THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Winter Training Solo

The winter months soon arrive when the nature orchestra suddenly comes to a halt. Most of the villagers of Student Moholt slowly went on vacation. Some of them are from outside Europe.

"Are you sure you want to stay here alone?" Kasongo asked, frowning. "The coach has given us a month's vacation. You should also rest. Why not join me on vacation? You don't have to spend all week there — but only two weeks holiday."

"Kasongo," Zachary recited solemnly. "I've decided. I won't be going home or on any vacation until I reach the professional level."

He had no intention of changing his environment while in the midst of an important system training plan and mission. Resting in the moment will make him weak and reduce his focus on his goals.

On the other hand, if he stayed in Trondheim, he would be free to train all day without any distractions. He would increase his stats even further before the others returned from their holidays. A one-month training plan can do its physical wonders, with help from the system. Zachary doesn't give up.

"Alright, adjust yourself," muttered Kasongo as he pulled his suitcase out of the door. He was on his way to meet his family on vacation in Paris. "I wish you a Merry Christmas. Hopefully, you'll have one unforgettable memory here alone in an empty apartment." He added, wry with sarcasm.

"Merry Christmas to you too" replied Zachary, smiling at his flatmate. He did not mind his friend's tone because he had declined his invitation several times. Being rejected multiple times will ruin anyone's mood. "Remember to buy me good quality Adidas football boots when you get to Paris" he added jokingly.

After Kasongo leaves, Zachary is left alone in Moholt's student village apartment. His flatmates in Sweden had already left the day before. He felt lonely in the quiet apartment for a moment, although the feeling did not last long.

Seeing the snow outside his window roused his spirit. The corner of his mouth curved into a gentle smile. "Just one more year—and all this training will be in vain," he murmured to himself to encourage. "It's time to start training."

Zachary calmed down, seemingly taking inspiration from the frozen ground outside his window. Without the slightest hesitation, he did an intensive training routine that helped him forget that this was the Christmas holiday.

Due to knee-deep snow across the city, Zachary moved all of his training programs indoors. He spends most of his time either at the gym or indoor futsal court, going through speedwork routines and improving the accuracy of his shots.

He even started soaking in a tub of cold water every night for fifteen minutes to recover faster and more free time to exercise. He would soothe his aching muscles and reduce his perception of fatigue whenever he immersed his body in water at a temperature of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius. Ice-cold water will refresh her body and make sure she is fit for a series of yoga and Hip-Flexor exercises she does at night.

Zachary wasn't worried about blackmailing himself because he had the physical conditioning potion from the system store. By consuming one dose, he gained enough energy to train for a week without harming his body.

The gloom of winter did not dampen his spirits as he continued to progress and develop in many fields. The movement is faster and sharper than the previous month. His body strength is also getting better. He can't wait for the Riga Cup to start. He was eager to test his skills against a team of international academy students from across Europe.

Zachary runs, jogs, lifts weights, and performs agility and endurance-enhancing exercises indoors. He does not neglect to juggle the ball for about an hour or two every day to maintain deft control of the ball. Holidays like Christmas holidays often make players rust. Zachary wants to avoid losing his touch and losing form. The ball is his best friend, his route to fame and fortune. He had to spend time stroking it, tying it as much as possible.

Since all his friends had left, he practiced alone using the wall. He would mark a point on the wall and shoot it from a different angle while adjusting the strength of his foot.

The wall soon became the perfect training partner. It would play with him whenever he wanted, and he could play with him for hours, yet never get tired. Sometimes he kicked the ball into the wall late into the night, varying the swing speed of his kicks and practicing the Bend-it technique like Beckham Juju.

His skills improved at a steady pace as the walls were the perfect match. That never makes a mistake. If he gives the perfect pass, he will get the perfect ball back. The practice is a hundred times more efficient when practicing with the walls in the room. He doesn't need to keep running and collecting the ball between his shots, as he usually does on a real field. Because of his improved efficiency, he will usually shoot 100 times more than he does on the pitch.

By mid-January, he could easily play 400 rounds of one-twos non-stop in the air with a wall. It was as if he was playing tennis with a wall, albeit with his football boots. Throughout the offseason, he managed to improve his already phenomenal ball possession even further.

Zachary has progressed in various aspects of the game by the end of the one-month holiday. He barely felt the passage of time as he was preoccupied by his hectic training schedule. He even successfully completed the system speed training mission and earned a sizable amount of Juju points as a reward.

He has been awarded 600 Juju points for completing a speed training routine along with an additional 200 points as a bonus. He felt like a rich man sitting on top of the Juju point mountain. He has a total stock of 1067 points after the mission is completed—because his previous earnings were 350 Juju-points in a friendly match before the Christmas Holidays.

With Juju's huge number of points, Zachary has the option to upgrade the system. However, he chose better actions to meet his immediate goals.

He bought a D level agility enhancer elixir from the system store for 1000 Juju points. He was still in a good mood despite almost depleting his entire supply. The remaining 67 Juju points were enough to activate the system simulator until the opening ceremony of the Riga Cup, two weeks later.

The D-level herb was in the form of a small onion, just like the C-level version he consumed when he initially increased his agility. Zachary swallowed it immediately after removing it from the system inventory.

Waves of intense hunger swept over him after it dissolved into his system. However, he had made a lot of preparations this time by preparing one kilogram of grilled chicken thighs in the delicious oven — and a few other side dishes to eat after consuming the concoction.

He has resisted the urge to check his progress over the Christmas holidays.

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*USER STATUS

->Physical Fitness: A+

-> Soccer Techniques: A+

-> Intelligence Game: A+

->Mental Capabilities and Mindset: B-

-> Factor-X: F

-> GOAT Skills: 3

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*USER STATUS

->Physical Fitness (Average Rating: A+)

Balance and Coordination: A+

Agility: A+

Power: A-

Stamina: A+

Durability Points: 7400/9500 (A+)

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"What the fuck?" Zachary could not help but swear after perusing his physical statistics. "What's going on?" He rubbed his Afro-style hair as if it was bothering him, his voice mixed with a frustrated tone.

All of his physical stats kept improving due to his intense fitness workout routine. His strength, stamina, and endurance stats had increased by one level over the past five months.

However, its agility status is still at A+ rating even after elixir consumption.

He was sure it worked because he could still feel a wave of hunger sweeping through his body. And, she's been getting faster after working out with Coach Johansen's routine for the past few months. But the system still rates him below the S grade in the agility department. Zakaria. He pondered whether he needed to consume an A-grade elixir in order to push his stats to S-rank.

The only way to ascertain how much its peak sprint speed has increased is to use an electric timer. However, it had to wait for— until the coaches returned from their holidays a few days later.