Lukas was now staring at Javi, but his mind had already wandered.
"I can still feel my heartbeat from seeing dad. Do ghosts have heartbeats too?"
"You okay Luke?" Javi asked, bringing him back to the present.
"Yeah, Dad, I am okay"
"You said something about saving a kid. What were you talking about?" Javi asked, confused.
"Ahhh... that... I was just saying nonsense, don't mind me." Lukas deflected with an awkward smile as he looked away as if his eyes were about to give him away.
"Hmmmm.. okay. But are you okay now?" Javi asked, his confused face switching back to worry.
"Yeah dad, I promise I am fine now, it's just one academy, there are others. This time, I won't give up."
"This time? What do you mean? Was there a previous time?"
"No of course not, I just meant I won't give up as time is still on my side, I am not even 16 yet, look at Klose, he didn't debut until 20 and didn't even come through an academy, but he still had a wonderful career right?" Lukas said with a soft smile.
"Exactly. I was gonna say that right now, I'm glad you see things this way now Luke."
"Yeah, because you originally said it just like that."
BZZZT*
"Huh? What is this now? Am I hallucinating? Is that all this is"
Lukas looked at a golden screen just as big as his Macbook's screen
[TIME TRAINING SYSTEM ONLINE]
[WELCOME LUKAS]
Lukas blinked staring at the screen to confirm he wasn't imagining it, but even with his eyes closed, he could still see the screen with the golden hue emanating from each side of the screen like a divine being was behind the screen.
"What are you looking at?" Javi interrupted as he waved his palm in front of Lukas' face.
Lukas looked at the screen, and then at his father. Surprised that Javi couldn't see the screen right in front of him.
"Oh it's nothing dad. Wait look at the time, aren't you late for work dad?" Lukas swiftly changed the topic.
"Oh God! Yeah I am late for work." Javi said as he looked at his watch.
"Please take care of yourself Luke okay?" Javi said placing his hands on Lukas' shoulders.
"I promise I will dad, have a nice day"
"Alright bye Luke, your breakfast is on the table, and lunch is in the fridge. Please eat them this time okay?" Javi said as he held the front door open and looked back at Lukas.
"I will dad, bye."
Lukas stared as Javi shut the door behind him.
"Dad's really alive. This is exactly how the house looked when I was in high school."
He rushed back to his room and took his phone from under the pillow and tried to turn it on, it didn't.
"Oh yeah, this was when I used match replays as background noise."
He went over to the desk, plugged his phone, and sat down on the chair in front of the desk.
He looked at the date.
04/06/2024
"This is 20 years ago." He thought.
"Did I really travel back in time? How is this even possible?"
He looked back at the Youtube video "Defense Splitting Pass Tutorial."
Recommended: Real Madrid 2–0 Borussia Dortmund. UCL Final Highlight.
It had been 3 days since Dortmund fell to Mardrid, and it was still all over the news, both on Youtube and TV channels.
Since 2020, when Bayern clinched the trophy in a final against PSG, a German team hadn't gotten to a Champions league final.
Although Dortmund couldn't go all the way this time, there was hope that the next season might be the time for a Bundesliga team to finally bring back the title as kings of Europe, with Bayern appointing a new manager, and Leverkusen shocking the whole of Europe with their incredible run.
But Lukas already knew how it all went down.
"It's still here" he thought as he looked at the screen suspended at his eyesight level.
[TIME TRAINING SYSTEM ONLINE]
[WELCOME LUKAS]
"Time Training System? What is that"
[It is what it is named.]
"Huh It can hear me?"
*It can also speak.* An obviously artificial, but human-like voice rang in his head.
It sounded like a male voice from Elevenlabs text-to-speech software was being used.
"Are you like a system that will help me achieve all my dreams?"
*More like give you the time and space to achieve all your dreams.*
"What do you mean?" Lukas asked, confused, but strangely excited.
*I will give you the time and space to train to be anything you want to be.*
Lukas' eyes widened, finally understanding what the voice meant.
Not all men are created equal. Some people only need to see something once to replicate it or even do it better.
Some people can sit an exam after a 2 hour light study session and get higher grades than the one who studied all week.
But what happens when you literally have all the time in the world to learn something?
Of course nobody has that. Most skills will only be useful for a limited time. What is the use of gaining master-level passing and vision in your early 40s? (Unless you're Luka Modric of course :_ )
But this system is claiming it can give you the time to train any skill you want.
*Please pick a career to train.*
[WARNING]
[Once selected, the career cannot be changed]
[All training must be related to selected career's development in some way]
"What careers are available?"
*If there currently exists someone on this planet getting paid from doing it, it is available to select. The legality, or morality of the career, DOES NOT MATTER.*
Lukas got shivers down his spine as he heard the system emphasize how it doesn't care about the nature of the career.
*Don't be scared. I cannot, and will not, hurt you.* The voice said reading Lukas' thoughts.
"Feels like I'm being assaulted with how you read my thoughts."
*I can choose to not respond to anything that isn't a question from or discussion with you—if you'll prefer that.*
"Can't you just not go through everything and only pickup when I try to communicate with you."
*I cannot determine if you're trying to communicate if I don't go through every thought you make, Luke.*
"Fair enough."
Lukas was now staring at the screen. Staring down the eyes of destiny. He could pick anything—Doctor, Lawyer, Entrepreneur. Anything. And he will undoubtedly become the best at it.
But there was never a thought to be had, never a hard choice to be made. The answer was clear even before the question was asked prompting Lukas to even wonder if the system could really go through his thoughts as it claimed.
Because if it could, it wouldn't even need to ask the question.
*Select Footballer?* The voice rang.
"I was starting to think you were a scam system" Lukas replied with a smile.
[Career Selected: Footballer]
[Goal: Become the Greatest Legend of Football]
[Player Profile]
Lukas stretched his hands to tap on the 'Player Profile' button, and his hands went right through it.
But his player profile still opened.
"Hmm.. That's weird"
*You cannot touch the interface here as it's essentially only a hologram, just imagine yourself tapping a button or saying a command is enough.*
Now turning his attention to the information in front of him.
"Oh wow. I am shit at football" Saying it in an almost sarcastic tone.
He always knew he was bad. Of course he knew. He was kicked out of an academy of a team whose top flight primarily competed in the 2. Bundesliga—Germany's second division.
But that wasn't even the worst of it.
In the previous life, he had another opportunity with the youth section of a team all the regional leagues for Hesse. The 7th Division.
And he couldn't make it through the tryouts.
But seeing his stats in numbers, felt like almost frozen water was poured on him from the sky.
[PLAYER PROFILE – LUKAS BRANDT – FOOTBALLER
DATE OF BIRTH: 30/12/2008 (15)
HEIGHT: 175cm
WEIGHT: 61kg
CAREER STATUS: SV DARMSTADT ACADEMY REJECT
RATING: 38
PLAYER STATS:
ATTACK:
Off. Awareness: 38
Ball Control: 39
Dribbling: 39
Tight Possession: 37
Low Pass: 40
Lofted Pass: 35
Finishing: 38
Header: 47
Place Kicking: 48
Curl: 48
DEFENCE:
Def. Awareness: 38
Tackling: 35
Aggression: 45
Def. Engagement: 45
STRENGTH:
Speed: 39
Acceleration: 35
Kicking Power: 48
Jump: 47
Physical Contact: 38
Balance: 40
Stamina: 50
Note: The average stat for a player at your age bracket in this planet is 50. The average academy player your age is to you what Messi is to almost everyone else. ]
"Well that was uncalled for." Lukas remarked with a heartbroken smile as got to the end of the system's message.
A/N: Chapter 2 done. Yess!!!!!! Let me know what you all think guys.