Looking at the eerie surroundings, Jose began to shake his head vigorously.
"Smart move, staying out of trouble will definitely have its benefits," the bullheaded figure said with satisfaction as he nodded and flipped through a small booklet in his hand. "Aren't you guys into this whole 'time travel' thing? Here's your chance. You'll be reborn in the body of someone from the place where you died... and you'll keep all your memories. How about that? Of course, if you tell anyone a single word about your time travel, well... you can imagine the consequences, right?"
"I wouldn't say a word even if you beat me to death," Jose said obediently.
"If you talk, you'll die for sure, but not by being beaten," the bullheaded figure snorted. "So, tell me what kind of person you want to be reincarnated as. If your wish isn't too exaggerated, we might grant you some special privileges."
Jose stared at the bullheaded figure in surprise. Why did this conversation sound so familiar?
"Oh, in my past life I was an online seller," the bullheaded figure explained awkwardly.
Jose nodded in understanding. Old habits die hard. He had also been an online seller before his death, so he was used to such informal language.
"Can I time travel at any time?" Jose asked.
"Of course," the bullheaded figure replied. "But be careful - if you stretch the timeline too far, you might end up in a prehistoric era... or do you happen to know a lot about Spanish history? Do you know the history of Mallorca?"
Jose shook his head at each of the bullheaded man's questions. Poor guy, he was just an introvert who struggled through college and then found himself selling products online for a while to make some money. He had come to Mallorca for a vacation, had the best time of his life, and then died unexpectedly.
"Well, make your choice carefully. Once the deal is done, there are no returns or refunds. And don't forget to leave a positive review..." The bullheaded figure noticed Jose's strange look and blushed. "Sorry, force of habit."
Jose nodded, then began to think about what he knew. He had read many time travel novels and knew it was best to stick to what he was most familiar with.
All he had were memories from the last decade or so. He couldn't remember details from much earlier, but he had knowledge of investments from books, and his strongest passion was soccer.
He suddenly remembered that Majorca had a team in Spain's top soccer league. This team had produced notable coaches like Cúper and Aragonés, as well as top players like Eto'o. As a fan, he knew a lot about Spanish soccer, recognized many of the players' names, and had been following the sport for nearly two decades. Becoming a soccer coach didn't seem like a bad idea - many time-travel novels had characters who did the same, like Tony Dunn and Xiao Ming.
"Let me go back to the mid-1990s, to someone involved in soccer, preferably someone who owns a soccer club," Jose said as he began to daydream.
"There's a perfect candidate. In 1992, an 18-year-old named Jose Alemany drowned. He was the only son of Mateo Alemany, the future president of Mallorca. He loved soccer and wanted to be a great coach... That's him," said the bullheaded man excitedly after checking his records.
"What? He's also called Jose?" Jose was stunned.
"Exactly. It's a perfect match, and he's about your age, too," the bull-headed figure replied.
"Well, I'm an 80's kid and he's from the 70's," Jose protested.
"Enough, that's settled," the bullheaded figure said impatiently. "With your level of knowledge, this is the best place for you. If we put you anywhere else, you'd be in way over your head. You want to run a club? Fine, I'll even give you some start-up money so you don't have to scrape by. But don't get greedy, or you'll lose it all before you can buy the club. After the time travel, go study in the U.S.-I guarantee you'll have more than $200 million in two years, and maybe some fun along the way.
Jose was speechless as he stared at this bullheaded character who kept throwing around Internet slang.
Next came the "scam" that Jose had been promised. When he found out he was going to get one, he immediately thought of the "Football Modifier" software from the novels. Combine the powers of Xiao Ming and Madman Li, and I'll rule the soccer world, he thought.
However, after the time travel, Jose tried to activate the cheat many times, but failed every time. It seemed that the cheat would only work after he actually became a coach. How frustrating!
To make matters worse, the start-up funds were a joke. At first, everything Jose invested in skyrocketed - stocks kept going up, and his pocket change snowballed into $200 million. But once he hit that threshold, everything he touched turned to dust. Fortunately, he stopped in time and saved about $180 million.
This harsh reality crushed his investment ambitions. Even his idea of buying Google stock and cashing out later was scrapped - he couldn't risk falling back into poverty.
With $200 million, he could buy the Mallorca soccer club. The problem was that no one was selling. The club wasn't publicly traded, and all the shares were held by a dozen shareholders. Trying to quietly buy all their shares was practically impossible-they'd probably demand outrageous prices. Even if he could buy the club, running it with no capital would be a nightmare.
"I would need $2 billion to make a move without hesitation. I could expand the stadium and everything," Jose thought bitterly.
As Jose expected, Mallorca's president at the time, Asensio, sold several top players before stepping down. The year before, players like Amato and Romero had been sold, and now more stars were leaving. Fortunately, new coach Cúper brought in some decent replacements, and the team finished third in La Liga, the best finish in their history. However, more players were being sold and things were looking bleak.
It was at this point that Jose went to his father with a request.
"Do you want to return to the youth team?" Mateo Alemany looked at his son in surprise, wondering why he would make such a request.
Jose nodded. He had his reasons - Mallorca's season wasn't going well, and his relationship with the new head coach, Gomez, wasn't great. Returning to the youth team to bide his time seemed like the best option.
Besides, there were two young players in the youth team that he had his eye on. If another club picked them up, it would be a big loss.
"Why do you want to return to the youth team? Coaching the youth team and coaching the senior team are two different things. You've already made it to the senior team in just over a year," Mateo asked.
"Sometimes a small step back is necessary for a big leap forward," Jose smiled. "Dad, I learned a lot from Cúper last year, but I don't think I'll learn much from Gomez. Besides, I have important work to do with the youth team."
"All right, if that's what you want," Mateo sighed. "You did a good job with the youth team last year. Diego Tristan, who you trained, is now with the senior team."
Jose smiled. "He was already a great player when I arrived. That's not entirely my doing."
"Is that all?" Mateo asked.
"There's one more thing... I'd like to take over as coach of the B team when Francisco retires," Jose said.
Mateo paused, then nodded. "You've done well with the B team before. It shouldn't be a problem... Work hard, Jose. I look forward to the day when you're the head coach of Mallorca."
"I'll make it, Father," Jose said confidently.
"The greatest coaches often start out in youth teams... and I'll follow in their footsteps. But I'll be even greater!" Jose declared, looking out at the clear blue sky and sea.