“Next on the list we have,” she pulled out her tablet and placed it on the table.
“Jersey numbers, and team captain.”
Everyone immediately leaned forward at her words.
A imperceptable smile crossed Irene’s features before it disappeared.
‘Boys and their obsession with jersey numbers.’
“The way we’re going to do this is: I’m going to call out the top performers in the trials and they will have the privilege of choosing their numbers first, you got that?”
Irene may have framed it as a question, but she wasn’t asking.
The players nodded.
This was a fair system and this way they will know which players to watch out for.
“First; Danny Bremang. Center Forward. 3 goals scored with a rating of 10/10.”
A tall player with with dusty blonde hair and strong physique stood up, towering over everyone.
“Number 9.” His voice was rough and made your skin tingle slightly.
“Second; Julian Valecrest. Left Winger. 2 goals and 1 assist with a rating of 10/10.”
Julian stayed seated.
“Number 7.” He calmly answered.
He could here a few players letting out annoyed grumbles.
It seemed like a lot of them wanted the number too.
“Zander Chitty. Right Back. 3 assists with a rating of 10/10.”
The player that stood up was of average height, and a youthful face behind neatly cut black hair.
“Number 22.”
“Nolan Grey. Attacking Midfielder. 2 assists with a rating of 9.5/10.”
The purple haired boy stood about, expression as bored as always.
“Number 10.”
Followed by another round of grumbles.
Irene continued, paying the grumbles no mind.
“Austin Sullivan. Left Winger. 2 goals and a rating of 9.4/10.”
The boy who scored two goals against Julian’s team stood up, caramel skin glistening slightly, a broad smile on his face.
“Number 11.” He spoke loudly, something closer to a shout.
The session continued until Coach Irene got the numbers of all 28 players registered.
“Now,” she addressed the team again once she was finished.
“The captain of the team will be decided after your opening game this weekend.”
‘This sooner than I thought.
But you’ll here no complaints from me.
The sooner, the better.’
“With that said,” Coach Irene clapped her hands together.
********
“I came second.”
[Yep.]
It was late at night, Julian laid on his bed, arms and legs spread wide open, his body sunk slightly into the soft mattress, lights threw a soft glow over the room.
“That is unacceptable.”
[Yep.]
“I need to work harder.”
[Yep.]
“Push myself to go the extra mile.”
[Yep.]
“Mini-ball is stupid.”
[Nope.]
“Fuck. I thought that would’ve worked.”
The bedroom descended into a comfortable silence, with Julian’s making no effort to sleep, as if waiting for something.
“How long more do I–”
–ting–
Julian immediately grabbed his phone when the notification went off and went into the AIA App where a message awaited him.
[Monthly Schedule U/17A: Sat 6 Feb: Kernistad Academy(H) Sat 13 Feb: St. Avalon(A) Wed 17 Feb: Riverside FC(A) Sun 21 Feb: Weston High(H) Sat 27 Feb: Apex United(H)]
“Our first game is this weekend. Today is Tuesday, that means there is only three days left.” A flash of determination passed through Julian’s gaze.
“I need to put my all in at training so that I can be in the starting line-up.”
He’s eyes fell to the team at the bottom of the schedule, the U/17 team of Apex United, at his team.
Julian turned his head to Mini-ball.
“Wouldn’t it have been better if I played for the youth side of Apex United instead?”
[No.] Mini-ball’s answer was firm.
[The club hasn’t been performing well the last couple of years.]
“Why not?”
[None of the recent family members really cares about the team, leaving the reigns to the Director of Football who has been running the club into the ground.]
“And why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?” Julian knew that nobles cared more about their image than they do about their blood, and the club not performing well was certainly a stain kn the Valecrest Family’s image.
[Like I said; we don’t really care.] Mini-ball shrugged his nonexistent arms.
A smug grin spread across Julian’s face.
“Luckily, you have me.”
[That’s good, because bringing the club back to its former glory is one of the obligations for our partnership.]
A memory resurfaced in Juilan.
“Come to think of it,” Julian sat up, leaning back against the headboard, staring forward.
[That’s easy. You need to save it from going into ruins.]
“And how am I going to do that?”
[Right now, the whole world thinks because my father died, the rest of his empire will soon follow. We need to show them that the alpha may be dead, but the pack is still strong. Currently, a lot of projects have stalled due to father’s sudden death and the constant attacks from enemies, leaving Giselle no breathing room to continue these projects. That’s where we come in. Nobody knows that I am the brains behind Valecrest Tech’s AI–Evolon–and the very interfaces they use on their phones, TV’s, laptops, pc’s, etc. It’s time to come out of the shadows. But not entirely, though. We will show them a fraction of what I’m capable of, just enough to make them aware of my presence, and by the time they realize that I’m the real mastermind, it’ll be too late.]
Mini-ball sounded like a real wolve, causing Julian to pause in surprise.
He didn’t know his floating friend had that in him.
“What do you have in mind?” Julian asked after finding his words.
[Games.]
“Games?”
[We’re going to release a game.]
“A game. Really?” Julian’s brows creased, clearly expecting a different answer.
[Yes. It is the perfect cover. All they’re going to think is you’re a little brat that is good at making games, someone that is hardly worth deeper vigilance.]
“Does that mean you already have a good game?”
[No. But you do.]
“I do?” Julian’s confusion deepened.
[Yes. Think about one of the best games you played back in your world.]
Julian’s mind instantly went to GTA, thinking about the hours on end he spent completing mission, going with the storyline and exploring the map for easter eggs.
[That’s good.] Mini-ball praised, able to see the vivid images in Julian’s mind.
[If that game did good in your world, its going to do twice as good in this one.]
“You’re just going to copy and paste the game and make it your own?”
[No. You are.]
“I am? But I’ve never coded a day in my life.”
[Leave that to me. The same way I saw your memories when you thought about the game, is the same way I’m going to show you how to code. All you need to do is sit your ass down in front of a computer, think about the game, and I’ll show you how to code it. Your fingers will move before your brain can register, almost as if like your body is on autopilot. After you’re done, you’re going to load the game up to Evolon and it is going to smooth out the edges, upgrade the quality and adjust the world building so that it looks like Presna. After that, you’re just going to tell the AI to make a trailer that is going to make people buy the game, schedule a release date and watch the magic happen.]
“And how long is this going to take?”
[Not too long. I saw in your training schedule that you get one day off each week. We can use that off day to go to my workspace and go all out on making the game. But doing it like this will interfere with your recovery, making you tired, fatigued and lack match sharpness. And it will take about four weeks. Or we can squeeze in a few hours behind the computer everyday after training for a week straight. This is the better option, and the only disadvantage is that you will have to sleep off campus, making you do daily trips back and forth.]
Julian tangled his hands behind his head against the headboard.
“We should go with the second option. I think it’s unfair to start my part of the deal while yours get to take a backseat.”
[Thank you, dude. I know that you’re doing this because of our agreement, but I’m still grateful.]
“Don’t sweat it, Mini-ball.” Julian shook his head before his expression turned sincere.
“Instead, I should be the one to thank you. Me doing this for you feels like nothing in comparison for what you’ve done for me.”
[I guess we both have thanks to give and receive, than?]
“Yeah.” Julian nodded with a smile.
A comfortable silence filled the air, before Julian decided to break it.
“You know, we are kinda stealing.”
[Nobody will know.]
“Yeah. Nobody will know.”