Chapter 1 Do you want to be the king of football?
“It’s so hard for me!”
At 5:30 in the morning, Su Dong walked aimlessly on the streets of Lisbon, his heart feeling like an overturned spice tray.
He didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment, nor did he know who to tell about his experience.
He had been walking along this brightly lit, spacious street for half an hour without meeting a single pedestrian. Only the occasional passing vehicle and the unfamiliar license plate number reminded him.
He traveled through time.
…
Half an hour ago, he was still at home in a second- or third-tier small city in southern China , playing his newly purchased pirated version of Championship Manager 00/01, leading Inter Milan, where his idol Ronaldo played, to sweep across the Apennines and Europe and win the Champions League for the tenth consecutive year.
Veteran Ronaldo decided to bid farewell to his mentor and retire, and Su Dong also decided to accept the unprecedented god-level challenge, take over the Chinese national football team and impact the World Cup.
Just when he clicked the accept button in response to the invitation from the Chinese national football team, a pop-up window suddenly popped up in the game.
"Do you want to be the king of football?"
What the hell?
Su Dong was confused and wanted to click it off, but he found that apart from the two options "Yes" and "No", he had no way to close the pop-up window. He could only curse those unscrupulous pirates in his heart.
The ticket is already sold for five yuan, yet they still have product placement. That's too much!
I'll buy three next time.
There is no other way, so you can only choose one of the two.
Su Dong chose [Think] without a doubt.
Influenced by his father who was a football fan, he signed up for football training classes at a young age. Becoming a football king, like Ronaldo, galloping on the field and invincible, was definitely his most cherished dream.
But as I grew up, this dream gradually faded and I could only pursue it through games.
But at the moment of making the choice, he felt a faint burning sensation in his heart.
But what he never expected was that when his hand controlled the mouse and clicked the "Think" button, he felt dizzy, his eyes went dark, and he fainted.
When I woke up again, I was in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
…
He is also called Su Dong, also sixteen years old, and also comes from a small second- or third-tier city in southern China, from an ordinary working-class family.
His father is also an old football fan. Although the family is not well-off, he has allowed him to attend football training classes since he was a child.
The two people's family background, appearance, personality, and even life experiences are exactly the same.
Their life paths diverged a month ago.
Before he traveled through time, he had just bought a computer and was intent on playing games, so he rejected his father's suggestion to sign him up for a summer football camp. But after he traveled through time, he accepted his father's suggestion.
What happened next was bloody.
A Chinese scout who was said to be of Portuguese nationality came to the summer camp. He trained with the team for three days and found that Su Dong had an extraordinary talent and was very qualified to become a professional player. He said that he could arrange for Su Dong to attend the youth training camp of a Portuguese Super League team to receive the most advanced professional football training in the world.
Of course, Su Dong's father would not believe it easily, so he checked through various channels and finally got the result that this was formal and endorsed by the authoritative football management organization.
Although the family was not well-off, for the sake of his only son's football dream, Su Dong's father resolutely raised enough money and sent Su Dong on a plane to Portugal.
Su Dong himself landed on the Iberian Peninsula with great anticipation, but the result was a mess.
The other party quickly fulfilled the contract and arranged Su Dong into the youth training system of a Portuguese Super League team, but it was not a Portuguese Super League team, but a team in the third-level Portuguese Second League.
When Su Dong discovered the problem and went to argue with the other party, the fraudulent company confidently told him that he had promised this team at the beginning, because although it was not a Portuguese Super League team, it was a satellite club of Portuguese Super League team Belerenses, and the two companies had very in-depth cooperation in youth training.
"And think about it, this team is called Sporting CP, named after the national team, one level higher than Sporting Lisbon. It can be seen that this is a traditional team with a long history and profound heritage."
"Focus on your training here. If you can stay here after two months, you will definitely have the opportunity to play in the Portuguese Super League in the future."
The money had been paid and the people had arrived in Portugal. There was no choice but for Su Dong to stay in the Portuguese Athletic Association.
Until today.
…
…
After walking for an unknown amount of time and feeling somewhat tired, Su Dong entered a park.
It was so quiet all around that only the faint chirping of insects could be heard and a faint light could be seen in the distance.
Su Dong walked towards the light and found it was an indoor football field.
It is not accurate to call it an indoor football field, because it only has a roof and is surrounded by wire mesh. The wire mesh separates the three , which should correspond to the three-on-three, five-on-five and seven-on-seven venues.
The light was on in the smallest field, which was empty except for a black and white football in the middle of the field.
Under the light, it is like the irresistible snake fruit in front of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or like the apple hanging precariously above Newton's head, as if carrying some important mission.
Su Dong watched through the wire fence for a while, then walked into the football field and came to the football.
He just stretched out his right foot and gently picked up the football.
And at this moment, pieces of information flashed through his mind quickly.
"System [Road to the King of Football] has been activated."
"Binding, please wait..."
Su Dong was shocked. What the hell is this system [Road to the King of Football]?
Could it be caused by time travel?
"System binding successful."
"Congratulations on successfully binding to [Road to the King of Football]. Please confirm your identity."
"Name: Su Dong?"
Su Dong took a quick glance and his mind immediately fell on the "Yes" option at the bottom left, so he quickly went to the next page.
"Nationality: Chinese?"
yes.
"Age: 16?"
yes.
"Sex: Male?"
Nonsense, of course, definitely, 100% yes!!
"Height: 183cm, weight: 61kg?"
yes.
"Identity verification completed, please choose your court position."
"Forward, winger, attacking midfielder, midfielder, winger, center back, goalkeeper, full back..."
Su Dong gradually woke up from his confusion. After all, he was a young man. He began to be sure that he seemed to have gained some kind of super power after traveling through time. This made him excited and looking forward to it.
The road to becoming a football king!
Does this mean that he has the opportunity to realize his dream and become a football king like Ronaldo, galloping on the world stage, invincible, scoring goals like crazy?
When he thought of this, the young man suddenly became full of passion and chose [Forward] without hesitation.
A time traveler who doesn’t want to be a striker must not be a good fan.
After selection, the system automatically enters the personal attributes panel.
"Welcome to [The Road to King of Football]."
"Current level: Player 1, entry-level rookie."
"Next level: Ball 1, the required Ball King value for upgrading: 10,000 points."
Ten thousand points?
Su Dong was already starting to feel a little confused. Wasn't this a bit too much?
Also, where can I earn the King of Football points?
The system did not explain all of this. Su Dong was completely confused and could only continue reading.
After entering the current capability interface, the system quickly popped up a reminder.
"Since you are currently at the lowest level, the system integrates various attributes by default."
Su Dong was very depressed, because if this sentence was translated into human language, it would mean that your level was too low and there was no need to subdivide it too complicatedly.
Isn't this simply looking down on people?
What's wrong with the ball?
Do football players have no human rights?
I will definitely upgrade as soon as possible and won't let you look down on me.
Su Dong made up his mind, but the personal attributes evaluated by the system disappointed him.
"Offense: 33; Defense: 28; Physical: 29."
Is this my ability value?
Isn’t that a bit too low?
The full score is 99 points. Even if it is just a passing score, it should be 60 points. Why is it only this low?
But when Su Dong combined his memories and recalled his experiences in Lisbon, he had to admit that the system evaluation was indeed very rigorous.
how to say?
Over the years, he has overestimated himself. A very important reason for this is that he is a leader in the city's youth football training camp and the ace of the school team. This has made him always highly praised, and it is inevitable that he overestimates himself in his heart.
But if compared with his peers across the country, he is not that outstanding.
If we use Portugal as a reference, even in a third-tier team like Atlético de Portugal, their youth players are much stronger than Su Dong, not to mention the players of the strong youth teams in the Portuguese Super League.
Compared with their peers from the world's top youth training teams such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Ajax, etc., the gap is even greater.
Realizing this and feeling the gap, Su Dong was not discouraged at all.
This is the common advantage of his two lives, that is, never admitting defeat.
In his previous life, the reason why he was able to lead Ronaldo's Inter Milan to win ten consecutive championships was that he tenaciously and persistently loaded the save files again and again. The most outrageous time was when facing Juventus, he played more than twenty games in a row before defeating the opponent.
In this life, he also never gives up easily. Even after falling into the trap of a liar and seeing the shortcomings of his own abilities, he still stubbornly wants to fight for a foothold in the Portuguese Athletic Association.
He had this determination before he traveled through time. Now that he has traveled through time and has the cheat of "The Road to the King of Football", he will not be easily discouraged.
Isn’t it just the liver?
Who is afraid of whom?
…
After figuring it out, Su Dong picked up the football on the grass again and started with the most basic juggling exercises.
He needs to warm up.
After every successful dribble, a message flashed quickly in his mind.
"Getting the ball champion is worth 1 point."
"Getting the ball champion is worth 1 point."
"Obtain the King of Football Value..."
"get……"
…
Well, isn’t it just ten thousand jugglings?
I'm so tired!
…
…
When the first rays of morning sunlight shone on the grass of Edward VII Park, Su Dong was still practicing hard.
He was so obsessed that he completely forgot about time and everything around him. His only thought was about football.
He didn't even notice that outside the barbed wire, there was a Portuguese teenager who was about the same age and height as him, who was watching his training with great interest.
