THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"This is great."

Zachary's eyes immediately glittered with boundless delight, looking like bright stars in the night sky. At long last, he had met the requirements for the system's 2013 Norwegian Football Cup Serial Challenge mission completion. He could hardly contain his excitement as he was about to enjoy more rewards from the system, which comprised the long-awaited A-graded physical-conditioning-elixir.

The elixir was the perfect complement for the vitality-enhancing-elixir, which he'd already obtained from the system. Consuming both panaceas would amplify their effects and enhance his fitness to a much higher level.

"System," he intoned. "Please show me the rest of my data."

"DING"

"Command received," the system AI replied. "User data coming up shortly on the interface."

****

SOCCER G.O.A.T SYSTEM

SYSTEM LEVEL: 3 (22,240/10000 Juju-points to level-up)

USER: Zachary Bemba

AGE: 18 years

TALENT ASSESSMENT: Grade-A

JUJU-POINTS: 22,240

(Evaluation: A promising and sensational young professional player)

USER MENU

*USER STATS

*G.O.A.T MISSIONS

*SYSTEM SHOP

*SYSTEM LOTTERY

*SNOOPING TOOL

NB: Please level up the system to unlock more functions.

****

Zachary's heart skipped a bit on taking a glance at his stock of juju points. After completing both the Tippeligaen and Norwegian Cup serial challenges, he'd gained an incredible sum of 15,000 juju points from the system. Including his original 7240 points, he then possessed a total of 22,240 points, which was more than twice the amount he needed to upgrade the system.

"With all these Juju points, maybe I should finally upgrade the system," he mumbled to himself, sinking into a moment of contemplation.

Over the preceding few weeks, he'd been resisting the temptation to upgrade the system simply because he needed a reserve of Juju points for his day-to-day training needs. Both the G.O.A.T Skills Simulator and the weekly purchases of the physical-conditioning-elixirs required Juju points. So, his hands had been tied.

However, after completing the Norwegian Cup Serial challenge and acquiring a large reserve of juju points, he could no longer hold himself back. So, without further ado, he navigated to the home menu before clicking on the upgrade button, displayed in the top left corner of the near-transparent system interface.

"DING"

"The user has chosen to upgrade the system," The system AI's apathetic voice resounded within his mind right after his finger made contact with the crystal-like display.

"To proceed with the upgrade, the system will have to deduct 10,000 Juju points from the user's stock."

"Additionally, the system will shut down for eight hours during the upgrade process. The user will not be able to use any of the system functions or even summon the interface until the eight hours elapse."

"Does the user still wish to proceed with the upgrade? Please click on either the 'accept' or 'reject' buttons on the screen to confirm your choice."

Zachary blinked reflexively and fixed his gaze on the new contents of the interface. A 'commence upgrade' button had just floated to the front of all the contents of the screen. The 'accept' and the 'reject' buttons, mentioned by the AI, were below it and blinking bright red on the interface.

"Time waits for no man."

Zachary didn't waste time deliberating any longer. He'd already decided to upgrade the system, and nothing would change his mind. So, he clicked on the accept button to confirm and waited with bated breath.

"DING"

A new system notification resounded in his mind the next instant.

"SYSTEM ALERT!!"

"The user has confirmed an immediate upgrade of the system."

"10,000 Juju points will immediately be deducted from the user's current stock of Juju points to upgrade the system from level-3 to level-4."

"The user can check further details on the system interface."

Zachary had already focused all his attention on the system interface even as the AI's voice continued resounding within his mind. He could already see that the system was already in the process of upgrading to the next level just by looking at the messages flashing on the screen.

****

"SYSTEM ALERT!!"

SYSTEM UPGRADE INITIALIZING

SYNCING AND SAVING USER DATA

LOADING NEW PACKAGES

REBOOT PROCESS COMMENCING IN 5, 4, 1, AND 0...

****

The crystal-like display trembled slightly for a few seconds after the countdown reached zero before dimming almost abruptly and disappearing into thin air.

At that moment, Zachary could no longer summon the interface no matter how many times he tried. However, he was not worried since he had gone through the process before. With a light heart, he washed up quickly, then feasted on a light meal before jumping into bed for the night.

**** ****

"Bzzt Bzzzt! Bzzt Bzzzt!"

Zachary woke up abruptly to the sound of his phone vibrating the following day. He opened his eyes and realized that he'd slept longer than he'd intended since it was already bright outside.

Without deliberating for long, he reached out with his hand and picked his phone from the bedside table. After glancing at the screen, he was surprised by the fact that the incoming call was from Emily. It was rare for his agent to call that early in the morning unless there was an emergency. So, without losing a second, he accepted the call and placed the phone next to his ear.

"Hello, Emily," he spoke into the phone after clearing his voice. "How's your morning?"

"My morning is as fine as it can be, Zachary," Emily replied from the other end of the line right away. "And how's yours?"

"My morning is also fine," Zachary was quick to reply. "But to what do I owe the pleasure of receiving such an early morning phone call from you? I hope it isn't to deliver some bad news?"

Emily chuckled. "I'm sorry for calling so early. But we need to meet a.s.a.p. and discuss some important business. Do you remember I promised to initiate talks with a few clubs as part of preparations for your transfer out of Norway mid-next year?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well," Emily said a bit hesitantly. "I've already initiated talks with a few clubs, and their immediate responses are very positive. One of the clubs sent scouts to watch your performance in the Europa League match against Salzburg and then the Cup finals. The club's representatives are very serious and hope to start negotiating personal terms with you right away."

Zachary couldn't help but crease his brows slightly. "But didn't I mention that I would only transfer out of Rosenborg mid-next year at the earliest? So, even if they table down the best offers, I'll still not leave Rosenborg until then."

"I'm aware of all that, Zachary," Emily said with an audible sigh. "And I mentioned that exact point to the scouts of the club. However, after witnessing your performance in the Cup finals and the Europa League game against Red Bull Salzburg, they insisted on tabling their offers right away. They are of the view that you could still come to a preliminary agreement with them even if you can't join them right away. They hope to secure your services before their competitors notice you."

"Ohhh!" Zachary said, a light bulb going off in his mind. It seemed the club that had noticed him was not confident in its financial muscle. Their scouts must have been worried that his growing skills on the pitch would attract more teams to vie for his services as time passed. So, they hoped to act fast and gain a cheap bargain by securing his signature before his market value could skyrocket out of their reach. That seemed to be the only plausible explanation.

"As long as they don't insist on me moving before the transfer window mid next year, I'm open to any other negotiations," Zachary said after a moment of deliberation. "It doesn't do us any harm to check out their current offers. Maybe, we'll get an offer that's hard to refuse if we play our cards right."

"That's good to hear," Emily said, her voice taking on a relaxed tone. "I was afraid you would flat-out refuse all negotiations until next year, which would make my job a lot harder. I'm glad you're open to talks even if you haven't considered moving yet."

"Ohhh! So, which club has already tabled an offer to you? You also need to note that I can't have any personal negotiations with representatives of any club unless they intend to trigger my buy-out clause."

"Don't worry about all that, Zachary," Emily said with a chuckle. "I'm the agent here, and I know the rules of the industry quite well. I can assure you that I won't allow you to do anything that will lead to a breach of your contract with Rosenborg. Regarding the clubs that have already tabled offers, I can't discuss that on the phone. We need to meet a.s.a.p. to discuss that in person."

"Oh! Okay," Zachary said. "So, where do we meet? And, at what time?"

"It would be best if we meet in the next hour," Emily replied. "Are you at home right now?"

"Yes. Why?"

"If it isn't an inconvenience, we can just meet and have our discussion at your place," Emily replied. "It would save us a lot of time as we don't have to first look for another meeting place. Moreover, it has been a long time since I came to your apartment. As an agent, I feel that it's irresponsible of me to neglect the living conditions of my most important client." She added jokingly.

Zachary suppressed a chuckle. "I guess I have no choice then since I can't hinder my agent's work in any way," he said. "Just come over. I'll wash up right away and wait for you here."

"Okay, great," Emily said from the other end of the line. "Then, see you in a few minutes, Zachary."

"See you in a few minutes," Zachary replied before hanging up.

Despite not wanting to leave Rosenborg for the time being, he was still excited to hear that a few big clubs were interested in him. He was really looking forward to his meeting with Emily.

"DING"

The system notification sound rang within his mind at that moment. Within an instant, the near-transparent bluish interface manifested out of thin air before him, even without being summoned.

Zachary's eyes glistened once again. He could hardly contain his delight.

The system was back online after going silent for eight hours through the night. So, he immediately pivoted his gaze onto the screen before him and began reading the messages flashing on and off the screen.

****

#SYSTEM ALERT!!

-> System upgraded successfully.

LOADING NEW PACKAGES

LEVEL-4 VERSION OF SOCCER G.O.A.T USER INTERFACE SUCCESSFULLY INITIALIZED

LOADING AND SYNCING USER DATA

****

Zachary kept his eyes on the crystal-like display while various system alerts flashed on and off the interface. A few seconds later, the familiar contents of the system's home menu appeared before him once again.

"Let's see what the new system has to offer," he mumbled, rubbing his hands together before starting to go through the contents of the new system interface.