An exhausted Harry dragged himself home. He took a quick shower, wore his pajamas, turned off the lights and slipped into his bed.
'Maria, I'm thinking that this hidden quest was too easy. I just bragged in the heat of the moment and gained an undeserved reward.'
"You are wrong to think like that, Harry."
'Why is that?'
"The system rewarded you for getting on the right track. Look, you have a dream-like system that nobody else has in this universe. Whatever profession you decide on, you need to become the best in it. Don't you agree?"
'Yes, I get that, but...'
"No buts, you haven't truly realised the value of what you have. You are the one and only with a system. You absolutely cannot be behind others.
It's disrespectful to the system. You can't be half-hearted or wishy-washy anymore."
'I am not like that at all.'
"I know. However, you need to become a Superstar. You need to think, talk and act like a Superstar. No one becomes the best in a day. The system can't do so either. It only rewards your efforts much more than normal. The key is your own efforts.
Hence, the system guides you towards the correct path. You need to have that self-confidence and belief that all Superstars have. Only if you have that mentality will you aim higher. With a higher target, you will put in more effort. Do you get it now, why was this an important hidden quest?
'You just want me to work like a horse,' Harry complained. Nevertheless, he understood the point Maria wanted him to realise. He felt much more determined. He was going to do it.
'Maria, I will definitely become the king of football.' Harry announced his goal with much more conviction than his previous bragging.
"Good boy. On a side note, you have notifications pending. I have also changed the settings so that you will not waste extra time on the system. You will receive rewards such as Potions, System Points, Training Plans and Skills directly in the inventory."
'Nice, why don't you automatically spin the wheel when I receive free lottery spins as a reward.'
"Alright. In addition, you will receive notifications for bonus rewards and stat rewards. Moreover, except for notifications when you're in immediate danger, you'll only receive notifications when you're alone."
'Alright, show me the notifications now.'
*Ding*
* Settings have been changed successfully. *
* You have unlocked a chained passive quest.
* You have a bonus reward of 1 free lottery spin for completing your first daily mission.
* You have multiple items in your inventory.
* First System Upgrade is available.
* Your Rating has improved by 35.
Harry opted to see the details of the passive quest.
____
******* Become the king of football:
Step 1: Get your first fan. (Accept/Reject)
Rewards: 35 System Points, 1 Free Lottery Spin & Unlocks Step 2.
____
Harry accepted the quest and opened the Inventory.
____
* 1 E- Recovery Potion (new)
* 1 E+ Recovery Potion (new)
* 1 D+ Recovery Potion (new)
* 100 System Points (new)
* 1 Elite Player Skill (new): Attacking Instinct of Marco Reus
* 1 E+ Healing Potion
* 1 C- Recovery Potion
____
Harry added the skill to his profile. Once more, the system injected new memories in his brain. Harry felt like the soul of Marco Reus possessed his body and took control of it.
Meanwhile, his own soul stayed in the background learning everything Reus did. By the time he came out of the memory lane, he had watched Reus go through every single attacking play of his stellar career.
Harry gained much more from these memories than he did from De Bruyne's.
*Ding*
* 1 New active mission has been unlocked.
Harry immediately opted to see the details.
___
**** Learn the Attacking Instinct of Marco Reus by watching football matches, visualising attacking scenarios and playing in football matches.
Current Proficiency: 25/100%
Reward for 100% Proficiency: Increases Attacking Awareness, Attack Positioning, Vision and Game Reading Mental Attributes by a grade.
Reward Restrictions: The 4 stats mentioned above will be rated C+ if the overall rating of the player is lower than C+.
The mentioned stats will be one grade higher if the player's overall rating is in between C+ and A-.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
____
It was getting late, and Harry felt sleepy. After all, he had a long day where both his body and soul died once. After his rebirth, he even lost the larger part of his memories. Harry needed a good long sleep. He asked Maria to close the system window and upgrade the system while he slept.
** Tring-Tring **
Harry woke up to the annoying sound of an alarm he couldn't turn off.
'Maria! Will you turn off the alarm? Why have you woken me up in the middle of the night? Damn, I will go crazy with an alarm ringing in my brain.' Harry was
super annoyed.
"Hey, you are definitely not a morning person. You need to wake up, look at the time, it's 4 am."
'Come on, it's only 4. Wake me up at 6.'
"Hey, you can't dismiss your schedule like this. Don't be so lazy."
'Alright, I'll get up.'
*Ouch* *Bang*
'Damn, it hurts. Hey, I don't think I can move. My legs feel like they are made of lead.' Sitting on the floor, Harry looked silly as he complained to Maria.
"One day this could make headlines, *Harry Bazz falling off his bed with cramps.*" Maria giggled.
- - - - - - -
One week passed by while Harry trained alone. He ran with the ball in the early hours, from 4 am to 7 am.
After breakfast with his grandfather, he trained in the gym for 3 hours. He did some of the simpler skill training drills till noon. He watched match videos in the afternoon. In the evenings, he practiced passing to imaginary targets. After dinner with his grandfather, he did his image training.
____
User Stats:
Physical Ability: 135
Technical Ability: 180
Mental Ability: 105
Over all Rating: 140
_____
User Name: Harris Bazz
Known as: Harry Bazz
Gender: Male
Age: 15 years, 17 days.
Date of Birth: 30th May, 2006.
Education: Matric
Height: 178cm
Weight: 68 kg
Friends Registered: None
Relationship Status: Single dog
Job: Unemployed
Hobbies: Football
Earnings: None
Completed Missions: 10
Football Potential: SS Rated
Football Rating: Unrated
Football Skills: Passing like De Bruyne 2% Proficiency, Attacking Instinct of Reus 30% Proficiency.
Titles: None
Achievements: None
System Points: 10/110
_____
* 1 D- Recovery Potion
* 1 D+ Recovery Potion
* 10 System Points
* 1 D+ Healing Potion
* 1 E+ Healing Potion
* 1 C- Recovery Potion
____
Everything was normal. His rating and skill proficiency had increased slightly. He was rewarded a bonus of 10 system points for completing 10 missions. He had one more healing potion. His recovery potions were better after the lower quality ones were consumed.
Anyway, that's not important. Today, Harry's friends were coming from the city. Four of his friends had accepted his invitation. They were Robinson, Sherry, Ali and David. They were going to arrive by the eve.
There was more good news. The 18-yard box on one side of the pitch was fully ready to be played on.
Furthermore, the nutritionist, the ball boys, the fitness coaches, the trainers and the physiotherapist were going to arrive by the eve.
The equipment in the gym was installed yesterday. All the other items Harry needed were in the warehouse nearby.
Around 4 pm, the first person arrived. Harry and his grandfather (who had stayed at home since last week) were already dressed up for the occasion by then. They went to the conference room where the meeting was going to be held.
'A village, a villa, a conference room, a gym, a pair of beautiful gardens, an indoor pool, a table-tennis room, a snooker room, a tennis court, a boxing ring, a chain of warehouses, a helipad and an underground parking space.' Harry got lost in his thoughts while he was waiting for the guests on his seat. 'Was my grandfather the retired King of this country with all these facilities available in such a remote village?'
Moreover, there were foreigner professional maids, butlers, chefs and security guards at the villa. In addition, there were three different secretaries that Harry had seen so far. His grandfather's connections were off the charts with how quickly Harry's football pitch plan was being implemented.
To be able to do so much in such a backwater place, Harry found his grandfather more and more mysterious every day.
Meanwhile, the maids had helped the lady guest freshen up. Then, the butler guided her to the conference room.
"Hi, I'm Agatha Daniels, the nutritionist."
'Wow, it's a hot blonde.' Harry exclaimed in his head.
Harry politely welcomed her. He wasn't able to look directly at the lady. So, his grandfather did the rest of the talking.
Within the next hour, people kept coming. Jack and John Roberts were brothers from the NA continent who both ended up becoming fitness coaches. Nick Sullivan was a young coach from the E continent. Fabio Silva was a young coach from the SA continent.
Meanwhile, the senior coach was a Frank Lampard look alike. Harry was so stunned he forgot the person's name. He even asked Maria, 'Is that who I think it is?'
"No. Hmm, I think it's about time you learned some things about this world. I will talk about this after the meeting." Maria quickly interrupted his wild fantasy at that time.
There were some other people that Harry didn't expect would come. For example, an old doctor named Neil Aston from the A continent. A lawyer named Ahmed Raza from the AS continent. There were also 16 black kids from the AF continent who looked fit enough to be footballers themselves.
The physiotherapist was someone young and from the country P. He was called Sajid Iqbal. Surprisingly, there were another three physios from the Country C of the NA continent.
Harry was now sure that this was probably an under 16 squad of some academy from the AF continent.
A nutritionist, a doctor, a lawyer, 2 assistant coaches, 1 head coach, 4 physios and 16 players. It all made sense.
If anybody else came, Harry wouldn't know because he walked out when the butler notified him that his friends had come.
"Harry's mind was elsewhere whilst he showed them the Villa. 'Damn, Grandpa bought a whole team to help me out. Who is he really?'
The boys were pretty much amazed by everything they saw. Harry then took his friends on a tour of the village on bicycles. The last stop they visited was the football pitch.
Harry found a football lying around in the completed box. Hence, they played 2 a side, with a neutral goalkeeper. One side attacked and the other defended. Harry and the boys had a lot of fun.
They returned to the villa only by the time the sun went down around 6:30 pm. Harry's grandfather was seated in the lounge. He seemed to be waiting for Harry. The guests had probably already been sent to the guest houses nearby.
"Harry, why did you leave the conference room? I wanted to introduce you and your friends to those people."
"Grandpa, why did you buy a whole team to train me behind my back? Do you not trust me?"
"My boy, It's good to be intelligent, but one shouldn't jump to conclusions. Even your grandpa can't just buy teams so fast. They're a team being taken care of by an international NGO that provides help to the war torn areas on the AF continent."
"Sorry Grandpa, I misunderstood your intentions."
"Don't mind, no harm done. Just remember to never jump to hasty conclusions again. That's a bad habit to have."
"Alright Grandpa. Now, Please don't throw away my face in front of my friends."
"Hahaha.. Kid, even someone at your age has face? Anyway, back to the point. Those kids are going to participate in the under 16 World Cup. They will represent their country next year. A war broke out in their country. These kids need a safe and paparazzi-free place to train. That's just the first batch of kids and staff. So, you get it now? They're just a bonus."
"Grandpa, how many villages do you own similar to this one if you're helping other batches?"
"That's not the right question, little fella. However, there are definitely more than 10 with a football park."
"Grandpa, were you the previous king of the country?"
"What's going on inside your head? Anyway, won't you introduce your friends to me?"
'Sly geezer, changing the topic so naturally.'
"Grandpa, this tall and bulky one is David Trueman. He plays as a defensive midfielder."
"This thin and short fellow who looks underweight is Ali Ahmed. He plays as a winger like me."
"This tall and handsome white guy is Robinson Parker who plays striker."
"This is Sherry, the tallest human I have ever seen live. Also, I am not being racist but he is the blackest of blacks. He is 6'6 and still might grow an inch or two taller. He plays goalkeeper."
Harry's friends gave him the eye about their weird introductions but he ignored it. They proceeded to politely make small talk with his grandfather.
"Alright, you kids can go take a dip in the pool or hit the showers and change into more comfortable clothing. You have 45 minutes till the Chefs make the Pizza."
Harry and company decided to go to the pool. Robinson was the first to question Harry. "Hey, since when did I play striker? Why did you tell your grandpa that?"
The others had similar questions, so Harry had to explain. "Look I am gonna be a Football Player. That football pitch, grandpa is making it just for me. You guys heard it right? A whole squad at under 16 national level with staff has come here to help make us better players.
I invited you guys to actually help me out in the evenings with my passing. Also, I might have lied to my grandpa that you all are better football players than me.
Grandpa takes this seriously, and he made one of the junior lawyers (from the law department of his business) my agent. Now, he wants to bring you four under the wing of that agent and help you become professional footballers alongside me.
If you guys don't refuse him by dinner, He will probably send someone to talk to your guardians tonight."
"Harry, you are insane!" the four of them spoke simultaneously.
"We are not even good at football, what do you expect us to do?" Robinson asked a bit angrily.
"Look this might hurt but do you guys know how people see you right now? Sherry the Refugee, Robinson the Exiled one, Ali the one raised by Beggars and David the one Expelled from a prestigious clan. You guys are a bunch of misfits. I knew you four would definitely accept my invitation the moment I sent it.
Although I didn't expect everyone else to refuse me. Maybe, because I am also an orphan like you guys."
"But you are soooo rich! How could they?" Ali questioned.
"It's because he was frugal in school." Robinson pointed out.
"And I never knew he had a tycoon grandpa in our two years of time together sharing the same dormitory." Sherry added.
"Come to the point." David said calmly to Harry.
"Well, I want to say that this contract is your only chance to regain your dignity. We just played and we are all at a similar level. Hence, how much we improve depends on the amount of effort we put in. I want to become the best football player our country.. No.. Our entire continent has ever produced. Don't laugh! I'm serious."
The four of them couldn't stop laughing for a while. Harry was upset. Even Maria giggled in his mind.
"You guys, the monetary terms in the contract are no joke. You guys will be rich. Plus, It's a 3-year contract with the agent. That's the maximum time I convinced Grandpa to give us. If no team signs us by then, then it will be our cue to going back to study."
"Hey, how much is the money?"
"1 million $ a year."
"You must be kidding me???"
"You are joking??"'
"You can't be serious???"
"F*ck, I'm in."
"I'm serious, but your agent's commission will be higher in case you become professionals. There are other conditions. However, the most important part is that you will have to train 14 hours a day."
"I'm in."
"Me too"
"Me 3"
"Me 4"
And henceforth, the future stars of the Country P national football team began their football journey in this way.