"Yes, sir, I have been observing him, he is getting better. He got a new coach, yes sir, it Mr. Crowe Dumi. I don't think he suspects anything. Yes, sir, bye,"
"He has been showing improvement." Maximilian declared, as he advanced towards the coach of the strikers who stood with his arms crossed, scrutinizing Winston within the confines of the hotel's hallway.
"What, you scared? He has been engaged solely in practicing basic skills, with no significant advancements to report; it is imperative to direct your attention towards honing those shooting skills, the very ones I imparted to you.." The striker coach stare at Maximilian with a sinister look. With his raspy, rugged voice, "If you don't follow the plan, you will be benched. For three matches and the season is approaching its conclusion. And I heard the Federation is going to hold some event at the end of the season."
"Don't worry, I am not worried. He needs more than just basics to beat me, I am gonna show him how professional play," Maximilian replied, walking past the striker coach. "And don't worry about the plan, I'll go over it with the boys."
With a menacing chuckle, the striker coach, still folding his arms with his gaze on the training ground, "Don't overestimate your opponent, he also has the same ambition as you, and the head coach has been taking an interest in him. And one more thing, I heard your senior club scout will be there. To monitor your progress, hehe, what an interesting twist of events."
"Tsk.. tsk," muttered Maximilian
***
Winston has genuinely experienced significant benefits from the inaugural week of his training program, especially after he completed all the scheduled sessions for each day. He dedicated a moment to reach out to his home, and upon listening to Dumi's story, Winston experienced a significant emotional impact. As he proceeded down the hallway toward his room for the purpose of washing himself, he distinctly overheard the sound of a voice he recognized, engaged in the act of courting a woman. In the moment Winston surveyed the hallway, Oswin was observed with one arm casually placed over a female staff member, seated on a protracted crimson couch. Not wanting to disturb, Winston continued his walk over to the receptionist's desk. "Oh, you are working today." Said Winston, surprised to see Annalise.
"Yeah, I received one day off."
"I thought you were sick or something," said Winston, leaning on the receptionist's desk.
"Nope, so how was training, you guys finished early today,"
"It was good, I feel like I'm making good progress, even though your father's training sessions are tenses But don't tell him that,"
"He seems to enjoy being back to football training—you have woken his love of the sport and at home he even took out a whiteboard covering the lounge area. I haven't seen him this excited, even when he was watching you train—he asked about you."
"Thank you for vouching for me to your father," politely said Winston,
"It was nothing really, he needed an excuse to go back. I just convinced my dad—and he was just playing hard. I think he was already thinking about getting back to football. He has been getting offers from different big clubs. But he hasn't accepted them—maybe you should convince him to take those training jobs."
Annalise continued. "Anyway, look at me yapping about my family, how can I help you?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, can I please make a phone call?"
"Sure, the phone is over there," She directed attention to a series of landline phones, which were conspicuously placed at the desk's periphery. "Thank you."
Approaching the row of landline telephones, he made a series of calls with luck. He made a total of about five unsuccessful attempts, Winston's shift his gaze to the other side of the receptionist's desk.
Annalise was engaged with a multitude of customers who were attempting to make reservations for the room. Winston went straight up to his room to wash up.
Once he had finished, he took a seat on his bed and proceeded to access the core system, even though the system had already been providing him with stats updates. He didn't bother opening it—since he wanted to immerse himself in his training. His intention was to gain the maximum benefit from the training, and it was then that Annalise informed him about Dumi's situation, specifically that a major club had been actively pursuing Dumi with job proposals. Winston knew his time with Dumi was limited, and he also knew that Dumi was actually doing this free of charge. Pausing for a moment, he lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling.
With only three weeks remaining until the upcoming match, I am hopeful that Dumi will focus on refining my abilities as a striker this time, as I believe I have reached a proficient level in both passing and physical conditioning drills. And thanks to the core restoration and Dr. Haruto. I am now fit than before, even when I don't get sleep I still feel fine.
Winston sat up straight, sighed and opened the core system, eyes widened; he didn't know whether to run the hallway screaming in his boxers or go to the balcony and scream until his lungs collapsed. Through Dumi's dedicated training, Winston witnessed a remarkable elevation in their statistical performance, reaching levels that, he estimated, would have ordinarily taken him six full league seasons and an additional period to attain.
Ding!
[Winston Daley]
[Nether Essence: 56%]
[Voltage Core: 56%]
Name: Daley Winston
Birthdate: 25-11-04
Age: 19
Weak Foot: 2
Height: 176cm (5'9)
Foot: Right
Profession: Footballer
Team: Westminster F.C. (Under twenty-one team)
Player Rating: 84
Position: Center forward.
Potential: 88
Acceleration
Sprint Speed
Shooting
Passing
Dribbling
Physical
Reward Points: 050
Skills moves: None.
[Skills update]
[Nethen Essence: 56%]
[Voltage Core: 56%]
[Dribbling]
Dribbling: 66
Agility: 62
Balance: 60
Reactions: 63
Ball Control: 70
Composure: 65
[Passing]
Passing: 60
Vision: 65
Crossing: 65
FK Acc.: 62
Short Pass: 65
Long Pass: 60
Curve: 70
I have to really thank Dumi for this, I have truly progressed so much. And it is only the first week of this tense training, and its benefits are so rewarding.
Oh, I even received tons of rewards this time, I wonder if I should buy some skills at the shop right now or wait and ask Dumi. Maybe I should, since we haven't reached the shooting part of our training.
Still unable to comprehend the situation, Winston continued to recline on his bed with the core system left open. After this match, I must focus on the league. I need to strive to be in the top ten best players in the league. And we need to finish in the top one or two at the table, even though those other teams have talented players. I still need to show them, I need to be the best player in the league in order to have a better opportunity to be scouted by the bigger clubs, especially Westminster.
After he stood up and finished getting dressed, he then made his way downstairs and into the hallway. The plan involves eating and engaging in warm-up preparations before Winston proceed with his training. In actuality, Winston was given instructions by Dumi to take a break from training for the day and explore the hotel facilities as a way to relax and enjoy himself. No matter how much Winston tried to relax, he got too nervous about the upcoming match. The way the striker, coach, and Maximilian were acting as of late, Winston knew they were up to something, during his training, he hadn't seen them training on the other side of the ground. That made Winston think they were up to something, it was not good. The striker coach seemed to have some kind of beef with him, and Winston didn't know whether it was a good one or a bad one.
Despite that, harboring animosity towards another person is never indicative of positive motivations; rather, it solely stems from malevolent intentions, accompanied by a primal, almost animalistic display of agitation. He knew very well that it was something he had to be vigilant about; those two are quite sinister—arriving at the ground floor. After scanning the hallway and seeing no familiar faces, Winston headed for the dining area.
Standing on the buffet line, "You wouldn't believe Westminster F.C. suffered injuries in the middle of the league? Now look at them on their way to being in the second position on the league table."
"We have another classic on our hands—are you going to bet? I am thinking about it."
"Yes, sure, I have saved up some money, and I heard there is a match here in four weeks."
"Yeah, you mean borrowing money from the loan shark again, and yeah, I think it is just training—it is between two teammates."
"Tsk, shut up, apparently it has a stake. I heard that if one team loses, they will be benched for three matches."
"Really, why would they do that? That stupid, but now I'm interested. On which date does this match again?"
"After four weeks."
Why has this match between Maximilian and me gained such popularity? Damn, I'm more anxious than I was before.