My Ultimate Gacha System

73’ — Substitution

The fourth official raised the board. Two numbers lit up in red digits: 14 coming off, 7 going on.

Demien saw his own number and exhaled once before he started walking, not sprinting, taking the long way off toward the touchline so he could slap hands with Casemiro and then Bruno on the way past.

Rashford caught his arm and pulled him in for a half-hug without either of them slowing down.

Mason Mount was waiting at the line, already bouncing on the balls of his feet. Demien clapped him once on the shoulder as they crossed paths.

"Left side’s tired," he said. "Keep it wide, they can’t get out."

Mount nodded and jogged on without another word needed.

Demien reached the technical area, and Ten Hag was already there, hand out. Demien shook it.

"Three goals and you still gave the fourth away," Ten Hag said, the corner of his mouth almost moving. "Go and sit down. You’ve done enough for today."

The away end rose to their feet for him. Most of Turf Moor booed on principle, but scattered claps broke through even there.

Demien dropped onto the bench, grabbed a bottle of water, and looked back out at the pitch one more time before he let himself sit back properly.

"He leaves after seventy-three minutes with his first Premier League hat trick for Manchester United," the commentator said. "Three different types of goals, and a direct hand in the fourth as well."

Burnley’s striker closed Casemiro down fast from the front, and Casemiro’s first touch ran half a yard too far ahead of him.

He looked up for the pass into Bruno, found the lane already cut off, and looked again — and by the time he finally shifted it wide, the striker had already got a boot to it.

The whistle went for the foul, forty yards out, high up the pitch where United hadn’t given anything away all half.

80’ —

Burnley’s winger swung the corner in toward the near post. Højlund got the first jump on it but only managed to nod it straight up rather than away, and the ball dropped into a knot of players scrambling on the six-yard line.

A Burnley forward stuck a boot through the crowd of legs first, and the ball squeezed under Onana’s dive and over the line.

BURNLEY 1 — 4 MANCHESTER UNITED

Ten Hag folded his arms on the touchline and shook his head once, sharp and short. Not worry. Irritation.

"A dominant attacking performance," the commentator said, "but that concession will still bother Ten Hag. It always does with this United side."

United closed it out from there — slower tempo, patient recycling of possession, no unnecessary duels.

Bruno talked the back line through the final minutes with both hands. Højlund pressed once too eagerly near the corner flag, and Casemiro waved him back into shape without breaking stride.

The referee blew for full time.

FULL TIME: BURNLEY 1 — 4 MANCHESTER UNITED

A member of the match officials’ staff carried the ball over to Demien near the tunnel — a white Premier League ball, streaked with grass stains and mud, a small printed line of text along one panel. He handed it over without ceremony.

Demien turned it once in his hands and smiled, properly this time.

Bruno draped an arm over his shoulder. "That volley," he said, shaking his head. "That was mine to score."

"Wasn’t your ball," Demien said.

Højlund shoved his shoulder from the other side. "Leave one for the striker next time."

"Score first, then complain," Demien said, and Rashford laughed loud enough to turn a couple of heads nearby.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Demien Walter 3 Goals

— 73 Minutes

Media staff guided him toward the interview boards once the announcement went up on the big screen, teammates pushing him forward with a few last shoves and grins.

The board stood lit under a portable camera light, microphones clustered together, the last of the crowd noise still rolling in off the stands behind him.

The interviewer held the microphone up between them. "Demien — a first-half hat trick on your Premier League away debut. Talk us through it."

"Bruno’s ball for the third," Demien said. "The first one, I saw the space and just hit it clean. The second, I don’t know — I felt the defender behind me and my body just did something with it. I just finished what the team gave me."

"That volley in particular is going to be replayed for weeks. What was going through your head in that split second?"

Demien shook his head slightly, still catching his breath from the walk over. "Nothing, honestly. Bruno played it early, it was dropping fast, I didn’t have time to control it. I just swung."

The interviewer smiled at that. "Bruno’s going to tell you that goal was meant to be his."

"He already has," Demien said, and the interviewer laughed. "I told him it wasn’t his ball to finish."

"Last one — you came off after seventy-three minutes. Frustrating on a day like this?"

"The manager decides the minutes," Demien said, his tone flattening slightly, serious now. "I played Munich Wednesday. There’s Palace on Tuesday. He knows the calendar better than I do."

Ten Hag stepped up to the broadcast reporter a few minutes later, water bottle still in hand, tracksuit zipped to the collar against the cold.

"Erik, an incredible attacking display today. What have you made of Demien’s afternoon?"

"Excellent finishing, excellent decisions all afternoon," Ten Hag said. "Three completely different types of goal. That tells you about his range, not just his talent."

"You still conceded twice, though, despite the four goals."

"Yes," Ten Hag said, his tone sharpening slightly. "And we cannot keep giving away goals like the one from the corner. Good day for us. But still work to do."

The system surfaced only once the football and the media had both been allowed their moment first.

「MATCH COMPLETE」

「Premier League Hat Trick Achieved」 「Goal Contribution: Demien Walter — 3 Goals」

「REWARD GRANTED: +70 MP」 「BONUS REWARD GRANTED: +5 SP」

「UPDATED BALANCE: 74 TP | 18 SP | 208 MP」

Post-Match Press Conference

The press room at Turf Moor sat low-ceilinged and cramped, a sponsor board stretched behind the top table, recorders lined up along the front edge, journalists hunched over laptops in rows of plastic chairs.

Ten Hag sat down with a water bottle and a folded page of match notes in front of him.

A reporter in the second row spoke first. "Erik, three different types of goal from Demien today — power, technique, and then that volley. What stood out to you?"

"All three tell you something different about him," Ten Hag said. "The finishing is not the surprise anymore. The decision-making is what I am most pleased with."

"Was the seventy-third minute substitution planned before kickoff?"

"Yes," Ten Hag said. "He played ninety minutes in Munich three days ago. This is normal squad management, nothing more."

Another reporter leaned toward his recorder. "You conceded twice today despite the scoreline. Set-piece marking again. How concerned are you?"

Ten Hag’s jaw tightened slightly. "Concerned enough that we will work on it Monday," he said. "Four goals covers a lot. It does not cover everything."

Near the end, a reporter shifted the questions toward Tuesday.

"With Crystal Palace coming up so quickly, how are you thinking about rotation? Does Demien need protecting after Munich and today?"

Ten Hag looked down at the fixture sheet in front of him and tapped one finger once beside the date.

"We manage the squad carefully," he said. "Every player. Every match. That’s the job now."

Demien stood just outside the press room with the match ball tucked under one arm, waiting for the car.

Through the half-open door behind him, his own name drifted out again — not as the hero of Burnley anymore, but as the next problem United had to plan around.