The Greatest of all Time

Zachary's heart leaped up for joy as he perused through the mission completion notification. He had managed to earn a total of 2400 Juju-points in one go. He could finally upgrade the system. He wasted no time in navigating back to the home tab.

****

SOCCER G.O.A.T SYSTEM

SYSTEM LEVEL: 2 (2457/1000 Juju-points to level-up)

USER: Zachary Bemba

AGE: 17 years

TALENT ASSESSMENT: Grade-A

JUJU-POINTS: 2457

(Evaluation: A budding soccer player)

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USER MENU

*USER STATS

*G.O.A.T MISSIONS

*SYSTEM SHOP (1 msg)

*SYSTEM LOTTERY

*SNOOPING TOOL

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NB: Pls level-up the system to unlock more functions.

****

Zachary couldn't contain his anticipation. With the unlocking of the X-Factor stat, his talent assessment had finally broken through to the A grading. He had finally caught up to his peers like Stephen Mangala, who had gone to France.

He couldn't help but recall the moment he had realized that he'd traveled back in time about two years prior. His life had been devoid of any hope for the future whatsoever. But, with the help of the system, he had managed to elevate his skills quickly and give himself a new beginning.

Over the previous year, he had gained a deep understanding of how the system worked. It seemed its prime purpose was the improvement of a user's fitness, thereby enabling mastery of complicated skills at a rate much faster than humanly possible. Zachary had come to that conclusion after consuming the system's elixirs. They had helped him increase the rating of most of his attributes to A-grade over a scarce—period of only two years.

With the system's perks, Zachary was sure he could become one of the greatest soccer players ever—with enough work. But first things first, he had to upgrade the system.

He had finally gathered a sizeable stockpile of Juju-points. So, he didn't deliberate for long—and quickly clicked on the upgrade button, displayed in the top left corner of the translucent blue interface.

"DING"

A notification sounded right away as he lifted his right forefinger from the screen. A new message had appeared.

****

#SYSTEM ALERT

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->The user has chosen to upgrade the system.

->1000 Juju-points will be deducted to carry out the upgrade.

->The system will shut down for eight hours during the upgrade process. The user will not be able to use any of the system functions until the eight hours elapse.

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#COMMENCE UPGRADE?

*Accept *Reject

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****

Zachary didn't waste time. He had long wanted to upgrade the system. However, a constant shortage of Juju-points had held him back. He decided to prioritize the upgrade above other things.

"Hopefully, some new functions will be added after the upgrade," he mumbled before clicking on the confirmation button.

"DING"

A new system notification sounded right away.

****

#SYSTEM ALERT

->The user has confirmed an immediate upgrade of the system.

->1000 Juju-points will be deducted from the user's current stock of Juju-points to carry out the upgrade.

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#SYSTEM ALERT

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SYSTEM UPGRADE INITIALIZING

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SYNCING USER DATA

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LOADING NEW PACKAGES

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REBOOT PROCESS COMMENCING IN 5, 4, 1... AND 0.

****

When the countdown reached zero, the screen blacked out. Zachary tried to summon it—to determine whether it was still nestled somewhere within his body. However, he could no longer feel its existence. It had disappeared, leaving no trace—as if it had never existed.

Zachary didn't panic since he was already well aware it would take a total of eight hours to complete the upgrade. So, he quickly washed up and dove into his bed for the night. He had decided to check on its progress the next day and save himself from the anxiety that came from waiting.

**** ****

The following morning, the entire squad woke up before 6:00 AM. They had to prepare for the return trip to Trondheim.

Zachary checked on the system but noticed it was still inaccessible. It seemed the process of upgrading was not yet complete. So, he focused his attention elsewhere.

He followed his teammates to the hotel's restaurant and had a sumptuous early breakfast. A little less than an hour later, they boarded the bus to Riga Airport.

By 8:00 AM, Zachary and his teammates had finished taking their seats in the economy class section of a Scandinavian Airlines passenger plane heading back to Trondheim.

Zachary slept throughout most of the journey and didn't bother to join the conversations between his teammates. He only woke up three hours later—as the plane touched down on the runway of the Værnes Airport in Trondheim.

He groggily followed his companions out of the arrivals section, and, without any fanfare, he was back in the frigid February air of Trondheim city—a few minutes later.

"It feels like we've been away from Trondheim for more than a year," Paul commented, falling into step with him as they moved towards the bus. "But, in actual sense, it has only been little over a week." He sighed.

"And now, we have to go back to our old, boring lives," Kasongo chipped in, also sighing. "It's good that the coach allowed us to join the party yesterday night. Otherwise, I would have run to one of the basement parties in Moholt this weekend."

"But guys," said Kendrick from behind Zachary. "Where are the home fans that are supposed to be welcoming us? How come no one cares that we're lugging along such a huge trophy?" He inquired, patting the trophy in his hands.

Kendrick had volunteered for the role of transporting the trophy back to the academy alongside Magnus, the assistant captain. Zachary had rejected the task since he wished to get back to his apartment quickly—to check out the newly upgraded system. It had already been eight hours.

"Are you forgetting we're still nobodies here in Trondheim?" Paul Otterson chipped in, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck since the temperatures in Trondheim seemed to be much lower than those in Riga. "The people back in Riga may recognize a few of us. However, we'll never get any recognition here in Trondheim unless we join Rosenborg and win matches. Only then will we often find paparazzi and home fans lying in wait for us at the airport."

"Well said," a voice cut in. Zachary turned around and noticed that Coach Johansen had at one point arrived behind them.

"The Riga Cup is just a small tournament," the coach continued, brushing a hand through his red beard. "You can only become stars here in Trondheim after you join Rosenborg and participate in highly competitive matches." He smiled. "I hope the Riga victory won't make any of you complacent."

"Yes, coach," the players around Zachary replied, more or less in unison.

"Zachary, Kendrick, Kasongo, and Paul," the coach intoned as they continued towards the bus. "Over the past year, the four of you have made remarkable progress. Whatever you've been doing, just keep it up. Make sure you don't relax. Just remember, football careers are more like marathons, not sprints. If you don't continue working hard, you'll stumble and fall very quickly. Are we clear?"

"Yes, coach."

"I hope you understand," Coach Johansen added, nodding. "I've got great plans for you four. Don't disappoint me." His tone had turned somber.

Zachary nodded along with his friends to indicate he'd gotten the point. He'd already planned to use the remaining ten months, before turning eighteen, to improve all his attributes to the A+ grading. Only then would he be assured of performing well in the Rosenborg senior team the following season.

He understood that success at the pro-level required much more refined skills than he currently possessed. He couldn't lie to himself that he would be able to run through professional defenders using his meager attributes—as he'd done in the Riga Cup. He had to use the remainder of his time adequately so that he wouldn't embarrass himself against the pros.

"Hurry up and enter the bus," Coach Johansen yelled, breaking him out of his contemplation. "The rest of you back there," he added, pointing to Zachary's teammates at the very back. "Hurry and move it. I want to get back home as soon as possible. Don't waste my time."

The NF Academy players quickened their pace right away. They loaded their luggage and boarded the bus at their swiftest speed. And off they went, leaving the airport behind them.

Forty-five minutes later, Zachary and his three friends made it back to their flat at Moholt. The bus had dropped them close to their doorstep. They didn't have to pull their luggage across a long distance.

When they returned to the flat, Zachary quickly excused himself and locked himself in his room. He was quite eager to check on the system upgrade and use the rest of his Juju-points, plus the B-grade agility-enhancing elixir he'd earned.

Without even unpacking his luggage, he settled on his bed and summoned the familiar translucent blue screen.

"DING"

****

#SYSTEM ALERT

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->System upgraded successfully.

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LOADING NEW PACKAGES

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NEW VERSION OF SOCCER G.O.A.T USER INTERFACE SUCCESSFULLY INITIALIZED

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SYNCING USER DATA

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****

Zachary kept his eyes glued to the screen, anxiously awaiting the cessation of the system alerts. He didn't have to wait long, though. Only about a minute later, the familiar system interface appeared before him once again.

Zachary was surprised when he noticed that there wasn't much change in the aesthetics of the interface. The familiar User-Menu appeared before him with a drop-down menu of User-Stats, G.O.A.T-Missions, System-Shop, System-Lottery, and the Snooping-Tool (all unlocked). He felt a bit disappointed since he'd expected some major changes.

But at that instant—

"Good morning, user," a voice sounded right in his head. "This is your system's AI speaking. Hope you're enjoying the system!"

[A System's AI! Maybe, a voice interface?] Zachary's face lit up with a grin.

**** ****

**END OF VOLUME TWO: THE SOCCER ACADEMY STUDENT**