THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

A serene sensation of quiet contentment spread through Zachary's entire being as he had finally managed to upgrade another of his core attributes to the legendary S-grading.

"System," he said, throwing his gym bag beside the door. "Please bring up the hidden mission completion message right away." He added while moving forward and stepping into his living room.

"DING"

"Command received," the AI replied. "The hidden-mission completion message will be coming up on the interface right away."

"Great!"

Zachary switched on the light in the living room and poured himself a glass of orange juice before settling on one of his sofas. Without further ado, he focused on the translucent crystal-like display that had just materialized before him.

****

#4 new messages

CONGRATULATIONS

-> The user has managed to complete a hidden system mission by upgrading a core attribute to the S grade without relying on a system elixir. The user's Balance and Coordination (Body-Control) fitness stat is now at the S- grading.

-> Mission Rewards

1) 5000 Juju-points

2) A one-month dosage of an A-grade Physical-Conditioning-Elixir.

-> Mission Summary

*Analysis: You have managed to bypass a great bottleneck by upgrading your Balance and Coordination attribute to the S- grade through sheer hard work. You have, once again, jumped over the greatest divide that separates the excellent from the ordinary players. You are well on your way to becoming a great among footballers. Congratulations.

-> Bonus Rewards

As a bonus for your hard work, you have earned a monthly dosage of an A-grade physical-conditioning-elixir. It will help you stabilize your body control at the S-grading.

-> Remarks

Advancing the Balance and Coordination attribute to the S-grading is just the beginning. You still have a long way to match the skills of any player that has ever made it to the list of players with the potential to become the G.O.A.T. So, please continue working hard.

****

Another wave of happiness assaulted Zachary's entire being after he'd read through the mission completion message and confirmed that he'd made yet another breakthrough. At long last, he'd managed to push one of the most crucial attributes in football to the S-grading. At that moment, he was on cloud nine since he knew well that upgrading his body control would do wonders for his career.

Body control mostly entailed the player's ability to move their body fluidly to optimize balance and coordination. Thus, a lack of coordination meant weaker skills, poorer passing techniques, slower change of direction, and worse body-on-body performances. On the other hand, a player could do wonders and learn any deft skills, whether step-overs, headers, or feints, as long as he possessed a high level of body control.

It was that crucial.

For instance, Lionel Messi, the Argentine and Barca legend, was a player with sublime coordination and body control. As a lethal ball wizard, he often took many small steps, creating the best and most optimum positions for himself and the ball while weaving through opponents. At every crucial moment when on the attack, the phenomenal South American would be utilizing his arms to balance himself — while his legs and feet moved in precise directions. For that reason, he could effortlessly control the ball, effectively dribble past opponents like a slippery snake in the grass, and even set up fantastic plays from all angles.

Football was like second nature to the Argentine simply because of his insanely high level of body control.

"System," Zachary mumbled, leaning back into the sofa after perusing through the contents of the interface. "Please, bring up my fitness data right away."

"DING"

"Command received," the AI's apathetic voice sounded in his mind the next instant. "The user's fitness data will be coming up on the interface right away."

****

*USER STATS

->Physical Fitness (Av. Rating: S-)

Body Control (Balance and Coordination) : S-

Agility: A+

Strength: A+

Stamina: S-

Endurance Points: 4943/18,000 (S-)

****

"My overall physical fitness has also finally broken through to the S- grading!"

Zachary's eyes glittered as he studied the contents displayed on the near-transparent bluish interface. After his latest breakthrough, his overall fitness had progressed from the A+ to the S- grade. His only fitness attributes still stuck at the A+ grade at that moment were agility and strength.

However, he was hopeful that he could raise those two attributes to the S-grading before the start of the following season, especially after consuming an A-graded vitality-enhancing-elixir. And as long as everything went as planned after that, he would turn into a monster on the pitch, with a brand new style that could dazzle fans and terrify opponents.

"Time to learn some new skills," Zachary mumbled, rubbing his hands in anticipation. With his body control breaking through to the S-grading, he possessed the qualifications to learn some new G.O.A.T Skills from the system shop. So, he could hardly contain his excitement at that moment.

"System!" He said. "I would like to purchase some new skills from the shop."

"DING"

"Command received," the AI replied. "Data loading, please wait a moment."

Zachary waited with bated breath as the contents of the interface gradually morphed into the six familiar glittering skill cards depicting various famous footballers handling the ball. Soon, his sight zeroed in on the two skills that he could learn at that moment.

They were both skills that only had a single learning requirement of an S- grade level of body control, which Zachary could meet at that moment.

One was the Zinedine Touch Magic, a skill that enabled a player to master the art of zone control and possess heightened critical ability during crucial moments. With mastery of the Zinedine Touch Magic, a player would also gain top-level passing skills in all ranges and attain proficiency in exploding with insane dribbling skills. For a midfielder, it was a rare God-sent skill since it could singlehandedly push the skills of any player to a world-class level.

The second was the CR7 Aerial finishing Juju — a skill tailored for expert positioning and heading accuracy within and outside the box. It was an incredible world-class skill, suitable for strikers as almost nothing could stop a player with such a skill from scoring if a teasing cross floated into the box.

Zachary's eyes glittered as he studied the contents of the interface. He'd, of course, long decided on the skills he wanted to learn, as it had already been a day since the latest system upgrade. So, without deliberating for long, he turned his eyes away from the CR7 Aerial finishing Juju since he wasn't a center forward but an attacking midfielder. He then quickly tapped the Zinedine Touch Magic skill card that was third in position on all the cards floating on the interface.

"DING"

The system notification sound reverberated in his mind as soon as his finger made contact with the crystal-like translucent interface. Within an instant, the five other cards shimmered slightly before disappearing from the interface, leaving only the card depicting the image of Zinedine Zidane handling the ball.

"The user has chosen to purchase the Zinedine Touch Magic Juju from the system shop," the AI's voice rang in his mind after a moment. "The system will have to deduct 4,000 Juju-points from the user's stock after confirmation of the purchase."

"Does the user still wish to purchase the Zinedine Touch Magic Juju?"

Zachary had already carefully assessed all his options. He understood that the Zinedine Touch Magic was the most befitting skill for the current stage of his career.

With a single touch, he could rush past opponents, and with a single pass, he could destroy world-class defenses. If he combined the skill with the Zinedine-Pirlo-Mental-Juju, he could even do more wonders and become a nightmare for opponents on the pitch. He would almost be like the second-coming of Zizou.

Initially, he'd planned to master the Robinho-step over juju first. However, circumstances changed when his body control abruptly soared to the S- grade. He hadn't met the requirements to master the step-over technique yet — but possessed those to master Zinedine's legendary touch magic technique. So, how could he dilly-dally any longer? He would only consider the step-over juju after his agility had risen to the S-grading.

"System," he said, tone steadfast. "I would like to confirm the purchase of the Zinedine-Touch-Magic Juju. Please go ahead and confirm the purchase."

"Command confirmed..." The AI said.

"Checking skill's requirements before confirming the purchase..."

"The user possesses S-grade body control, which meets the basic requirements for learning the skill."

"DING"

"Congratulations. The system has now confirmed the skill purchase from the system shop."

"However," the AI continued. "The Zinedine-Touch-Magic Juju leans a bit too heavily towards utilizing the mental aspects of the game to execute brilliant plays during crucial moments. Thus, the user needs to experience a session of quantum mental conditioning to achieve initial mastery of the skill."

"Since the system will be transferring a lot of information into the user's mind, there will be a bit of discomfort as soon as the quantum conditioning begins. Knowing this, should the system still proceed?"

"Yes, please proceed with the mental conditioning," Zachary replied, making himself comfortable on the sofa to prepare for the quantum conditioning. He'd already gone through the process when he learned the Snipe-it like-Pirlo Juju. So, he wasn't all that worried about what was about to transpire.

"Loading required data and packages for the Zinedine Touch Magic Juju," the AI intoned. "The system will start the quantum mental conditioning in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0."

A sharp pain went through Zachary's consciousness the next moment, catching him almost off-guard. He shuddered almost abruptly, and then his vision went dark.

Soon, memories, including shards of foreign thoughts, all messy and chaotic, flooded his brain in a wild procession. At one moment, he saw himself handling the ball and performing a series of Marseille turns while skipping past several opponents in a foreign memory shard. At another moment, he saw himself control the ball immaculately with a single deft touch to loop it over an opponent before scoring from outside the 18-yard box.

Scenes of crucial football moments continued marching across his mind's eye, giving him a beyond-belief perspective of the game that he'd never deemed even possible. The feeling was truly wondrous.

But soon, an intense wave of dizziness flooded his brain, breaking his immersion into the memory shards. Before he could react, the entire world went black as he collapsed backward on the sofa.