The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

But this was something that could be strengthened through repeated training. It was all about exploiting a timing difference.

Professor Schrenberg even used an analogy.

"It’s like a compressed spring. Different types of springs take different amounts of time to rebound."

A faster-rebounding spring can naturally gain an advantage over a slower one.

Applied to Wang Shuo’s [Ignore Neural Reaction Inertia], it basically meant that as long as his body could handle it, he could execute ultimate control over his speed and rhythm to precisely target the time window of his opponent’s neural reactions.

Wang Shuo had tried this repeatedly while training with Subotic.

For example, in a one-on-one situation, he would suddenly burst forward explosively with the ball, forcing Subotic to sprint back to defend. The moment Subotic committed, Wang Shuo would slam on the brakes, cutting the ball and changing direction.

Subotic would be sent flying past, completely unable to stop himself.

The same applied to suddenly going from extremely slow to extremely fast, or abruptly accelerating or decelerating from a steady pace.

Pretty insane, right?

That’s right. It was just that badass!

But this was only in theory. In practice, he also had to consider ball control and his body’s physical limits.

This was also why [Hunter] needed to be linked with five Passive Skills.

Then there were the physical challenges and pressure of a real match.

After discovering this, Wang Shuo invested the remaining 50 Passive Value points into [Breathing], instantly upgrading it from Regional Level to National Level.

So now, all of Wang Shuo’s Passive Skills were at the National Level or higher.

This guaranteed his baseline performance.

More importantly, Wang Shuo also discovered the benefits of the [Breathing] skill.

The enhanced physical recovery from the [Breathing] skill wasn’t just effective after a match; it also had an excellent effect during one.

Simply put, the [Breathing] skill could maximize the effects of his breathing technique.

The effects of Domain Skills were incredibly powerful, but they also consumed a massive amount of stamina.

Now, with his enhanced breathing technique and the [Breathing] skill, Wang Shuo had much more confidence.

However, Wang Shuo had only acquired [Hunter] a short time ago and had no real match experience with it. So, during the first half against Chelsea, he tried to use it several times without much success.

He hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it.

But in the 53rd minute of the second half, after Dortmund’s Sven Bender won the ball with a tackle in his own half, he sent a direct pass forward. It landed at the feet of Wang Shuo, who was just to the right of the center circle on the halfway line.

Just then, Essien and Ashley Cole closed in on him simultaneously, about to trap him.

But at that exact moment, Wang Shuo powerfully pushed off with his legs. His entire body shot forward as if launched from a catapult, reaching top speed in an instant.

He moved so fast that he almost lost control on his first touch.

It wasn’t an issue with his Ball Sense; he just hadn’t fully adapted yet.

But this catapult-like acceleration felt incredible!

To the fans in the stadium and the viewers watching the broadcast worldwide, it looked as if Wang Shuo’s speed had detonated. In an instant, he shook off both Essien and Ashley Cole, dribbling right through their pincer move.

This drew a collective gasp of astonishment from the entire Westfalen Stadium.

Once Wang Shuo was in full sprint, he stormed toward Chelsea’s box, reaching the edge of the penalty area in the blink of an eye.

Terry stood in his way.

Wang Shuo slowed slightly, taking a few small, adjusting steps. Then, he suddenly exploded forward again in another catapult-like burst, feinting as if he would charge right through Terry’s defense. The move baited the Chelsea center-back, who immediately scrambled to track back at full speed.

But at that exact moment, Wang Shuo suddenly decelerated, flicking the ball with the outside of his left foot and calmly cutting inside.

Ivanovic, who was providing cover for Terry, immediately spotted Wang Shuo’s inward cut. But just as he moved to block, Wang Shuo—having already left Terry behind—abruptly decelerated again, feinting a change of direction for a forward run.

It was another catapult-like burst, taking a single step into the penalty area.

Of course, Ivanovic didn’t dare to be careless and immediately moved to block him.

But Wang Shuo decelerated again, once more flicking the ball with the outside of his left foot. He took a horizontal touch at top speed, leaving Ivanovic completely behind.

Having created a sliver of space, and before any other defenders could close in, Wang Shuo unleashed a furious shot with his left foot, blasting a daisy-cutter toward the goal.

The ball hugged the turf, rocketing into the bottom-left corner of the Chelsea goal at incredible speed.

And Cech?

The Czech keeper made a diving save, but in the end, he was a step too slow.

The ball slammed into the back of the net.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"IT’S IN!!!"

"In the 53rd minute of the second half, Wang Shuo successfully dribbled through Chelsea’s layered defense and, with a brilliant daisy-cutter, smashed the ball past Cech to equalize!"

"It’s 1-1!"

The entire stadium erupted.

In that instant, Terry was completely stunned.

’Were my eyes playing tricks on me?’ he wondered.

’A feint?’

’But it was just too convincing!’

’But if he was really committing to the run, how did he manage to stop on a dime and cut inside like that?’

’And the key was that the transition was so silky smooth, so effortless!’

As Robben’s former teammate, Terry was all too familiar with his signature inside cut.

The Dutchman could barely manage what Wang Shuo had just done, and even then, it was with great difficulty. He would almost always momentarily lose control of the ball.

At the highest level of professional football, even a 0.1-second gap is enormous.

For Wang Shuo to pull it off so effortlessly could only mean he was far, far better at it than Robben!

What was even more insane was that after the first cut, Wang Shuo had used another feint—a fake explosive touch and acceleration—to bait Ivanovic, only to cut inside again before finally taking the shot and scoring.