitch!
It had taken Su Bai less than ten days to go from the youth team to the first team!
"Ding-dong!" "Random mission triggered!" "Turn the tide—SS-rank!" "Mission reward: A corresponding chest will be awarded based on the degree of completion!"
There was no cheering!
If anything, every fan looked at him with doubt.
The corners of Su Bai's mouth lifted slightly!
His face, which had never shown a hint of expression, suddenly twisted into a strangely eerie smile!
As if...
As if the hunt had begun?
Before you continue