THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The S-grade agility enhancement elixir looked like a small red berry with glittering lights enveloping it. Inhaling deeply, Zachary summoned it from the system inventory and swallowed it in a single gulp.

What followed was what he pretty much expected. A refreshing feeling spread from his stomach and washed over his entire body. Then, a tingling sensation spread across his spine and extended toward his mind. He swallowed hard as his muscles started to spasm, and before he could adapt, his eyes rolled backward, and everything turned dark. The elixir had caused him to black out again, and he fell back into his bed without any awareness of what was around him.

-----

The following morning...

"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill... fifteen percent concentrated power of will. Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain, and a hundred percent reason to remember the name..."

The familiar beat of Fort Minor's 'Remember the Name' hit single woke Zachary up the following morning. It was his ringtone, and on hearing it, his eyes opened, and he took in everything around him.

Suddenly, he felt the world he perceived had somehow changed, as everything seemed to be in slow motion. The swaying of the curtain in the morning breeze was a bit off, while the sounds picked up by his ears were more drawn out. For a few moments, he was in a bizarre state, and it seemed like he was watching his hotel room from another dimension. Then, just as he blinked, everything returned to normal, and the feeling disappeared, seemingly as if it had just been an illusion.

"The effects of the system's elixirs are growing more and more bizarre as they improve in grade."

Zachary pushed himself off the bed and focused his senses. The morning sunrays streamed through the shy gap between the curtains and illuminated his facial features. He smiled, feeling refreshed. Obviously, the S-grade agility enhancement elixir had done wonders and allowed him to perceive the world in a slightly different mode from before.

"Who could be calling at this time of the morning?"

Zachary had forgotten to put his phone in silent mode the previous night. It continued ringing and repeating the same chorus of Fort Minor's Remember the Name hit single to capture his attention.

Zachary groaned and picked up the phone from the table. After glancing at the screen, he smiled as the call was from Samson Damata, the coach from Lubumbashi, DRC.

"Hello, coach!" Zachary said after accepting the call.

"Hello, Zachary!" The coach replied in Kiswahili. "Let me start by congratulating you upon winning the Supercoppa and the Golden Boy award."

"Thanks, coach," Zachary responded.

"How are you doing these days?"

"I'm doing okay. Just pushing on to constantly improve my skills and become a better player. Aside from that, there's nothing else going on in my life."

"Great to hear that. Your grandma would be proud of you if she were still around. May her soul rest in peace."

"That's very kind. Thanks."

"Zachary!" Coach Damata's voice turned a bit solemn. "Did you decide to change your citizenship to another country? There's a rumor floating around that you'll be representing Ivory Coast during international football games. Is that true?"

Zachary's heartbeat quickened. He had only told Emily about switching his citizenship to Ivory Coast the previous night. She would obviously not leak the news to anyone as she was a reliable agent who prioritized his needs above everything else. So, how did Coach Damata, who was all the way in DR Congo, find out about the issue?

"Coach!" He said a bit hesitantly. "Where did you hear this rumor?"

"You didn't deny it," Coach Damata said, sighing. "The claim must be true. The rumor originated from the Twitter account of an upcoming Italian journalist named Fabrizio Romano. In his post, he claimed that you would not represent DR Congo but Ivory Coast in the near future. He also claimed that the information is totally reliable since he obtained it from a reliable source within CAF."

A light bulb went on in Zachary's head, and he finally knew who had leaked the information. Most likely, Ivory Coast had submitted the change of citizenship certification papers to Africa's football governing body, hoping to meet the requirements for him to participate in the AFCON as an Ivorian. However, the CAF officials had probably not kept the matter confidential and leaked it to Fabrizio Romano and a few other journalists. That should be how the information got out.

Zachary sighed and inhaled deeply. He didn't wish to lie to the coach, who had been a friend to his late grandma. He switched the phone to his other ear and said, "Coach! The information is true. I will not be representing DRC during internationals but Ivory Coast."

There were a few seconds of silence at the other end of the line before Coach Damata spoke again. "Why?" He asked. "You were born in DR Congo! Why change citizenship to another country?"

"Well..." Zachary inhaled deeply and informed the Coach about his desire for glory during international competitions like the World Cup. In as few words as possible, he ensured that the coach understood his reasons for joining the Ivory Coast side before ending his explanation.

Coach Damata, on his part, seemed utterly depressed after hearing Zachary's reasons for changing his citizenship. But as an elder, he still said encouraging words to Zachary and exchanged some more small talk with him. Then, after wishing him success in his international career, the coach said his goodbyes and ended the call.

"This is really not easy."

Zachary shook his head after ending the call. Talking to Coach Damata had filled him with a feeling of guilt. But again, as a player yearning for big things, he quickly pushed the negative thoughts to the back of his mind. He would not change his decision to play for Ivory Coast as that was the most likely way for him to gun for the World Cup while representing an African nation.

As for representing DR Congo, he would no longer think about that. His home country had a lot of challenges, including underfunding of the sports sector and corruption on the managerial level. All those problems prevented DRC's national team from achieving any football success on the international scene. So, Zachary was better off helping his country in other areas, like building schools and football academies, instead of playing football, which would most likely not achieve anything for them.

"System!" Zachary said, returning his focus to the important matters at hand. "Please bring up my physical fitness and soccer technique attributes."

"DING"

"Command received. User's fitness attributes coming up shortly."

A soft smile lit up Zachary's face as he pushed all the depressing stuff to the back of his mind. He blinked his eyes reflexively and focused on the information that had just appeared on the translucent crystal-like display before him.

****

-----

*USER STATS

-----

->Physical Fitness (Av. Rating: S+)

Balance and Coordination: S- (S+)

Agility: SS

Strength: S+

Stamina: S+

Endurance Points: 17,500/18,000 (S+)

-----

->Soccer Technique: [Av. Rating: S+]

Ball Control: S+

Dribbling Skills: S- (base stat still to be determined)

Passing Accuracy: S+

Body Control: A+ (S+)

-----

NB: The grades in the brackets represent the user's base stats or, in other words, the user's attributes while not under the influence of the elixir's side effects.

-----

****

Zachary's nodded after reading through his new stats. As expected, the S-grade agility-enhancement elixir had pushed his agility attribute to the SS-grading. He was now among the Juventus players with the highest agility on the squad.

Over the past month, he had utilized the system's snooping tool to spy on the stats of his teammates. Most of them only had an agility stat of S-, and even a player like Stephan Lichtsteiner, known as the Swizz Express because of his daring speedy runs through the wings, only possessed an agility statistic of S+. Perhaps, the only player in Juventus that could match Zachary's enhanced speed and agility was Carlos Tevez, the Argentine striker.

"With an SS grade agility," Zachary thought, "I can probably take my game to another level."

Agility was a crucial attribute for both attackers and defenders in football. On the sporting field, high agility could allow the player to react quickly to a stimulus, often presented by an opponent's movement, before a change of direction or speed. The attribute was the crucial determinant of how swiftly the player could transition from one motion to another without impacting his balance. As such, exceedingly agile footballers like Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben, and Cristiano Ronaldo could stop quickly, change directions, and keep moving in one fluid movement. They were the true-blue stars of the game due to their exceptionally high agility.

Zachary had always yearned to increase his agility attribute so as to become swifter on the ball and more deadly with his dribbling skills. He often dreamt of utilizing high agility and potent dribbling to break deadlocks and impact games. He wanted to evolve into a true-blue ball wizard the world had never seen, and now, he was just a step closer to that goal.

"I wonder what Messi's agility is?" Zachary pondered. He had a gut feeling that once-in-a-generation players like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho all possessed SSS-graded agility. That was why they could easily play around with top defenders in all the top leagues just by relying on their dribbling skills.

"I should focus on improving myself step by step." Zachary resolved.

The S-grade agility enhancement elixir had lowered his 'Body Control' and 'Balance and Coordination' stats to the A+ and S- grading, respectively. So, his next step was to undergo targeted training to overcome the side effect while also pushing his dribbling skills to the next level. Moreover, he had to overcome the side effect within thirteen days max or risk playing against Inter Milan while not at his best.