Soccer System: All the Skills, One Player!

Nishida was sitting on the wooden bench, facing the open cupboard with his elbows on his knees and his head down. He had already taken off his boots and changed, but he still couldn't convince himself to leave. His eyes were fixed on the ground, but his mind was reliving every moment of the game, every shot, every pass, every small decision that could have made a difference.

Finally, with a heavy sigh, he stood up, slowly picking up his backpack with a tired expression.

The promise he had made to himself to carry the team to victory echoed in his head like an invisible scar. However, there was a nagging certainty in his chest: it hadn't been enough.

As he slung his backpack over one shoulder, his fingers tightened on the strap.

The other players were slowly leaving to go to the bus.

Nishida preferred to leave last, to give himself a moment to face his own thoughts before facing the tired faces of his teammates and, even worse, the emptiness on the bus. So he did. When the changing room was empty, he left, still listening to the sound of the fans in the stands a few meters up the road. The day would still be filled with three more games than they had.

As he left the changing room, everything seemed colder. Perhaps because he had just showered, perhaps because he no longer felt all that body heat.

The long corridor towards the exit was empty, but when Nishida least expected it, two other people crossed his path. Klaus and Luke Ivanov, the twins from Nishikawa High School.

Klaus, their No. 9, didn't turn aside to make way for Nishida. It was a sign of rivalry. They had played far away from each other, but at that moment they both tried to impose their presence on the other. It wasn't just a question of personality, but of pride as number 9s.

Luke, on the other hand, seemed calmer. Even though he was equally talented, he didn't carry the same competitive fervor as Klaus.

The three of them stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, and Nishida felt something inside him. It wasn't exactly hatred, but anger. It was a natural feeling, after all, these twins were the main problems for Wushia High School.

It was Luke who broke the silence, with a slight smile on his face. "It was a good match, Nishida. You fought well."

Nishida looked first at Luke and then at Klaus, whose eyes hadn't left him from the start

"Not well enough. I wasn't able to help my team as I should have." Nishida admitted. He was proud of himself, but he felt he needed to admit it to someone.

Luke gestured with his hands. "That's part of the game. Sometimes you do everything right, and it's still not enough. But you played well, no one can deny that."

Nishida felt a lump in his throat when he heard those words, because he knew that, although they were true, they weren't enough to erase the disappointment he felt. He looked at the ground for a moment, but then, when he turned back to face Luke and Klaus, he tried to convey what he really felt.

"If we meet again on the pitch, I won't lose!"

It wasn't a threat, but an oath he was swearing both to himself and to the Ivanov brothers.

Klaus, who had said nothing until then, raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Let's see, Nishida! I hope you're right, because we're not going to make it easy either!" He clenched his right fist and showed it to Nishida. Continue your journey on empire

Luke once again tried to defuse the situation with a laugh.

"Good luck for the rest of the year, Nishida. Maybe we'll meet in the pros." He smiled genuinely, offering a gesture of respect that Nishida couldn't ignore.

Nishida nodded, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he continued on his way towards the exit. There was nothing more to say. The game was over, but the story between them was far from over.

The Ivanov brothers stayed behind, watching Nishida walk away. Klaus kept his eyes fixed on him for a few more seconds before speaking with a slight laugh:

"That guy's hot-blooded. I like that."

"Hot-blooded? No, he's just very good. Better not underestimate him when we meet him again."

Klaus shrugged. "I won't underestimate him. But he's going to have to work hard if he wants to beat us."

*n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

For the Wushia High School players, getting home around dusk and telling their families in person about the result was a real blow.

As he reached the door, Lucas hesitated before turning the knob. Ayumi and John always supported him and he felt he could finally do them proud, but this time... this time he didn't know how to face them. When he finally went in and found them in the living room, he felt pain because they were surprised to see him home 'early'.

Of course, it would have made it easier for him if he had texted them to let them know he was coming back, but he also felt that they deserved to know everything in person.

"I'm glad you're home again, son." John said and hugged Lucas.

"Ah... yes, I'm back early," mumbled Lucas, trying to avoid eye contact with either of them.

Ayumi, noticing the tone in her son's voice, closed the book and got up from the sofa. She was a woman of subtle gestures.

"We... we lost." he said before she could hug him and then raised her head. "We lost on penalties."

"Son..." John said.

"I... I let you down," said Lucas, looking at them. "I wasn't good enough. I couldn't win."

Ayumi, with her gentle eyes, touched Lucas's shoulder with one of her hands and squeezed it. She knew how much Lucas demanded of himself, how much he wanted to be perfect in everything he did, how rushed he felt, as if opportunities and time were slipping like grains of sand between his fingers.

"Lucas, you don't have to be perfect. The important thing isn't the end result, it's how much you gave."

"I did that, but it wasn't enough... I just... I just wanted to make you proud."

"And you make us proud, son. We're always proud of you, no matter what the result. What matters is your effort, the person you are, how much you grow with every step. And you've grown a lot."

Ayumi's words were like a balm, but the hole inside Lucas was deeper than they could reach. He wasn't just disappointed that he hadn't won, because this had already happened to him several times throughout high school in his past chance. The real pain came from knowing that, with all the power the system gave him, with all the chances, items and so on, he still lost.

He was no longer sure that he would be able to get where he wanted to go. Deep down, he believed that in order to be noticed in professional soccer, it would be necessary to win school championships, to stand out among the best. And now, having lost... how could he compete with players who were on the winning team?

Only a few players of that level would be selected for the youth teams and of those selected, a small percentage would become professionals. After turning professional, there were also different levels of leagues and so on, so how could he become the best in the world and change his destiny and the lives of his family?

"I just... I just wanted it to be different." He mumbled with watery eyes.

John sighed and carefully placed a hand on Lucas's vacant shoulder. "I understand that you feel that way. Believe me, we've all felt that way at some point. But this defeat doesn't define you. It doesn't define what you can achieve."

"We're with you, no matter what." Ayumi said with an encouraging smile. "We always will be."

That evening, after telling her everything and a long bath, Lucas retired to his room. The walls seemed to reflect his own thoughts of doubt and frustration. He threw himself on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Lucas knew that if he wanted to become the player Seiya believed he could be, he would need to overcome more than just his opponents on the pitch. He had to face himself.

But how could he do that?

[You failed today, Lucas.] Céos' voice was neutral, almost cold.

"I know..."

[But failure is part of the process. There's no growth without failure].

Lucas was silent for a moment. The system was right, of course. Failures were necessary.

"I just... I just don't know if I'm strong enough to keep dealing with this."

[You're stronger than you think, Lucas Tanaka. If it weren't for your willpower, I wouldn't exist].

"What do you mean?"

[...]

[If you want to keep going, you need to learn to get up after defeats and, instead of crying, think about what you could have done and what you can improve].

[Despite your defeat, you earned 150 Star Points and reached Star Level 4].

[Everything wasn't so bad, right?]

[Go to sleep, tomorrow's a new day].

Hours passed before Lucas finally fell asleep, exhausted not only physically, but emotionally. Even asleep, his mind wouldn't leave him alone. He dreamt about the match, about the moments that could have been different. But deep down, he knew he had to learn to live with it.

When he woke up the next morning, the classic daily mission appeared for the first time since the tournament began.

[Daily Mission "Effort X Reward" is available].

Lucas knew that staying in bed after defeat would be worse. He had experience with this. So he got up, went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were still red from tiredness and the deep circles under his eyes showed that he'd had a bad night's sleep.

"I'm better than that." He washed his face with cold water in an attempt to dispel the sadness.

After breakfast, Lucas decided to go for a run to start the daily mission with the worst part. He put on his sneakers, strapped his cell phone to his arm and left the house. The streets were still quiet at that hour, only a few people walking because it was Saturday. He turned up the music playing in his headphones and began to run at a light pace.

After a while, while he was running, his cell phone vibrated on his arm. Lucas stopped, panting, and looked at the notification.

Surprisingly, it was a message from Coach Yamamoto.

"Lucas, I know it's Saturday and you're tired because of the championship trip, but I need to talk to you today. There's someone I'd like to introduce you to. Meet me in the teachers' lounge at 10am?"

Lucas frowned. Who did the coach want to introduce? He looked at his watch: 8:30. He had just enough time to finish his daily assignment and get to school.