Greatest Of All Time

Chapter 20: Activating Slot Number Two

March, 2024.

[Subject 1: Miguel Topete| Club: EDM San Blas]

[Please, select field to assign the Subject]

[•Tec •Phy •Men •Def]

Diego stared at the glowing blue screen floating in front of his eyes. He just realized a major hiccup in his plan!

The main attributes he actually wanted from Miguel were his crazy pace and his agility, which were both under the Physicality tab. But the problem was that Miguel was a total glass cannon when it came to the rest of that category. He wasn’t strong, he couldn’t out-muscle anyone, and his stamina was pretty low. If Diego picked Physicality, he might get the speed, but he’d be stuck with the weak stuff too.

"Diego! What are you doing over there?" a voice called out through the serene late-morning air.

Diego jumped a little and turned around.

Across the church field where they usually hung out, Matilde was lying down on her belly, busy writing something in a book. Even though she looked busy, her eyes were locked on him while he stood near a bush looking at nothing.

"Nothing! Just TAKING A PISS!" he yelled back.

He turned back to focus on his system, his mind racing.

"Alright, I think I can manage," he whispered to himself. "I’ll just focus on finesse for now. Since I already used Damian to get some raw physicality and strength, I can deal with getting the pace and agility from Miguel. Besides, Modric is fast too in his own way."

He figured he could find a second host for Technicality later to top everything off and make him a perfect player.

[Physicality assigned to Subject]

[Prediction: 0.012% per day]

[Luka Modric: 60% boost]

Diego felt a weird tingle in his legs, like a small spark of electricity. The percentage seemed tiny, but it was bigger than Damian’s, and with the Modric boost, he knew he was finally on the path to becoming a speedster.

After making his choice in the system, Diego hopped back to the center of the field. Matilde peered up from her book, watching him closely. Plastered on his face was a wide, goofy smile, the kind he always got when he was daydreaming about being a great footballer.

"Don’t tell me you’re still smiling just because you’ll be playing in the next match," Matilde confronted him, sitting up and brushing some grass off her shirt. She was referring to how Diego had broken the news to her earlier about playing sooner than expected. "Coaches tell anyone to buckle up and get their boots ready all the time, Diego. It’s just what they say to keep the bench warmers from quitting. It doesn’t mean you’re actually going to touch the grass."

Diego didn’t argue. He only smirked, feeling a secret power bubbling up inside him from the system bond. He sauntered past her, enjoying the fact that she was still doubting him. It made the victory feel like it was going to be even sweeter.

Moving toward the swings at the edge of the field, Diego sat down on one and began to subtly swing himself back and forth, keeping sly eye contact with Matilde as she watched him skeptically.

"Except that I saw it for myself," Diego said, picking up right where she stopped. "I didn’t just hear ’buckle up’ from the coach. I actually sneaked into the technical room on Saturday I saw the papers, Matilde. I saw the proof with my own eyes."

Matilde stayed silent for a second, totally dumbfounded. She raised one brow so high it almost disappeared into her hair. She looked down at the schoolbooks spread out on the grass in front of her, then looked back at him, shaking her head.

"You?" she asked, chuckling. "Diego, you can’t even understand basic long division or fractions without me helping you. We spent two hours on maths yesterday! And now you’re telling me you understood adult technical football analysis? Those charts look like spiderwebs, there’s no way you read that."

Diego grunted, feeling a bit annoyed that she brought up his grades. Matilde never let him hear the last of her doing his homework for him.

Kicking his legs out, he swung himself harder and higher into the air.

"Believe it or not," he said, as the swing reached its highest point, "I debut next matchday."

Diego didn’t look like he was bluffing at all, so Matilde sighed and decided to believe him. After all, he wasn’t the kind of guy who liked setting himself up for a huge disappointment.

But even if Matilde believed Diego saw the papers, it didn’t make her less dubious about the whole situation. Dropping her pen, she fully crossed her legs in interest, watching her boyfriend go back and forth on the swing.

"But don’t you find it weird, Diego? You’re just a rookie who joined like, two weeks ago. And they’re already playing you in the second match of the spring? That’s way too fast."

"Sigh. How’s that weird now, miss?"

"Because that’s not the order of things!" Matilde exclaimed, waving her hands around. "Normally, you’re meant to spend months just training. Then you get to play in a few friendlies. Then maybe you make the bench for a real game, and then after a long time, you get five minutes at the end of a match. You’re skipping like five steps, Diego!"

Maltide went quiet for a second, looking thoughtful as she stared at the grass. Diego couldn’t help but think she made some sense. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"This must have to do with that endorsement stuff," the girl said slowly. "Diego, haven’t you ever thought about who your endorser actually is? Someone had to pull some serious strings to get a kid with no record into a U14 club and onto the pitch this fast."

Diego went quiet.

He hadn’t really thought about it much because he was so focused on his new life as an official footballer, and his new system bond.

But Matilde was right.

Whoever endorsed him, could very well be the reason he was being played this early.

Diego wondered who it could actually be. His father hadn’t left any savings funds for a football career, and their family was pretty short on helpful relatives who had that kind of money or power.

Matilde kept staring at Diego while he pondered. It felt kind of scary that an ambiguous figure was having such a big say in the career they were both pushing so hard for.

"Is it... is it your father?" Diego asked.

Matilde made a funny face and laughed, totally belittling the idea. "My dad? Diego, my dad has no idea you exist. Use your brain!"

Diego grunted and started swinging again, trying to push the weird thoughts away.

Looking up, he saw the big cross on top of the church building, glowing in the sun.

Maybe it wasn’t a person at all.

Maybe it was just a miracle or God’s work helping him out.

He decided to stop worrying.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!