At 6:30 AM, at Manchester Airport, an Airbus 330 had just landed. Guo Zihan and "Little Rabbit" walked out of the airport and saw Gao Nuo and Li Qiang, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Little Rabbit" was named Feng Yuting. She was 1.6 meters tall, with big, sparkling eyes on her round face, a small cherry-like mouth under a delicate nose, and a slightly short chin. She looked like a real-life Barbie doll.
Unlike Guo Zihan's slender figure, although thick clothes covered her, her broad shoulders and the strength in her hands when she pulled Gao Nuo for a photo showed that she was a fitness enthusiast.
Besides the excitement of fans meeting their idol, there was also some initial shyness. As Gao Nuo took them to the rented house, the two cheerful girls, having gotten to know each other on the way, became very natural. Although a few years older than Gao Nuo, they insisted on calling him "Boss," which made Gao Nuo blush.
After putting away their luggage and checking out the surrounding living environment, Gao Nuo took them back to his house. Wang Qing had prepared some of her signature dishes, along with ordered takeout, a rich fusion of Chinese and Western cuisine, to welcome the two girls and host a welcoming dinner for them.
Feng Yuting, after taking off her jacket, confirmed Gao Nuo's guess. Her tight-fitting tank top revealed two strong arms, and her well-defined abdominal muscles were faintly visible, a stark contrast to her cute and sweet appearance, making her a true King Kong Barbie.
After lunch, they discussed the upcoming work, and the two girls went back to adjust to the time difference.
When it was time to sleep, before Gao Nuo could even start to worry, the system's pleasant voice rang in his mind.
"System upgrade complete. The virtual stadium is restarting. host, please prepare. You will be forcibly entered in 10 minutes."
Brushing his teeth, washing his face, and drinking two large glasses of water, Gao Nuo quickly lay down on the bed. Wang Qing was already used to this; Gao Nuo's sleep quality always made her envious.
After waiting a few minutes with his eyes closed, a flash of white light suddenly appeared before Gao Nuo's eyes—the familiar lights, the familiar stadium, and the familiar system voice.
The mechanical voice became somewhat childish, "host, given that the previous mission was somewhat hasty, this system has decided to compensate you. The virtual friendly match is canceled and replaced with the Challenge Road mode."
Gao Nuo was a bit surprised by the change in the system's voice, but being thick-skinned, he attributed it to the changes brought by the upgrade. "What do you mean by 'hasty mission'?"
The system's voice sounded a bit embarrassed, "host, I apologize. Due to my oversight, an error occurred. The Premier League Golden Boot mission should have been completed within three years."
Gao Nuo was speechless, "That's so unreliable! I even pleaded with you. What do we do now? Change it back for me!"
The system's voice continued, "host, through your efforts during this period, you have increased the mission's success rate to 23.78%. Given this performance, this system has decided not to change the mission data and specifically rewards the host with the Challenge Road mode."
Gao Nuo was even more speechless, "You made a mistake and you're not fixing it!? What's the use of this Challenge Road? Can I refuse it?"
The system regained its calm, "host, Challenge Road is a mode I created using all the data collected and combining it with your football games. This was supposed to be the reward for the next mission, but due to your rapid growth, it's being compensated to you early. Are you sure you want to refuse?"
Gao Nuo quickly changed his demeanor, "What are you talking about? When have you ever made a mistake? Those were all for my growth! Isn't it just the Premier League Golden Boot? I'll get it this season. With such a brilliant and mighty system like you, these are all child's play. Alright, let's talk about Challenge Road."
The system paused noticeably before continuing, "Challenge Road continues the friendly match mechanism. The host will assemble their own team and initiate a series of challenges against pre-set teams.
Challenge Road has no cooldown time; the host can challenge continuously until the clear conditions are met.
Challenge Road levels cannot be skipped, and the difficulty gradually increases.
Challenge Road rewards, in addition to the original ones, now include player cards and tactical board drops.
Player cards are divided into six levels, and tactical boards correspond to world-class head coaches. host, please take your time to understand."
"System, enough talk, let's begin." Having generally understood the basic rules, Gao Nuo eagerly entered his first challenge.
In the virtual Old Trafford stadium, Gao Nuo looked at his teammates around him, still the same "dummies" from the friendly match. Then he looked at his opponents, who were surprisingly the China Team he had just parted ways with. The system's virtual technology was incredibly powerful; seeing the realistic faces of the opposing players made Gao Nuo feel a momentary trance.
A sudden light screen in front of him brought Gao Nuo back to his senses.
"First Battle: The Declining China Team,
Clear condition: Defeat the opponent by 3 goals or more,
Match time: 90 minutes,
Clear reward: One white player card, one random tactical board set.
Please select the formation and tactics for this match."
Having played games before, Gao Nuo followed the system's prompts, operating step by step.
Gao Nuo's current teammates could only mechanically execute tactics, and there was no issue of chemistry. Considering that he needed to win by 3 goals or more to clear the level, Gao Nuo directly chose a 4-2-4 formation. There was no room for tactical choice; he could only rely on his understanding of Manchester United to imitate and set up a high-pressing tactic.
Once all settings were confirmed, the match began.
He had expected a simple trial, but by the end of the first half, the score was still 0:0, and Wu Lei had even almost scored.
Gao Nuo barely touched the ball the entire first half; the virtual China Team, playing with a parked bus, completely shut him down. Unsure of the exact reason, Gao Nuo rested for a while and continued with the second half.
The situation on the field remained unchanged. In the 68th minute of the second half, Wu Lei successfully scored through a counterattack.
When Gao Nuo saw his own goalkeeper foolishly rush out and get easily dribbled past, he understood where the problem lay.
In his goalkeeper settings, he had casually chosen the highest 'tendency to rush out,' so when the ball came, the goalkeeper rushed out without considering the opponent's technical characteristics.
After struggling for a few more minutes and seeing the virtual Jankovic on the sidelines making familiar tactical gestures, the virtual China Team's formation began to retreat. Gao Nuo finally gave up the match and returned directly to the virtual space, sitting down with a thud to seriously ponder his strategy.