章 25: In Match Mission

The next few days were relatively normal for Alexis. He would go for training before and after school and walk back home with Trey. A couple of times, he would go out with Anne and have long talks.

Training was going relatively well. He could tell that Xavier had unconsciously acknowledged him as one of the players in the starting eleven. It was to be expected, though, as Alexis was the only one who played in his position and, according to Xavier, was 'half decent'. Then again, Alexis was sure that no one worked as hard as he did in the squad.

After training, he would do a few physical drills. He was hell-bent on improving his physique and physical aspects before the season started. Preseason was one thing, but he knew how competitive the game could get during an official match.

Charles Patterson played their second match of the preseason against a local academy. Xavier fielded a starting lineup of most of the people who didn't get to play in the first friendly. In fact, everyone who played in the first friendly didn't feature in the second. He was giving everyone an equal chance to prove themselves. Even the juniors on the squad got to play. Although they weren't in the official squad, they had been training with the team, so it wouldn't be fair if they didn't get any playing time.

The third and final friendly was against a school named Clifford Academy. They were a lowly average school, so Xavier didn't use most of his strong players in the starting lineup. That being said, Alexis found himself walking onto the football pitch, playing as a second striker in a 4-4-2 formation.

[It's a very mild atmosphere here. Seats are scanty, and it's almost as if the stadium is empty, with not a lot of people coming out to watch the friendly between Charles Patterson Institution and Clifford Academy.]

[Could you blame them? It's a classic case of the favorites against the underdog, except this time the favorites couldn't even be bothered with the underdogs. The lineup fielded by Charles Patterson even has some unofficial squad members in it.]

[Clifford Academy, on the other hand, seem to be giving it their all. The majority of their starting lineup consists of well-known squad members. Surely they'll be looking to win the match, seeing Charles Patterson's starting lineup.]

The referee blew his whistle, and the match started.

Contrary to what everyone thought, the first few minutes of the match were actually quite lively. Clifford Academy went on the attack as soon as the match started. Experience played a key role as they were able to breeze past Charles Patterson's midfield, which consisted of two juniors making up the unofficial squad members.

The attacking midfielder passed the ball to the left winger, who cut the ball back to create space for himself and sent a low shot toward the far corner.

Sam dove toward the ball at full stretch, but he couldn't reach it. The ball smashed into the net, and Clifford Academy was in the lead.

[My oh my! What a start to this match. We haven't even played ten minutes of football, and Clifford Academy is already in the lead. They moved through the Charles Patterson midfield like it was non-existent. The two young midfielders would want to do better.]

[I think as soon as the ball went wide, it was obvious that it was going to be a goal. So much space in the box, Thomas Walker (Clifford Academy left winger) had enough time to calmly pick his spot and slot it past the goalkeeper.]

[I think things have gotten pretty interesting, haven't they? It'll be quite fun to watch how Charles Patterson reacts to this.]

Alexis was calm after his team went behind. Xavier had told them that the friendly was just for show, so it didn't really matter who won, hence his starting lineup. He had already seen to it that the team understood and knew how to play the football he wanted, so it was all about giving some people minutes on the field.

In the next moment, however, Alexis would hear a bell chime that changed his perception of the match. The system, which was always quiet, sent a notification.

As soon as Alexis heard the notification, he froze entirely. Usually, the system was always silent unless it wanted to assign him a mission. Hearing the bell chime just after his team went down by one goal, a number of possibilities played out in his mind, all of them hanging on one dreaded thought.

'Don't fucking tell me that it wants me to—'

|Ding! Host has been given an in-match mission|

|Mission: Host's team is one goal down. Host is required to help his team make a comeback and win the match. Host will be punished accordingly if he fails to accomplish this mission.|

|Note: It is counted as a failure if the host is subbed off from the match while the host's team is losing.|

|Reward: +10 random points allocation|

|Punishment for failure: -5 physique points|

'Fuck'

Alexis could feel himself tearing up when he saw the mission. He was somehow supposed to carry a group of players who couldn't care less about the result of the match to make a comeback when they were one goal down.

It would have been fine if there wasn't any punishment attached to failing the mission or if the punishment was something minor, but a five-point deduction from his physique was something he could not compromise. It meant that if he failed, then all the work he put into developing his physique would be wasted. What's worse is that he would actually end up worse than when he started.

"Stupid fucking system," Alexis muttered under his breath.

|Ding! System has detected malice from host|

|Punishment in case of failure has been increased.|

|New punishment: -7 physique points|

"What the fuck?!" Alexis almost couldn't stop himself from screaming out loud. He immediately started cursing the system in his head. "Fucking useless piece of shit, #$@!!"

Once again, he heard the nightmare of a bell chime, his consciousness almost fading away when he saw the notification that accompanied the bell chime.

|Ding! System has detected malice from host|

|Punishment in case of failure has been increased.|

|New punishment: -10 physique points, -5 skill points, -5 dribbling points, -10 random deduction|

'Fuck me'