Football: Arsenal - Chapter 18: Everyone, I've Started Training Hard—Look Forward to the Results! (Patreon)

The screen opened to reveal several names.

Coaches: [Wenger] [Arteta]

Players: [Buffon] [Pirlo] [Chiellini]

Huh?

Why were there only two Arsenal coaches in the Hall of Fame?

Wait. Two coaches?

That wasn't right!

Since when was Arteta a coach?

Kieran had never paid much attention to club football in his previous life. He had no idea that Arteta would eventually become a title-winning Arsenal manager, so he could only stare at the screen in confusion.

Maybe the system had made a mistake.

He tapped [Wenger], and an introduction to the manager appeared. Then the system handed him something he'd never seen before.

[Recognition received from Hall of Fame coach Wenger.]

[+2,000 Star Points]

Huh?

Now that was interesting.

Kieran had no idea what Star Points were. But as a veteran of plenty of games, he was immediately drawn in. Anything you could collect ought to bring rewards, and rewards meant getting stronger.

He tapped the new currency to read its description.

[The Superstar System will grant its host an exceptionally long professional career befitting a superstar.]

[However, extending that career depends upon the host's own efforts.]

[The first expenditure of 10,000 Star Points will remove all injuries from the body and restore its physical condition to its peak.]

[Subsequent restorations will require 100,000 Star Points, then 1,000,000, then 10,000,000, and so on.]

[Use your Star Points wisely, and become the football superstar whose career captivates the world!]

What?!

If the system had a physical form, Kieran would have thrown his arms around it right then and there.

This was incredible!

An actual reward that could erase injuries!

What was the greatest enemy a professional footballer faced over the course of his career? Not the opponents on the pitch. It was injury, the shadow that followed every player through his playing years.

How many careers had been ruined by a single irreversible injury? Some players never recovered their former level. Others had to leave the game entirely.

Almost everyone suffered injuries sooner or later. The difference lay in their severity and how well each player recovered.

But with the system, if Kieran worked hard enough to save Star Points, he could effectively give himself several chances to escape even a career-threatening injury.

After falling in love with football during just one match and resolving to become a proper professional, he found that prospect more tempting than anything else the system had offered.

He impatiently opened the other names in the Hall of Fame.

[+2,000]

[+2,000]

[+2,000]

[+2,000]

That brought his balance to 10,000 Star Points.

A new notification appeared automatically.

[Fan Affection earned this time converted into Star Points: +5,764]

His total rose to 15,764.

He'd already crossed the first 10,000-point threshold. One complete physical restoration was within reach!

But Kieran was the sort of person who liked saving valuable resources. He didn't rush to spend the points.

As far as he could tell, he wasn't injured at all. If he remained healthy, he might even be able to save those points until retirement.

He made himself a promise: meet more famous figures in football, win their recognition, earn more affection from the supporters and keep accumulating Star Points!

With that reassuring thought, he closed the Hall of Fame. His body was taken care of. Now it was time to train.

Solemnly, Kieran selected [Timeless Training Room].

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing on an immense grassland stretching as far as he could see.

The grass was neatly cropped, about the same height as the grass on a football pitch. But there were cows and sheep everywhere, making it unmistakably a pasture.

A lone goal stood in the center, surrounded by piles of footballs.

What a bizarre setup!

Trying his best to ignore the livestock wandering past, Kieran placed a ball on the ground and prepared to practice shooting.

A system menu appeared.

[Available video lessons: Wenger (Tactics), Arteta (Tactics), Pirlo (Midfield), Chiellini (Defense).]

[Available one-on-one coaching: Buffon (Goalkeeping).]

Kieran stared at the choices. What? Not one actual shooting tutorial?

With mixed feelings, he picked Pirlo, whose lessons seemed the closest match.

Fortunately, Pirlo was a world-class midfielder famous as a master of the knuckleball, so Kieran was delighted to find long-range shooting among his tutorials.

Excellent! Long-range efforts were still a form of shooting, and they might rescue that miserable free-kick rating of nineteen while he was at it.

The diligent apprentice began studying in earnest.

[“First, stand thirty meters from the goal. Strike the ball with the base of the first three toes of your right foot. Keep your ankle completely straight and locked, like a cocked gun.”]

“Whew.”

Kieran drew a deep breath and drove his right foot into the ball.

Thump!

The ball described a graceful arc, only to sail a full three meters above the crossbar.

“...”

That was fine. It was only his first attempt. Nobody expected perfection right away. Failure was the mother of success!

[“Make contact just below the ball's exact center. Don't ask me how far below. You need to develop the feel for it yourself.”]

[“Swing your lower leg sharply. Then relax immediately after contact, without adding any unnecessary movement. That keeps the ball almost free of spin and produces the knuckleball's unpredictable flight. Remember that.”]

Kieran fixed his gaze on the ball and struck again.

Thump!

“Moooo!”

The shot veered two meters wide of the post and smacked straight into a grazing cow.

...

Thump!

“Baaaa!”

This time, the ball went in!

It wasn't his fault it had hit a sheep. Who told the sheep to stand behind the net?

Delighted to have found the right feel, Kieran ran over, hugged the sheep, lifted its front legs and bounced with it a couple of times before returning to shoot some more.

Once he could land his knuckleballs with reasonable consistency, he stopped limiting himself to long-range attempts. He practiced from every angle and distance he could think of.

His body's instincts and muscle memory were still there. With tireless practice, his shooting improved enormously.

At the very least, he could finally say with confidence that he was a striker!

Next, he explored Pirlo's other lessons.

Pirlo had moved from attacking midfield into a deeper role and revolutionized it, becoming a deep-lying playmaker who could organize attacks and launch long passes. At AC Milan, he'd earned the title of midfield metronome.

There was a tremendous amount Kieran could learn from him: controlling the tempo, for instance, or passing.

But hold on. Who was he supposed to pass to? There wasn't another person here to practice with.

As if in answer, the cows and sheep that had been grazing peacefully began to move. They ran back and forth around him, mooing and bleating as though urging him on.

“...”

So that was why the system had stocked the place with livestock!

He'd assumed they were raw ingredients in case he got hungry. He'd even thought the system was being rather considerate.

Apparently, they were his training partners instead.

Kieran started running, following the animals' movements and passing again and again, learning from each attempt.

At first, he kicked the ball wildly and struck innocent cows and sheep. Gradually, he found a rhythm. Eventually, he could exchange passes with them properly.

The whole thing looked absurd, but his progress was astonishing.

After a long while, he closed Pirlo's videos. The cows and sheep settled down to graze again.

Then he opened Chiellini's defensive lessons.

Hmm. Who would he defend against? Surely not...

Oh, no. It really was them!

A whole herd charged straight toward him, each beast somehow dribbling a ball on four legs.

He dodged left and right, but it was hopeless. How were two legs supposed to compete against so many sets of four?

A cow slammed into him head-on. Everything went black.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing exactly where he'd started.

Then another cow hit him head-on.

Kieran was beginning to suspect the animals were taking revenge. Was he imagining things?

Only after some time did he manage to count his opponents. There were eleven cows and sheep on the pitch, including one that was taking its goalkeeping duties surprisingly seriously.

With Chiellini's explanations playing in his ears, Kieran practiced sliding tackles, interceptions, positioning and physical challenges.

He couldn't overpower the cows, but at least he began to understand how to tackle and win the ball.

Who knew how much time passed?

After being launched through the air more times than he cared to remember, a battered but determined Kieran could finally slide in and take the ball cleanly from between a cow's four hooves!

His success rate was still far from perfect, but it was enough for now.

Thank goodness.

Quickly, next lesson!

Kieran selected Buffon's one-on-one coaching.