FWEEEE!
{First Half Score: 1-1}
The referee blew the whistle for half-time.
Endrick had a dull look on his face as he walked listlessly after his teammates to the stadium stands. Instinctively, he touched his forehead only to feel sweat gathered, he was even more stunned.
'I'm sweating yet I don't remember doing anything for 15 minutes'.
After sitting down, he clenched his fists. 'Is this really football?'
As soon as he sat down, he felt a familiar cold presence come closer to him, he raised his head and looked up into Legion's eyes.
"You're a liability in this team, you cannot be my forward partner".
His eyes flashed dangerously. "I won't let you sabotage my dream".
"I decided to get a career as a footballer in Unity to escape the clutches of my family". He glared at Endrick. "I don't want to become an assassin, but if I fail here, I don't mind starting my profession with you".
"…" Again, Endrick was stunned by this boy's words.
"Forfeit your forward position to someone else".
"Become a defender".
"Never!" He barely finished when Endrick erupted.
He stood up and looked straight into Legion's eyes. "I don't care about your f*cking identity, I don't care if you have family issues or not, what I know is that I'm not becoming a defender just because you tell me to".
Legion silently looked into his eyes for a few seconds.
Then he turned away. "If I fail the elite team trials, you know what would happen?" He paused to think. "You won't live to tell the story".
The sounds of Legion's footsteps fading into the distance reverberated.
Endrick sank into his chair in the stadium and grabbed his head in frustration.
'Is this really football?' He asked himself again for the umpteenth time.
About a minute later, someone else came to sit down beside him.
Opening his eyes, he saw Maria202. This female footballer directed a gentle glance at him. The next moment, she flicked her left hand as a projection appeared in the air, projecting stats of the just concluded first half.
{Team Brazil Best vs Team Oracle}
{Ball Possession: 45% - 65%}
{Shots on Goal: 1 - 3}
{Attacking Shots: 1 - 6}
{Total Damage Dealt: 38 - 140}
{Scoreline: 1 - 1}
Maria202 looked at him. "I don't know about you, but I didn't just come to Unity to play and enjoy the game. Due to certain reasons I'm not inclined to reveal to you, football is my passion".
"I really want to make a profession out of this game".
"From the first half display, we were by far the inferior side, only Legion's moment of individual genius was able to drag us from the losing bracket".
"Despite this, we are not safe. Like Coach Vicente said, if 2 teams draw, the team with the most damage wins and qualifies".
"Please, make the right decision that will benefit the team".
"If your skills are not enough to play the forward line, give room for someone else to take it".
"Personally, I think Pedro can be a good forward".
"…" Endrick was speechless while she talked till she left.
As soon as she left, he was pulled into a whirlpool of emotions.
'My skills are not good enough?'
'My skills are not good enough? I f*cking scored the winning goal of the world cup final!' He almost exploded and said it out loud.
'If not for death, if not for Tokyo Sexwale'. He grabbed his head with both his hands as the frustration of his display in the first half sank in.
'I hate you pervy old man!'
'Why would you reincarnate me in a world like this?'
'This is no football!'
'This is a battle!'
Instantly after Endrick said those words, he paused as he remembered something, he remembered his last words before death.
'Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that'.
His eyes widened. 'Football is… a battle'.
This realization didn't suddenly turn him into a freak like Legion, but it changed his perspective and made him see things differently.
'Clearly, this is not the conventional football that I am used to'.
'Most important of all, this is a virtual reality game. We have lives, we can die, and we can kill other players with our ball'.
'From what was displayed in the first half, I am awful at killing. I just don't have the instincts, and besides, my reflexes are also not good enough to dodge the attacks from my opponents and was why I was attacked the most in the first half'.
'Merging all these attributes together makes the football of this era'.
Endrick's eyes shone in enlightenment. 'Since I'm clearly lacking in attacking and evading attacks, what if I ignore those and fully focus on my own football?'
'Afterall, scoring the most goals still mean winning in this version of football'.
'Since I can't attack, what if I just focus on dribbling to score goals?'
'Will it work?' His eyes shone.
'I'll have to test it out on the pitch'.
4 minutes later, they were on the pitch again.
"You didn't give up your position?" Maria202 asked in a disappointed tone.
"No, I am a forward!" Endrick said with conviction.
FWEEE!
When the game started again, this time it was Team Brazil Best's turn to start the kickoff. Legion let go of his irritation at Endrick, he also wanted to win and feeling his confidence, he decided to pass towards him.
Endrick trapped the ball on his left leg perfectly as he scanned the pitch.
His amazing spatial awareness from his previous life was put in display.
As the 2 midfielders charged towards him to dispossess him, instead of trying to shoot at them to attack them, he passed back towards Maria202 before cleverly running behind them at the space that they left open.
This clever run by him was spotted by Maria202, his female teammate did not disappoint as she raised the ball above the other players towards him.
Gundam, one of the 2 towering defenders of Team Oracle charged towards him to dispossess him but Endrick was a step ahead. He did not let the ball touch down, before it could, he executed an inch perfect control mid-air.
Cushioning the ball with his left leg, he pushed the ball and shifted to his left, changing his center of gravity at such a crazy manner that he lost his man.
The defender of Team Oracle was stunned as he was left in the dust.
By now, the last of the midfielders in team Oracle was already charging towards him but Endrick paid him no attention as he charged forward, engaging a crazy solo run towards the opposition side of the pitch.
In no time, he slowed down as he was before the last defender.
'Try to attack and see if your stun passive ability triggers'.
This thought crossed Endrick's mind but he zeroed it. 'No, I'm not taking any risks, I'll instead try to take a direct shot at goal'.
'This is how normal football is played'.
As the last defender waited for his approach, Endrick suddenly did a calculated stagger, a trick to unbalance his opponent's defensive stance. It worked as the defender instantly swerved towards the right.
Endrick read him like a book, his left leg shifted the ball to the left, leaving the defender in the dust as the goal finally stared him on the face.
He no longer hesitated.
Without even thinking, his striker instincts kicked in as he shot the ball.
Bam!
{Your ball have been affected by a Special Skill: Mini Gravity!}
At the last moment, Endrick's eyes widened as the defender charged back towards him. Of course, he was not fast enough to intercept the ball, but a power like gravity or magnetism seemed to attract the ball to his legs.
Endrick witnessed all the laws of physics that were ingrained in his head being dissected and destroyed, his eyes widened in shock.
The ball was attracted to the defender's leg and it was intercepted.
The defender did not stop at that. Instantly after intercepting the ball, he looked up at Endrick before ruthlessly kicking the ball at him.
Bam!
{+35 Damage!}
{+7 Additional damage from the Hard Ball!}
{Health Points: 65/180}
Endrick curled in pain as the extremely hard ball hit his exposed stomach, making him feel like he was about to puke as he reeled over from the pain.
He could no longer react; the counterattack was on.
5 against 4, his teammates could only do so little, Lord Ronaldo released another perfect pass to Bullseye and this deadly marksman did not miss his mark.
Bam!
"GOAL…!!!"
Team Oracle celebrated wildly as they retook the lead.
"You dog! What were you doing?!"
For the first time since he met Legion a few hours ago, Endrick saw this originally calm and nonchalant 15-year-old lose it as he exploded and yelled on his face.
He could not refute, his hands shook. 'I caused this goal'.
FWEEEE!
When the game restarted, Legion tried to go solo again but prepared for his attacks this time, the opposition midfield helped their defense to limit his options.
In the end, he was repeatedly dispossessed.
Left with no choice, Maria202 decided to pass to Endrick again.
'Should I attack?' The question floated to Endrick's mind, placing him in a dilemma but in the end, his instincts rang true again.
'That is not football!'
'Football is a beautiful game without violence'.
He tried to dribble forward again, a few seconds later, he was dispossessed.
{+15 Damage!}
{Health Points: 50/180}
Endrick was losing it. 'This is not football!'
'This is barbaric!'
A few minutes later, at the 26th minute of the game.
{+35 Damage!}
{Health Points: 0/180}
{You have been killed!}
{Wait 2 minutes till revival…}
Team Brazil Best was reduced to 4 players, and this was when Team Oracle was truly unleashed. Just a minute later, Bullseye got his hattrick.
A few seconds later after the game restarted, Lord Ronaldo won a freekick very close to the opposition goal, this was when Endrick revived.
"You dog!"
"I'll kill you!" Legion was fuming.
Endrick could not reply, with his head down, he joined the wall of 2 players.
After a delicate run, Lord Ronaldo kicked the ball.
Bam!
The ball curled beautifully above the wall of 2 players before homing into the back of the net, team Oracle exploded in further celebrations.
The score was 4-1.
"You dog! Good for nothing fool!"
While Legion exploded at him, insulting him, only one question was in Endrick's mind. 'Is this really football?'
Till the last minute, it lingered in his mind.
FWEEE!
The game finally ended.
{Team Oracle won with a scoreline of 4-1!}
The realization of the defeat finally sank into Endrick's mind. He could not help it, tears suddenly welled in his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly.
'Is this really football?'