Fantasy Football-Chapter 38: All Business.

The day began as usual, with the players coming in and they went straight into the changing room, getting ready to head to the training pitch and start their day. When Mystic walked in, and everyone turned to greet him.

Today, everyone felt more confident and less nervous about the Street Championship they were about to participate in soon; their run of good form made it seem not so daunting like it did in the beginning.

And this energy they were showing pleased Mystic greatly, as it meant his team morale was high, which was good as they would be needing it when they get to face a much stronger team.

“If I call your name, please move to the side,” Mystic said, raising a notebook; the seriousness on his face made many of the players glance at one another, suddenly nervous about what this was about.

Many tried to guess the reason, but they couldn’t think of anything, as they hadn’t done anything wrong, yet the uncertainty of what was about to happen gripped them.

“Okududu, James, Chinoso, Kofo, Jimoh Shola, Eboye.” Mystic finished calling the names.

At first, when they realised he was only calling defenders, fear crept in, as they started to think maybe Mystic was planning to replace them or let them go for not keeping pace with the rest of the team.

It wasn’t really a secret among the squad that the defence line was lagging in comparison to the rest of the players.

In the first week after they all signed, the difference wasn’t so glaring; but as time went on and the others levelled up, they left the defenders behind, even during training, some could last longer due to a higher endurance and move the ball easier around them, which wasn’t making it much of a challenge for the strikers.

But unlike what they imagined, Mystic was about to give them the weapon they needed to bridge that gap a little.

“Follow me” Mystic said, and like that, they all followed him into the elevator that would take them to the underground facility, while one of the bot trainers led the rest of the players to the training pitch and confirmed that Mystic would not be overseeing today’s session.

For some reason they all started to feel a certain way, they couldn’t explain it, normally they should’ve been happy their coach wouldn’t be badgering them for the day, considering he always pushed them harder.

But they’d realised that any time he wasn’t around to oversee training, it felt like they weren’t getting the best out of it and were just... coasting.

Regardless of what they thought, Mystic wasn’t focused on them today, he was more focused on seeing the results of his new investment.

The moment they entered the underground level, they headed straight into the pod room, and the players were surprised to see another set of advanced equipment installed on the other side of the pod room.

“Cool,” Chinoso said, amazed.

(Mind you, I’ll be changing Chinoso Madugbugo’s nickname from “Yung Tizzle” to “Damien” to reduce confusion, since James’s was changed too; their old nicknames were too similar.)

Mystic moved to an office chair that had been set up on that side of the room before speaking.

“I called you all here because I plan to give you a chance to compete at a higher level. I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now that you’ve fallen behind the rest of your teammates,” Mystic said, planting both hands on the table as he looked at the six players before him.

They nodded, some reluctantly, some with a little shame—but all of them admitted they’d been surpassed and silently hoped this wasn’t a termination.

“That’s good. Now I want to ask: are you ready to be better?” Mystic asked.

As they all nodded to his question.

“Then here’s a form I want you to fill, stating that you’ll forfeit two months’ salary in order to receive the genetic modification I’m going to perform to boost your talent bracket,” Mystic said, sliding forward a stack of papers he’d set aside before having then come down as he started to show his business side..

Hearing they would have to forfeit two months’ pay made several of them hesitate at first, but then James (Mopol) stepped forward with almost no hesitation on his face.

Of all of them, he’d always wanted to improve the most, he put in the work every time, but it never seemed enough, and Mystic never blamed him for it, because he knew that was James’s talent ceiling for now.

It was the limit of his talent; he couldn’t give more than he had.

So with Mystic saying that he could help, James didn’t care if it meant losing two months’ wages, if there was something that could help him, he was willing to do it.

He’d seen enough ever since joining the club to know that Mystic was building something beyond street football, after all, they were supposed to be a ragtag street-rank team, yet here they were, in an underground facility, something that even teams above street level didn’t have.

That alone proved Mystic wasn’t ordinary, and James was betting whatever this was would help him overcome his shortcomings, even a little, just as Mystic promised.

“Very good,” Mystic said when he saw James step up first to sign.

Just like that, the others followed after seeing how quickly James finished, his action was like a wake-up call to them all.

As they all thought long and hard about how far behind they could fall if they didn’t do this, and how that might get them cut out of the team, so even if it cost two months’ pay, they were praying it would work.

Three minutes later, James handed back his completed form, Mystic took it and set it gently on the cupboard beside the desk.

“Come with me, and take off all your clothes over there, leaving only your underwear.” Mystic ordered, moving to the pod and tapping a sequence on the console beside it.

As the shell hissed open with a chilling whirr, while fog was rolling out as the once-dark interior lit up, the glow gave James and the other five who were still filling forms a clear view of what inside the Pod looks like.

At the sight, James hurried to strip off the rest of his clothes.

“Get in.” Mystic said the moment James finished and stepped closer, though James looked a little nervous, but he was resolute, as he climbed into the pod.

The others watched as Mystic keyed in another sequence on the machine.

A system notification flashed a second later:

[ Pay 2,000 Player Coins to proceed with evolution (Y/N) ]

And he accepted immediately, because X had already briefed him on the cost and other things relating to the evolution process already , which was why he’d had them sign the two-month salary forfeiture forms.