THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

It was already way-past midnight by the time Zachary returned to his room on the fourth floor of Madrid's infamous Hotel Riu Plaza España. He felt exhausted physically and mentally after playing more than 90 minutes of Champions League football against the tenacious Atlético Madrid side. He was eager to jump into bed and enter a long and peaceful slumber.

However, something unexpected but pleasant happened the next second to interrupt his plans. The all-familiar system notification resounded in his mind immediately after he finished locking the hotel room door behind him.

"DING"

"Congratulations to the user for unlocking and completing a hidden system mission associated with the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League," the system AI's apathetic voice sounded immediately after. "The user can check the mission completion details and rewards associated with the mission completion on the system interface."

"Eh!"

Zachary's heart immediately skipped a bit, and the feeling of exhaustion faded from his mind. A shaky smile slowly outlined his face as the surprise sunk in. He switched on the light and instructed the system AI to display the hidden mission completion details.

****

3 New Messages

CONGRATULATIONS

->You have scored a hattrick against Atlético Madrid, a top-level team in the Champions League, and completed a Hidden System Mission.

->You're one step closer to cementing your name on the list of the most exceptional players of the generation.

->Mission Rewards

1) A total of 10,000 Juju points

2) A chance to draw a skill shard from the system lottery that will allow the user to initiate a serial mission to learn a random GOAT skill

****

"A shard, not a skill?" Zachary was a bit confused after reading the system completion notification. "System! What is this about?"

"DING"

A chime rang in his mind immediately.

"A shard is a fragment of the total memory and associated system packages needed to learn a skill," the system AI replied. "By drawing a specific shard from the lottery, the user can trigger a serial mission to collect the other fragments needed to learn the specific GOAT Skill. Does the user wish to draw the shard right away?"

"Yes, this should be simple." Zachary agreed. He still didn't understand the whole shard thing and how it worked. But he was sure the reward would benefit his career since it was from the system. Thus, agreeing couldn't bring him any harm.

"User's command received," the AI intoned after a few seconds. "System lottery coming up."

No sooner had the system AI's voice sounded than a big spin-lottery-wheel filled up the translucent blue screen before Zachary. It was the all-familiar wheel with small squares depicting various images of famous players around its perimeter. Its surface glowed with shiny lights, and there were two purple arms originating from its center and pointing towards one of the squares. And surprisingly, that square contained an image of the legendary Argentine player - Lionel Messi, with the ball at his feet.

"This might be a surprisingly great reward," Zachary thought with a smile. He then turned his attention towards the two buttons on the side of the wheel with the phrases 'spin-and-win,' '*3 chances,' and 'confirm lottery' inscribed below them. Settling down on the bed, he carefully studied their set-up and understood that he had three chances to spin the wheel.

"Great. I should be able to obtain a great skill with these three chances."

Zachary's hopes soared. Without dilly-dallying, he pressed the spin-and-win button, and the wheel spun for a few seconds before slowing down. Its velocity gradually reduced until the purple arms halted while pointing to the square depicting Thierry Henry, the legendary French striker, with the ball at his feet.

"This makes life difficult," Zachary thought, shaking his head. "But I think I should try again. Maybe, I might get something better."

The spirit of gambling flooded Zachary's entire being, and he chose to tap on the spin-and-win button again. The next moment, his heartbeat accelerated as the wheel spun faster and faster. Then, after what seemed like weeks to Zachary, it slowed down before coming to a complete halt. But unfortunately for Zachary, the pointer had pointed to a square with an image of Jaap Stam, the legendary Dutch and Manchester United defender, heading the ball.

"Damn! I might have messed up big time." Zachary shook his head, a feeling of regret flooding his spirits. He'd just let go of a great chance to draw a Thierry Henry skill shard, hoping to get a better one. But Zachary had instead gotten an opportunity to obtain a Jaap Stam skill shard after spinning the wheel for the second time. As far as he was concerned, it was a total loss, especially since he'd never considered playing as a defender.

"I still have one chance," Zachary consoled himself. "God! Please help me get a good skill this time around."

Zachary even turned religious at that moment and mumbled a silent player. Then, he took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together before tapping the spin-and-win button again.

"Whoosh"

That time around, the wheel seemed to spin faster than the previous two times. It rotated for a good four or five seconds before eventually slowing down.

Naturally, Zachary's eyes were on the wheel at that instant. He watched with bated breath as the pointer slowly moved past the squares with the images of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, and Andres Iniesta before moving towards another photo of a player with long hair in a Barcelona shirt. It was a picture of Ronaldinho Gaúcho, the Brazillian legend, and former Ballon D'or winner.

"Please stop! Please stop..."

Zachary prayed and willed the wheel to stop when the pointer pointed to Ronaldinho's square. He clenched his fists as his eyes remained glued to the slowly moving lottery wheel.

The experience of waiting was unnerving due to the tension. But it was worth it as the pointer finally came to a halt at the last moment, just when it was about to move past Ronaldinho's square.

"Thank God," Zachary mumbled, his spirits brightening. A soft smile slowly framed his facial features as he'd finally managed to obtain an opportunity to draw a hidden shard from Ronaldinho, one of the greatest players that ever played the game. But that didn't stop him from tapping the confirm-lottery button to approve the result.

"DING"

The familiar system notification sounded in Zachary's mind as his finger left the system interface. Then, with an explosion of digital aesthetics, a glittering image of Ronaldinho popped out of the wheel and slowly floated forward. It soon hovered in front of everything else on the crystal-like display that was the system interface.

"DING"

"Congratulations," the AI's voice intoned right after. "The user has won the lottery and obtained one of the twelve shards required to learn Ronaldinho's Step-Over and Feint Kingly Magic."

"Associated system mission initiated to help the user obtain the remaining eleven skill shards," the AI continued. "Please review the details on the interface to understand the mission."

Zachary expelled a lungful of air and focused on the translucent crystal-like display before him. Then, without further ado, he started perusing the mission details.

****

GOAT MISSIONS

#NEW MISSION: Giant-Killer Hattrick Challenge

->Score more hattricks against top-level teams within the next two years to acquire more skill shards of Ronaldinho's Step-Over and Feint Kingly Magic.

#NB

->The system will award a skill shard for each hattrick scored against the top four teams of the best European Leagues, including the Italian Serie A, the English Premier League, the French League 1, the Spanish La Liga, and the German Bundesliga within the next two years.

->For this mission, multiple hattricks against the same team will also be considered. However, the user must complete the mission target and score eleven more hattricks against top-level teams within two years before obtaining all the twelve skill shards of Ronaldinho's Step-Over and Feint Kingly Magic. Otherwise, the user won't be able to meet the requirements to learn the skill."

->The user can choose not to accept the mission.

*Accept *Reject

*Remarks: The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. And that's also the way of the greats.

****

"This is tough. But I'll accept it and try my best."

Zachary thought for a bit and then accepted the mission. He knew that scoring eleven more hattricks against the best European teams was an almost impossible feat. But since there was no penalty for failing the system task, there was no harm in trying. He only needed to do his best over the next two years — and just maybe, he could complete the mission and obtain all the shards required to learn Ronaldinho's Step-Over and Feint Kingly Magic.

"Phew."

Zachary breathed out and closed the system interface after accepting the mission. He then quickly went through his planned pre-bedtime routine, including taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and sending Camilla a message before jumping into bed.

The intense fatigue kicked in right after he went under the covers, forcing his mind to descend into a sweet and welcoming embrace of slumber. In a matter of minutes, he was fast asleep, dreaming of himself winning the Ballon d'Or.