Suk excitedly rubbed his hands and switched the system interface to the card draw page.
First up, the match rewards.
As before, there were five Card Slots.
Suk whispered excitedly, "Start the draw!"
The familiar sound of shuffling cards filled the air, followed by the animation of the deck being cut.
A moment later, five cards appeared before him.
[White Card (Skill Card) — Ronaldo's Dribbling — This Ronaldo shares a name with the Alien and dreams of becoming just like his idol. Their dribbling styles are strikingly similar, but dreams must eventually face reality. This Ronaldo is not *that* Ronaldo!]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Tross's Physicality — The beast Tross is a notorious 'butcher' in the South American League. His style of play is ferocious, and no player he targets ever comes out unscathed.]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Bastetia's Heading — This is a player with outstanding heading ability. Many say he's always jumping because he yearns for the sky!]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Angie's Ball Control — Angie has solid ball control, able to bring any kind of pass to a dead stop at his feet.]
[Red Card (Skill Card) — Status Recovery Card — Clears all negative statuses. Single-use consumable.]
Suk raised an eyebrow slightly. The overall quality was a mixed bag.
Four White Cards, one Red Card.
The Status Recovery Card was undoubtedly the best of the bunch. After all, it was a real leg-saver.
'But it's showing up a little too often,' Suk thought. 'If I get to a higher-level league, will I get these rewards more frequently?'
With these thoughts in mind, Suk began to test each of the cards.
In the end, only Ronaldo's Dribbling and Angie's Ball Control could be socketed.
However, both cards were pretty mediocre.
Ronaldo's Dribbling was about the same as the dribbling card Suk already had equipped, so it wasn't a major improvement. As for ball control, Suk's own ability was already excellent; the card wasn't necessarily any better than him.
The only worthwhile reward from the match was probably the Status Recovery Card.
Still, that was an excellent haul. Suk nodded slightly, then immediately started the next draw.
This time, it was for the season rewards, which were bound to be much more generous.
As Suk watched with nervous anticipation, five more cards appeared.
[White Card (Skill Card) — Model's Save — As a goalkeeper, he has superb goal-line saving technique, but due to the shape of his hands, he's prone to spilling the ball.]
"Isn't that just Buckqi!" Suk grumbled to himself.
'This card is useless. Next!'
[White Card (Skill Card) — Suarez's Bite — When frustrated and irritable, habitually vents by biting, striking fear into the opponent!]
Suk: "..."
'Next!'
[Attribute Card — Add points to any one attribute!]
The description was brief, but it brought a huge smile to Suk's face.
'It's here!'
'It's finally here!'
'An Attribute Card! Unlike other cards, this one provides a tangible boost to my physical abilities.'
[Red Card (Skill Card) — Status Recovery Card — Clears all negative statuses. Single-use consumable.]
Suk was stunned. 'Are they just giving these away for free?'
'This is the third one already!'
'Still, who would complain about having too many of these!'
'I'll take it! I'll take it!'
The last card.
Suk rubbed his hands together, praying for something good.
[Red Card (Special Card) — Andre's Flying Leg — In the world of sprinting, stride length determines speed, but foot turnover is also key. Andre is short and lacks the advantage of a long stride, but his astonishingly quick foot turnover is his specialty! (Increases Speed by 15 when equipped).]
'Not bad at all!'
Speed is just as important in soccer, and a speedy winger is often the key to initiating an attack.
And compared to a long, loping stride, quick foot turnover is much better for shielding the ball.
In other words, this was a Speed Card perfectly suited for soccer.
Plus, it was a Special Card, which meant Suk could equip it without any restrictions.
Finally, Suk took stock of his new cards.
Two Status Recovery Cards, which, combined with the one he already had, made for a total of three Recovery Cards.
One Attribute Card and one Flying Leg.
In the end, Suk used the Attribute Card on his Speed stat and equipped the Flying Leg card.
Personal Panel:
[Diamond Card (Special Class) Inzaghi's Awareness.]
[Red Card (Skill Card) Tolister's Short Pass.]
[Red Card (Special Class) Andre's Flying Leg.]
[Red Card (Skill Category) Status Recovery Card.]
[White Card (Skill Category) Roberts's Dribbling.]
[White Card (Skill Category) Lesten's Archery Skill.]
attribute panel:
[Name: Suk]
[Height: 151 cm]
[Weight: 48 kg]
[Speed: 72+15]
[Flexibility: 80]
[Power: 60]
[Explosive Power: 77]
The Speed stat showed a significant increase after he equipped Flying Leg. However, Suk had no real idea of just how much faster he was now. He would have to wait for a chance to test it.
He also needed to see if it affected his ability to run with the ball.
Both the quantity and quality of his equipped cards had improved dramatically.
A whole season of hard work had not been for nothing; it had been an incredibly bountiful harvest.
Suk was even curious to know what his limits would be if he could just set aside his weaknesses.
By the time he returned to the field from the small hill he'd been on, almost everyone was gone.
Modric was quietly juggling a ball in the middle of the field.
"Where is everyone?"
Suk asked as he walked over.
Modric said, "They went to a party."
Suk nodded, then turned to Modric. "Can you time me for 50 meters?"
"Now?" Modric asked in surprise, stopping the ball with his foot. "I don't have a stopwatch!"
"Just eyeball it. Your team has fast players, right? Just see how my speed compares to theirs."
In soccer, speed isn't tested over 100 meters, but rather over 50 or even 30 meters.
This is the distance that best reflects a player's explosive burst and acceleration.
It's rare for a player to sprint from one end of the field to the other.
Suk took his place at the starting line. Modric shouted, "Ready! Go!"
At the command, Suk dug his foot hard into the ground. With a powerful push, his body shot forward like an arrow.
Suk's Explosive Power was already impressive, enough to leave most defenders in the dust right from the start.
But what was even more astonishing was his speed once he got going.
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!!
Suk's foot turnover was incredibly fast. Modric's eyes could barely keep up, and in the time it took him to blink, Suk had already crossed the 50-meter line.
"How was it?" Suk asked, jogging back.
Modric blurted out, "So fast!"
"I know, right!" Suk beamed.
Modric looked at Suk in amazement. He never expected the kid to have that kind of speed.
He had previously thought Suk should play in the midfield, but now he felt he was more suited for the wing.
"Now let's see how you run with the ball."
With that, Suk took the Ball and returned to the starting line. This time, he was going to dribble at full sprint.
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!!
Suk felt incredible as he ran; the feeling of moving like lightning was amazing. The increase in Speed didn't cause him much discomfort, and he adjusted to it quickly.
But after Suk crossed the finish line, Modric looked at him and said, "You're running too fast."
"I know, right!" Suk laughed happily again.
He also thought his speed was incredible.
But Modric shook his head. "I'm not complimenting you."
"You're running *too* fast!"
Suk was confused.
Modric explained, "Speed is good for Dribbling, but the most important thing isn't speed—it's rhythm."
Modric explained patiently, "You were running too fast just now, at full tilt. You have nothing left in reserve. If you came up against a defender, you'd just run straight into them."
Suk thought about it. 'He has a point.'
"You should dribble at about 70 to 80 percent of your top speed. The moment you face a defender, you make a cut or change direction to beat them. Once you're past the defender, *that's* when you sprint at full speed to leave them behind for good. That's rhythm!"
Suk asked, "So, dribble at 80% of my top Speed, right?"
Modric nodded. "Exactly."
"I'll try again."
Saying that, Suk got ready to try dribbling again.
Modric quickly stopped him. "Take a break. Aren't you tired?"
Only then did Suk realize that his legs did feel a bit weak. He had just played a full match and used up a lot of stamina.
"I'll rest for a bit."
Suk went to the sidelines to sit down, taking the opportunity to use a Status Recovery Card.
'I have three of them now, anyway,' he thought. 'And based on the current drop rate, I'll probably get more later. It's not a waste.'
'Besides, I want to see what it does.'
As he used the card, a cool sensation spread down from the top of his head. The fatigue gradually faded away, replaced by a new surge of strength.
Soon, Suk was completely restored.
Suk patted the dust off his shorts and stood up.
"Ready to go?"
Modric: "???"
'Didn't you just sit down?'
The two of them proceeded to train for the rest of the afternoon.
Throughout the afternoon, Modric kept giving Suk strange looks, as if he were staring at a monster.
His own stamina was quite good, but Suk was like some kind of stamina monster who didn't know the meaning of fatigue.
As for Suk, the things Modric taught him were incredibly practical.
This wasn't the sort of thing you learned in the youth academy or during regular practice; this was real, hard-won game experience.
Suk now yearned for higher-level competition, and he was using every available moment to improve and strengthen himself for it.
...
With the season over, Suk returned to the daily grind of his part-time job.
They weren't like the star players who could vacation on beautiful islands. They had to hustle just to put food on the table.
Fortunately, Suk had already found a job working at Buckqi's tavern.
It was an hourly job that paid 2 Mark an hour, but that was enough for Suk to get through the break. After all, the team didn't pay them during the off-season.
As May began, the town, and indeed the entire world, started to buzz with excitement.
All eyes were focused on the East Asia Region, specifically South Korea and Japan.
The globally anticipated 2002 FIFA World Cup was about to begin.
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina hadn't made it to the FIFA World Cup, their neighbor, Croatia, led by Davor Suker, had once again qualified.
In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Croatia had achieved a spectacular third-place finish, so many were hoping they could go even further this time.
However, Davor Suker and some of the other key players were getting older and their form was declining, which were all causes for concern.
But even so, the Croats in Mostar Town gathered excitedly in the taverns, eagerly awaiting the start of the FIFA World Cup.