Mao Jinpeng awoke from his deep sleep and slowly opened his eyes, surveying the bedroom environment while recalling what had happened to him.
He was staying up to watch the Germany vs Argentina 2014 World Cup final in his rented house to witness Lionel Messi sealing the title, but it was Mario Gotze who helped Germany win the Copa Libertadores with an overhead finish in the 113th minute of extra time.
After the final whistle, Mao Jinpeng disappointedly got up to go to the toilet, did not pay attention to the beer that he had accidentally spilled on the floor before, a foot slipped, fell down on his back, the back of the head hit the corner of the table hard, directly over.
But instead of disappearing, his soul traveled halfway across the world and possessed a young Argentinean man named Alan Villard, merging the other man's soul and memories before taking over and being reborn.
Mao Jinpeng grew up in an orphanage, after working to earn money in addition to their own living needs are sent to the orphanage, have talked about a few girlfriends because of no house, no car, no savings and break up, until the age of 36 is not married.
I didn't realize that it would be a sudden death, crossing over and being reborn as an Argentine.
Alan Velarde is just 21 years old and is a fringe substitute for a second division club called Hurricanes Athletic on the outskirts of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
This child is also unlucky, a few days ago his parents died in a car accident, leaving him and his sister Kristina to depend on each other. Yesterday just after the funeral, physically and mentally exhausted, back home fainted on the bed, the result was Mao Jinpeng dove into the nest, take over the rebirth, but also in disguise 15 years younger.
Then, thinking of the web novels he had read, Mao Jinpeng whimsically said, "Everyone else who crosses over has a golden finger, where's mine?"
Unexpectedly, an electronic voice really came from his mind, "As you wish, the Football Superstar System is activated, binding host Alan Villard successfully, please communicate the specific functions with the host's mind in his mind."
Mao Jinpeng was instantly delighted, good he likes soccer again, host Alan Velarde himself is still a professional player, quite a match!
After exchanging some thoughts in his mind, Mao Jinpeng had basically understood the role of this soccer superstar system, and now his system information was displayed as:
Host: Alan Villard
Nationality: Argentine
Club: Hurricane Athletics
Birthday: May 19, 1993
Height: 186cm
Weight: 84kg
Grade: 0
Experience: 0/10,000
Skill Points: 20
Defense: 56
...
(The protagonist will be referred to as Alan Velarde throughout the rest of the text.)
According to the understanding, Velarde can be upgraded by gaining experience through training and matches, and each upgrade can gain a certain amount of skill points to be used to improve skill attributes.
The full value of the skill attribute is 100, and each additional attribute before 60 only requires 1 skill point; 61-70 requires 2 skill points, 71-80 requires 3, 81-90 requires 5, 91-99 requires 10, and 99 plus to 100 requires 50 skill points.
Moreover, in order to avoid causing suspicion from the outside world by boosting strength too quickly, the skill attribute value needs to be added only once every Monday before 90. After the skill attribute reaches 90, it is even more necessary to add it once every month on the first day of the month.
There is also a limit to the amount of attributes that can be added to skills based on the level of the league he is playing in. Now that he's in Argentina's second division, he can only add up to 80 to his skills; he can unlock up to 90 when he's promoted to the A-League, and he can only unlock up to 100 when he's transferred to one of Europe's top five leagues.
Now Velarde only has an initial skill "Defense" that is randomly opened by the system, but this skill is a collection of defensive stances, positioning, staring, grabbing, stealing, blocking, reasonable charging, shoveling, etc., which is not bad, and in the future, you will have to open a new skill randomly every 2 levels.
The 20 skill points initially rewarded by the system are unlimited and can be added to a skill at once.
So, attribute 56 "defense", Velarde first spend 4 skill points to 60, 16 skill points left. According to the rules of the system, 61-70 every point of attribute will require 2 skill points, so the remaining 16 skill points can only add "defense" from 60 to 68, the initial reward of 20 skill points are all used up.
68's defense, combined with the bulk that comes with his decent height and weight, has been enough to promote him from fringe backup to starting backup, competing for playing time at the back end, and with a little bit of luck, even a starter.
After learning about the system, Velarde sat up, moved his body around, and got ready to get out of bed, wash up, and report to the club.
It is now the morning of July 15 local time in Argentina, according to the club's notice, the Hurricanes will start training today, and on July 27 it will be the first match of the second half of the season, the 1/16th final of the Argentina Cup.
That being said, the Argentine league changes around a lot and is very confusing.
Previously there were spring and fall leagues that produced two champions each season. In the last two years, the top teams of the spring and fall leagues have been playing each other, with only one overall winner each season. Now the Argentine Football Federation (FAR) has changed its mind, and is planning to launch a massive 30-team Primera División starting next year, 2015, with only one season a year to determine a single champion.
Therefore, after the 2013/2014 fall league season in the first half of the year, there is a six-month transition period between the second half of the year and next year's new format in preparation for the addition of six months of play-in games. (Note: South America, where Argentina is located, has the opposite domestic season)
The Hurricanes Athletic team will be competing later this year in the second half of the 2014 Argentine B League Play-Offs.
Because the A-League is going to expand from 20 to 30 teams next year, there are plenty of spots for promotion, and as long as they are ranked in the middle of the standings, they can be promoted, so the A-League playoffs in the second half of the year are the best chance for Hurricanes Athletics to be promoted to the A-League.
If the upgrade is successful, Velarde will also be able to go along to play in the A-League, gaining more training and match experience, and the skill attribute cap can be unlocked from 80 to 90.
As for the Copa Argentina, it's also an odd confusion of timing, with the 2013/2014 season being played from last November and the final not being played until November this year. The last few knockout games are already well into the 2014/2015 season if you go by the old league format.
So Hurricanes Athletic are now participating in the 2014 A-League B play-offs and the 1/16th final of the 2013/2014 Copa Argentina. If they are promoted to the A-League next year, their participation will be in the 2015 A-League and the 2014/2015 Argentine Cup.
The chaos of the Argentine league is evident.
In addition, Argentine soccer is also very deeply involved by the government and gangsters. The two giants, Boca Juniors and River Plate, are unconditionally guaranteed to play in the CONCACAF Cup (equivalent to the UEFA Cup), no matter how bad their results are. When their results are good, they can go to the Copa Libertadores (equivalent to the UEFA Champions League).
The infiltration of gangsters into Argentine soccer can be seen just by looking at the dozens of gangsters who flew with the Argentine national team to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, and it is said that their tickets were purchased on behalf of the national team. Then manager Diego Maradona was photographed by paparazzi enjoying a drink with a gangster, and the drugs he consumed were supplied directly by the gangsters at a discounted price.
Just as Velarde was mentally spouting off about the chaos of Argentine soccer, there was a knock on the bedroom door and Velarde said, "Come in!"
Then her sister, Kristina, pushed the door open and probed Velarde somewhat mournfully, "Brother, breakfast is served."
Velarde nodded, "Right away."
Velarde then got up and dressed, went to the restroom to wash up a bit, and then went to the dining table and ate the bread and milk that his sister had warmed up.
Kristina, on the other hand, was preoccupied and ate slowly.
Seeing this, Velarde comforted, "Nana, even though your parents are gone, don't worry, brother will take care of you and protect you."
As it turned out, it was better not to comfort, but when she did, 17-year-old Kristina was overcome with grief and tears came streaming down her face, leaving Velarde to panic and go to her sister's comfort.
But the problem was that he wasn't the original host, even after fusing his soul and memories, he was a bit frazzled, and he was busy for quite a while before he was able to comfort Kristina and finish her breakfast.
After breakfast, Velarde said, "Nana, I have to report to the club, are you okay being home alone?"
Kristina said, "You go ahead, I'll be fine, I'll just stay home and watch TV, I'm not going anywhere."
With a nod, Velarde headed out the door and onto the bus.
From the town of Devoto, where his home is located, to Rivadavia Road, where the Hurricanes Athletic Team is located, it takes more than ten minutes to go there by bus. Although it's faster to take a cab, the original host's salary as a fringe replacement for the second division team isn't very high, only 3,000 pesos (about Rs. 2,300), and his family's conditions are ordinary, so he usually takes the bus.
Club training times are usually 9:30-11:30am with a 3 hour lunch break and 14:30-16:30pm.
Out of curiosity and newness to professional soccer, Villard went out a little early, and when he arrived in front of the base, there was still a full hour before the start of training. At that time, he was surprised to see hundreds of die-hard Hurricanes fans pulling banners and gathering near the base entrance to cheer the team's journey into the new season.
Because of next year's significant expansion of the A-League, this year's A-League B play-off 22 teams will be divided into two groups, A and B, to play a round-robin tournament, with only 11 teams in each group, but with five places for promotion to the A-League.
This is a rare opportunity for any A-League B team to get promoted, which is why the first training session of the new season saw hundreds of die-hard fans come out to cheer and support the team. However, if the team fails to get promoted this year, the fans will surely have to demonstrate and vent their discontent, and there is no lack of extreme fans burning jerseys, scarves, team flags, and even punching people.
South American soccer, as it has always been, is one where passion and extremes go hand in hand.
However, Velarde was just a fringe replacement, and no one worshipped him, sought him out for autographs and pictures or anything, and silently walked into the Hurricanes' training base.