Seven-time champion

Chapter 2: The First Goal Exiting the stats page and tapping into the quest interface revealed it was completely empty. The system stated that the quest system would only unlock after Lu Wenbin reached Level 1. The skills page was the same—there was nothing there. Only when his level reached 10 would the system grant him the ability to purchase special skills. At that point, he’ll be able to use skill points to purchase special skills from the skill list and use them during matches. Just as Lu Wenbin finished mentally reviewing some of the basic functions of the Soccer Champion System, the class monitor called the students onto the field to prepare for the second half of the match against Class 1-3. Thinking back to the doubts Geng Yang and the other students had just expressed, Lu Wenbin silently allocated all 10 skill points granted by the system to his shooting attribute. Specifically, 1 skill point increases current ability by 1 point, while 2 skill points increase potential by 1 point. So, Lu Wenbin used 2 skill points to increase his shooting potential by 1 point, raising his potential in the shooting attribute from 13 to 14. Then, he used the remaining 8 skill points to boost his current ability, raising his shooting current ability from 6 to 14, bringing his shooting attribute to 14/14. He couldn’t control whether they won or lost, but he knew that scoring goals yielded higher experience points than assists, leading to faster leveling up. After analyzing this, he realized that the shooting attribute was the most direct and useful way to score goals. Instead of spreading points evenly, it’s better to focus on one specific skill! So, Lu Wenbin naturally allocated all 10 skill points granted by the system to shooting, causing his shooting attribute to skyrocket from 6 to 14. This is already the shooting attribute of an elite striker in professional soccer; for an ordinary high school student playing at the amateur level, it’s like a tiger among sheep. After raising his shooting attribute to 14, Lu Wenbin felt as though his mind had been filled with a wealth of indescribable soccer intuition. It seemed that whenever the ball reached his feet, he instinctively knew the most efficient way to send it into the opponent’s net. Of course, due to limitations in other attributes like speed and physicality, if Lu Wenbin were up against professional defenders, even a 14-point shooting attribute wouldn’t help—he likely wouldn’t even get a chance to shoot. However, an amateur high school team clearly couldn’t match the defensive capabilities of professional players. Therefore, Lu Wenbin’s 14-point shooting attribute is more than enough to tear apart the opponent’s goal. When the time comes, he’ll show Geng Yang and the others whether he’s truly cut out to be a striker! Bolstered by boundless confidence, Lu Wenbin strode proudly onto the field with his classmates, ready for the second half. After the second half kicked off, Lu Wenbin glanced at the opposing goalkeeper—who was so amateurish he didn’t even dare to make a save, for fear of getting injured—and felt that as long as the ball came to him, he was more than 90% certain he could score. However, five minutes into the second half, he hadn’t even touched the ball once: due to his poor performance in the first half, the students from Class 1 wouldn’t pass him the ball at all, instead passing it only to the other forward, Xie Jincheng. And Xie Jincheng actually did score a goal. Combined with the goal he scored in the first half, Xie Jincheng had already scored twice. Although Class 3 scored another goal, bringing the score to 2-6, Xie Jincheng’s performance was still recognized by the students of Class 1. Only Lu Wenbin had yet to score a single goal. If this kept up, he would truly lose his spot as a forward. He still wanted to score and win, hoping to gain enough experience in this match to level up to Level 1, unlock the quest system, and see what kind of quest it was—and what rewards he’d get for completing it! So, in the 38th minute, when he saw class president Peng Haozhong intercept the ball in midfield and drive toward Class 3’s half, Lu Wenbin immediately raised his right hand at the edge of Class 3’s penalty area and shouted, “Class President, pass it over here!” In a formal match, Lu Wenbin’s actions and shout would undoubtedly have drawn attention, and the opposing team would certainly have sent someone to mark him. However, this was an amateur high school friendly match, and the defensive awareness wasn’t that strong. Plus, since Lu Wenbin hadn’t scored a single goal yet, the opposing team didn’t pay any attention to him at all. Instead, they focused their attention on Xie Jincheng, trying to prevent Peng Haozhong from passing the ball to him. Peng Haozhong glanced upfield. Xie Jincheng was marked by two defenders, making a pass there impractical. Lu Wenbin, on the other hand, was completely unmarked; the nearest Class 3 defender was five or six meters away, making him a perfect target. But would passing to Lu Wenbin even help? He didn’t want to waste another scoring opportunity! With that in mind, Peng Haozhong ignored Lu Wenbin and dribbled the ball toward Class 3’s goal himself, thinking he might as well take a shot himself. Seeing that the class monitor was completely ignoring him and dribbling toward the goal on his own, Lu Wenbin felt rather helpless. It seemed his performance in the first half really hadn’t gone over well! Still, a class victory would earn them 4 experience points. In the interest of securing a team win, Lu Wenbin decided to cooperate and started making lateral runs, aiming to pull Class 3’s defenders out of position and create space for the class monitor to shoot. However, as Lu Wenbin ran to the side, Class 3’s defenders completely ignored him, simply blocking the space between Peng Haozhong and the goal, waiting for Peng Haozhong to run into them: both Class 1 and Class 3 students had completely ignored Lu Wenbin! This feeling was absolutely awful! Seeing that no one was paying him any attention, Lu Wenbin sighed and had no choice but to run back into the penalty area. His plan was to wait for the class captain to take a shot; if it missed and the ball didn’t go out of bounds, he could rush in for a follow-up shot. Sure enough, after Peng Haozhong dribbled to the edge of the penalty area, he was surrounded by two opposing defenders. Despite being double-teamed, Peng Haozhong’s dribbling skills were decent enough that he didn’t lose the ball. After creating space by pulling and cutting the ball, he took a decisive shot. A defender from Class 3 stuck out a foot but failed to make contact with the ball. The ball soared into the air, heading toward Class 3’s goal. Peng Haozhong’s shot lacked power and wasn’t particularly well-angled; a professional goalkeeper would have had no trouble saving it. However, Class 3’s goalkeeper was also an amateur; he didn’t dare to catch the ball and could only punch it away with clenched fists. The ball landed right in front of Lu Wenbin, who had just burst into the penalty area. Lu Wenbin’s eyes lit up. Without even stopping or adjusting the ball, his 14-point shooting attribute caused his body to reflexively push the ball into the far corner of the net with the instep of his foot—a textbook, polished move. The ball rolled unquestionably into the far corner of Class 3’s net, following the trajectory of Lu Wenbin’s shot. The opposing goalkeeper took only a single step before giving up, watching helplessly as the ball found the back of the net.