Verona, Italy.
Leonardo Marcia, 30-year-old man.
Leonardo's football career was cut short 15 years ago when he sustained an injury during a football match, and his life took a bad turn as a result of this.
He was then released by La Masia, the youth program of FC Barcelona. He undertook multiple trials at several football academies throughout Europe after suffering the injury for a year, but none of them took him due to the injury.
Most teams rejected him because they didn't want him to become a burden or an unreliable investment for them.
He never got to his feet again and was no longer the young prospect he once was.
Despite gaining weight over time, he continued to like playing football with children in the park.
He still sheds tears thinking back to the day his tendons ripped in a U20 world cup final, which resulted in the loss of his team in the cup final.
He still laments having wasted his talent and falling short of becoming a professional athlete.
****
"Don't kick it up too high!" While playing with them, Leonardo screamed at a youngster.
The ball was moving toward the road as he ran after it.
Leonardo exclaims "Ugh" as he jumps onto the road to retrieve the ball and stops it from straying further.
He was in the path of an approaching truck while he lay on the ground.
The driver of the truck didn't notice the man on the ground and ran over him.
**Swish**
As his vision blurred, he thought about all the choices that led him to this moment. Suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him, offering a hand. With the hand's help he rose, he saw a figure kneeling next to him, they seemed to be yelling yet he couldn't hear what they were saying. Slowly, he regained consciousness.
*Swish*
Just then Leonardo regained consciousness and was bewildered. He recalls getting struck by a car in the middle of the street. Why was he still alive when he thought he had died? Leonardo started to recall the memories of the original host of the body at that precise moment. He became aware that he was watching a football game from the bench and he was a part of the game.
When he turned to face the home end of the stadium, he noticed that the rest of the team was leaving the field, it was time for a half-break and his team was down 2-0. To his surprise, he understood what he had just read, despite the fact that it was written in a totally different language. While warming up, he noticed that his body was lighter and more fluidly flowing.
He was distressed. His mood began to dwindle. But at that moment, a translucent blue screen appeared in front of him as he heard an artificial sound in his thoughts. Large "Arial" letters were engraved on the screen…
"DING DONG!"
'FUT SYSTEM COMMENCING…'
Leonardo blinked as his eyes adjusted. He gazed at the translucent blue screen in awe. Having read many system-tagged web novels before he'd been transmigrated, he could quickly understand what was happening. He was sure that he might be getting a 'cheat system' like all those protagonists in the books. For any devoted fan of webbooks, that was the dream cheat. If the system was anything like in those books, it could help him level up his soccer skills and make him a great player within a few years.
Just then, a new message popped up.
"FUT SYSTEM INTEGRATED SUCCESSFULLY"
—
Do you want the system operation update to begin now or later?
[Now] [Later]