It was September 2010.
The warm, bright sunlight spread across the ground. A tanned, black-haired young man was tirelessly repeating monotonous dribbling drills around poles.
His movements were a bit shaky, yet his focus was unwavering as he completed each step with serious determination.
“Nine hundred seventy-three!”
“Nine hundred seventy-four!”
...
He counted aloud as he trained, voice steady despite the exhaustion.
Not far away, a group of blond-haired, blue-eyed players watched him from the sidelines, whispering and gesturing at the lone figure running drills.
- "Where does he even get the energy? The final test is coming up soon, and he's definitely going to get cut. What's the point of all this effort?"
- "Yeah, I mean, sure, Ping Pong is their thing, but football? No way. He’s wasting his time—zero talent."
- "To be fair, I kind of respect his work ethic. He’s easily the hardest-working player we’ve got."
- "Haha, Steven, come on. Even if he trained until he dropped, he'd never reach half your skill level. You’re *the* star of Dortmund U18. Bet you’ll make the Bundesliga this season!" - "Come on, Steven, when you make it to the Bundesliga and sign that official contract, don’t forget about us, okay?"
- "Exactly! Steven, treat us to something once you get that contract!"
The blond boy, Steven, just smiled without saying a word. But the slight curl of his lips betrayed his happiness at their compliments.
His gaze drifted toward the young trial player from Yan Nation. No, correction—the rich Yan kid who had come to Dortmund for some ‘gilding.’
Meanwhile, that very kid was still relentlessly practicing the most basic dribbling drills on the field.
"Nine hundred ninety-seven."
"Nine hundred ninety-eight."
"Nine hundred ninety-nine."
"One thousand!"
The moment he finished his final lap, the boy stood still, clearly exhausted, taking a moment to rest.
"Hey, Ethan! You done? Mind bringing us the water?"
Noticing Ethan Brooks had paused his training, the group lounging by the sidelines immediately hollered at him jokingly. They didn’t really expect him to do it, of course. It was just their way of amusing themselves.
However, the instant Ethan's fierce glare turned toward them, the loud laughter, especially from Ham, froze in an instant.
Ham quickly shut his mouth, as if suddenly reminded of something. - "Ham, are you crazy? Stop messing with that lunatic! Did you already forget how Friss ended up in the hospital after getting beaten up last time?"
- "Exactly! That guy might be terrible at soccer, but his fists? Oh, they’re solid. Both Friss and Jam couldn’t handle his wild punches. Seriously, aren’t all people from Yan Country supposed to know kung fu?"
- "Ham, shut up already. If you get beaten up, don’t expect us to help you!"
Ham, the one being scolded, quickly went quiet.
The teenager’s name was Ethan Brooks.
A native of Yan Country, Ethan had come to the Land of Cars all because of some cooperation program arranged by Yan’s football federation. They selected ten boys from across the country to trial at ten elite clubs in Europe.
The program lasted for three months, and the results depended entirely on the clubs’ decisions.
But truthfully? Throwing a bunch of kids from Yan Country into the youth teams of top clubs was a disaster waiting to happen.
Ethan lasted less than five minutes in his first training match before the head coach yanked him off the field. From his basic skills to his game sense—even his positioning—Ethan was nowhere near the level of players who had received proper, systematic training.
From that day forward, Ethan became an invisible figure at the Dortmund U18 squad.
Other than the club providing him with meals, no one really acknowledged his presence.
And today? It was the final day of the three-month program. The entire U18 team was just waiting for their coach to come over, give Ethan Brooks a token chance to play, and then officially kick him out.
After practice, Ethan sat quietly at the sideline.
With his eyes closed, he looked like he had fallen asleep.
Seeing his expression, the so-called teammates couldn’t help but snicker among themselves.
Little did they know, Ethan Brooks was...
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, Host! You’ve completed 100,000 dribbling exercises!”
“The Pro Evolution Soccer System is now activated!”
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, Host! You’ve received the Beginner’s Gift Pack!”
“Career stats panel unlocked!”
To be fair, Ethan Brooks wasn’t strictly speaking part of this world.
Originally, Ethan was sitting at home watching the Winter Olympics, exhilarated after witnessing a South Korean disqualified due to foul play. He jumped up in excitement, slipped, and then... met his end.
When he woke up, he was here, as Ethan Brooks.
As a transmigrator, having a system seemed par for the course.
But the system wasn’t functional at first—it was locked.
The only way to unlock it was by completing 100,000 dribbling exercises.
Three grueling months later, Ethan had spent every waking moment relentlessly practicing the fundamentals, focusing solely on dribbling drills. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ethan Brooks managed to finish his hundred thousandth dribble on the last day. With that, the system finally activated.
Ethan quickly opened the attribute panel in a flurry of excitement!
Attack: 69
Dribbling: 64
Passing: 63
Shooting: 65
Heading: 68
Set Pieces: 66
Curve: 66
Speed: 80
Power: 75
Jump: 74
Physical Contact: 72
Stamina: 88
Defense: 58
Tackling: 65
Overall Rating: 67
Age: 17
Damn!
Looking at the stats, Ethan was completely deflated.
With attributes like that, forget playing for Dortmund's U18s—even in a lower-tier league back home, he wouldn’t even make it off the bench. This was trash, pure and simple.
Ethan felt his confidence vanish instantly.
"Newbie Gift Pack has been delivered!
Please collect!"
Just then, the system chimed in, sounding almost... comforting? It made Ethan pause.
Right, there’s still the gift pack! That had to count for something, right?
Maybe, just maybe, it would give him maxed-out stats across the board? Then he could dominate the football world, crush Mr. Ronaldo, and leave Mr. Messi eating dust!
With a glimmer of hope, Ethan hastily opened the gift pack.
"Congratulations, Host!
You’ve received one Max-Level Attribute Card!
You can use it to boost any one attribute to its maximum level!"
Ethan was dizzy with excitement. His hands trembled slightly, but he steadied himself and looked over his stats again, trying to figure out his next move. Thinking about maxing out his shooting stats, Ethan Brooks felt a rush of excitement. With that full-level shooting ability, he’d be unstoppable—unstoppable! Frame after frame, goal after goal.
Eagerly, he activated the attribute card and focused on shooting. His heart was pounding with anticipation… and then came the interruption.
The head coach of Borussia Dortmund's U18 team had arrived at the training ground, calling out Ethan's name several times. Ethan, deeply immersed, didn’t respond.
Growing impatient, the assistant coach strode over and gave Ethan a light shove. That push was all it took—Ethan abruptly exited the system.
What happened next was nothing short of tragic. Instead of applying the coveted full-level attribute card to his shooting ability... it ended up maxing out his passing stats. Passing stats!
Now, standing there, Ethan was at a loss. His brain tried to register the scene—the gazes of his teammates, all directed at him, with a mix of curiosity and amusement.
And then, as if to mock his predicament, the system chimed in.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, Host! Passing stats now full-level."
"Training Points Unlocked!"
The announcement rang loudly in his head, another slap of reality.
Ethan froze. A forward with maxed-out passing skills? What on earth was he supposed to do with that?