Italy. Milan. A ward in San Raffaele Hospital.
Sandro slowly woke up.
Taking in the unfamiliar yet vaguely recognizable surroundings and hearing a crisp "ding" echo in his mind, he quickly pieced together what had happened.
The good news: he had been reborn, returning to the time before everything began.
The bad news: he had died too abruptly. He hadn't even found the time to clear his browser history and the three terabytes of "postgraduate study materials" on his hard drive.
The even better news: he had brought a System along with him, the kind that could turn a man into a Football King.
The even worse news: this System threatened to send him right back at the slightest misstep...
Trial Mission: Score a goal and win the Milan Youth Derby.
Reward: Official activation of the System.
Penalty for Failure: Deportation to the original timeline (Note: Time flows at the same rate in both worlds).
Sandro stared at that nauseating failure penalty, too numb to even cry.
Was this fucking thing really forcing him to choose between biological death and social death?
It was 2025. Were there actually Systems out there still pulling this kind of amateur shit?
Oh, right. Over here, it was 2013.
August 10, 2013, to be exact.
Sandro would never forget this day.
Because this was the day he had said goodbye to football forever.
During an aerial challenge for a header, he collided with a teammate and plummeted headfirst to the ground.
Although the fall didn't kill him on the spot, his spine suffered severe trauma.
From then on, let alone professional football, even a casual kickabout became a pipe dream.
Now, he had loaded a previous save. The timing wasn't exactly ideal, dropping him right after the injury occurred, but far from feeling sad, he was actually a little excited.
Because this damn System actually had some decent tricks up its sleeve.
Initial Template: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka);
Traits:
1. Nirvana (One-time).
You experienced a horrific injury, yet instead of being destroyed by it, you emerged as a stronger version of yourself.
2. Pitch Speedster.
Nothing is indestructible; only speed is invincible.
3. Hundred-Pace Piercer.
Anything within 20 meters of the penalty box is within your firing range.
4. Falcon Eye.
The pitch edition of a top-tier GPS (sponsorship fees not included)!
5. Meteor Stride.
Isn't football just a sport where the ball flies in front and a guy chases right behind it?
Naturally, Sandro's eyes locked onto the very first Trait: Nirvana.
Had this Trait belonged to anyone else, Sandro might have called bullshit.
But since it came from Kaka, it made perfect sense.
Back in 2000, Kaka had suffered a similar cervical spine injury.
According to the doctors, it would be a miracle if he could walk normally again. Playing football was pure fantasy.
But a miraculous—read: absolute bullshit—thing happened.
Not only did Kaka make a full recovery, he was soon bounding around the pitch again. As if he had activated a cheat code, his career skyrocketed, eventually turning him into the world's best player everyone knew so well.
Influenced by his mother, Kaka had always been a devout believer, and this near-death experience firmly convinced him that God was watching over him. Consequently, he often proclaimed his faith. His iconic celebration of pointing both index fingers to the sky after scoring, along with his epithet as the "Son of God," were born from this very incident.
Given their similar misfortunes, Sandro was intimately familiar with this chapter of Kaka's life and had once been incredibly envious of the Brazilian's fate.
Now, a similar opportunity lay right before him.
Assuming the System wasn't screwing with him, all he had to do was use this one-time Nirvana Trait and he would be reborn from the ashes, just like Kaka...
Except, if he did that, many things would subsequently change.
Because both his parents were professors at the University of Milan, Sandro had been born and raised in the city, automatically acquiring Italian citizenship. However, he still had the opportunity to choose his nationality once he turned eighteen.
In his previous life, when his football dreams were shattered, he had opted for Chinese citizenship and spent his life working over there. But if this System was actually reliable, allowing him to return to football and make a name for himself, then in this life, he might have to stick with his mother's nationality.
After all, with how the Chinese national team managed to constantly balance out the country's rising fortunes with their disastrous play, it was probably best he didn't go back and add to the mess...
As his thoughts ran wild, his parents walked in together.
His father Xiao Zhe's tone was heavy. "We have two options. One is conservative treatment, allowing you to slowly recover. The other is surgery, though it wouldn't make much of a difference..."
In his previous life, Sandro had chosen the surgery, and it truly hadn't made a difference.
So this time, he opted for conservative treatment. Or rather... he chose Nirvana.
"Ding. The host has used the one-time Trait, Nirvana..."
Any veteran of transmigration or rebirth novels would know the sheer gold standard of that "ding."
As a mysterious warmth surged through his body and the sharp pain noticeably subsided, Sandro finally felt the heavy rock lifting from his chest.
"I'll just take it slow..." He smiled, trying to sound as relaxed as possible. "Maybe it's not as bad as the doctors say."
Xiao Zhe and Olivia exchanged a glance, both seeing the naked pain in each other's eyes.
Seventeen years old. The prime of his youth. Was his life really going to be ruined just like this?
Olivia sat on the edge of the bed and took Sandro's hand. Patting it gently, she reassured him, "It's okay. No matter what happens, we'll always be by your side."
In the end, she couldn't bring herself to tell him the official diagnosis, hoping he would simply come to accept it over time.
"I know," Sandro replied. "Mom, I'm tired..."
"Then get some rest," Olivia said softly. "Don't think about anything else. We believe in you. You'll make it through this."
"Don't worry, you know me. I'm not that easy to knock down." Sandro maintained his carefree expression. "Who knows? Maybe I'll wake up and everything will be back to normal."
"Yes." Olivia gently stroked his head, her heart aching for him. "Let's hope you wake up and everything is fine..."
Xiao Zhe offered a few more words of comfort before the couple quietly left the room.
Having just been reborn and bonded to a System, Sandro had absolutely no intention of sleeping.
He stared at the glowing System screen floating in front of him—visible only to him—and felt a relentless surge of excitement.
Name: Xiao Yang (Sandro Xiao)
Age: 17
Height: 1.82m
Weight: 73kg
Club: AC Milan (Youth Team)
National Team: None (Italian Nationality)
Template: Kaka
Traits:
1. Pitch Speedster
2. Hundred-Pace Piercer
3. Falcon Eye
4. Meteor Stride
These four Traits essentially encapsulated Kaka's core playstyle.
Blistering pace, exceptional passing vision, a lethal long-range shot, and of course, his iconic dribbling technique: the Meteor Stride.
Compared to standard Systems, this one was still rather abstract. It didn't provide any concrete stats like 'Speed: 99' or 'Shooting: 88'. To figure out exactly how much of a boost these abilities gave him, he would have to test them out in actual matches.
Still, even if he only amounted to a downgraded version of Kaka, it should be more than enough to dominate a youth league... right?