~----~
[You have opened random loot box!]
[Congratulations! You have received a high-grade vitality fruit!]
>Vitality Fruit: This is a miraculous fruit that is capable of healing all injuries incurred by a footballer within seconds. There is also a chance of it improving your innate vitality and physical resilience<
~----~
The blue screen disappeared and, in its place, a real yellow banana appeared, falling right into Sam's outstretched palm.
Feeling the physical touch of the banana, Sam felt goosebumps all over. "I-it's real!" He stammered.
Grasping the banana tighter, Sam threw a glance around, confirming that no one was around to see him and then he heaved a sigh of relief.
He could not stay in the sitting room though, he felt exposed here.
The first thing he did was run to his bedroom. Locked inside there, he finally felt hidden and safe, and then he picked the banana up again.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Eat it?"
Right at that moment, another system notification appeared before him.
[You have 10 seconds remaining to ingest the high-grade vitality fruit before it disappears!]
"F*ck!" Sam pushed the banana down his throat immediately and in 3 big bites, the banana disappeared.
Sam stared, and waited.
For a few seconds, nothing happened but then, he felt strange.
It almost felt like an embrace, soothing. Sam had never been in those revered hot baths before but right now, he felt like this was how a hot bath would feel like.
It was almost like a holy oil originated from his stomach, permeating through his body and into his skin even as a heavenly hand gave him the best massage ever.
It almost felt like a touch of God himself.
From inside, Sam felt like this touch was cradling him, remolding him. He enjoyed it, heck, he didn't want this sensation to stop if it could.
But everything does come to an end, including this feeling.
~----~
[You have ingested a high-grade vitality fruit!]
[Major injury was identified: Misaligned ankle…]
[Ankle injury has been healed!]
[Other minor body injuries have been healed!]
[Host's current physical status: Standard]
~----~
Seeing this, Sam could not react. He did not know how to feel even, this was because he could tell that the notifications before him were no bluff.
He could tell because, well, he was the one who had ownership of his body.
He could tell from how he was feeling, he could tell from how his legs were feeling. Heck, he felt really good right now.
"System, show me my status".
The system complied.
~----~
[Player status!]
Host: Samuel Moses
Current Career Status: Stagnant (Waiting for the right catalyst)
Talent Rating: C+
Player Position: Undefined
Player Attributes:
*Pace: 70
*Shot: 69
*Pass: 74
*Dribbling: 64
*Defending: 33
*Physicality: 60
*Stamina: 78
Overall Rating: 67
~----~
'My talent rating improved!' His eyes gleamed.
His mom's ranting this evening was still very fresh in his mind but unlike before, Sam could not pay as much heed to it because this time, there was something else distracting him from the fear of his mom.
The Ultimate Football System was this new distracting factor.
Sam found it truly hard to wrap his head around the current reality but if the system was right, did this just mean the injury that ruined his football career was now well and truly healed?
His breathing became rapid. "Oh my God!"
"I'm so excited, is this really real? I can't wait to test it out tomorrow!"
"Heck! I can do it this night!"
After his last ankle injury 4 years ago, running became a luxury for him. Running for just 2 minutes would make his ankle ache, running for more minutes caused severe consequences, that is what he was going to try out.
But just as he stood up from his bed, something happened.
The main door of his house opened.
At first, Sam was alarmed. 'Who is it? A thief?'
Silently, he snuck out of his room and opened his door. Going outside, he peeked and well, it was safe to say that Sam was flabbergasted.
"My love".
Silence.
"My wife, the one who holds the key to my heart".
"Stop".
"Love of my life".
"Leave me".
"My everything. You know I'm sorry, right?"
"I didn't mean to raise my voice at you, I'm sorry, I was just, you know, frustrated. You know how much I love football".
"I know, it's just Sam".
"Don't worry about Sam, I'll take more responsibility for him now".
From where Sam hid, peeking, he was absolutely stunned as he stared at the shameless couple face each other.
There stood his dad, with the meekest face that Sam had ever seen on him facing his mom who acted so strong like she had not been crying since.
And before he knew it, out of nowhere, his parents were already kissing.
'What the f*ck!' Sam exclaimed in his mind.
'This shameless duo, how can you raise such a storm and just act like nothing happened now?'
Sam felt tense, it was escalating.
"Umm, the children are in their room, they'll see".
"Don't worry, they're sleeping," Mr. Moses interjected. "I know my children; they should be asleep by now".
"Let's go to the bedroom".
"No, here is just fine with me".
Hearing that, Sam's face turned a deep shade of pink. Already having an idea about what was about to happen, he snuck back to his room, locked his door before wisely putting his headset on to listen to some loud music.
While the music played, he cursed in his mind. 'Shameless couple!'
About a dozen minutes later, he changed the playlist to a list of cool songs that would help him sleep.
He started feeling sleepy but just as he closed his eyes, he heard a beeping sound.
Beep!
The system startled him awake.
~----~
[Sam, welcome to a new day!]
[You have unlocked Daily Quest- Get back in shape!]
[You have unlocked today's daily quest goals!]
[Task 1: 100 push-ups]
…
[Task 2: 100 squats]
…
[Task 3: 100 sit-ups]
…
[Task 4: Run 10 kilometers]
…
[WARNING: If the daily quest is not completed, penalties will be given accordingly.]
[Remark: With great power comes great responsibilities.]
~----~