Chapter 3: First system Rewards
It felt like every fiber of his being was vibrating with anticipation when he looked at the virtual screen before him. He first rubbed his palms together and sat down on his bed before tapping on the system-shop tab that was still blinking red
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SYSTEM SHOP
->Gift Packs (temporarily-unlocked) (1 msg)
->Purchase Skills (locked)
->Purchase Elixirs (locked)
->Lottery Coupons (locked)
->Inventory (temporarily-unlocked) (1 msg)
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The Gift-Pack tab was blinking red, and Adam right away extended his right forefinger and tapped on it. For the first time, he noticed that the screen felt tangible against his touch but did not give much attention to it.
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"DING"
#1 new messages
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CONGRATULATIONS
You have received a System Gift: A-grade vitality-enhancing elixir.
Please select the gift card in the inventory to retrieve the elixir.
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NB: The user must consume the elixir after removal from the system shop.
Remarks: Hold tight; you are in for a rough ride.
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***
The message was brief, but it was what Adam was expecting. He clicked on the inventory tab and then selected the only card with the image of an apple in it the fruit, the size of a lollipop, popped out of the translucent blue screen.
Although Adam had read several system-tagged web novels, he was still amazed by the spectacle before him. It was simply magic.
But he was not the kind to concern himself with the inner workings and processes of the system, and thus, he just picked up the small apple and swallowed it right away.
He had less than 5 seconds to act.
As soon as the small apple entered his mouth, it dissolved like ice cream and melted on his tongue.
[Quite sweet. Different from what I imagined!] He thought. He swallowed the melted liquid from the elixir in one gulp.
But shortly, a tingling sensation similar to low voltage electric shocks passed through every part of his body. Before Adam could adapt, a sharp pain lanced through his head and then spread out to the rest of his body. His muscles and bones ached when he made any slight movements.
Slowly he tried to ignore the pain by thinking about something else but quickly realized how futile it was when he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. But like a real man, he suppressed his agony and persisted through the ordeal. He would never allow himself to alarm his family because of some pains in his body.
Minutes later, the mind-numbing soreness receded like a tide. His body tensed up and relaxed before tensing up once again as it filled up with vitality and energy.
His limbs were the most sensitive at that juncture. A mysterious force seemed to wrap around his body and gradually started rejoining the ligaments and bones like a tailor stitching up torn cloth
Shortly, the pain disappeared.
Adam quickly ran to the mirror and looked at his body nothing has changed he still has his waves that is still the same and he was still 180cm (5'10) but the only difference he could tell is that his body was like a Greek god he had a six pack and his legs were steady
'Wow my body can just change like this in 15 minutes this system is so good beyond my imagination I wonder if could I rival genius like Messi or Ronaldo and others I guess time will tell'.Adam thought So, he opened the system User-Interface and then tapped on the user-stats tab to check out the changes in his body.
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*USER STATS
->Physical Fitness: E+
->Soccer Technique: E+
->Game Intelligence: D
->Mental Ability and Mindset: D-
Skills: NONE
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****
Adam could hardly contain his happiness. His physical fitness, soccer technique, and mental ability stats had all improved and pushed his talent-assessment grade from F to E
He was surprised at his physical-fitness So, he clicked on its tab to understand its changes
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->Physical Fitness (Av. Rating: E -)
Balance and Coordination: D+
Agility: E +
Strength: D -
Stamina: A-
TALENT ASSESSMENT: Grade E
F F+ D D+ E E+ C C+ A A+ A++ A+++ S+ S++ S+++ AX X----
****
"I have got to find a way to improve my strength before the trials," Adam mumbled as if to himself. He was happy with the improvements in his stats except for his 'strength' which was still below average.
In Adam's short professional soccer/football career in his previous lifetime, he had suffered on the pitch due to his strength. He was always quickly closed down by opponents and often lost the ball more times than he passed it. In due time, he had lost the trust of the coaching staff before they terminated his professional contract.
Adam understood that a player had to have perfected his body. Long strides, correct running form, and a low center of gravity were indications of a high level of body control possessed by professional soccer players. It was under the category of technique rather than physical fitness. Thus, Adam could perfect it by improving the correctness of form through training.
But this was not something that he could achieve with just a few weeks of training.
He only had about a month to the trials in New York. He had to have improved all his abilities by then to stand a chance of gaining the attention of scouts by performing splendidly in the soccer trials.
[What can I do?] He mused as he sat down on his bed.
But then he remembered that he still had the random skill reward from the system. He hurriedly closed the physical-fitness tab and selected the system lottery.
Right away, three smaller virtual pages filled up the screen from the left to the right side. A big spin-lottery wheel filled up the page at the center. The contents of the other two virtual pages remained blurry with the word 'locked' inscribed below them.
So, Adam pivoted his attention to the stationery lottery wheel that was just too huge and disappeared off into the edges of the screen at the center page. It consisted of small square sections arranged from top to bottom with small images of famous soccer players. In the middle, two purple arms were pointing to a picture of N'Golo Kanté in a tackling posture. Beside the wheel was a red button with the phrases 'spin and win', '*3 chances', and 'confirm lottery' inscribed below it.
Adam did not waste time on pointless deliberation. He just tapped on the red button the wheel spun at a fast speed before stopping with the pointers locked on to the image of Iker Casillas - a Spanish goalkeeper saving the ball.
"Why is the system offering me goalkeeping skills?" Adam mumbled inaudibly, voice tense. He was growing anxious after the first spin since he didn't acquire his desired result from the lottery.
he was a right-wing in the short soccer career of his previous lifetime, and he inwardly preferred the attacking positions. He would always opt to score goals like the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Christiano Ronaldo rather than defending like Rio Ferdinand. Attackers had a certain flair to them that could gain them a status much higher than defenders in the eyes of the public. Thus, Adam neither wanted to be a goalkeeper nor a defender.
He tapped on the red button again, and the wheel spun for a few seconds before stopping at a square with Giuseppe Favalli - the Italian defender shielding the ball. He didn't even bother to take a second glance and used up his last chance to spin the wheel. Thank God," Adam mumbled while letting out a long relaxed breath of pent-up air. He was of the view that no skill from the famous Luis Suárez could be anything but magical. Luis Suárez could score goals and dribble like any of the world-famous number nines. Thus, Adam was looking forward to which skill he would receive from the system. It could be his ticket to becoming a pro-soccer player.
So, he tapped on the confirm-lottery button to approve the result.
"DING"
The familiar system notification sounded as the square with the glittering image of Luis Suárez popped out of the wheel a few seconds later. In a burst of visual colors, it turned into a card that hovered in front of everything else on the virtual screen.
Adams strained his eyes to read the words below Luis Suárez's Direct shot
(I'm going to upload from Monday to Saturday, Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter peace)
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone