"Please, Kasongo," Zachary beseeched. He looked up at the sky, tinged orange by the slanting rays of the setting sun.
"Just ten more balls, and we'll go back to rest." He moved back and positioned himself just a few steps outside the arc of the 18-yard-box.
"But these better be the last," Kasongo replied. "The training has me worn out. I'm on the verge of collapsing. How do you manage to keep this up every evening?"
Zachary ignored the comment and signaled his friend to toss the ball.
Dusk had descended upon Lubumbashi. However, the boys were still in the Kibassa-Maliba stadium. They were doing personalized training.
Zachary was highly motivated since he was doing most of the shooting. Kasongo merely tossed balls to him.
"Ready," Kasongo hollered out. "Set, and go." He tossed another ball with his hands towards the arc outside the 18-yard-box.
Zachary focused on the incoming ball and swung his left foot, pulling the trigger. He caught the center-bottom half of the ball, sending it whooshing at a low angle into the back of the empty goal.
"Another!" Zachary shouted while running back to his original position.
Kasongo tossed another ball. Zachary hit it squarely and unleashed a carpet-shot that also found the target. For the next few minutes, Kasongo tossed balls while Zachary unleashed volleys that found the target.
"GOAL," Zachary jubilated after hitting the last ball accurately. He felt like he had scored in a major competition.
Three weeks had elapsed since the day of the trial match attended by the scouts. After being selected for a sports academy in Norway, Zachary had immediately begun working on his arrow-shot. He believed he would advance it into a G.O.A.T skill after the day's training. So, he opened the system interface to view his progress.
****
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[USER MENU]
[USER STATS]
[G.O.A.T MISSIONS]
[SYSTEM SHOP (locked)]
[SYSTEM LOTTERY (locked)]
[SNOOPING TOOL]
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[NB: Pls level-up the system to unlock more functions.]
****
After helping his team win the trial match, the system rewarded Zachary by unlocking its snooping-tool-function capable of spying on the talents of others. However, using the tool had almost shocked him out of his boots. The day after the trials, he found out that Stephen Mangala, Edo Kayembe, and Miché Mika were all A-grade talents.
Zachary couldn't compete with the three of them in terms of talent alone. So, he upped his training routine after realizing he had accidentally unlocked another G.O.A.T skill when scoring the first goal in the trial match. If he couldn't beat them on talent, he resolved he would defeat them through hard work and skills.
Zachary calmed his mind and clicked on the G.O.A.T-skills tab in the User-Stats menu.
****
[G.O.A.T Skills: 2]
[(I) ZINEDINE VISUAL JUJU]
[(1st-level: Progress: 10.001%)]
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[(II) ZACHARY-ARROW-SHOT]
[(1st-level: Progress: 1%)]
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YOU ARE READING
The Greatest of All Time
Science FictionDive into a novel about the rise of a legendary sportsman. Follow Zachary Bemba on his journey to become the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) in the soccer world. He travels back to a time in his past where opportunity abounds. Access to a system capa...
