The training ground had gone terrifyingly quiet.
Everyone stared at Ethan Cross like he was something inhuman.
Bill Vance had screwed him over.
That was a fact.
But the kid’s response…
They looked at Vance on the ground, face swollen like a balloon, barely conscious.
A cold shiver ran through the group.
Asians, man.
When they snapped, they really snapped.
Good thing none of them had ever messed with the Chinese kid.
Vance was a living warning.
Ethan didn’t care anymore.
The system was active.
He could finally leave.
He didn’t want to spend one more minute in Tottenham’s academy.
[Host ability scan complete.]
[Name: Ethan Cross]
[Age: 16]
[Height: 186 cm]
[Weight: 80 kg]
[Position: Midfielder]
[Ability panel refreshed.]
[Passing] Short passing: 70 Long passing: 61 Vision: 68
[Shooting] Accuracy: 65 Long shots: 67 Heading: 70
[Technique] Ball control: 71 Dribbling: 70 Set pieces: 60
[Speed] Top speed: 62 Acceleration: 60 Reaction: 65
[Physical] Strength: 73 Jumping: 65 Stamina: 72
[Defense] Tackling: 60 Interceptions: 59 Anticipation: 58
Overall rating: 67
A hexagonal attribute chart appeared on the interface.
The six points mapped to the six categories.
His current numbers made the hexagon look pathetically small.
He’d expected something like this, but seeing a 67 still stung.
He’d just dominated the U18 league.
But the system clearly benchmarked against professionals in Europe’s top five leagues.
The gap between U18 and that level was a canyon.
He had a long way to go.
Then a flashing icon in the corner caught his eye.
The reward.
The Legendary Chest.
He hadn’t opened it yet.
[Entering personal inventory…]
[Opening Gold Legendary Chest…]
[Congratulations.
Legendary reward acquired: S-Rank · King of France · Platini Passing Model.]
Golden light bloomed.
A card bearing Michel Platini’s image floated before him.
The Platini Passing Model?
Ethan’s pulse jumped.
Platini.
The undisputed best player in the world in the early 1980s.
Ballon d’Or winner in 1983, 1984, and 1985.
The first player to win it three years straight.
Before 1984, France had never won a major tournament.
Then Platini captained them through the European Championship.
Five matches.
Nine goals.
Two hat-tricks.
He dragged France to their first title as a midfield playmaker who also won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament.
It was the performance that launched French football’s golden era.
Zidane himself grew up idolizing Platini.
Any serious ranking of football’s all-time greats put Platini comfortably in the top ten.
French media and fans often pushed him into the top five, even top eight.
To them, France had two great prides: Napoleon, who nearly conquered Europe, and Platini, the brightest star their football ever produced.
That was where the nickname came from.
The Emperor of France.
Precision passing.
Historically elite free kicks.
A striker’s instinct in front of goal.
Platini was the ultimate classic number ten.
The attacking midfielder perfected.
[Ding!
Host short passing attribute increased.]
[Short passing: 70 → 99]
Straight to 99?
The ceiling?
Ethan stared at the number, stunned.
Then he read the model’s description.
It sampled the legend at his absolute peak.
And peak Platini’s short passing at a 99 ceiling?
That checked out perfectly.
[Platini Model Card: Short passing unlocked.]
[Complete subsequent system tasks to unlock this model’s long passing and vision attributes.]
The Platini model boosted all three passing attributes.
Short passing was lit up now.
Long passing and vision were still dark.
The template wasn’t complete yet.
If all three activated… what kind of passer would he become?
But even now, a 99 in short passing was a gift beyond measure.
[Ding!
Host overall rating updated.]
[Overall rating: 67 → 71]
One attribute out of eighteen.
But a 29-point jump in short passing, a midfielder’s core skill, was massive.
The overall rating shifted four points to 71.
The system had barely activated and his ability had already changed.
That lit a fire in him.
Passing the academy’s Training Ground 2, Ethan stopped.
He wanted out of this place.
Every minute here was poison.
But his feet were itching.
The Platini model had just fused into him with a cool, clear sensation.
He needed to see what a ceiling-level short pass actually looked like.
He walked onto the pitch, dragged two ball bags to the edge of the penalty area, and dumped the balls onto the grass.
His eyes found the goal.
If his short passing really had hit the ceiling…
He swung his right foot.
Inside of the boot.
Thump.
Clang.
The ball cracked off the crossbar.
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
He’d actually hit it.
Thump.
Clang.
Again.
Thump.
Clang.
Again.
His heart was racing now.
He’d aimed for the crossbar deliberately.
Three shots, three hits, all in the same spot.
His short passing was that precise?
Point and shoot?
He couldn’t stop his feet now.
He fired pass after pass at the crossbar and posts.
The clang of ball on metal became a rhythm, a strange music filling the empty ground.
Outside the training ground, a man watched through the fence.
His face was pure disbelief.
“Eight… nine… ten.”
“Ten out of ten?”
“The kid’s aiming for the posts.
I’m not imagining this.”
“Ten passes, ten hits.
What kind of passing is that?”
“No.
No, if you count the ones before, he’s way past ten.”
“Tottenham’s academy has a talent like this?”