THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Nightfall came with a whisper of perfect black that grew into a soothing chorus of stars.

Zachary and his three flatmates rode their bikes back to Moholt. Coach Johansen had dismissed them right after the match—only after a brief address. The boys were in a somber mood as they mulled over the parting words of the academy coach.

"Do you think the coach will go ahead and still cut out some players despite our victory over the Rosenborg reserve team last Friday?" Kasongo asked, reducing his speed and matching pace with Zachary.

"I highly doubt that," Zachary replied, matter-of-factly. "The coaches need players for the Riga Cup at the beginning of February. Our team only has sixteen players remaining. Cutting more players before the new year would cripple the team."

Paul Otterson half-smiled. "You say that because you were not here two years back. Coach Johansen cut loose more than ten under-17 players from the academy. He has no obligation to train a full team of players until they join the under-19 teams."

"Aahh!" Kasongo shouted in frustration. "The suspense of not knowing is killing me. Will I be cut from the team or not? Why didn't the coach announce the results today? That's all I can think about."

"I think Zachary has a point," Kendrick Otterson cut in. "We need a team for Riga. Factoring in our performance over the two matches, we're not in any danger."

The four boys fell into line as they rounded a corner and rode their bikes past Bunnpris Supermarket, heading into the narrow path leading to their flat. It was a Friday evening. University students from N.T.N.U were all over the place, probably attending one of their weekend parties. They all held little beers in their hands and swayed to the loud music blaring out of a tiny basement underneath one of the apartments.

"When will I join campus and start enjoying such parties?" Paul Otterson sighed as the group of four rode their bikes past the rowdy students.

"Instead of thinking about how to improve your ball handling, you're daydreaming about basement parties." Kendrick scowled at his brother. "I'll support the coach's decision if he cuts you from the team tomorrow." He harrumphed.

"We need to put more effort into our training." Kasongo sighed. "The match with the Rosenborg senior team was a wake-up call."

"Only Zachary could hold his own somewhat against them," Paul chipped in, shaking his head. "But I was relieved when we conceded only three goals. Before the match began, I was afraid we would concede more than six."

Paul reduced his speed and fell beside Zachary, who was riding at the back. "Zach! Why don't we start joining you on your physical training exercises?" He inquired—grinning.

Zachary gave his flatmate a soft smile. "You're welcome to join. But be warned, I won't babysit you. I'll be moving out at six tomorrow morning for outdoor running. I'll also pass by the training ground and do some cone agility drills before breakfast." He said, his tone solemn.

He had realized that his Swedish flatmates were talented but often fell out of their training routine. That seemed to be the reason why they had remained obscure in his previous life. Zachary was eager to motivate them and see them develop their careers further. There was a chance he could cause one of those butterfly effects, changing the soccer history trajectory in his new life.

"I'll also join in," The three others answered more or less in unison. Zachary nodded. He could sense a silent resolve in their tone. It seemed like his teammates were starting to take their training more seriously. He was glad as he didn't want to see them turn into failures at a sport they loved as he had in his previous life.

The boys rode in silence for the rest of their short journey to the flat. When they reached their apartment, they quickly washed up and headed to their rooms to sleep. They had already eaten dinner at the academy after the match.

Zachary opened the system interface once he was safely ensconced in his room. Although he was tired and close to dozing, he wanted to plan for the next day's training after making some system purchases. He first clicked on the G.O.A.T-missions tab to check the completion status of his mission.

"DING"

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#4 new messages

CONGRATULATIONS

-> You have completed the mission (Score a goal in the match against the Rosenborg senior team).

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->Mission-Rewards

1) 80 Juju points

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->Mission Summary

*Scored a magnificent goal against a senior professional team.

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Overall Mission Rating: A+

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->Bonus rewards

You have earned a total of 10 bonus Juju-points

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****

Zachary's heart leaped with excitement. His stock of Juju points had been raised to 200 once again after the two matches against the Rosenborg teams. Each game had been a system mission that had offered him plentiful rewards of Juju-points.

He was hungry for more Juju-points after starting his daily training in the G.O.A.T skills simulator. With two Juju-points, he could train his Bend-it like Beckham Juju or his arrow shot for one hour in the system's virtual world. He could also make several purchases of elixirs from the system shop with more points. Juju-points were the system's currency.

He suppressed his excitement and opened the system shop.

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*SYSTEM SHOP

->Gift Packs (locked)

->Purchase Skills

->Purchase Elixirs

->Lottery Coupons (locked)

->Inventory

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Zachary tapped on the Purchase-Elixirs tab with his right forefinger. A variety of elixirs represented by different types of fruits populated the drop-down menu. Agility and vitality enhancing-elixirs of various grades were present on the list displayed on the interface. There were also mental and physical conditioning-elixirs in the shop from the D to B grades.

However, most were expensive and beyond his stock of Juju-points. The cheapest agility enhancing-elixir, which was the D grade, cost a total of 1000 Juju-points. The elixirs for vitality enhancement were—also priced in the same range. Zachary could only afford a monthly dosage of the D to C-grade physical or mental conditioning-elixirs with his 200 Juju-points. Most of the other elixirs were in grey and inaccessible to him. For instance, he couldn't see any A or S-grade elixirs on the menu.

He chose to purchase the physical conditioning elixir right away. It would significantly improve the efficiency of his training with just a monthly dose. He'd already used up the dosage rewarded to him by the system during his one-year progressive overload training.

Zachary aimed to improve his fitness and raise one of his physical stats to the S grade. Only by becoming more physically fit could he gain the capability to learn more advanced soccer skills and become a nightmare for defenders.

Physical fitness was one of the most important aspects of soccer performance. A player could go a long way in the sport with unparalleled skill. However, without the fitness part of their game, they would not be a complete player. Zachary's goal was to raise his stamina until he was capable of maintaining a high level of intensity throughout the 90-minutes of a soccer match.

But more urgently, he needed to improve his agility to the S grade. His dribbling runs had helped him beat several defenders in previous matches. He was intent on developing his dribbling skills further—till he could beat any defender in any game.

His only logical choice was the physical conditioning elixir since it would improve his agility in the short run. He couldn't afford the more effective agility-enhancing-elixirs at that moment.

After purchasing the elixir, Zachary spent four Juju-points to activate the G.O.A.T skills simulator for two hours. He carried out his daily routine of practicing the Bend-it like Beckham Juju before entering slumberland at 11 PM that night.

He had an important meeting with Coach Johansen to attend the next day.