THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
First System Prize
Even in his previous life, Zachary, as a general rule, hid his emotions. He thought it was intel that he should not give up, so at all times, his face was blank. But today is different. Zachary had just received the first mission reward of the system, and joy gushed from him like sunlight through fine white linen; he shone from the inside out.
It felt like every fiber of him was vibrating with anticipation when he looked at the virtual screen in front of him. He first rubbed both of his palms and sat on his bed before tapping on the tab of the system shop which was still flashing red.
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*SYSTEM SHOP
-> Gift Package (temporarily unlocked) (1 msg)
-> Purchasing Skills (locked)
-> Buy Elixir (locked)
-> Lottery Coupons (locked)
->Inventory (temporarily unlocked) (1 msg)
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The Gift-Pack tab flashes red, and Zachary immediately extends his right index finger and taps it. For the first time, she noticed that the screen felt real to her touch but did not pay much attention to it.
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"DING"
1 new message
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CONGRATULATIONS
You have received a System Gift: a B-level vitality-enhancing herb.
Please select a gift card in inventory to take elixir.
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NB: Users must consume elixir within five seconds of being removed from the system store.
Description: Hold on tight; you are on a difficult journey.
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The message was short, but that was what Zachary expected. He clicked on the inventory tab and then picked the only card with an apple picture in it. And voila, a fruit, about the size of a lollipop, emerged from a transparent blue screen.
Although Zachary had read some system-tagged web novels, he was still amazed by the spectacle before him. It's just magic.
But he was not the kind of person who busied himself with the inner workings and processes of the system, and thus, he simply took a small apple and swallowed it straight away.
He had less than 5 seconds to act.
As soon as the small apple entered his mouth, it dissolved like ice cream and melted on his tongue.
[Sweet enough. Different than I imagined!] Her thought. He swallowed the liquid liquid from the elixir in one gulp.
But before long, a tingling sensation similar to a low-voltage electric shock passed through every part of his body. Before Zachary could adapt, a sharp pain pierced his head and then spread throughout his body. His muscles and bones ached when he made a slight movement.
Slowly she tried to ignore the pain by thinking about something else, but quickly realized how futile it was when she had to bite her lips to keep from crying. But like a real man, he suppressed his suffering and endured through the ordeal. He would never let himself worry about his grandmother because of some pain in his body.
A few minutes later, the mind-numbing pain receded like a tide. His body stiffened and relaxed before stiffening once more as it was filled with vitality and energy.
His limbs, especially his left leg, were the most sensitive at the time. A mysterious force seemed to wrap around his leg and gradually began to repair the torn ligament and the sprained bone like a tailor sewing the torn cloth.
Zachary then felt a burst of burning flames pulsing around the injured leg, increasing every second, thundering and brutal.
But his mind was not in suffering but was filled with joy and hope.
He understands that his injured leg is being healed and thus can choose to ignore his pain. As long as he could get fit again, all the suffering would be in vain. So, he survives.
Before long, the pain was gone and his legs went numb.
[Has it healed?] Zachary wonders.
He stood up from the bed and sensed that his limbs were stiff and looked paralyzed at that moment. He awkwardly walked around his room while stretching, and soon, the feeling in his legs and hands returned.
Zachary then felt his body filled with boundless strength and stamina, things he had never experienced even at his peak in his previous life. At that very instant, he felt like a goldfish leaping over the legendary dragon gate. So, he opened the User-Interface system and then tapped on the user-stats tab to check for changes in his body.
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*USER STATUS
->Physical Fitness: B -
->Football Techniques: B -
->Mental Capabilities and Mindset: D +
-> Factor-X: F
-> GOAT Skills: None
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Zachary could barely contain his happiness. His physical fitness stats, football technique and mental ability have improved and boosted his talent scoring value from D to C.
He was surprised that his physical fitness had jumped two ranks from D + to B -. So, he clicked on his tab to understand the change.
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->Physical Fitness (Average Rating: B -)
Balance and Coordination: C+
Agility: D +
Strength: B -
Durability: A-
Durability Points: 3500/5500 (A -)
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"I have to find a way to improve my agility before the exam," Zachary murmured as if to himself. He was happy with his stats increase except for his 'fitness' which was still below average.
In Zachary's brief professional football career in his previous life, he suffered on the pitch due to his slow pace and less agile movements. He is always quickly capped by opponents and often loses the ball more than passes it. In time, he had lost the trust of the coaching staff at TP-Mazembe before they decided on his professional contract.
Zachary understood that a player had to perfect his body control before trying to improve his agility. Long strides, correct running shape, and a low center of gravity are indicative of the high level of body control that professional soccer players have. It was under the category of technique rather than physical fitness. Thus, Zachary was able to perfect it by improving the correctness of forms through training.
But this was not something he could achieve with just a few weeks of training.
He only had about a month to test in Lubumbashi. He had to improve all his abilities back then to get a chance to grab the attention of scouts by performing superbly in football trials.
[What can I do?] He looked up while sitting on his bed.
But then he remembered that he still had a random 'GOAT skill reward' from the system. He hastily closed the physical fitness tab and chose the lottery system.
Soon, three smaller virtual pages filled the screen from left to right. A large spin lottery wheel fills the yard in the middle. The contents of the other two virtual pages remained blurry with the word 'locked' written underneath.
So, Zachary turned his attention to the too-large stationery lottery wheel and disappeared to the edge of the screen in the middle yard. It consists of a small square section arranged from top to bottom with a small picture of a famous football player. In the center, two purple arms point to the image of N'Golo Kante in a tackling posture. Next to the wheel is a red button with the phrases 'spin and win', '*3 odds', and 'lottery confirmation' written underneath.
Zachary wasted no time in vain consideration. He simply pressed the red button, and voila, the wheel spun at high speed before stopping with a pointer locked on the image of Iker Casillas - the Spanish goalkeeper who saved the ball.
"Why does the system offer me goalkeeping skills?" Zachary muttered inaudibly, his voice tense. He grew anxious after the first round because he did not get the results he wanted from the lottery.
Although he was a defensive midfielder in a short football career in his previous life, he inwardly preferred attacking positions. He will always choose to score goals like Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Christiano Ronaldo rather than defending like Rio Ferdinand. Attackers have a certain talent in them that can earn them a much higher status than defenders in the public eye. As such, Zachary does not want to be a goalkeeper or a defender.
He pressed the red button again, and the wheel spun for a few seconds before stopping in a box with Leonardo Bonucci - the Italian defender protecting the ball. He did not even bother to catch a glimpse and used his last chance to turn the wheel.
This time the wheel turned a little longer. And after what looked like years for Zachary, it stopped with his pointer locked on to the image of Zinedine Zidane - the famous French footballer. He stood with the ball at his feet but looked into the distance.
"Thank God," Zachary murmured with a long, pent-up sigh. He was of the view that there was no skill from the famous Zizou other than magic. Zizou can score and dribble like the world-famous number nine despite not being a striker. Thus, Zachary looked forward to which skills he would receive from the system. That could be his ticket to becoming a professional soccer player.
So, he tapped on the lottery confirmation button to approve the result.
"DING"
Familiar system notifications were heard as a box with a glittering image of Zinedine emerged from the wheel seconds later. In a burst of visual color, it transformed into a card that floated in front of everything else on the virtual screen.
Zachary sharpened his eyes to read the words under Zinedine's image.
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1 new message
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CONGRATULATIONS
-> you have won the lottery and gained one GOAT skill:
'ZINEDINE VISUAL JUJU'
Tap the skill card to learn the GOAT technique.
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NB: The user must use the skill card in one minute. The lottery system will be locked down after a minute.
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