THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

An alarm sounded, waking Zachary from a deep slumber. Eyes still closed, he extended his hand by reflex to turn off the bedside alarm clock. He'd slept late the previous night after partying with teammates to celebrate Rosenborg's first trophy of the season. He was still feeling dazed and hoped to stay in bed a bit longer.

Moreover, he had the day off and wasn't worried that he would be late for any training sessions with the team. Thus, he went back under the covers, intending to put in a few more hours of sleep after silencing the annoying alarm clock. However, just as he was beginning to sink into slumberland again, his phone started ringing, rousing him to full attention.

"Who could be calling at this time of the morning?" He mumbled under his breath, shifting and rolling around under the covers. He was feeling irritable after the annoying interruption of his sleep.

Nonetheless, he couldn't ignore the call. He knew there was a chance it could be something important. Thus, he begrudgingly extended his arm out of the covers and picked up the annoying phone from the bedside table.

"Hello," he said in a flat voice, placing the phone close to his ear. He didn't even bother to look at the screen.

"Hello dear," a familiar voice, full of charm and pleasing to the ear, sounded from the other end of the line. "Did I wake you up?"

"Not at all," Zachary replied, his grogginess melting away. "How are you? Are you enjoying your trip?"

"I'm doing well and trying my best to enjoy the trip," she responded. "Congrats upon winning your first trophy, by the way. I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you."

"I miss you so much, and I'm feeling down after missing your match yesterday."

"Ohhh! I miss you too," Zachary said, his tone softening. "But it's good you'll be back in a few days."

"That's the only thing that's keeping me going," she murmured softly, but her voice still carried to Zachary's ear. "Knowing that I'll be able to see you in a few days is my greatest motivation. I'm working hard to complete my assignment in the shortest time possible."

"That's sweet of you," Zachary said. "But please don't be rush so that you can avoid making unnecessary mistakes on the job. You don't have to worry. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you return."

Camilla had left on a fortnight-long business trip to Canada a few days prior. She had missed Rosenborg's match against Viking Stavanger and the ensuing victory celebrations the previous night. So, Zachary told her about everything, including his two goals and the happenings at the post-match dinner party. The minutes flashed by quickly as they conversed, and their phone call unknowingly lasted longer than an hour.

Zachary was full of energy after the call. He stole a glance at his bedside clock and realized that it was already past ten. He didn't dawdle in bed much longer.

He got up, hastily washed up, and went outside for his routine morning jog. The morning sun had already risen above the horizon in the east. Its boundless multi-colored rays illuminated every nook and cranny of Trondheim.

Zachary relished the feeling of jogging in the mildly chilly air of late autumn. He raced across the streets of Trondheim like a free-spirited bird riding the winds. He didn't stop for anything until he made it back to his apartment forty minutes later.

By then, he was in high gear, the feeling of fatigue from the previous day long forgotten. Without wasting time, he dove into his yoga routine. For the several minutes that followed, he wholly immersed himself in stretching his muscles to quicken his post-match recovery. He enjoyed exerting himself unworriedly after making a full recovery.

"DING"

The system notification chimed within his mind right after he'd completed his daily yoga routine.

"Congratulations to the user upon completing this month's progressive overload training mission," the system AI's apathetic voice sounded in his mind immediately after. "The system has awarded the user 300 Juju-points and a one-month dosage of a B-grade physical conditioning elixir. The user should check the system interface for more details."

"Another routine system mission completed!" Zachary exclaimed as he wiped away his sweat with a clean white towel. Without further ado, he summoned the system interface to check out the specifics.

****

#4 new messages

CONGRATULATIONS

-> You have completed the mission: Progressive Overload Training to Regain Fitness after Injury

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->Mission-Rewards

1) B-grade physical conditioning elixir (Available in system-shop).

NB: The user must consume the elixir within 5 seconds of removal from the system shop.)

2) 200 Juju-points

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->Mission Summary

*Task 1: Complete 60 seat-ups daily during the first week, 80 seat-ups daily during the second, 100 seat-ups daily during the third, and 120 seat-ups daily during the fourth week. Task goal: To improve the user's body control by strengthening and toning core-stabilizing abdominal muscles after an injury. (Task completed successfully. Task Rating: S-)

*Task 2: Complete seven rounds of half a dozen Hatha-Yoga routines daily over four weeks. Task goal: To improve the user's body control by enhancing flexibility and strengthening core muscles after an injury. (Task completed successfully. Task Rating A+)

*Task 3: Run 80 miles in an outdoor environment during the fourth week. Task goal: To help the user strengthen leg muscles after recovering from injury. (Miles completed: 90 miles. Task Rating: S-)

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Overall Mission Rating: S-

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->Bonus rewards

You have earned a bonus of 100 Juju-points

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****

A faint smile made its way onto Zachary's face, softening his intense features after he'd reviewed the mission completion notification. It was a rare occurrence for the system to offer him 300 Juju points and a physical conditioning elixir as rewards for accomplishing a minor training mission. He was thus feeling quite content at that moment. Nevertheless, he quickly moved on to studying the rest of the info under the G.O.A.T MISSIONS tab.

There were three missions still pending on the system interface. The first was the 2013 Tippeligaen Serial Challenge which Zachary was about to complete. He'd already won the league with Rosenborg and realized one of the system milestones. With that achievement, he'd met the lowest mission completion requirement and also escaped the penalty.

However, he was still eagerly awaiting Rosenborg's last match of the season against Lillestrøm SK the following Sunday. He could only complete the rest of the mission milestones and receive the associated rewards after the final matchday. That caused his heart to caper with excitement since more than 7000 Juju points plus a dosage of an A-graded vitality-enhancing-elixir were imminent.

The second pending mission was the Norwegian Football Cup Serial Challenge. Rosenborg had defeated FK Haugesund in the semi-finals of the Cupen and qualified for the finals in his absence. As a result, he was on the cusp of realizing most of the milestones of that mission. As long as he helped his team defeat Molde in the finals, he would earn a bountiful sum of Juju points from the system.

The third pending mission was the 2013/14 Europa League Serial Mission. Zachary was far from realizing any of its milestones. His team, Rosenborg, had lost all its opening matches in the group stages of the Europa League in his absence. He was on the verge of suffering a system penalty after failing to realize even a single mission milestone for that mission.

Zachary's expression darkened every time he took a glance at the Europa League mission details. However, he'd already vowed to stop sobbing over spilled milk. What mattered the most at that moment was putting up his best performance to help his team qualify for the knock-out stages. That way, he could escape the system penalty of 120,000 Juju points.

"It all starts with the match against Red Bull Salzburg next Thursday. As long as we win, we'll keep our hopes of qualifying for the next round alive. I won't give up as long as there is even the slimmest hope of realizing the goal."

Zachary let out a pent-up breath and switched to the home page of the system interface. Without further ado, he started examining the information on the page.

****

SOCCER G.O.A.T SYSTEM

SYSTEM LEVEL: 3 (3900/10000 Juju-points to level-up)

USER: Zachary Bemba

AGE: 18 years

TALENT ASSESSMENT: Grade-A

JUJU-POINTS: 3900

(Evaluation: A remarkable young professional player)

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USER MENU

*USER STATS

*G.O.A.T MISSIONS

*SYSTEM SHOP (1 message)

*SYSTEM LOTTERY

*SNOOPING TOOL

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NB: Please level up the system to unlock more functions.

****

Zachary had completed several minor system missions over the past eleven months. As a result, he'd already amassed a bit more than 1000 Juju points in rewards, bringing his total stock to 3900 points.

He was a moderately wealthy man with regard to Juju points. Moreover, as long as he realized a few more milestones of the pending missions, he would have enough capital to upgrade the system. He would then get the chance to unlock more system functions.

"It all begins with the match next Thursday," Zachary mumbled, pumping his fist to motivate himself. Without further ado, he closed the interface and headed to the shower to clean up. He still had to meet with his fitness trainer, then Emily and Kristin later that day.