Dynasty Awakening: Building My Own Football Empire-Chapter 248: Feast
The Chelsea team was outmatched from the start of the second half, failing to secure control throughout the rest of the game.
Barnsley had continued to attack, relying on the likes of Mateo and Kaito to send the billion-pound squad home crying.
The game was so out of hand that it ended with the away fans singing "We Are The Champions" in August, which was ridiculous but felt surprisingly earned. Barnsley 2 - Chelsea 1.
Following this game, the Misfits celebrated with pineapple pizza (again), a meal generally eaten when Diego Nunez was feeling particularly disrespectful to Italian culture. The sweet fruit paired with the salty ham and joyous atmosphere made the victory taste even sweeter.
Of course, it was only the first game of the Premier League season, but they never knew when their next pizza party would be.
"Your wife says that you guys won your first game. Congratulations!"
Kenji Sato’s voice sounded on the loud speaker of Michael’s phone. Unfortunately, he was away for business in Tokyo once again so he would miss out on such a chaotic dinner.
"It’s only the first round, but it ended with Diego Nunez trying to eat the corner flag." Michael said simply, stuffing his face with pepperoni.
"Oh, corner flag? Damn, nice work." He replied with enthusiasm.
"Thanks. Kaito hit the post and scored, whereas Diego slipped and scored a Puskas contender by accident."
"Great work Michael." Kenji sounded proud, yet he wished he could have witnessed it. Unfortunately, he was not going to be back for another week thanks to a joint tech venture with Elon Musk or someone equally rich.
"How was your tactical system today? Did you activate the Chaos Zone?"
Arthur Milton’s eyes widened and he looked at Michael with confusion and disbelief. Had he not told Kenji about the secret System? Why not?
Michael saw his assistant’s reaction and felt guilty. A part of him had forgotten that he never informed his owner about his supernatural managerial abilities; he never felt that there was a right time to break this information to a billionaire.
"Ah, about that. I’ve decided not to rely on lucky charms this year because I want to focus on the tangible aspects of my game." Michael said after a brief pause, hoping that there wouldn’t be too much backlash.
Sarah tilted her head in confusion, leading to a brief awkward silence before Kenji finally responded.
"Great! That’s a fantastic idea. I always thought that you relied on vibes too much. If you want to build an Empire, you need to have a complete strategy."
"See Sarah, I told you our boy has grown up. HAHAHA"
Michael’s wife rolled her eyes at the rambunctious laughter that came through the phone’s speaker before quickly hanging up. Her attention honed in on Michael which made him feel a little nervous.
"Is that truly the reason Michael?" She asked with a look of concern on her face.
Michael shrunk back, moving some crust around on his plate with his fork. He couldn’t lie straight to his wife’s face, so he was trying to work up the courage to tell the truth. The problem was that he had never seen a psychologist in this life, so claiming he saw blue text floating above people might sound crazy.
There was also the worst-case scenario that his wife would forbid him from managing if she learned that he was hallucinating game stats.
Sarah let out a sigh, "It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me. As long as you’re happy and winning that’s all that matters to me." She said with a small smile.
In her mind, she was worried that Michael was stressed about the pressure of the Champions League and was forced to simplify things. That would mean that he fabricated the story of "tangible aspects" in order to save himself from admitting burnout.
The fact that Kenji was too busy laughing and praising him for his decision to take a step back was probably only adding more pressure onto him, which was why she hung up so abruptly.
However, Michael’s mood seemed to improve after her words so Sarah kept her assumptions to herself.
Arthur, on the other hand, shook his head. He would be giving his Boss a talking to at some point in the future about his secrets.
"Well, I’m really tired now Sarah so I’m going to head to the office." Michael said abruptly, feeling Arthur’s stare drill into the side of his face.
Then without waiting for a reply, he put his napkin in the bin and ran out of the restaurant and into his car, leaving the two at the dining table.
In reality, he wanted to leave the awkward atmosphere and jump into some system management. Having participated in the game today, he could finally realize just how beneficial the Zone of Chaos had been to him overall.
Plus he had yet to claim any of the rewards for the missions he had completed, wanting to get a baseline for his influence level before the upgrades.
#NOTICE: IT IS ADVISED THAT USER ENTERS THE SYSTEM MENU WHEN HE WILL NOT BE DISTURBED.
DOES THE USER WISH TO ENTER SYSTEM MENU?
[YES/NO]
"Yes."
Michael was once again transported to the empty Anfield field in his mind. Due to coming here every night for the past week, he was no longer in awe and quickly chose the Chaos Missions tab.
#CHAOS MISSIONS:
Complete 50 successful nutmegs - 100 Influence points + Bronze Lottery ticket [COMPLETE] Claim rewards
Force opponent to commit 20 fouls - 100 Influence points + B-grade Shin Pad Elixir (for Diego) [COMPLETE] Claim rewards
Score 10 goals from own half - 100 Influence points + Silver Lottery ticket (1/10)
Don’t concede for 90 minutes - 100 Influence points (Failed)
Win by 5 goals - 1000 Influence points + A-grade Tactical Insight Elixir + Gold Lottery ticket (Failed)
Michael’s eyes shined as he saw the shimmering claim rewards option. He had been patiently waiting for this moment since the final whistle. Without hesitation, he accepted the rewards and watched his mental screen fill with notifications.
[Congratulations, you have been awarded 100 Influence points and 1x Bronze Lottery Ticket]
[Congratulations, you have been awarded 100 Influence points and 1x B-grade Shin Pad Elixir (Consumable Item)]
[Are you sure you want to leave the System Menu?]
[Yes/No]
"Wait," Michael muttered. "What the fuck is a Shin Pad Elixir?"
He clicked on the item description.
B-GRADE SHIN PAD ELIXIR
Effect: When applied to a player’s equipment, increases Durability by 50% and Intimidation by 20%. Side effect: Shin pads may glow faintly in the dark.
"Diego is going to love this," Michael grinned. "He already thinks he is a superhero. Glowing legs will make him unbearable."
He decided to save the Bronze Lottery Ticket for later. He was too tired to deal with the disappointment of winning a "C-Grade Water Bottle Refill Skill" or something equally useless right now.
Michael clicked ’Yes’ to leave the menu.
The world of Anfield faded away, replaced by the quiet hum of his office at the training ground. It was late. The pizza boxes were in the bin. The players were at home sleeping (or playing FIFA).
But Michael felt energized.
They had beaten Chelsea. They had survived the billion-pound onslaught.
He looked at the calendar on his wall.
NEXT MATCH: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (HOME)
"Spurs," Michael whispered. "They play high line. They play brave."
"Brave is good. Brave leaves gaps."
He picked up a marker pen and walked to his whiteboard.
He wrote one word in the center of the board.
SPEED.
Then he drew a picture of Kaito Tanaka with flames coming out of his feet.
"Zoom Zoom," Michael chuckled to himself.
The phone on his desk rang. It was late. Who would be calling now?
He picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Boss," Arthur’s voice came through, sounding panicked. "You need to check Twitter. Now."
"Why Arthur? Is it Diego again? Did he eat something he shouldn’t have?"
"No Boss. It’s worse. It’s the transfer market."
"What about it?"
"Real Madrid just sold their right back. And they just put in a bid."
Michael felt his stomach drop.
"For who Arthur?"
"For Lorenzo," Arthur whispered. "They want the Model."
Michael looked at the whiteboard. He looked at the word SPEED.
"Fuck," Michael said softly.
