Ordinary Football Player

The sky was clear, there were no clouds or any kind of birds, under that clean blue some children were playing ball in that green field surrounded by a small forest, from which you could see, beyond the thicket of trees, big buildings covering part of the horizon.

On that same field I was lying on the ground after a long training session with the intention of increasing my stats, unfortunately ”Profile ”,

[ Tech Yale—-Level: 1 ]

[ MP:10—-Fatigue: 0 ]

[ Shoot:1 ]

[ Speed:1 ]

[ Dribble:1 ]

[ Physical:1 ]

[ Pass:1 ]

[ Defence:1 ]

[ Skills: None ]

I was unsuccessful, ”Ahhh, whyyyyyyy!?!! ” I shouted in frustration, ”Why don they go up?! ” I sat on the grass exhausted, I had been training with the ball for an hour without a break, I had done shots, dribbles, cardio, but nothing, I had no success with any of them, There must be something Im doing wrong….. Without realizing it, I had kicked the ball a bit far, it had reached a bench that was on the outskirts of the field, there were more than one situated around it, They probably make a makeshift bench at high school games I thought as I walked over to pick it up, I was so focused on thinking about how to increase my stats that I didn notice that someone had already picked up the ball for me, a girl was in front of me with the ball in her hands, Excuse me I said as I moved my hands towards the ball, I couldn help but notice her figure, she had dark blue hair that many would mistake for black, I couldn help but be surprised by her height, 176 cm maybe? She was about the same height as me, How lucky some people are I thought crying inside, her skin was white and she looked quite young, I guessed she was a high school student.

”Don worry, here ” she said with a smile as she held out the ball.

”Thank you ” I replied politely ”Well then… ” just as I was about to say goodbye, a strangely familiar blue screen appeared right in front of her with a text I hadn seen until now [You have received a notification], Notification?!!!? What is this?.

”mhm? is something wrong? ” asked the girl cocking her head slightly.

”No, nothing ” I hurriedly replied as I turned my gaze away.

I didn realise I was staring at her, but more importantly…good thing I checked that other people couldn see the System I thought relieved, otherwise, I don know what would have happened…But for now Hide after thinking that, the system disappeared, Ill watch the notification later.

”Sorry to have bothered you, bye ” I said as I turned towards the field again to resume training, I could observe her out of the corner of my eye, however, I couldn decipher her expression ”She probably thinks Im a weirdo…. ” a small sigh escaped me, ”Well, never mind ” I said to myself, ”Now… more importantly… ” time began to pass slowly, still, I continued to stand in the middle of the field ”hmhm, as I guessed, I can figure out how to open it ”.

”Maybe its as simple as saying Open message although I don think thats what it is ” I said with a silly laugh.

[Open notification].

”Really?! ” I was surprised, I honestly didn think it would work.

[Initiation Mission: For the next 30 days you will be assigned several daily tests to pass, if you manage to pass all the tests you will get a special reward].

[Daily Goal- Complete 85 laps of the field before the timer reaches 0].

[Reward- 1 stat point, 10 XP].

[Penalty- If you fail any of the objectives all rights and benefits of the programme will be removed].

”What does this mean? ” I raised my voice without realising it, the children who were playing in the other goal stopped their game and looked at me curiously, I looked back at them ”Ahaha, nothing its nothing, there was a mouse here ” I said startled while I laughed falsely.

I turned my attention back to the notification, I read it several times before drawing any conclusions, since, honestly, my comprehension in general was never good, when I finally thought I had understood and assimilated it correctly, I made a mental sketch so as not to overlook any detail.

According to what I understood, starting today I will be assigned tests to complete during the next 30 days… I shifted my gaze to the daily objective In this test I will get experience and a stat point, however, nothing assures me that every day will be the same rewards…The same goes for objectives…

”Aaaahh, stop worrying about the future and focus on the present ” I said to myself as I tried to calm down and shifted my gaze back to the notification.

Even though there was a special reward for completing all the tests, what caught my attention the most was what it said in Penalty If I don complete the tests they will take away the program…, I thought carefully what this meant, even though I sensed what I was afraid of, I didn want to admit it, ”So this is how its going to be heh… ” I said with a smile and worried but anxious expression, if I failed I would have to give up the system.

I was honestly afraid of that happening, but my determination wasn so fragile that something like that would put enough pressure on me to give up, following the pattern the system was keeping so I could access it, I said ”Counter ”, a green screen different to the colour I was used to appeared on the side, it read [2:27:45].

”I don have time to waste ” I said as I got into position and looked at the field determined to pass the test, without waiting a second longer I started to run.

I didn want to tire quickly, so at the beginning I kept a good pace, thanks in part to correctly executing a constant and deep breathing, which I synchronised with my own steps. The kids that were using half the field and were playing were gone, I guessed that they had left not long ago, as it was quite late and soon it would be lunch time, because of that, I was the only one on the field, having been training before and now to continue, the sun was starting to be my worst enemy, the rays began to filter through my skin as if they were hot thorns, the conditions were not ideal and my luck honestly was not in my favour, without even realising it I completed a lap, if it wasn for a screen on my left that said [1/85] I wouldn have known, I turned my head to the right where the counter was [2: 26:51], Almost a minute to complete a lap…Id better not look at it if I want to concentrate properly I thought, avoiding getting distracted.

The time began to pass and pass as I went on, first 10 minutes, 25, 40, 55, 1 hour.

[1:15:21].

It got to a point where I didn even notice how many laps I had left, I just wanted to get it over with, I took a quick look at it without losing concentration on my breathing [51/85], ”Aaaah **!!! ” I shouted impatiently as I increased my pace, it was a slightly peculiar way of encouraging myself, 55,56,61,69,74,81, the laps kept increasing as the time kept decreasing, [0:05:48] the blue screen had been flashing for quite a while, I didn have much more time.

”4…just 4 more… ” I muttered to myself as I was panting heavily, I had reached the climax, the most important and decisive moment of the race.

I felt continuous dizziness and I could feel my bones and muscles starting to fail, Damn system…If you had told me before that this was the way to increase my level, I wouldn be so **ing tired right now… I thought as I continued running as I could around the field, despite everything that hurt and even though my body was screaming at me to stop, I refused to give up, and less now, ”everything to show them what Im worth…. those arrogant fools… ” the words were coming out of my mouth uncontrollably, at that moment I didn feel it but blood began to flow out of my mouth and ears, they say that when a person is about to die or at deaths door, they see a small light at the end of the road, a light… like the one I was seeing at that very moment, it was yellow and shone intensely like the sun, without realising it I started to raise my hand with the eagerness to touch it, when I was finally about to reach it the light disappeared abruptly, followed by a great darkness, I didn know what was happening, I didn know if I had managed to pass the test or not, while I was struggling to stay conscious I heard something in one of my ears, because the blood didn let me hear well, I thought it was just my imagination, until suddenly I heard a familiar solid sound in my head [You have completed the first objective 1/30].

[You have received the rewards correctly], I didn know why or how, but at that very moment I could feel a smile form on my face before I collapsed to the ground.