As the time passed, more and more students started to show infront of the pitch. And the cheers of the crowd only intensified as the clock ticked.
Witnessing the huge crowds of student, the principal started to get anxious. He feared that the trial would disrupt the school schedule. And thus, he started to walk towards coach Miura.
“I think we’ve seen enough coach, haven’t we?”
As he walked closer to coach Miura he tried to stop the trial.
“We still haven’t tested him enough!!”
The coach grunted.
“Sigh!! The crowd is getting out of control, so it’s best that we stop the trial for now. Just tell me, would you like to sign him in your team or not?”
Principal Miyamoto tried to convince coach Miura who wasn’t willing to end the trial. But as coach Miura noticed the huge crowd of students, he reluctantly agreed to principal’s suggestion.
“It’s not whether I want him or not, principal Miyamoto. We must definitely have him. Even if we have to provide him with additional incentive, we mustn’t let him go. I can bet my name on it that he’s a generational talent that only show’s once in several centuries.”
After witnessing Hiro’s skill first-hand, coach Miura was full of Hiro’s praises.
“I understand coach!”
“Hiro you can stop now.”
Coach Miura commanded.
And just like that Hiro was signed by Ookami elementary school. Not only did he get a full scholarship, but the school decided to sponsor him with every equipment he required for his training. The sponsorship included jersey’s, boots, shinguards, balls, etc.
[Ding!!]
[Congratulations for the host for completing the task]
[One roulette ticket has been awarded for the host for the successful completion of the quest.]
[Due to the excellent result shown by the host, the host has been granted with a silver ticket instead of a bronze ticket.]
[Please use the ticket in the roulette wheel]
‘I’ll save it for now. I’ll check it later in the night’
He mumbled.
After a long hectic day, he could finally rest. While his father and mother were discussing with each other, he was lying in his bed. Even after the trial, he somehow finished his remaining sets of daily mission in the evening, regardless of his fatigue.
“It was such a hectic day. But I’m thankful for god that it went alright. Right! I still have that roulette ticket to use. Let’s check it out before going to sleep.”
“Status window”
As he mentioned status window, the blue panel appeared before his eyes. After scrolling for a while, Hiro clicked on the roulette section.
Just as he clicked the roulette section, the system directed him towards another page. There in the panel, a roulette wheel appeared infront of him. Inside the wheel, there were many cards of different colours. But he couldn’t see what was written in the card.
[One single silver roulette ticket detected.]
[Would you like to use your ticket?]
“Yes!!”
Just as he agreed, all of a sudden the wheel started to spin and all those different coloured cards changed into silver colour cards.
After spinning for 5 seconds, the wheel stopped spinning and the arrow pointed at one of the cards.
“Oh what’s this??”
Even though the mechanism of the system was quite simple, Hiro was having trouble figuring out the working mechanism of the system.
[Would you like to open your cards?]
“Yes”
[Ding!!]
[Congratulations!! The host has gained a new skill]
[Skill: Perseverance]
[Skill info: The host can get unlimited stamina during the usage of this skill regardless of his fatigue]
[Skill CD: 24 hours] ．𝗻𝐞𝘁
[Skill duration: 15 minutes]
“Damn!! I can probably use this skill everytime the game goes into extra time. With the usage of this skill, I can completely catch the opponent team off-guard. Just when did this system get so generous??”
“Now I really wonder what kind of ridiculous skills are hidden behind other cards.”
Hiro smiled cheekily while reading the skill description.
“System can you explain in detail about the working mechanism of the roulette wheel??”
Even though he had gained a new skill from the roulette wheel, he was still confused about the working mechanism of the roulette wheel. So, to better understand the working mechanism of the roulette wheel, Hiro inquired the system.
[Roulette wheel; A section of the system where the host can get rewards at random.]
[The rewards drawn by the host are completely random and it entirely depends on host’s luck]
“Hmm… I see the rewards are at random and roulette wheel is just like a lucky wheel. But what about the tickets?”
[The host can gain tickets by completing the quest given by the system. Different tickets grant different rewards.]
[Bronze ticket grants random attributes, silver ticket grants random skills, golden ticket grants the ability to copy random talent of any player in the world and diamond ticket grants other attributes, skills and talents excluding football.]
[Note: The host can only gain the talent of the players who are currently playing or have played professionally. The future players will not be included.]
“I understand everything mentioned by the system but I can’t understand that diamond ticket part.”
[A player needs other abilities beside football as he/she progresses forward. For example, he/she would need to speak multiple languages, deal with press and media, etc. And thus host can draw other skills from the diamond ticket to make the host’s life more easier]
“Oh!! I get it now. Indeed to have a successful career in football, the player needs to tackle many things beside football as well. Many players in Europe fail to live up to their potential due to language barriers afterall.”
He finally felt like that he understood the working mechanism of the roulette wheel. However he was getting extremely sleepy due to the day’s exhausting events. Unable to keep his eyes open, he fell asleep while reading the descriptions provided by the system.
Even after enrolling to Ookami elementary school, the orientation for the new students would start after two weeks. And thus, he’d have to wait for another two weeks to finally attend the school.
In the meantime, he continued to practice diligently by himself. With the training equipments sponsored by the school, he could train even more effectively than before.
“Hiro!! Come fast or else we’ll be late for school.”
His mother yelled from downstairs.
While his mother was yelling, he stood infront of the posters. Looking at the murals of the famous footballers, he whispered;
“Wait for me, someday I’ll catch up to you.”
“Are you coming or do I have to come to you?”
Sensing danger, he grabbed his backpack and ran downstairs. But regardless, he still got scolded by his mother.
“Just why do you always get late?? It’s your first day at school and you’re already getting late.”
He reached the school at exactly 7:55 AM, just five minutes before the beginning of orientation. Since the people of Japan are punctual people, most of them had already entered the school. And thus, he couldn’t see anybody besides him infront of the gate.
And as he walked towards the gate, his mother held his hands and whispered while revealing a warm gentle smile.
“Do your best.”
Seeing her smile, he couldn’t stop himself from hugging her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
“I was really worried seeing you mature at such a young age.”
His mother’s voice shook as she exclaimed her worry. Even without looking at her face, he could clearly feel the tears in her face.
For past few months, his actions were more of an adult than a child. And even though his parents didn’t show any changes, they were still worried about his changes.
Even though he was a 27 year old from inside but he still had an appearance of a five year old kid. And no parent in the world would want their kid to act mature from an early age when they should be acting immature.
“I’m sorry for making you worried mom.”
He apologized while squeezing her even more tightly.
“It’s alright. Just remember, no matter how much you change, you’re still going to be my little Hiro.”
She stroke his hair gently as she reassured Hiro that no matter how much he’d change, he’d still be their kid.
They stayed like that for a while.
Ding!! Dong!!
The school bell rang all of a sudden.
“You should probably go now.”
She pulled him apart and asked him to leave.
“Umm”
While wiping off the tears from his face, he nodded his head.
“Bye Bye!! I’ll pick you up later in the evening. Do your best”
Finally after a mother-son moment, she sent him off. As he walked towards the gate, she kept her gaze fixated at him.
“Children do grow within a blink of an eye.”
She whispered with a smile on her face.
For the whole time when they were hugging each other, the guard was keeping his gaze fixated at them. He knew that Hiro was going to be late but he still didn’t want to disturb them. And thus, he let them be.
Even when the gates were closed, he didn’t question Hiro for being late. He simply let him in, without asking any questions.