Chapter 27: After Investiture of the Gods, Reduced to a Substitute! Across Europe, ridicule swept in

Camp Nou’s long-range shot hung on major sports headlines worldwide for three whole days.

35 meters per hour, 185 kilometers per hour.

The net was nearly shattered.

All the headlines use the most exaggerated words to describe that moment.

The football king returned with an incredible long-range shot, and Cristiano Ronaldo declared with a shot that he was still the king.

ESPN’s headline editor even went so far as to photoshop a photo with a frenzy.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s right leg was replaced with a howitzer, with the muzzle aimed at Camp Nou.

The caption was just four words: ‘Human Cannon.’

The comment section exploded, the number of retweets exploded, and the whole world was discussing that kick.

But in Bernabéu’s office at Real Madrid, the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Florentino Pérez sat in his genuine leather office chair worth 60,000 euros.

The row in front of me had already rang more than twenty calls—agents, sponsors, brand owners—all included.

Almost all of them ask the same question.

When will Kylian Mbappé be available?

The French superstar sprained his knee during training half a month ago.

Although not serious, it was enough to miss three key matches, including the El Clásico.

In three matches, Cristiano Ronaldo took his place.

A goal, an assist, and a long-range shot that went down in history.

The data is impressive.

But data cannot change one fact.

Kylian Mbappé has the highest salary in the team.

The transfer fee is the highest in the club’s history.

Jersey sales rank among the top three globally.

He is the cornerstone of the team that Florentino Pérez calls the next decade.

And Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a piece of the past.

He was just a firefighter.

That afternoon, Florentino Pérez and Carlo Ancelotti talked behind closed doors in the training base’s tactical room for forty minutes.

No one knows what is said inside.

But when he came out, Carlo Ancelotti’s expression was not very pleasant.

The next day, at the Baldebebas training base.

Kylian Mbappé is back.

As soon as he returned, all the spotlights, all the cameras, and all eyes were precisely locked onto this Frenchman.

When the team doctor helped him into the training ground, Vinícius Júnior was the first to run over and high-five.

Jude Bellingham patted him on the shoulder, and even the usually cold Rüdiger greeted him proactively.

The presentation was quite generous.

The group matches began.

The coaching staff placed Kylian Mbappé as the center forward in the starting redshirt group.

Vinícius Júnior is on the left, and Rodrigo is on the right. Behind them were the dual core support of Modrić and Kroos.

Almost every attacking line revolved around Kylian Mbappé.

Cristiano Ronaldo, wearing an orange vest, stood up front among the substitutes.

Three days ago, he left 100,000 people speechless with a long-range shot at Camp Nou.

Three days later, he wore the substitute color and jogged near the training field sideline to warm up.

No one took the initiative to pass to him.

Not intentionally.

The tactical focus has shifted.

The coaching staff’s positioning routes, receiving positions, and shooting opportunities all favored the red-shirt group.

The purpose of the orange tank top group is to spar with them.

It was to act as a hypothetical enemy.

Cristiano Ronaldo runs for forty minutes in this training.

He touched the ball about seven or eight times.

Zero shots.

But his expression never changed from beginning to end.

He actively responded to positioning, physical confrontation, tracking back, and even more movements.

After training, Cristiano Ronaldo walked back to the locker room alone.

As he passed by the crowd celebrating with the Red Shirt Group, someone called out to him.

“Hey, Chris.”

He didn’t even turn his head.

He walked into the locker room, sat down, and picked up his phone.

Social media notifications popped up.

It’s a dynamic from Barcelona.

Yamarbaça’s super prodigy young player.

He posted a photo of himself doing rehabilitation training at the gym on Instagram, with the caption.

“The loss at Camp Nou was just an accident. Wait for me to come back, see you in the second leg of the league. "

“I’m really looking forward to playing against legends, but football isn’t something you can win by brute force alone.”

He even added a smiling emoji at the end.

The comment section went crazy.

Barça fans flocked to Cristiano Ronaldo’s account, with comments full of mockery.

“If the young players aren’t afraid of you, what right do you have to stay at Real Madrid?”

“He fooled the whole world with a brute force long shot.”

“When Yamal returns, you won’t even dare to sit as a substitute.”

Cristiano Ronaldo looked at these comments.

He swiped down two times with his finger.

Then the screen was locked.

The system panel in his mind was quietly lit up.

Taunt values fluctuate slowly but steadily.

Current taunt value is 22 million.

Every sarcastic comment is a grain of sand.

Two billion is a mountain.

He needs a lot and a lot of sand.

So many that the whole world would curse him.

Cristiano Ronaldo put his phone back in the cabinet, stood up, and walked toward the shower.

Basayamal’s provocation didn’t linger in his understanding for even a second.

Children.

I guess the fur hasn’t fully grown yet.

Wait until you grow up to talk about it.

Wednesday.

The final tactical meeting before the Champions League group stage.

All the players sat in two rows in the locker room.

Carlo Ancelotti stood at the front of the tactical whiteboard.

On the whiteboard was a formation diagram 433.

Three names were written on the attack line.

Vinícius Júnior on the left, Kylian Mbappé in the middle, and Rodrigo on the right.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s name is first on the substitution list below.

The changing room fell silent.

More than half of the people are secretly looking in the same direction.

Cristiano Ronaldo lowered his head, tying his shoelaces.

His movements were slow, each knot tied carefully and with full concentration.

Carlo Ancelotti looked at him, his lips moving, clearly wanting to say something.

“Chris.”

Cristiano Ronaldo looked up.

“Mm.”

That tone was clearly talking to you about what to eat in the cafeteria for lunch.

Carlo Ancelotti’s words got stuck in his throat.

He opened his mouth, but finally managed to squeeze out just one sentence.

“Be prepared, I might need you at any moment.”

Cristiano Ronaldo nodded.

“Alright.”

Then he kept lowering his head to tie the other shoe, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

It’s so tiny—so small that you wouldn’t notice it unless you got close.

But if someone really got close and saw that curve,

You might feel a chill down your back.

Because that wasn’t grievance, not endurance, not pretending to be strong.

The starting lineup was leaked on social media three hours before the match.

The entire European football arena instantly erupted.

The man who became a legend at Camp Nou three days ago has been pushed back to the bench.

The UK’s Daily Mail responded the fastest, with a big headline on its front page.

The last breath of light has ended, and Cristiano Ronaldo returns to where he belongs.

The image shows Cristiano Ronaldo showing off his muscles after scoring at Camp Nou, but the editor added a gray filter.

Next to it was a poster of Kylian Mbappé wearing a Real Madrid jersey.

The colors are bright and the contrast is glaring.

The meaning is clear: the old era gives way, and the new king ascends the throne.

Manchester City’s legends haven’t been idle either.

Vieira spread her hands in the Sky Sports studio, her expression showing the distinctive polite disdain typical of French people.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance at Camp Nou is truly admirable. But that was the Spanish league. "

“Tonight he’s facing the team with the best defensive discipline in the world.”

“He’s thirty-nine years old. Do you think he still has a second long-range shot?”

Richards finished off from the side.

“To be honest, Carlo Ancelotti was wise to put him on the bench.”

“Let the elderly rest well on the bench.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Laughter in the studio spread worldwide via satellite signals.

Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t look at any of this.

But the system detected it.

Deep in his mind, the numbers on the panel shot up rapidly.

Taunt +17 million.

Taunt +23 million.

One after another, the ridicule and doubts from around the world were continuously flooded into the system’s counter.

Cristiano Ronaldo sat in his hotel room with his eyes closed.

Listening to the ding-ding notification sounds in my mind.

The more he listened, the more comfortable he felt.