Zayn opened the door.
Biscuit immediately threw himself at him, his tail wagging like a helicopter.
Lucy’s voice came from the sofa.
“Why were you standing outside for so long?
Biscuit’s been waiting by the door for ages.”
“Contemplating life.” Zayn crouched down and rubbed the golden retriever’s big, fluffy head.
Biscuit responded with full enthusiasm, his tail smacking against Zayn’s legs.
“Were you secretly crying out there?”
Lucy leaned over the back of the sofa, her little face practically saying, Is my brother stupid?
“Mr.
Cowans called Mom just now.
He said your training’s been awful lately.
Did you get chewed out?”
“Lucy.” Anna’s voice came from the kitchen, carrying a warning.
But Zayn caught the important part.
Cowans had called.
Clearly, the Villa legend still had hope for him and was trying to get his family to help him find his form again.
Zayn ignored his sharp-tongued little sister and headed for the kitchen.
“Mom, what did Mr.
Cowans say?”
Anna was standing by the stove.
She wiped her hands on her apron, then turned to look at Zayn.
There was concern in her eyes, but no blame.
“He said the match this weekend is important.
He told you to prepare properly.”
Anna hesitated for a moment.
“He also said your training hasn’t been good these past few days and asked whether something had happened at home.
I told him nothing had.
Then he asked me to tell you not to put too much pressure on yourself.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
Anna looked at him and nodded, though she did a poor job of hiding the worry in her eyes.
“Your dad will be back late.
The factory has a batch of goods to rush out.
Dinner’s almost ready, so we’ll eat first.”
“Got it.”
Zayn returned to the living room and dropped onto the sofa.
Biscuit immediately curled up at his feet into a dark brown ball of fur, looking up at him with a pair of round brown eyes.
This was the part of crossing over that Zayn found the most ridiculous.
In his previous life, the only things in his rented room that could barely count as pets were cockroaches.
Now he had a dog, and this dog seemed to genuinely believe he was the greatest human being in the world.
…
Dinner was Anna’s specialty, shepherd’s pie.
Zayn ate two large plates of it.
It was the most comforting meal he had eaten in the past three days.
By the time he returned to his room, it was almost ten.
Zayn lay flat on his back on the bed.
The translucent light screen was still hanging in the same place in his field of vision.
[Salary Football System (Loading Progress: 99%)]
Three days.
From the moment he had opened his eyes, that number had not changed once.
On the first day, he thought he had hit the jackpot.
Crossing over plus a system.
That was practically the perfect opening hand.
He called in sick and spent the whole day at home staring at the light screen, trying to find any button he could press or any hidden menu he could trigger.
But there was nothing.
Only a frozen progress bar, dead still.
On the second day, he went to training.
Maybe training would trigger something.
In the end, the system did not change at all, and he played like a complete beginner touching a football for the first time.
His teammates mocked him with their eyes for the entire session.
Today, the third day, he had given up completely.
Zayn rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.
Fine.
No system, then.
He still had the memories from his previous life.
He knew how the next few World Cups, European Championships, and other major tournaments would play out.
He knew Bitcoin would soar to nearly twenty thousand dollars by the end of 2017.
He knew Tesla stock would shoot through the roof in a few years.
As long as he seized even one opportunity, this life would be a hundred times easier than the last.
He did not need to make a living through football at all.
But the moment that thought rose in his mind, a dull, indescribable heaviness spread through his chest.
It was not that he had no choice.
It was that he had too many choices.
The memories of a reborn person were like an exam paper with the answers already filled in.
He could make his way in almost any industry.
But he wanted to play football.
The first time he saw a football match on television in his previous life, he had been captivated by that green pitch.
A hundred thousand people rose from the stands at the same time.
Even the air seemed to tremble.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the ball at one person’s feet.
When you changed direction, tens of thousands held their breath.
When you took a shot, tens of thousands of hearts leapt into their throats.
The fans turned your name into a song, and tens of thousands sang it together.
They cheered for every goal, sighed at every mistake, applauded when you ran yourself into cramps, and cried when you lost.
Now, heaven had given him a second life.
It had given him a sixteen-year-old body, thrown him into Aston Villa’s youth academy, and even given him a system.
Except the system was “stuck.”
Forget it.
He would treat the friendly this weekend as his way of giving Cowans an answer.
Play the match, then leave.
To hell with the football dream.
He began calculating his starting capital in his head.
Zayn Ryder was currently earning one hundred pounds a week as an Apprentice.
He had been saving for almost a year.
That little money was nowhere near enough for proper investment, but as a starting point…
The light screen in the upper right corner of his vision, which had been motionless for three whole days, suddenly flickered.
The “frozen” light screen, the system that had been stuck at 99% and silent as death, suddenly changed.
It was like someone had slapped the static-filled screen of an old television.
The image shook several times.
The line in the center changed from [Salary Football System (Loading Progress: 99%)] to [Salary Football System (Loading Progress: 100%)].
Immediately after that, the entire light screen exploded into a dazzling burst of golden particles.
“Holy shit.”
Zayn sprang up from the bed.
“Who just said to hell with the football dream?
Who?
Definitely not me.”
“I take it all back.”
Zayn took a deep breath and focused on the light screen again.
The golden particles that had just burst apart quickly gathered once more, forming lines of clear text on the panel.
[Salary Football System activated]
[Host: Zayn Ryder / Austin]
[Age: 16]
[Height: 182 cm]
[Weight: 76 kg]
[Position: Defensive Midfielder?
(Do you really know how to play defensive midfielder?)]
[Dominant foot: Right]
[Money-Power Template: None]
[Talent: None]
[Trait: None]
[Skill: None]
[Ability Rating: E- (Apprentice)]
[Salary Level: No Contract]
Zayn: “???”
He was not seeing things, right?
Did the system panel just take a jab at him under [Position]?
Zayn did not have time to think too much about it, because the text on the light screen was still refreshing.
[Core system mechanism: Every sum of income the Host earns through football will be converted into the foundation for improving ability.]
[Limited income sources: Player contract salary, match bonuses, sponsorship endorsements, transfer fee shares, and other income directly related to football.
Note: Off-field investments, financial returns, and other non-football income are not counted by the system.]
[1.
Money-Power Templates: Obtained by achieving major accomplishments.
These include, but are not limited to, signing high-salary contracts, weekly salary breaking specific thresholds, salary records being broken, transfer fee records being broken, Transfermarkt value records being broken, and so on.]
[2.
Template Realization Rate: Money-Power Templates require Realization Rate obtained through training, matches, completing tasks, and other means in order to display their strength.]
[3.
Squad Weekly Wage Ranking: When the ranking breaks through specific thresholds, Talent Realization Efficiency receives a bonus.]
[(More functions will unlock once the Host meets the requirements.)]
Zayn read the explanation back and forth three times.
The core logic of the system was simple and brutal.
Earn money through football.
Use money to become stronger.
Become stronger, then earn even more money.
He pulled his thoughts back, and new content had already appeared on the light screen.
[System activated.
Beginner Gift Pack issued.]
[Beginner Gift Pack: Please select the pitch position of the Money-Power Template you wish to obtain.
The system will randomly draw one “record-breaking football star” from the corresponding position and grant the Host that player’s ability template from their prime.]
[Options: Forward/Midfielder/Defender/Goalkeeper]
Zayn did not hesitate.
Forward.
It had to be forward.
When it came to high salaries in football, forwards undoubtedly earned the most.
Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé.
Which of the very top earners was not a forward?
The system had said he would get stronger by earning money, so of course he had to choose the position that brought in money the fastest.
As for Zayn Ryder having played defensive midfielder for seven years?
Screw defensive midfielder.
The past few days of training had completely put Austin off the defensive midfielder position.
Running like mad as if he had to cover the entire pitch, only to fail at tracking back, get beaten defensively, pass straight to the opponent, and gift the other side a perfect chance whenever he lost the ball…
He never wanted to stand in front of the defenders again for the rest of his life.
[Forward].
The other three options on the light screen vanished at the same time.
[Selection confirmed.]
[Randomly drawing a forward template from those who have “broken transfer value records or weekly salary records”…]
[Money-Power Template confirmed]
[Fernando José Torres Sanz]