While Will sat on the grass waiting for the torrent of laughter to pass, he heard a bell chime sound in his mind. Soon, the system interface that had become a regular sight to him in the last few days appeared.

[Ding! Host has been given a new mission]

[Mission: You’re all teenagers at the height of your emotions playing, so you must have been pissed. To gain your rep back, get revenge on the person that nutmegged you or complete three nutmegs during the next training session that you’re opportuned to do so]

[Reward: 50 Credits]

Will had to wipe his eyes when he read the mission along with the stakes involved with it. He had a big smile on his face. They had a potential 11v11 matchup later so there would be plenty of opportunity for him to get his revenge.

David called all the players in a few seconds later. "Alright boys. You did well today so it’s only right that you get the promised reward. Actually, you’re only getting this because Liam’s nutmeg on Will made me laugh, so thank Will for spreading his legs".

David’s remark earned quite a few chuckles from the boys.

"We’re going to have an 11v11 training match in a few, we just need the assistants to clear up the field. It’s going to be two twenty minute halves cos we have been training all day and I don’t want you to pick up injuries because of this".

Nobody seemed to have any complaints about it and very soon, the two teams were decided. Will was playing on the right side of a 4-4-2. And to his dismay, Liam was his teammate, playing in the center so he really couldn’t get revenge on him.

The two teams were a good mix of the starters and the bench players so it was a fairly even matchup.

Everyone went to their respective halves on the pitch and the coach blew his whistle to signify the beginning of the match.

As soon as the match started, Will saw the now familiar overlay from the system. A soft smile spread on his face as he jogged forward as his team started without the ball.

A couple of minutes passed before Will got his first touch of the game. It was nothing special. His team had regained possession at the edge of their half and he just passed it to a teammate that was higher up with his first touch. Unfortunately, the potential counter attack was put to waste by poor decision making.

Will’s first standout moment was at the tenth minute of the first half. He got the ball at the edge of the halfway line and instead of passing to recycle possession, he made a run forward, finding himself face to face with an opposition player just three steps in.

His legs flashed over the ball as he did a couple of step overs before releasing it to the width where his fullback made an overlapping run. As soon as he released the ball, he continued running forward, and his fullback passed him the ball on the underlap.

A brief look up made him realize that he was only about ten yards away from the opposition penalty box. With his first touch, he deftly put the ball within the legs of the person that rushed at him, before sending a low pass to the middle of the field to Liam, and then ran inside the box.

[Ding! 1/3 nutmegs completed]

Liam read Will’s intention well and sent a chipped pass back into the box for Will to chase down, but it unfortunately had too much power behind it so it ended up safely in the grasp of the goalkeeper.

"Damnit!" Will muttered under his breath as he halted his run and turned around to see Liam making an apologetic gesture. Will waved him off and started jogging back.

The rest of the first half passed without any real hassle. Neither team could break the deadlock before the break. This was because they had been training all day and although they were excited to play the match, their bodies were not, so it showed in their actions as they were a little exhausted.

The second half started just as the first half ended, on a boring note. It was basically the two teams recycling possession of the ball. That was until the fifth minute of the second half, where there was a moment of magic.

Liam received the ball at the edge of his penalty area, and used a body feint to get past his first marker, running into the bit of space left for him in the midfield. He was confronted by another marker and used an elastic to get past him this time.

Like that, he kept running with the ball, using misdirection and tricks to maneuver his way with the ball. At the edge of the opposition penalty area, he saw his wingers running on either side of him and made the safer pass, a through ball, to Will who was running on the right flank.

Will and the opposition fullback ran towards the ball. A race that Will won. He did a Ronaldo styled chop as soon as he got the ball, then passed it back to his fullback who read his intention and passed the ball back to him.

While Will was running, he had his head down and was unable to see anything, so when he got the ball back from his fullback, he thought he had time to pass, only to see a red dot appearing behind him from the system overlay. He immediately stopped and dragged the ball back, causing it to go between the legs of the overeager marker, and then laid it off to the penalty area which was a little free.

[Ding! 2/3 nutmegs completed]

Liam made a box crashing run and hit the ball first time, sending it to the top corner of the far post. Will had a huge grin on his face as soon as the ball entered the net.

Anyone watching would think that he was happy because his team scored but the reality was that he was happy because the nutmeg he just completed took him one step closer to completing the system mission and getting his sweet 50 Credits.

The rest of the match passed by without anything major happening. Will had thankfully been able to complete a third nutmeg and the system mission by extension, putting him in a happy mood as training finished.

After the match was over, David addressed the players before sending them home. Will went to the locker room, changed back to his regular outfit before heading home. His house was surprisingly empty when he came in. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He just went up to his room, showered and lay on his bed thinking about the meeting with David.

It could either turn out very good or very bad. He wasn’t naive to think that one above average showing in training was enough to change the coach’s mind about releasing him, but a man could hope.

He really didn’t want to be released, but even if he was, he wouldn’t have been as hopeless as before. At least not while he had the system with him.

Will smiled when he thought about the system. He had been at rock bottom and the system came and filled him with so much hope and anticipation for the future. He was really grateful to it.

"System, I want to see my stats," Will said.