***
Sunday, June 9th, 2024.
Lukas and Javi were sprawled on the couch watching a sports show. It was covering several national teams and past football stars arriving in Germany for the Euros 2024 which would officially kick off in five days.
"The Spanish national team has arrived at the Frankfurt International Airport. Spain with—a mixture of experience and young exciting talent—will be looking to go all the way in this competition, but our team is not lacking either." A Sky Sports show host said.
Lukas was watching, he knew the outcome of the competition, and even the outcome of most important tournaments for the next twenty years.
But unbeknownst to him, this would be the only national tournament that would end as it did in his past life. Because this is the last tournament he would not have a hand in shaping.
"I could make a fortune from betting. I was so invested that I know every score in this competition—just betting on Spain to win all their matches in the competition, would fetch a decent amount of money." Lukas thought with a smile.
"That would be foolish though. No matter how bad things got, I never gambled in my previous life. It would be beyond dumb to start now."
[*Well at least you have some common sense. I would have had to consider if you were the best choice for hosting the system if sports betting was something you seriously considered doing.*] TT said, his voice only audible to Lukas.
"Geez. Chill. I was kidding."
"Luke, who do you think will win this competition?" Javi asked, Lukas' conversation with TT completely unknown to him.
"Hmmm.. I think it will be whoever gets to the finals between Spain and Germany." Javi answered his own question.
"That is surprisingly close." Lukas thought.
"I think it'll be Spain. England might make it to the final again though." Lukas answered.
"Yeah England has a chance too. Bellingham, Foden, Palmer. They all just had a phenomenal season, and England got to the final in 2016 too. I think they might get there again this time."
"Yeah but I still think Spain beats them." Lukas said with certainty.
"How about Germany?" Javi asked.
"Well, it's tough to say for sure. We didn't have to play the UEFA Euro Qualifiers, and this is Julian Nagelsmann's first major competition. I think we will play exciting football though. But it might be tough to break down very good teams."
"Oh yeah? Why do you think so?"
"Well, we don't really have anyone we can call a world-class centre forward. There is Kai Havertz and Niklas Fulkrug, but none of them scored up to 20 goals in all competitions this season. But I think we have two of the best attacking midfielders in all of football right now — Wirtz and Musiala — and I want to see how Nagelsmann plays them." Lukas explained with his eyes fixed on the television.
The room remained silent for about a minute with Javi not responding, prompting Lukas to turn to face Javi.
He saw his father staring at him.
"When did you become an analyst, Luke?" Javi asked, surprised.
"What are you talking about, dad? Anyone who even remotely follows the national team news, should know everything I just said. It's been all over the news and social media in the past week. Everyone giving opinions and making predictions. I just picked a few things from here and there."
"Hmm.. If you say so—"
*RING*
Javi was cut off by the sudden ringing of his phone.
He took it from the sitting room table, and saw the caller ID—Marco Kasten.
He immediately accepted the call.
"Hello Marco, how are you doing?"
"Hello Javi, I am doing great. How's Lukas? Is he with you?" Marco's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Yes he is with me." Javi put the phone back down on the table and turned on the speakerphone.
"Hello Marco. You have good news for us?" Lukas said out loud.
"Wonderful news. I am a bit busy right now so I can't come down to Darmstadt so I will tell you over the phone."
"No problem, I'm guessing it's related to the move to Riederwald academy."
"Exactly. It took some convincing — they didn't believe me when they heard about SV98 — but I got you a tryout."
"That's wonderful news!" Javi exclaimed.
"It's gonna be with the U17 team, but I have no doubt you're past their level. So I had a deal with the scout — you will have the tryout with the U17s, and if you're good enough, you'll be moved to the U19 immediately."
"That's actually a really good deal. When does the tryouts start?" Lukas asked.
"Wednesday, at 3pm. Can you make it?"
"It will be tight, but I will figure something out."
"I will talk to your school, Luke. Don't worry." Javi reassured Lukas.
"Thanks dad."
"I'll meet you there on Wednesday to introduce you to the coach. I have a lot to do now, so I gotta go. See you."
They said their goodbyes as the call ended.
"It really ishappening." Lukas thought to himself after the call ended.
He got up from the sofa and walked to his room. As soon as the door closed behind him—
"Open Player Profile." Lukas called the system window to view his stats.
[*Finally letting me out?*]
"What are you talking about? We spoke in the LTC this morning!"
[*Not to them, we did not!*]
"Wait, do you have a mind? How can you have an inner monologue?"
[*You aren't supposed to comment on that. It was addressed at them.*]
"Who's 'them'?"
[*Don't let that bother you. Here's your profile.*]
[ PROFILE – LUKAS BRANDT – FOOTBALLER
DATE OF BIRTH: 30/12/2008 (15)
HEIGHT: 175cm
WEIGHT: 61kg
CAREER STATUS: EINTRACHT ACADEMY TRYOUTS
RATING: 70 (↑ 4)
PLAYER STATS:
ATTACK:
Off. Awareness: 60 (↑ 2)
Ball Control: 72 (↑ 3)
Dribbling: 78 (↑ 4)
Tight Possession: 76 (↑ 4)
Low Pass: 68 (↑ 3)
Lofted Pass: 68 (↑ 3)
Finishing: 71 (↑ 3)
Header: 69 (↑ 2)
Place Kicking: 78 (↑ 2)
Curl: 76 (↑ 3)
DEFENCE:
Def. Awareness: 71 (↑ 3)
Tackling: 68 (↑ 3)
Aggression: 67 (↑ 2)
Def. Engagement: 67 (↑ 2)
STRENGTH:
Speed: 71 (↑ 3)
Acceleration: 68 (↑ 3)
Kicking Power: 70 (↑ 2)
Jump: 69 (↑ 2)
Physical Contact: 60 (↑ 2)
Balance: 62 (↑ 2)
Stamina: 72 (↑ 2)
Note: Keep Improving.
↓ Expand]
"Hmmm.. It's not bad at all—the past few days of training has been worth it. But I don't know if this is good enough to get me in the U19 in Riederwald."
After the initial 10X beginner bonus rewards wore off, Lukas adopted a model of training one stat section per day, in hope of raising all his stats together. But with the tryouts coming in a few days, he had to focus on highlighting his strengths.
"Since I plan on playing up the field, I should focus on raising my strength stats for now. Attack already looks decent."
Lukas came to the conclusion that it is better to be an attacking beast, even if that means his defensive stats are average. At least in the beginning of his career.
After locking his position as an attacking force, he could then train his defensive game to close the gap.
He didn't want to be the guy who was good at everything but great at nothing.
[*Finally some useful thoughts from this cranium of yours. I was waiting to see how long it'll take you to figure that out. Maybe when the training rewards start falling?*]
"Yeah it took me a few days. But at least now my defensive abilities aren't completely useles—Wait, rewards falling? What does that mean?"
[*It means exactly what it sounds like. After a while, the rewards will fall, and the exercises will get progressively harder.*]
"That's just cheating! How does it make sense that the rewards decrease when the training gets harder?" Lukas protested.
[*I could give a whole analogy using weight loss or body building to answer your question—but I just don't feel like doing that. Just know this—the better you get, the harder it is to get better. I should remind you that the LTC is not compulsory. You can literally stop going whenever you want to, but don't complain if your stats start free falling.*]
"Fine I get it. But when does it end though? If the rewards reduce as I get better, it means there's a ceiling. How high is it?"
[*That should be the very least of your concerns right now.*]
"You need to change your attitude, TT"
[*I don't need to do anything, Luke.*]