My Goalkeeping System

Litno FC players tried to do something with just one minute remaining on the clock but before they could do anything reasonable, the referee had blown his whistle to bring the match to an end.

"And there's the final whistle," Jim said. "It really looked one-sided in the first half with Litno FC totally bossing the game but coming into the second half the hosts upped their game and finally they were able to get that equalizer."

"Yeah, Jim that was a very entertaining match to watch, the introduction of Mateo and Merino really changed the rhythm of the match to an extent, and then when Ferran and Roland came in, the team seemed to have turned into a whole different team from the one that played in the first half," John said. "Litno FC had quite a good number of chances to increase their lead but luck didn't seem to be on their side in taking those chances."

The players were making their way out of the pitch now as the image of Zen appeared on the screen with a golden tag on it and man of the match written on it.

"I'm not surprised," Dave muttered.

"With the draw, Unique FC maintains their stay in ninth place while Litno FC moves one point clear of Lospeno FC in twelfth place," John said.

"That marks the end of our coverage for tonight, good night." Jim said.

With the match now done, it was time for the post-match interview, and that marked the end of the match for Dave.

He just had one thing to do to make sure that they were still in the race for the conference league spot.

He picked up the remote on the table with his left hand and switched to the channel that was showing the match between Supreme United and Lesica United.

"Roland, it's three nill!" The commentator screamed as soon as he switched to the channel.

Roland had just been played through and with an overhead kick, he put the goalkeeper on the floor to get the ball into the goalpost.

"That's his second for tonight and Supreme United's third." The commentator said.

The scoreboard was now showing Supreme United three, Lesica United two with seventy-three minutes showing on the clock.

Dave let out a sigh of relief before he switched back to the previous channel, he just didn't like the football matches of other teams in the league, especially Supreme United.

Mateo was being interviewed now as he slowly removed Emma's head from his shoulder and allowed it to drop on the couch slowly before slowly removing her arms from his body.

With her of his body now, he could finally get up and stretch.

"Awwww." He vocalized as he stretched himself, his right hand particularly.

"Yeah, it was a tough match but we did our best and I'm glad we finally got that equalizer," Mateo said. "We're three points away from the conference league spot, we'll try our best to be able to participate in the competition next season."

"Yeah, we will," Dave said with a smile.

<You still have good chances to fight it but winning this match would have made it easier>

"Yeah, but we have five matches left before the season comes to an end, Lesica United will definitely drop points," Dave said.

<And you think you guys won't?>

'I'm trying to be positive here, Catherine.'

<I know but positivity doesn't make up for hard work, good players, proper management, and good tactics>

'I get your point Catherine but some teams can have all that in some matches and in some matches, some of them or all of them just fall apart that's what leads to losing the match.'

<How many times has Real Madrid won the champions league?>

'Twelve.'

<And how many times has Barcelona won it?>

'Six.'

<And you think they won those trophies those seasons by breaking during important matches> Catherine said. <Sure they may lose a few matches because of a few mistakes but in important matches, they implement all those things and give their best>

'I get your point but I don't think Unique has all the resources to implement all those things, the last time the team qualified for a champions league spot through the league was in 1985 and they couldn't even make it past the group stage but still that was a very good season for them as they won the Europa League and the super cup.'

<Yeah, I know>

'You do?' Dave replied with a surprised expression on his face.

<Yeah>

'How do you….'

<I know a lot of things Dave>

'Okay.'

He knew that saying that meant that she wasn't going to tell her how she knows, it wasn't the first she was refusing to tell him something.

He turned his gaze to Emma and watched her breathing peacefully with her mouth slightly open.

"You just couldn't stay awake for ninety plus a few extra minutes." He said before lifting her.

He slowly carried her to the room upstairs and slowly dropped her on the bed before pulling her boots off her feet and covering her with the brown sheets on the bed.

He stared at her for a while before sitting down on the bed.

He brought out the ring case in his pocket and stared at it for a few seconds before opening it to reveal the ring with a little purple diamond.

As soon as he felt the bed move, he quickly closed the case and slotted it back into his pocket only to turn and see that she had just turned toward the other side.

<I can't wait to see how everything will play out>

____ ____

Dave was the first to get up in the morning as Emma seemed to be very much fast asleep beside him.

He got up from the bed and slid into his sports trousers, jacket, and running boots before making his way downstairs.

His everyday first destination since he got the kitchen since he got the system and because of this particular quest, he filled up the freezer with a lot of his required bottled water, even the fridge upstairs was filled up for backup.

[ Daily quest completed ]

[ Drink two liters of water ]

[ +5 exp received ]

[ 30/200 exp ]

He dropped the container on the floor and turned toward the exit to see Emma standing there.

"You know it's weird how you're able to drink two liters of water on the spot." She said,

"Weird or amazing?" Dave asked moving closer to her.

"No, it's weird." She maintained.

"You think it's weird, I think it's amazing, it's okay to have different opinions on something." He said with a shrug.

"I'm guessing I slept off and you had to carry me upstairs." She said turning her gaze toward the living room,

"Yeah, my shoulder served as a very comfortable pillow until it started to get overwhelmed," Dave said tapping his right shoulder.

"Sorry," Emma said, folding her face as she felt a little embarrassed to hear that from him.

"It's okay, a little stretch was enough to get it back to normal," Dave said, stepping closer to her.

"So how did the match end?" She asked.

"Why don't you guess?"

"You know I can open my phone and see the final score in a matter of seconds." She said raising her phone.

"I know but I want you to guess, just guess," Dave said.

"They didn't win that I can tell through your mood so it definitely has to be a draw by luck given the fact that it all seemed one-sided before I dozed off." She said,

<She used everything she could get her hand on to get the correct outcome>

'My mood gave it away.'

"That is….."

"What?" She asked.

"Correct."

"I knew it, if it was a win you would have kissed me by now." She said.

"Really?" Dave said with an awkward expression on his face.

<She knows you well>

"Yeah, that's exactly what you would have done." She said with certainty.

"Wow, now I feel like I don't even know myself but at least I know I am going to kiss you right now." He said before leaning closer to kiss her.

"I'm going for my morning run now." He said heading toward the door.

"You haven't told me who scored the equalizer." She said,

"You have your phone, check the highlights." He said before opening the door.

"I won't check it."

"I know you won't." He said before closing the door.

____ ____

The goalkeeper returned from his run after about thirty minutes after leaving to find the living room and kitchen empty.

"She's not in the kitchen, that's a surprise." He said making his way to the freezer.

His stomach rumbled as he immediately felt a serious pang of hunger.

"I've never felt this hungry after a morning run before." He muttered to himself before opening the freezer.

His eyes were on the leftover pizza which he had put there after he had only managed to eat two slices and Emma had managed to eat only one.

He reached for the pizza but just as he was about to carry it out, he received something from his system.

[Long-term quest received ]

[ As a growing athlete your health determines how far you will be able to go and food plays an important role in that ]

[ Avoid junk food for three months ]

[ Quest rewards ]

[ ???? ]

[ ???? ]

[ ???? ]

'Another quest with mystery rewards.'

****

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?

If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.