Chapter 27 - 17: Achievement: Vengeance Taken

"Is that really Wang Shuo?"

"When did his positioning get so good?"

"My God, I didn’t even notice how he made that run."

On the sidelines, Kramny also made a fist pump in celebration.

Only Corochano’s face turned ugly in an instant.

Just a moment ago, he was hoping for a clean sheet against Mainz. And now?

The match was barely three minutes in, and his goal had been breached.

Wang Shuo’s goal was like a vicious slap to his face, stinging and hot!

...

After the goal, Mainz continued to pressure Frankfurt.

Wang Shuo was particularly active, running tirelessly across the front line. He caused huge problems for Frankfurt’s midfield and defense, allowing Mainz to dominate the game.

Wang Shuo was involved in every single one of Mainz’s attacks, creating threats with his flexible positioning.

In the 6th minute, it was Wang Shuo who, after receiving the ball in a tight space, faced the two center-backs Hillse and Hoffer. With a series of quick touches and feints, he deceived both of Frankfurt’s defenders.

Having created some space, Wang Shuo suddenly unleashed a long-range shot.

Fortunately for them, the shot went just wide.

Otherwise, Frankfurt’s goal would have been breached again.

This left the Frankfurt defenders on the pitch, as well as Corochano on the sidelines, completely baffled.

’Are we sure this is the same Wang Shuo we know?’

’It’s like he’s been completely reborn!’

’That kid must have intentionally hidden his abilities during the tryout. There’s no other explanation!’

On the sidelines, Corochano was pacing like an ant on a hot pan, unable to stand still.

But the Frankfurt players on the field felt differently.

’Wang Shuo must have been held back by the coach during the tryout. That’s why he couldn’t play to his full potential.’

’And look, now that he’s at Mainz and has room to play, he’s immediately standing out.’

But neither of these theories had anything to do with Wang Shuo.

After opening the scoring, the Mainz attack he led continued to assault the Frankfurt U19 defense.

Frankfurt U19, for their part, defended stubbornly.

But in the 21st minute, Wang Shuo threw a feint to confuse his opponent, then suddenly cut back and intercepted a pass intended for Hoffer. He carried the ball and charged toward the Frankfurt U19 penalty area.

As Hillse desperately tracked back, Wang Shuo came to a sudden stop on the left, just outside the penalty area. He feinted an inward cut, then sharply pulled the ball back and knocked it forward with his left foot, accelerating into the box...

The entire sequence of moves is long to describe and extremely difficult to execute.

In the past, it would have been nearly impossible for Wang Shuo to complete this chain of actions in one go.

Let alone to do it so smoothly.

But now?

With the buff from [Swift], his action frequency was much faster. One move flowed into the next, so quickly that Hillse, who was defending him, couldn’t keep up.

In a single encounter, Wang Shuo blew right past him.

Head-on!

One-on-one!

Pure dominance!

No fancy tricks!

This left everyone in the stadium dumbfounded.

Hillse was supposed to be the best one-on-one defender on the Frankfurt U19 team!

But when facing Wang Shuo, he was utterly powerless to stop him. He could only watch as Wang Shuo broke through and carried the ball into the penalty area.

With Buschman closing in to help defend, Wang Shuo got to the ball a step ahead and passed it horizontally.

The unmarked Schürrle galloped up from behind, calmly slotting the ball into the net from the right side of the six-yard box.

2-0!

After scoring, an ecstatic Schürrle rushed over, jumped straight onto Wang Shuo, and cheered loudly.

The Frankfurt U19 players were extremely disappointed.

Especially Hillse, who had been on the receiving end.

"He’s too fast! Not just his running speed and his explosiveness, but even his movements on the ball are fast!"

"I didn’t even get a clear look. He just went right by me. I had no time to react."

"This is insane!"

The surrounding Frankfurt teammates were also astonished.

Especially his two center-back partners.

"He really is incredibly fast. We didn’t even have time to provide cover."

"It’s like he’s a completely different person."

"Compared to just over a month ago, his improvement is massive!"

On the sidelines, however, Corochano was furious about conceding again, but...

’Thank God Wang Shuo wasn’t the one who scored that.’

’It was just an assist.’

But this thought had barely formed when, just four minutes after the last goal, Gunei Guener made a passing error under intense pressure from Wang Shuo, Schürrle, and the others.

Kirschhoff rushed forward and headed the ball over the top of Frankfurt’s defensive line.

Wang Shuo started his run at almost the exact same moment, charging forward to beat the offside trap. He caught up to Kirschhoff’s header, burst into the Frankfurt U19 penalty area, faked out the onrushing Stolz, and slotted the ball into the empty net.

3-0!

In the 29th minute, a series of mistakes and conceded goals had thrown Frankfurt into disarray.

After tackling Gunei Guener in the attacking half, Schürrle sent a diagonal through ball.

Once again, it was Wang Shuo with a quick forward run. He used his speed and explosiveness to shake off three of Frankfurt U19’s center-backs, controlled the ball at the edge of the penalty arc, and calmly chipped it over the keeper, sending it into the goal guarded by Stolz once more.

4-0!

Hat-trick!

And it wasn’t even half an hour into the game!

Everyone from Frankfurt was stunned.

He was simply unstoppable!

At this point, Corochano was so utterly mortified he couldn’t think straight.

His worst fears had come to pass.

What was even more ridiculous was that they’d conceded three goals in such a short time.

’This can’t go on.’

In the 30th minute, he substituted the Turkish player Gunei Guener for the center-back Fabian Walter.

Four center-backs, combined with a park-the-bus strategy, allowed Frankfurt U19 to barely stabilize their formation.

At the very least, Mainz could no longer continue to score.

During halftime, he made another substitution to strengthen the midfield’s defense and interceptions, continuing the park-the-bus strategy in the second half.

Mainz, for their part, continued to attack, but failed to score again.

In the 57th minute, Wang Shuo was substituted off for his teammate, Kai Hoffenheim.

As he walked off the pitch, he made a point to smile at Corochano, who was in front of the home team’s coaching bench.

Corochano’s expression was truly hideous!

In the end, thanks to Wang Shuo’s hat-trick, Mainz crushed Frankfurt 4-0 in their away game.

For Wang Shuo, this was undoubtedly a match of sweet vindication.

At the very least, at the People’s Bank Stadium, he had proven his abilities to Corochano and to all of Frankfurt!

’Getting revenge feels so damn good!’

And at the very moment the final whistle blew, a message flashed in the mind of Wang Shuo, who was sitting on the substitutes’ bench.

"Congratulations, Wang Shuo. You have completed the Achievement: Vindication. You have received one Passive Skill Card."

"Do you wish to draw now?"