THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
The Tippeligaen 2013 Series Challenge
"Hello," Zachary spoke on the phone.
"Hello, Zachary," the voice of the woman he knew sounded from the other end of the phone. "It's me, Emily. Just called to ask how your debut match was."
"Oh, Emily," Zachary said with a smile. He threw his sports bag over his shoulder and started walking towards his apartment. "You called using a different number. I almost refused the call."
"Then, you will definitely not hear my beautiful voice" Emily joked.
"So how are you?" Zachary asked, wanting to change the course immediately.
"I'm fine" replied Emily. "But tell me, how was the match? It's not—disbursed anywhere. So, I can't watch it. Sorry about that."
"No problem" replied Zachary, turning the corner and entering the road to his apartment building. "I played for about 80 minutes, scored one goal, and also made one assist."
"Oh, my gosh," cried Emily, her voice rising slightly at the other end of the phone. "That's great, Zach. Congratuations. With that, I'm sure the coaches won't leave you out of the squad again."
"I think so too. The coach has even promised me that I will be part of the squad for the next game."
"When's your next game?"
"Saturday. Next saturday."
"Oh no." Emily sighed softly over a phone call. "I won't be able to attend that match either. I'm still in France to handle some business. When's the next one after that?"
"Wednesday, May 8," Zachary replied immediately as he had crammed the next ten Rosenborg matches in his head. "We'll face Tromso Idrettslag at home."
"Good," replied Emily, sounding excited. "I will definitely be there for that match. If you manage to keep performing well, we can start talking about some smaller support deals."
"OK, it's okay," Zachary replied, starting to climb the stairs of his apartment building. "In that case, I'll wait for you. What are you doing in France?" She asked. After hearing Emily mention France, she couldn't help but remember the four fellow countrymen who went to Nantes' academy. He wondered how far their skills had progressed after training in France for two years.
"It's just an agency thing" Emily replied briefly. "I'll probably tell you about it when we meet. But, I have to go now. It's getting late. So, try to rest and keep your body healthy. We'll talk more when I'm in Trondheim.week."
"Okay, good night then," said Zachary as he reached the door of his apartment. "See you next week."
"Good night" Emily said before hanging up.
Zachary put his phone back in his side pocket and unlocked the door of his apartment. He was just thinking of going through his yoga regimen quickly to start his post-match recovery as soon as possible.
He hurriedly took off his sneakers, threw his gym bag aside, and headed to the living room, where he usually went about his yoga routine. However, a system notification rang out in his mind as he walked into the room.
"DING"
"The system has detected that a user has been added to the Rosenborg squad playing in the 2013 Tippeligaen season," the AI system's apathetic voice sounded in his mind soon after.
"The conditions for the long-term mission of the serial system have been met."
"Tippeligaen's 2013 Serial Mission began successfully."
"Do users want to see the mission details immediately?"
"Yes, get the details out now" replied Zachary, sitting on one of the sofas in his living room. "But why are you delaying to announce the mission of the system? The coach promised to add me to the squad over forty minutes ago! But mission notifications have just appeared now. Why does it take longer than usual?"
"Systems have adapted to user behavior patterns" the AI replies. "The system will only issue notifications when the user is in the most comfortable and secure place. Currently, this apartment. But users can choose to change this setting at any time."
"Do users want to change this setting?"
"Negative" replied Zachary. Of course, he did not want to continue receiving notifications while he was with others.
Ever since he returned to the past and obtained his system, he stopped taking the world lightly. He reasoned that because he had a system, there was a small chance that others might also have supernatural talents. It would be a problem for him if one of those people existed and realized that he had a system. He doesn't know if he's just paranoid. But he decided to remain cautious. Better to be safe than sorry.
"DING"
"Attention users," chanting AI.
"Mission details have been displayed in the interface."
Zachary leaned against the sofa and started perusing the information displayed on the transparent blue system interface that appeared before him. He was eager to learn the details of the new mission.
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GOat MISSION
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NEW MISSION: Tippeligaen 2013 Serial Challenge
->System has detected that users are part of the Rosenborg BK squad that took part in the Norwegian top division football league of 2013, commonly referred to as Tippeligaen. The system has designed a related mission for the event.
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*History 1: Play 70% of matches in the 2013 Tippeligaen season. Users must be part of the starting eleven or a substitute in at least 21 of the 30 Tippeligaen 2013 matches.
*Reach 2: Help your teammates become 2013 Tippeligaen champions.
*History 3: Provided the most assists in the 2013 Tippeligaen season.
*History 4: Top scorer of 2013 Tippeligaen season.
*History 5: MVP of 2013 Tippeligaen season.
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* Gift:
-> Achievement prize 1:2000 points Juju
-> Achievement prize 2:2000 points Juju
-> Achievement prize 3:4000 Juju-points
-> Achievement prize 4 achievements: 5000 Juju-points
-> Milestone completion gift 5: Dosage of A-grade vitality enhancer elixir.
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NB: There will be additional rewards if the user is aware of other achievements that can unlock hidden missions.
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-> Users can choose not to accept missions.
*Receive reject
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*Punishment if no achievement is achieved after the specified time (If the user accepts).
->Minus 20000 Juju points
*Users must complete at least one achievement before the tournament ends to avoid penalties.
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*Specification: All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. And no passion can be found tinkering— in completing a life that is less than you can afford to live.
****
Zachary clicks the receive button immediately. He did not even try to consider whether he would reach at least one milestone to escape punishment.
He just takes the bet and hopes for the best prize. Since the coach has already promised him playing time, at least he has a high chance of reaching the first milestone.
Moreover, the reward for the fifth milestone was an A-grade vitality enhancing herb. The potion could heal wounds and even improve his physical fitness attributes by a large margin. He already consumed the B-grade version and understood the benefits quite well. It had healed his injured leg in a short period of time when he returned to the past about two years earlier. He intended to try to reach a milestone and win the potion.
"System" said Zachary. "What happens if I get a penalty and don't have the necessary Juju points to pay for it?"
"Punishment will turn into a debt burden for users" the AI replied. "There will be 100% interest (reduction) added to the debt each year."
"It's too high." Zakaria frowned. "Can't it be lower?"
"No, the system has a fixed rate of 100%" replied the AI. "No bargaining allowed. The user just needs to make sure not to get penalized. Then everything will be fine."
Zachary smiled wryly at it. It seems that the system does not tolerate failure in any way. He had noticed that on every mission, there was some sort of punishment. But that didn't make him tremble in the least. Instead, he was grateful that he needed the pressure to develop his skills quickly.
He shut down the system interface after confirming the acceptance of his mission with AI. She then underwent a light yoga session to stretch her muscles and improve her post-match recovery process.
When he was done, he soaked in ice water to relax his muscles before eating a late-night snack. He didn't eat much because he had dinner in Lerkendal. In addition, eating a lot after the game is not recommended. So, he simply swallowed a few bananas and an energy bar to replenish his reduced stamina reserves.
After eating, he was finally able to break free and go to sleep. However, he did not fall asleep immediately. Since he managed to get into the regular squad, he had to continue refining his skills on a daily basis. So, he activated GOAT Skills Simulator using two Juju-points and began practicing Bend-it-like-Beckham Juju for the next hour. He understands that if he hopes to score a lot of goals at Tippeligaen, he will have to rely on his dead-ball technique at some point. So, he was eager to raise it to the highest level humanly possible.