Mike first ran back to the locker room, saying he had to use the bathroom so as not to arouse suspicion by standing in the middle of the stationary pitch.
Once he got to the bathroom, he immediately looked at his available soccer points and saw that they were 10. He then opened his player stats.
/PLAYER STATS/ info
/
Name: Mike Wager.
Status: Youngster with good future prospects.
Defense: Lvl 40
Midfield: Lvl 51
Attack: Lvl 52
Speed: 4/10
Stamina: 3/10
Strength: 3/10
Vision: 7/10
Skills:
No skills acquired.
/
Mike looked intently at his stats, initially surprised at how low they were, but then he remembered that he was 13 years old, and stats like that were considered high for his age.
Opening the INFO section in the top right, a screen with all the necessary information appeared before his eyes.
/Info/
/Defense, midfield, and attack stats range from LV 30 for those without any talent to LV 100 for soccer legends.
Speed, stamina, strength, and vision, on the other hand, are attributes ranging from 1 to 10, with 10/10 representing the human limit./
Immediately after looking at the stats and memorizing them, he opened the objectives section.
/OBJECTIVES/
/Complete training with the team. 2 points in soccer./
*Hmm, so for now I only have one goal. I probably need to complete this one to make another one appear and earn more soccer points.*
He immediately returned to the pitch to train with his teammates.
Having seen the years to come, he immediately identified his most talented teammates.
In fact, he hadn't thought about it before: he was about to train with Josh Acheampong, a defender born in 2006, and Charlie Holland, a midfielder born in 2009, currently eleven years old, who would later become captain of the under-14 team and then promoted to the first team in 2026.
"Hey, captain, you're finally back from the bathroom. Come on, come to training," Charlie said as soon as he saw him.
*It's true that right now I'm the captain of this team and I'm the one with the most skills and the best future prospects. If it hadn't been for that stupid injury...*
*Well, there's no point in thinking about it. Now I'm back on the pitch and I can change in the future. Let's train,* thought Mike.
After practice, he returned home to eat with his parents.
"How did practice go? Did you have fun?" his mother asked him as they sat at the table eating.
"As always, Mom, you know I have a bright future." The three of them laughed.
After finishing their meal, he returned to the bedroom, super excited to see the store section of the system.
/+5 points soccer training objective completed/
/SHOP/
/
Speed increase: 100 points
Endurance increase: 40 points
Strength increase: 40 points
Vision increase: 160 points
Croqueta: 50 points
Ronaldo chop: 50 points
Cruyff turn: 80 points
Step-over: 80 points
V move: 80 points
Rabona: 100 points
Marseille roulette: 100 pts
Okocha turn: 100 pts
Flip-flap: 150 pt
Rainbow flick: 150 pts
Seal dribble: 150 pts
Whipped cross: 50 pts
Lofted cross: 50 pts
Driven cross: 100 pts
First-time cross: 100 pts
Trivela cross: 150 pts
Curled shot: 50 pts
Whipped shot: 100 pts
Trivela shot: 100 pts
Dipping shots: 150 pt
Knuckleball: 150 pts
Physical challenge: 50 pts
Standing tackle: 50 pts
Cutting passing lines: 100 pt
Anticipation: 150 pts
Slide tackle: 150 pts
/
/
EVERY SKILL PURCHASED WILL BE 100% LEARNED.
EVEN THE MOST CLASSIC AND "SIMPLE" SKILLS, IF 100% LEARNED, CAN BE DEVASTATING ON THE FIELD.
/
Mike analyzed the store page and realized that the cost of the four attributes (speed, stamina, strength, and vision) depended on their scores listed on the player stats page.
For example, 3/10 stamina cost 1 point in soccer.
However, when the stats exceeded 5/10, the cost was double, just like speed and vision. He immediately went to bed.
The next day he woke up and immediately saw an objective notification.
/
Daily Goal:
Complete 50 push-ups
Complete a 5km run
Complete a 10 minute plank
5 pts
/
*I have to do this goal tonight after dinner, and starting tomorrow I'll wake up an hour early to complete it because school takes up half my day.
Doing it after dinner every day is unbearable because I'm already tired from training.*
After school, he had a snack as usual, headed to training, and completed the daily goal after dinner.
From the next day, Mike adopted the same routine: wake up at 7:00 a.m., complete the daily goal, school at 8:30 a.m., snack, Chelsea training at 5:30 p.m., dinner, and then off to bed, with the only change being Sunday, which was the day of the Category 1 Academy regional group matches.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
"Mike, wake up, you have to get ready for the match."
He woke up. It was the first Sunday in May, and today was the final of the U14 National Cup, a hugely important match against Arsenal that Mike couldn't afford to miss.
He packed his bag for the match and ate a quick breakfast.
"Mum, you're coming to watch the match, right? It's the final," he asked.
"Of course, Mum's love, I'm coming. I'll cheer you on. Come on, Mike."
They drove off to the final.
"Mike, as always, you'll play left wing. As I've always told you, try to drop back into defense as much as possible and do what you know how to do in attack. I trust you."
"Thanks, coach," Mike replied to James Simmonds.
Before entering the pitch, he gave Charlie a high five and, after greeting the referees and Arsenal players, the match began.
"Welcome to the U14 National Cup final. The two finalists are Arsenal with their super midfielder Ethan Nwaneri and Chelsea with the ball-wielding left-winger Mike Wager.
This match looks to be a heated and hard-fought affair. And that's where the risk starts."
"Arsenal immediately pressed after kick-off, what aggressive pressing, spectators.
Chelsea moves the ball around.
Holland has the ball, takes on the man, and beats him. This could be a chance for Chelsea."
"As if it weren't for Arsenal winning the ball back.
Chelsea midfielder Charlie Holland, who just created this wonderful chance for his team, is shaping up to be a star midfielder."
30th minute, first half:
*I have to score, there are only five minutes left until halftime. If we remain 0-0, it's going to be a tough match.*
Yes, readers, U14 matches last a total of 70 minutes.
Since the team couldn't provide Mike with a dangerous opportunity, he decided to create one himself.
The ball bounced back toward the center of the pitch, in Arsenal's possession. Mike, thanks to his excellent vision, was able to predict a direct pass to Nwaneri and sprint down the left flank.
"Wager intercepts a powerful ball in midfield and sprints.
Nwaneri chases him, what a battle it is between these two phenomenal players.
The Arsenal winger tries to catch him with a slide tackle.
Wagerrrr, how he outdid him, this little champion is a monster.
Wager is very close to the penalty area, but Nwaneri has recovered him.
He quickly moves inside and shoots.
Goal! Wager with a beautiful shot gives Chelsea a 1-0 lead."
After running to the corner to celebrate, Mike was immediately knocked to the ground and covered by his teammates.
After everyone celebrated together, Mike headed towards his mother's seat in the stands, who immediately gave him a happy thumbs-up.