THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
System Shop
The night arrived with a perfect black whisper that grew into a soothing star choir.
Zachary and his three flatmates ride their bikes back to Moholt. Coach Johansen sacked them right after the game—only after a short speech. The boys were in a gloomy mood as they pondered the farewell words from the academy coach.
"Do you think the coach will continue and still cut off some players despite our victory over the Rosenborg reserve team last Friday?" Kasongo asked, reducing his speed and equalizing his speed with Zachary.
"I highly doubt that" Zachary replied without further ado. "The coaches need players for the Riga Cup in early February. Our team has only sixteen players left. Cutting out more players before the new year will cripple the team."
Paul Otterson was half smiling. "You said that because you weren't here two years ago. Coach Johansen took out more than ten U-17 players from the academy. He has no obligation to coach a full team of players until they join the U-19 team."
"Ohhh!" Kasongo shouted in frustration. "The tension of not knowing kills me. Will I be kicked out of the team or not? Why didn't the coach announce the results today? That's all I can think of."
"I think Zachary has a point" cut Kendrick Otterson. "We need a team for Riga. Considering our performance over the two games, we're not in any danger."
The four boys lined up as they turned the corner and rode their bikes past Bunnpris Supermarket, heading for a narrow path towards their flat. It was Friday night. Students from NTNU are everywhere, perhaps attending one of their weekend parties. They all held a small beer in their hands and swayed following the loud music blaring from the small basement under one of the apartments.
"When will I join the campus and start enjoying a party like that?" Paul Otterson sighed as the group of four rode a bicycle past the rowdy students.
"Instead of thinking about how to improve your ball handling, you're instead daydreaming about a party in the basement." Kendrick scowled at her brother. "I'd support the coach's decision if he fired you from the team tomorrow." He grunts.
"We need to put more effort into our training." Kasongo sighed. "The match with Rosenborg's senior team is a warning."
"Only Zachary can resist fighting them," Paul interrupted, shaking his head. "But I was relieved when we conceded only three goals. Before the game started, I was afraid we would concede more than six goals."
Paul reduced his speed and fell down beside Zachary, who was riding behind. "Zach! Why don't we start joining you in your physical training?" He asked—smuck.
Zachary gave a gentle smile to his flatmate. "You are welcome to join. But be careful, I won't babysit you. I'll move in at six tomorrow morning for an outdoor run. I will also pass the training ground and do the cone agility exercise before breakfast. ." He said, his tone was serious.
He realized that his flatmates in Sweden were talented but often dropped out of their exercise routines. It seemed like that was the reason why they had remained unclear in their previous lives. Zachary is eager to motivate them and see them develop their careers further. There is a chance he could cause one of those butterfly effects, changing the trajectory of football history in his new life.
"I'm also coming, too" answered the three more or less in unison. Zakaria nodded. He could feel a silent determination in their tone. It seemed like his teammates were starting to take their training more seriously. He was happy because he did not want to see them turn into failures at a sport they liked as much as in his previous life.
The boys drove in silence for the rest of their short trip to the flat. When they reached their apartment, they quickly took a shower and headed to their room to sleep. They had dinner at the academy after the game.
Zachary opened the system interface as soon as he took refuge safely in his room. Although he was tired and almost asleep, he wanted to plan the training the next day after making some system purchases. He first clicked on the GOAT-mission tab to check the status of his mission completion.
"DING"
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4 new messages
CONGRATULATIONS
-> You have completed the mission (Core a goal in a match against the senior team of Rosenborg).
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->Misi-gift
1)80 Juju points
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->Mission Summary
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Overall Mission Rating: A+
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-> Bonus gifts
You have earned a total of 10 Juju-point bonuses
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****
Zachary's heart jumped in excitement. His Juju points stock has been raised to 200 once again after two games against Rosenborg's side. Each game has become a mission system that has offered many rewards Juju points.
He thirsts for more Juju points after starting his daily training in the GOAT skill simulator. With two Juju-points, he can train his Bend-it like Beckham Juju or his arrow shot for an hour in the virtual world of the system. He could also make some elixir purchases from the system store with more points. Juju points are the currency of the system.
He suppressed his excitement and opened a system shop.
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*SYSTEM SHOP
-> Gift Package (locked)
-> Purchasing Skills
-> Buy Elixir
-> Lottery Coupons (locked)
->Inventory
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Zachary tapped on the Purchase-Elixir tab with his right index finger. Various herbs represented by different types of fruit fill the drop-down menu. Agility and vitality enhancing herbs of various levels are present on the list displayed on the interface. There are also mental and physical conditioning potions in the store from grades D to B.
However, most are expensive and out of stock his Juju points. The cheapest agility-enhancing herb, which was class D, cost a total of 1000 Juju points. Herbs for increased vitality— are also appreciated in the same range. Zachary was only able to purchase physical or mental conditioning potions of levels D through C with his 200 Juju points. Most of the other herbs were gray in color and were inaccessible to it. For example, he could not see grade A or S potions on the menu.
He chose to purchase a physical conditioning potion right away. This will significantly increase the efficiency of his training with just a monthly dose. He had already spent the dosage given to him by the system during his one year of progressive overload training.
Zachary aims to improve his fitness and raise one of his physical stats to an S grade. Only by becoming more physically fit can he gain the ability to learn more advanced football skills and become a nightmare for defenders.
Physical fitness is one of the most important aspects of soccer performance. A player can go far in the sport with unparalleled skill. However, without the fitness part of their game, they would not be complete players. Zachary's goal is to increase his stamina to maintain a high intensity level for 90 minutes of football.
But more urgently, he needed to increase his agility to the S class. His dribbling run has helped him beat several defenders in previous matches. He intends to develop his dribbling skills further until he can beat any defender in any game.
His only logical choice was a physical conditioning potion as it would increase his agility in the short term. He could not afford a more effective agility-enhancing elixir at that.
After purchasing elixir, Zachary spent four Juju-points to activate the GOAT skill simulator for two hours. His daily routine was to practice Bend-it like Beckham Juju before entering slumberland at 11 p.m.
He had an important meeting with Coach Johansen to attend the next day.