Rise of a Football God

Thud! Thud!

The sound of footsteps reverberated as 4 youths dressed in work-out clothes jogged through the streets of Barcelona.

On the side of the streets, a few people stood, taking pictures and videos even as they ran along the road.

The bystanders took pictures because these 4 youths were famous athletes of the city, professional football players of FC Barcelona.

It was just yesterday that Sam's court hearing was concluded at the Supreme Court of Spain, confirming that he was not guilty as he finally left his confinement but just a day later, today, he was already back in the streets jogging.

Ecstatic FC Barcelona fans were impressed by his mentality.

Sexual scandals, they were a stigma to anybody that was involved it them. They did not just damage the reputation of those that they affected, in some cases, it also affects their psyche.

But despite all the trouble and mental trauma that came with the case, somehow, Sam was still in high spirits, eager to train.

When pictures of him dropped online, once again, it created a storm that was fanned by FC Barcelona fans as they raved about their elite attacking midfielder.

While all of that happened online, jogging towards the Spotify Camp Nou stadium, Sam did not care about the online storm as he engaged in a competition with his 3 partners, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Gavi.

Due to the support that these 3 gave to him during the course of this scandal, their friendship grew even more.

And today, they decided that simply jogging was boring.

They decided to turn it into a competition.

During the last 50 meters before arriving at the Spotify Camp Nou, they would engage in a sprint to determine who would arrive first at the stadium.

The winner would receive their respect, while the one who came last in the race would treat all of them to food that morning.

They all agreed to the competition; the contest was on.

'80 meters…'

'70 meters…'

'60 meters…'

'50 meters!'

Bam!

Digging into his reserves despite the sweat that already filled his face and his ragged breathing, Sam erupted in a sprint.

The 4 of them sprinted at the same time!

When the race started, Gavi's initial explosiveness gave him the edge over the others as he overtook the others, giving Pedri and Lamine Yamal an obvious distance immediately but someone stuck with him, Sam.

Thud! Thud!

Digging into his reserves, Sam accelerated! Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire

Like a hurricane, his body moved, seemingly turning into a phantom of light as he quickly closed the distance.

'Damn!' Noticing him side by side him, Gavi cursed, putting even more effort.

And yet, Sam did not give an inch.

During the final few meters, Sam's long legs did it as he threw them like projectiles, eating yards of space like they were not there.

Before arriving at the entrance to the Spotify Camp Nou, he did just enough to overtake Gavi, arriving first.

"Dammit!" Gavi cursed in Spanish.

"Hahahaha!" Sam burst into loud laughter on seeing his reaction even as Lamine Yamal and Pedri finally arrived.

Pedri arrived last.

Sam looked at them, especially at the silky Spanish midfielder. "I guess you're treating us to breakfast today". He muttered in a taunting voice.

Grumbling under his breath, Pedri led the way to the gym.

As soon as they entered the gym, another FC Barcelona player rushed towards them, intercepting them.

"…!"

They were surprised to meet another player that early in the morning.

It was Alejandro Balde. As the Spanish left back arrived, he glared at the 4 of them. "You bastards forgot to invite me again, I told you guys to call me".

"Oh," Sam scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I forgot".

"Forgot my ass!" Balde fumed. "You better not forget next time!"

With that, the 5 youngsters entered the gym, working out and breaking a good sweat. By the time they were done, they felt energized and refreshed.

At the same time, Sam's system finally lit up with a new notification.

~----~

[You have completed Daily System Quest: Mentality Monster!]@@novelbin@@

[You have been rewarded with a low-grade physical conditioning elixir!]

…

[Congratulations! You have completed a hidden system mission: Training Buddies!]

[You managed to convince 4 other professional football players who play for your club to become your training buddies, joining you every morning to complete daily system quests with you!]

[You have received a special reward: Memory Orb!]

[NOTE: A memory orb is a special system reward. It is a memory card that can carry a random memory, mostly a memory of practicing and learning a skill, but it can also be the memory of a legendary footballer.]

[Click to open Memory Orb and know memory type=]

~----~

Sam did not click to open the memory orb immediately; this was because he was still in the Spotify Camp Nou with his training buddies.

He was curious about the memory orb though. Afterall, this was the first time that he was receiving such a reward but he was patient.

After bidding farewell to his teammates, setting another contest to see who would arrive home, take their bath, and return for the club morning training session at the earliest, Sam drove off on his new GLE 53 AMG.

Kayla was still at his apartment.

Arriving home, he discovered that his girlfriend was still sleeping.

He tried not to disturb her, entering the bathroom to quickly take his bath. It was in the bathroom where he finally accessed the memory orb.

He clicked on it.

~----~

[You have clicked a memory orb…, please wait…]

…

Kacha!

The sound of something shattering reverberated as the round purple orb shattered into bright colorful lights.

When the lights subsided, Sam saw a memory.

In the memory, he saw a diminutive footballer that was easily recognizable by most footballers in the world.

Sam squinted his eyes. 'Is that…?'

'Messi!' He almost yelled at the top of his lungs as he stared at the image before him excitedly, wondering what he would gain from this sudden fortuitous encounter.

But then, the memory suddenly accelerated towards Sam's head.

'Crap…'

This was the last thought that Sam had before the memory crashed into his head, knocking him out.