Darkness
"Where am I? What's that sound ringing in my head?" Nico mumbles with a soft voice.
At first it sounded so far and all of a sudden as he continued to listen, the sound started to become loud and rather annoying.
"AAHH! Will you keep it quiet! Stop it already!!"
Nico woke up to the sound of the alarm clock in a rather nice and hearty room. He scanned the unfamiliar room as he saw a tidy room with lots of books in a shelf, a nice computer set, and a Steven Gerrard poster hanging on the wall.
"Am I not dead yet? and why am I so small?!"
He mumbles in disbelief as he looked at himself at the mirror. A young teenage boy with a dark hair and Asian looks but with a striking gorgeous blue eyes. He looks astonishingly handsome at his age and definitely will become more handsome as he grew up.
As he ponders at his new looks, suddenly memories flashes through his mind. His name is Nicolas de Leon or as everyone called Nico. He is a Dutch-Indonesian descent with a Dutch father and an Indonesian mother. His father works at Standard Chartered Bank in Indonesia and met his mother in a hospital. His father, Arjen de Leon, fell in love at the first sight of the young doctor, Abigail Carissa. They dated for a while and later got married and blessed with a twins. Me, Nicolas de Leon and my twin sister, Nicole de Leon. The family of four lived decent and harmonious. My father is the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Indonesia and my mother is a renowned neurosurgeon. All of the memories that flashes through Nico's mind projected a happy life.
"Nico! Nico! Are you up yet? Hurry up mom says we have to come down to eat breakfast!" Someone shouts at my door.
"Wait a minute I'll be right up Niki!" Nico shouts.
That was Nicole de Leon or Niki. We were born in Jakarta, November 26th, 1998. We're very close as we're partner in crime as we always do things together. She, like me has an Asian look from our mother with a striking blue eyes from our father. She's crowned as the most beautiful girl in our school. She's into modeling and wanted to become a model and because of her looks, she got a lot of teenage acting and modeling gig.
Nico walks down into the dining room as his father reads his newspaper, his mother sets the food on the table and Niki drinking her tea.
"What is going on at this club! Why did they sold Suarez to Barcelona? He's our best player!" My father sighs.
"What can we do dad? The team are not good enough and we can't keep him. He deserves a better team than us right now. I just hope the board spends the money wisely and buy a better squad" says Niki.
"Okay you too stop talking about football. Honestly! It's still 6 in the morning. I'm just glad Nico is not here now or you three will never stop talking!" says my mother.
I forgot to tell you. Me, my sister and my father are a Liverpool fan. My father have supported Liverpool for ages. He even sets a special watching room with a large screen TV and a massive sound system to watch Liverpool matches. He usually watched the game alone until the UEFA Champions League 2005 final where he brought a 7 year old me and my sister into his room and watch the greatest miracle story in football. Istanbul miracle. That was when me and my sister fell in love with Liverpool Football Club charms. Me and my sister joined our father every week to watch the game, signing You'll Never Walk Alone, shouted happily every time we won, and cried every time we lost. That become sort of our family tradition.
"So son, when will the final played?" asked my mom as we start to eat breakfast.
"Um...next week I think"
"Okay then! We all will be there to support you!" said my father with a smile.
"Make sure you win and don't bring shame to this family!" Niki reminded.
"Sure sure. I'll make sure to score the winning goal"
"Attaboy that's more like it! You have to be more confident. Just like me back in the day when I chased your mother to asks her phone number hahaha"
"AH DAD YOU'RE SO CRINGY!! I'll go to my room. Thanks mom for the food!!" said Niki.
"HAHAHAHA What happened to my sweet baby Nicole? Doesn't she misses her dad hugs and kisses nowadays?"
"AAAAAAAAAH DAD BYE IM DONE TALKING TO YOU!!!!" Niki shouts as she ran to her room.
"HAHAHAHA I'll go to my room too mom thanks for the food!" says Nico.
"Very well Nico make sure to buy lunch later. Me and your dad will go to work now!"
Nico went upstairs and went to his room. He starts to think about this life and his past life and how much different they are. He used to had a broken family and his life was filled with agony as he was forced to pay the family debts. He work a menial job to life day by day and was forced to give up his dream. Until finally, he died after saving a child from a car crash. Now, he lives a better life in a harmonious family in a decent neighborhood.
"Its seems my past and present life are always linked to football huh" Nico ponders.
As Nico ponders, he starts to think about his new life and what he wants to do in the future. He cherished his new family and wants to bring a lot of happiness to his new family. He starts to think of his dream and convicts himself that he has to fulfill his dream this time. To be a football player. And not just any football player, the greatest football player of all time.
[ DING! ]
[System Commencement in Progress...]
[System Activity Commenced!]
[Do you accept Rookie Bundle?]
[Yes / No]
Unable to comprehend what was going on, Nico start to scratch his eyes and check his temperature. Am I sick? After a few minutes nothing happened and the interface is still there, Nico selected [Yes] with a little hesitation.
[Congratulations Host for being granted with the system!]
"What? What is this???"
[Because of Host's conviction, the host was granted with G.O.A.T system to help host to achieve his dream to be the greatest football player.]
"What?? I'm so confused. Who are you and what is the GOAT system?" asked Nico.
[I am Eos, an artificial intelligence embed by the system to help host at navigating and using the system. The GOAT System itself is a system to help a host at becoming the greatest football player of all time.]
"Damn! I have a system in this life!"
[Please select the designated role position:
- Goalkeeper (GK)
- Centre Back (CB)
-Full Back (RB/LB)
-Defensive Midfielder (DM)
-Centre Midfielder (CM)
-Attacking Midfielder (CAM)
-Winger (RW/LW)
-Striker (ST/CF)]
Nico looks at the interface and begins to think. What is the best position that I want? As a footballer, Nico likes to control the game. He likes to establish the distribution of the ball, passing route of the attack, and defensive form at defense. He's like a conductor at an orchestra where the director of the play is at his hand. Nico then chooses [Center Midfielder (CM)].
[Personal Information:
Name: Nicolas Emmanuel de Leon
Age: 16
Nationality: Dutch-Indonesian
Weight: 72 kg
Height: 6'1"
Pace: 75
Shooting: 60
Passing: 80
Dribbling: 65
Defending: 60
Physical: 55
Overall: 63
Value: 150.000 Euro
Would the host open the Rookie Gift Pack?]
"Open!"
[Congratulations Host for getting Passing Master Badge]
[Passing Master: Enhancing passing ability and option visions. Enhancing teammate's comfortability at receiving the pass.]
[Congratulations Host for getting God's Benevolence Skill]
[God's Benevolence: Passing route guidance with expected goal percentage.]
"God Damn! What a scary gift! I am basically Pirlo now hahahaha" Nico said happily.
[Note on Host: Youth-level player. Host will have no impact on the pitch. No sane coach will put host on the team lineup.]
"No need to remind me Eos! Relax I know what to do" Nico mutters unhappily. Why can't you just give me my moment Eos uh? "So how do I improve my stats?"
[System will give the best training schedule to improve the statistics which host will need. There is also a lottery system based on how many points the host has.]
"I still don't get it but carry on I'll see when we get there. So what training do I need now Eos?"
[Daily training schedule:
- 100 push-up (0/100)
-100 sit-up (0/100)
-100 squats (0/100)
-10 km run (0/10 km)]
What is this? Did the system wants me to be Saitama? I DON'T WANT TO BE BALD!