{St. Mary's Orphanage in England}
{Jul 1, 2003}
Evan looked around his room in silence, the room was decorated with posters of football stars wearing simple red t-shirts with a badge that adorned a devil. The prominent one among them was a blond-haired man who had the number '7' engraved on his back.
For as long as he has been in love with football, Evan has been a fan of the Devils. He didn't remember the original number '7' as the years of watching games had almost washed off his memories. But it was his passion that idolized the number '7' shirt in everyone's memories.
'And then came Beckham...' Evan sighed as he looked around at his room one last time. He was going to turn 18 tomorrow so he had to empty his room and search for a part-time job as he looked for opportunities.
'What do I even want to do...' The question was pressing onto his soul as he stared at the newspaper headline that detailed Beckham's transfer to Madrid.
'Fucking Madrid...' Evan threw the paper down as he leaned back on his bed. He was done with this day, maybe tomorrow wouldn't be so bad.
-------------------------
{At Midnight}
[Ding~]
Evan turned around in his sleep and curled into the bed...
[Ding~]
[Ding~]
[Ding~]
...
'Fuck...Who's at the door this late.' Evan woke up groggily-eyed and looked at the door annoyed. At least he tried to look at the door, a small blue screen was in front of his eyes blocking his vision.
'What the fuck is thi- ow!' Evan waved his hand at the screen and his hand collided with it. He sat up and looked at the screen which followed his vision.
'What is this...'
...
[Welcome to the G.O.A.T system]
[Please choose a sport?]
[1. Basketball]
[2. Football]
[3. Golf]
[4. F1]
...
Evan read through the screen and then thought to himself, 'Now what the fuck is a G.O.A.T, it's not talking about the animal is it. And why is it asking me to select a sport... what even is this.'
Evan had heard about schizophrenia, so he was a little afraid as he once again touched the edge of the screen to confirm. His hand pressed against the cold screen and he sighed, 'Well at least I'm not going mental... now what do I do, do I have to select something?'
After waiting a couple of seconds in silence Evan shrugged and clicked on the Football option.
'Hey it changed... did it react to my touch like a button.' Evan was a little bit fascinated by the mechanic but then his focus shifted to the new words that appeared on the screen.
...
[Football selected... analyzing the football skills of this world.]
[Analysing host's football talent]
[Talent level- {Ball sense} E-grade]
[Using Talent boost module]
[Please select the degree to which you want to increase your talent {Ball sense}]
[1. B - grade: Sorten life span by 10 years.]
[2. A- grade: Sorten life span by 20 years.]
[3. S- grade: Develop terminal cancer in 4 years. {Can be cured if tasks are completed}]
[4. SS- grade: Develop terminal cancer in 3 years. {Can not be cured.}]
...
'What even is this...' Evan stared dumbfounded at the choices he was given again, he liked playing football, and even though inside he knew he was not good enough to play it professionally, deeming it E-grade was a bit too much right.
'Why do I have to lose the years of my life in every choice...' Evan complained but his hand was itching to click on the screen. He had been searching for what he was meant to do all his life, and now the answer was in front of him.
Was he meant to trust a slightly glowing screen at midnight? No
Did he click it? Absolutely.
[3. S- grade: Develop terminal cancer in 4 years. {Can be cured if tasks are completed}]
'If I'm gonna die I will die trying to be the bes-' Evan thought but then darkness overwhelmed him.
...
---------------------------------
{6:23 AM Jul 2, 2003}
Evan was woken awake by the slight shaking of his shoulders, he mumbled but the shaking continued and he was woken up completely by a loud shout.
"...Dude, fucking hell man, everyone is waiting to play with you before you leave," David spoke as he looked down at Evan in confusion. Normally, Evan was the first one on the pitch so he was the one who kept the ball after the end of each game.
Evan ignored David as he sat straight up, the screen in front of him went back but it didn't budge from his vision.
...
[Upgrade complete]
[Gained {Ball sense} S-grade]
[Task Required to remove the side effect- Win the Ballon d'Or]
[Best of luck]
...
The screen disappeared from his vision and it was quickly replaced with a different one.
[Player Property Panel]
[Name: Evan Turner]
[Age: 18]
[Special Talent: {Ball sense}[S]-> +300% Exp gain to all skills involving touching a ball.]
[Physical Stats]
[Strength: 45]
[Speed: 63]
[Endurance: 34]
[Explosiveness: 43]
[Balance: 43]
[Coordination: 67]
[Vision: 62]
[Ball Sense: 90]
[Technical Stats]
[Passing: 34] [+]
[Shooting: 43][+]
[First touch: 23]
[Defending: 12][+]
[Spatial awareness: 83]
[Comprehensive evaluation: E (Casual Football Fan)]
...
"Hey man, you okay?" David asked confused, Evan looked like he was in a daze.
"Yeah, why don't you take the ball down, I'll be down in a bit" Evan spoke as he turned to nod at David, although his face was hidden behind the blue screen. David gave Evan a weird look but he still nodded and picked up the ball from under the bed.
"We are going to start soon, if you are late you will have to start as sub..." David warned light-heartedly and then he left.
Evan closed his eyes and rubbed them for a moment before he opened them again as he looked through his property panel once again.
He looked through the countless low values in disbelief and then he thought about the mission task he had to complete.
'What the fuck do you mean I have to win the Ballon d'Or...'
-----------------------
AN- An attempt at a sports novel! There are too few of them out there!