A Stepmother's Marchen - Chapter 40

Eric Maddox, a 70-year-old American retired football coach once hailed for his tactical brilliance, now forgotten by time—closes his eyes for what he believes is a normal nap in his quiet Florida retirement home.But when he opens them, he's not staring at ceiling tiles, instead, he's on a touchline.Wearing boots in the rain.With players running on the pitch, fans jeering behind barriers, and the smell of cheap turf pellets in the air.“What the hell is this?”He’s twenty-five again, but it’s not Earth. It’s a world where football reigns supreme. A world where the sport is religion, its practitioners, deities in cleats. Coaches are revered, players are worshipped, and even the kit man gets treated like royalty.But there's one catch: none of it is familiar. The clubs, the players, the leagues, the competitions, and even the currency—they're all different. Alien. Like waking up in a dream where the rules are the same, but the language is foreign.As if that wasn’t enough, the body he’s now in? A youth coach with a laughable win record, a looming divorce, and a measly fifty thousand in the bank that his ex-wife is fighting tooth and nail to take. All of it.Just when the spiral seems inevitable, a monotone chime pierces the noise.[Initiating Golden Finger…][…45%… 75%… 100%][System Integration Complete.][Welcome, host. You are now bound to the Pro Manager System. Objective: Dominate the Football World. A new era begins]From washed-up has-been to chosen one of destiny, Eric Maddox is about to trade arthritis pills for tactical boards, and shuffleboard for Prestigious Cup glory.Because in this world, tactics are power.And on this touchline, he’s about to become a god.

Song Xi, the proprietress of the supermarket in the 21st century, wakes up and finds that she has come to a time when supplies are scarce and extremely difficult, and she has ‘married’ into a mountain valley where the conditions are extremely difficult.

Unexpectedly, the supermarket opened in a small town became her personal space, and the husband beside her was an excellent man who could hunt, fish and farm.

Song Xi felt that being a low-key rich man with a loving husband, two or three confidantes, endless fruits and vegetables, and living a small life was pretty good.

[Farming] + [Gourmet]

A small immortal clan, with the efforts of the ancestors of the past dynasties, slowly developed into an immortal clan. This is the history of the development and growth of a small family. During this period, there were ups and downs, and there were also struggles for power and profit.

- Description from novelbuddy

It was the year 2050. The world had released an online game, “Second World”, that shocked the public beta. Gold from the game could be exchanged for real-life currency, attracting countless players. Every country in the world fought for game resources. The main character immediately entered the game after this wave.

After entering the game as an adventurer (job before job change), he stepped into the first stage of his life. It was a stage that even a child could pass.

He thought that it was a normal stage. However, he did not expect to be locked into the game and continuously repeat the stage!

As time passed, the stage finally let him pass as per normal a thousand years later. He finally left the dungeon after clearing the stage. It was only now that he realized that this was only the second day of the game!

He realized that this was not a dream after he saw his attribute panel. What followed was a variety of system notifications!

“Reached MAX proficiency with the ax—Ax God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the sword—Sword God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with the heavy shield—Shield God!” “Reached MAX proficiency with all weapons—Almighty Master!”

“As your proficiency as an adventurer has overloaded and you have not changed your job in a long time, you can now undergo a unique job change as we have detected your proficiency with weapons—Battle God!”

A deep crack appeared on the ground when he struck the level 1 wild monster with the small wooden sword in his hand!