THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary had been eyeing the Robinho-step-over Juju for a long time. That was because he would acquire the ability to break through opponents with just a few body feints and step-overs after mastering the skill. He would turn into the perfect ball wizard that could make adversaries tremble in fear if they chanced upon him on the field of play. So, there was no need to make any deliberations before choosing to learn the skill at that moment.

"System," he mumbled, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "I would like to start learning the skill right away."

"DING"

"Command received," the AI intoned. "The user is attempting to learn a G.O.A.T Skill that requires both mental and physical conditioning before achieving initial mastery."

"To commence the required mental conditioning, the user needs to spend four Juju points to activate the G.O.A.T Skills Simulator for two hours."

"Okay. I would like to undergo the mental conditioning right away. So, go ahead and deduct the Juju points required to activate the simulator."

"DING"

"You have spent four Juju points to activate the system's simulator for a total of two hours. The system's virtual reality simulation will commence in two minutes. Please lie down and ready yourself for the procedure."

Zachary didn't experience any emotional fluctuations since he'd already experienced the conditioning back—when he was learning the Bend-it-like-Beckham Juju.

He first ensured that he'd locked his hotel room door before closing the curtains and lying down on the sofa in a supine position. He then emptied his mind while waiting for the two minutes to elapse. When the countdown was over, new words started filling up the system interface positioned at an oblique angle just before his face.

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G.O.A.T Skills Simulator Activating…

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Connecting System Neural Interface…

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ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL

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Zachary's senses blurred for a bit after the last system message appeared on the screen. His consciousness grew fuzzier, giving him an impression of traversing through thick static. Then with a slight jolt, his awareness sharpened as he descended into a new reality. Once again, he'd arrived in the virtual reality space of the system simulator.

"DING"

The system notification sounded as a few words populated the interface that'd followed his consciousness into the virtual reality.

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*G.O.A.T Skills Simulator

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Mental Conditioning Exercises Initiating...

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Robinho-Step-Over Juju training packages loading...

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Select the type of field and the setting to begin training the technique.

a) Training ground without opponents, Artificial Turf.

b) Training ground with opponents, Artificial Turf.

c) Real match setting on GrassMaster Surface.

d) Real match setting on Natural Turf.

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NB: For better results, the user should spend a minimum of twenty hours training under each option.

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Zachary naturally selected the first option on the list. Since it was his first time training step-overs, he'd decided to take it easy by first familiarizing himself with the skill on the artificial turf without opponents. He would then consider training with the other options after attaining initial mastery over the technique.

"DING"

The system notification rang in his ears immediately after his forefinger left the screen. A perfect green soccer pitch soon started forming beneath his feet. Before long, it spread out and covered more ground in the formerly dark virtual space.

Soon, a vivid 3D image of Robinho, in Brazil's yellow and blue colors, came into being a few yards away from him. In front of him, on the green, were ten balls and a row of cones arranged meticulously to form a basic dribbling drill.

The Brazilian shook his head as if he wasn't satisfied with the set-up. He then waved his hands dismissively as a pair of weights appeared around his ankles.

However, that seemed not to satisfy him. He repeated the gesture, and Zachary immediately felt a pair of weights weighing down on his ankles. By his estimate, the ankle weights were each about 2 Kgs.

Zachary could now tell that the system was just about to simulate a real step-over training scenario. So, he remained attentive as he watched the Brazilian ready himself to commence the drill. He was eager to master the step-over technique as quickly as possible.

The Brazilian didn't dilly-dally for long. He soon started dribbling one of the balls through the rows of cones while wearing the ankle weights. His steps were steady, and his control squeaky-clean as he weaved in and out of the cones. And before long, he'd already done about five repetitions of the dribbling cone drills.

Zachary was surprised by the Brazilian's high-level body control and agility, especially since he was wearing ankle weights. Even though it was just a basic cone drill, it should have been more taxing with the additional burden to his ankles. However, the Brazilian just carried on with the monotonous exercise for the next ten minutes without showing any signs of fatigue. He was like a short cyborg as he worked tirelessly with the ball.

"Your turn," the Brazilian said after completing yet another set of the cone drill. Without waiting for a response, the 3D image shimmered slightly before swiftly moving towards Zachary and merging with his silhouette.

The next moment, Zachary lost control of his body. He could perceive his surroundings and feel his body, but he wasn't in command. It was as if Robinho's 3D image had possessed him.

"Let's begin," he heard himself mumble.

Without wasting a second, he started going through a cone drill similar to the one Robinho had been performing only a few minutes ago. Even with the weights burdening his ankles, he didn't make any mistakes while performing the exercise.

Zachary then understood the whole point of the exercise. At that moment, he was experiencing firsthand how Robinho felt and controlled his body while training his step-overs. Thus, he wouldn't deviate from the correct path with those experiences from Robinho, himself, as the guide.

The minutes flashed by quickly as Zachary trained within the simulator's virtual reality space. He went from one routine to the next until he finally started working with the ball.

At that moment, the option of training without opponents within the simulator could no longer appeal to him. So, he chose to face off against opponents to increase his training efficiency after a few more minutes of dribbling drills. It was then that he experienced firsthand how Robinho felt when beating opponents using his step-over skills.

With a couple of sidesteps and a slight change of his center of gravity, he could send the opponent the other way while breaking through the opposite direction. Beating defenders was just that simple if one managed to master Robinho's step-over skills and his flip-flap playing style.

Zachary could hardly contain his delight when he pictured himself using the step-overs and quick feints to break through opponents the following season. He was confident that he would find it easy to achieve perfect mastery over the technique by relying on his physique and incredible body fitness. After that, it would be his time to shine.

With his S-graded agility and body control, he would render opponents helpless and cut through defenses like a sharp knife through vegetables. Only a minute fraction of defenders active in the world would be able to contain him whenever he was on the ball. He was really looking forward to the future.

"DING"

The system notification sounded just after he had gone through another routine of training his step-overs within the system's virtual space.

"The user has completed the first two of the one hundred hours of mental conditioning required to achieve initial mastery in the Robinho-step-over Juju," the system AI intoned. "For better efficiency, the user is advised to go through two hours of physical conditioning in reality first—before returning to the simulator."

Zachary immediately opened the G.O.A.T Skills menu on hearing the AI's notification. As expected, his mental conditioning progress for the Robinho-step-over Juju had gone up from 0% to 2% after undergoing training for two hours in the simulator. Thus, he would be able to complete all the necessary mental conditioning if he underwent ninety-eight more hours of targeted training within the system's virtual space.

The only downside was that he needed to undergo similar training routines for the technique on actual training grounds in reality. Otherwise, he would turn into an athlete of theory who mastered all the knowledge about the skill in virtual space but still failed to execute it in genuine competitive matches.

And what was the benefit of having a skill that he couldn't utilize in matches?

There was simply no benefit. That being the case, Zachary was determined to put in all the required hard work, both in reality and within the simulator, so that he could achieve perfect mastery over the skill. Only then would he be able to make the step-over Juju his own and use it in matches as if it was an inborn talent.

"System," Zachary said after a moment of consideration. "Do you have an estimate of how long I need to master the skill if I was to start undergoing four hours of targeted training in reality on a daily basis?"

"The user already possesses S-graded body control and physical fitness attributes. So, the user will only require three months to master the skill by training for four hours on a daily basis."

"However..." the AI continued. "The user is advised to increase the daily training time to six hours for better efficiency. The user can also rely on the A-graded physical-conditioning-elixir to achieve better results."

"So, how long will I need to master the skill if I train for six hours daily and also consume the A-graded elixir?"

"One and a half months," the system AI replied.

"One and half months!"

Zachary couldn't help but frown as he sunk into a moment of contemplation. It was already close to the end of January, meaning that he only had about a month to spare before playing against Fiorentina in the Europa League round of thirty-two. So, he was not in the best of moods since he understood that he couldn't utilize the step-over Juju in that crucial fixture for his team.

"System," Zachary called out to the AI. "Is there any way to shorten the time needed to master the skill even further?"

"Negative," the AI responded right away. "The shortest time possible to master the skill after factoring in all the user's attributes and available elixirs is one and half months. There is no way around it unless the user makes another breakthrough in one of his core attributes."

"So, be it," Zachary said, letting out a breath of pent-up air. He would have to rely on his other skills against Fiorentina since he wouldn't have mastered the step-over Juju by the time of the fixture. However, Zachary wasn't that worried since his agility and strength had already broken through to the S-grading. He could easily face off against the Fiorentina by relying just on his speed and power.

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