THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"DING"

A new system notification popped up once Zachary selected the accept button.

****

*G.O.A.T Skills Simulator

#2 new messages

-> You have spent 2 Juju-points to activate the simulator for one hour.

->The system's virtual reality simulation will activate in two minutes. Please lie down and ready yourself for the procedure.

****

Zachary first locked the door of his bedroom, then closed the curtains before lying on his bed in a supine position. He calmed his mind and patiently waited for the two minutes to elapse.

When the countdown was over, new words started populating the user interface positioned at an oblique angle just before his face.

****

G.O.A.T Skills Simulator activating

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Connecting System Neural Interface

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ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL

****

Zachary's eyesight blurred as soon as the last message of the system appeared on the screen. Everything became fuzzy; then he saw nothing at all. His consciousness drifted through a space filled with a thick static. His heart pounded loudly, echoing in his ears, as he descended into a new reality. The feeling in his body drained away until finally, all was black.

When Zachary's eyes recovered, he was no longer in his room or lying on his bed. Instead, he was in a dark space with only the glowing blueish system interface in his sight.

"DING"

The system notification sounded as new words populated the interface. Zachary blinked as his eyes adjusted to the lighting of the screen.

****

*G.O.A.T Skills Simulator

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Mental Conditioning commencing...

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Bend-it like Beckham Juju training packages loading...

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Select the type of field surface to begin training the skill

a) Artificial turf

b) Natural turf

c) GrassMaster

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****

Zachary naturally selected the GrassMaster turf since it was the most common field surface type in Trondheim. It was a hybrid field surface achieved by combining natural grass with synthetic reinforcing fibers. Although he was in a simulation, Zachary wanted to train on a familiar pitch to master the Bend-it like Beckham Juju quickly.

As soon as his right finger left the system interface, a perfect green soccer pitch started forming beneath his feet. It spread out and covered more ground in the formerly dark virtual space.

In a matter of seconds, Zachary stood in a world of green with millions of perfect grass strands beneath his soccer boots. His clothing had even changed into his preferred style, a kit with a green jersey and matching boots. He stood in between the goalposts similar to two white towers planted at either side of the demarcated pitch.

The system simulator didn't allow him any ounce of time to orient himself to his surroundings. No sooner had the ground finished forming than Zachary felt the ground below his boots move, giving him a feeling of being on a travelator. He swiftly crossed the pitch and arrived before the 18-yard box of the empty field.

In an explosion of luminescence, a vivid 3D image of David Beckham, in a red and white Manchester United Vodafone jersey, manifested beside Zachary. Five balls lined up before Beckham soon after.

The English soccer legend waved his arm dismissively towards the goal as glowing silhouettes materialized in the box before him. They included a wall of faceless players lined up about 10 yards away from the ball. After they had taken their positions, a goalkeeper appeared between the posts.

Zachary could tell that the system was simulating a real match scenario of taking a freekick. But he was confused about how the simulation would aid him in the mental training necessary to master the Beckham skill. Many players watched videos of legends performing in matches. However, that didn't guarantee they would master those skills.

Nonetheless, he remained attentive, watching David Beckham readying himself to shoot. He was eager to learn the legendary setpiece technique.

The English legend just moved a few steps back, positioned himself with his left shoulder at the 90 degrees mark facing the goal before observing the wall and the goalkeeper's position. He then approached the ball at a controlled speed and unleashed a curling ball, around the players and the goalkeeper, into the goal. He repeated the same procedure until all the balls were safely in the back of the net.

Zachary sighed in amazement as he analyzed the Englishman's shooting posture. He realized that the spin on Beckham's freekicks was nothing short of marvelous. However, he was still unsure how watching the Englishman taking setpieces would help him master a G.O.A.T skill.

However, the system resolved his doubts soon after.

The 3D image of the Englishman swiftly moved towards Zachary and merged with his silhouette. At that moment, Zachary lost command of his body. He could feel his muscles and even perceive his surroundings, but he wasn't in control.

Zachary felt himself taking seven steps behind the five new balls that had once again materialized before the box. He analyzed the field situation, the wall, goalkeeper positioning, and distance of one of the balls from the goalposts.

After a slow but steady approach, Zachary felt himself plant his right foot before taking a one and a half meter final jump step towards the ball. He then placed his left foot right beside the ball, cocked his right leg back, and kicked the ball with the side of his big toe. He let loose a curling shot into the back of the net.

His body, still not in his command, continued shooting the rest of the four balls. Zachary only regained control of his body after he'd kicked the last ball.

He had experienced how Beckham felt, perceived the surroundings, and controlled his body whenever he scored from a freekick. Zachary could tell that the system was slowly instilling the reflexes, body motions, and the other relevant knowledge necessary to learn the Bend-it like Beckham Juju within him. With just the five balls he had curled into the net, he had already begun to grasp the skill.

He only had to carry on shooting freekicks within the G.O.A.T skills simulator to advance his mastery of the skill. Thus, he continued practicing the setpieces for one hour until the system ejected him out of the simulation.

But he'd already made considerable progress. In just an hour, he'd managed to take 30 freekicks with Beckham's 3D-model as a guide. He could feel his knowledge about setpieces growing slowly but steadily. And all this had cost him a measly 2 Juju-points.

Zachary opened the system G.O.A.T skills menu to check out the progress of his skills.

****

->G.O.A.T Skills: 3

(i) ZINEDINE VISUAL JUJU

(1st-level: Progress: 61.021%)

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(ii) ZACHARY-ARROW-SHOT

(2nd-level: Progress: 1%)

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(iii) BEND-IT LIKE BECKHAM JUJU

(1st-level: Progress: 0.03%)

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->G.O.A.T Skills Simulator

*Activate *Deactivate

(Activation costs 2 Juju-points per hour)

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****

Zachary's mood lifted when he noticed that his Beckham skill expertise had already improved by 0.03%. He knew firsthand how challenging it was to achieve the complete initial mastery of G.O.A.T skills. He had only made 61% progress towards mastering the 1st level of the Zinedine Visual Juju even after a year of training.

However, the simulator had helped him progress by 0.03% after shooting only 30 balls in one night. That was music to his ears.

[I wonder whether I can use the simulator to train other skills.] Zachary mused.

He activated the simulator at the cost of 2 Juju-points once again. Zachary wanted to test whether the simulator could help him train his other G.O.A.T skills. However, only the arrow shot and the Beckham freekick skills were available under the simulator menu.

[So, that's why I could master the Zinedine Visual Juju before gaining access to the simulator.]

Zachary could comprehend why he could begin mastering the Zinedine-Visual-Juju without utilizing the simulator. The system had only infused match experience and tactical knowledge to increase his game intelligence before using the skill. Due to his high spatial awareness stat, he had faced no obstacle in comprehending and mastering the technique.

However, the requirements for the arrow shot and the freekick skills were different. Zachary had to master the perfect body posturing and bodily motions to execute the techniques with perfection. Even a slight shift in his balance could send the ball veering away from its intended path. The only way for the system to infuse the skills into Zachary's muscle memory was through the G.O.A.T skills simulator.

Zachary activated the simulator two more times that night, continuing his mental conditioning for the Bend-it like Beckham Juju. He managed to shoot 90 balls on setpieces and advanced the skill's progress by 0.09%. He slept at 1 am, feeling accomplished.

**** ****

The next day, Zachary maintained his routine of waking up early in the morning, heading to the gym at six o'clock, and attending school. When the last lecturer for the day moved out of his classroom, Zachary swiftly approached Kendrick and asked for help with his freekick practice.

He needed to practice his techniques in the real world to supplement his training within the G.O.A.T skills simulator. Only then would he achieve the perfect mental and physical condition to execute the skill flawlessly.

"You want to start practicing setpieces?" Kendrick regarded Zachary with a relaxed calculating expression. "Don't you want to prepare for the review next week?" He inquired.

Zachary nodded. "We can practice for 30 minutes today before the coaches arrive and also during the few breaks in between the training. Could you fit this in your schedule?"

"I'm a goalkeeper," The Swede said with a frown. "Your freekick practice will only benefit me if your shots are more on than off-target. How good are you at setpieces?"

"I'm new to this," Zachary intoned. "But I'm confident that I'll be able to master freekicks very quickly." He smiled at his flatmate.

"Okay, then," Kendrick said in a mild tone. "I'll agree to become your training partner for a week. We'll see how it goes from there."

Zachary flashed him a grateful smile. "Thank you. But we need to hurry to the pitch before the others hamper our plans." Zachary said, pointing towards Kasongo and Paul. Their two flatmates were locked in a conversation with a group of girls.

"Okay." Kendrick nodded. "Let's move."

Zachary and Kendrick stealthily exited their classroom and headed to the academy training grounds on their bikes. Fifteen minutes later, they were all dressed in their training kits and ready to commence their setpiece training.

"I will set up the wall first," Kendrick announced.

"I will help," Zachary replied. "I would like to start with freekicks that are just outside the box."

"That's okay," Kendrick said, pulling one of the soccer-mannequins into the 18-yard box. In a few minutes, the two boys set-up a wall of five mannequins inside-but-close to the edge of the box.

"I'm ready when you are," Kendrick said as he positioned himself in between the goalposts. "Let's see what you got."

Zachary smiled and placed the ball about ten yards behind the mannequins. He relaxed his mind and then curled the ball towards the goal the same way he'd done in the simulation the previous night.

However, the first ball was still off-target by a wide margin.

Kendrick lifted his eyebrows. "Are you trying to shoot like Beckham? Why not start with some simple freekicks to get used to shooting from that position?" He asked.

"I got this," Zachary replied, smiling. "Don't worry. I've already mastered the technique—to some extent."

Zachary had felt his body positioning, at the moment he had made contact with the ball, being off by a slight margin. His supporting foot needed to be steadily planted and face the direction he wanted the ball to follow. Zachary also realized he needed to swing his hand up and backward while aligning himself at an angle of about 45-degrees before making contact with the ball. He hadn't been perfect in executing those body motions while taking the first freekick.

Zachary moved back and blasted the ball with the inner side of his boot once again. For that attempt, he felt he had perfectly mimicked the shooting posture—ingrained by the system into his muscle memory. His body motions had matched what he had done in the virtual reality while possessed by Beckham. Zachary sent the ball spinning, on a curved path, towards the goal with the side of his big toe.

Kendrick didn't even manage to react when the ball flew past him into the top right corner.

"Goal!" Zachary celebrated as if he had scored in a real match. He was on cloud nine. He felt confident he would master the Bend-it like Beckham Juju as long as he carried on training setpieces.

Kendrick couldn't hide an expression of surprise. Then he rolled his eyes. "Are you really new at taking freekicks?"

"That was luck," Zachary replied honestly. "I need to shoot a lot more balls before I can become consistent."

The Swede smiled. "Then I'll also get serious," he said, cleaning his goalkeeping gloves on his black sweat pants. "Do your best—and let me show you Iker Casillas in action." He grinned at Zachary.

The two boys practiced for a whole hour before joining the rest of their teammates for routine practice. Surprisingly, Coach Johansen silently concurred with their freekick training. He didn't call them for the warming up routines at the start of the training session that day.

Zachary managed to score an average of two out of every ten freekicks during the session. He could feel his body adapting to the obtuse shooting posture required for the skill. He only needed to maintain a strict training routine to perfect the Beckham Juju.

Zachary dedicated three hours of his daily schedule to freekick practice for the next six days. He spent an hour practicing with Kendrick and two in the simulator each day.

He didn't relax his physical and tactical training routines despite having to make time for setpiece practice.

The week passed, almost in a blur, and it was soon time for the academy review. Zachary would have to undergo the annual medical test and play a match with both the senior and junior teams of Rosenborg for that year's test. He was excited by the prospect of finally facing off against professional players.