My Football Legends Chat Group-Chapter 78: [TACTICAL BLUEPRINT]
’With this, I can work with Archie and design ideal training plans for the whole squad.’
Rio’s head was instantly filled with fanciful ideas of building a "Pep Guardiola" style team out of a Championship squad.
Of course, not all the players had the potential to be world-class, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be good enough to get 100 points.
"Arghh I’m fired up!"
This time, Rio seemed to have forgotten it was currently 1 AM and his brother Leo was sleeping in the next room. He paled when he suddenly heard the footsteps of Leo thundering towards his door.
’Oh crap...’
He heard the door creak open slowly, feeling a dark aura pour in through the doorway.
"Riiiooooo~" The voice of his brother sounded like a ghoul, causing the hairs on his body to stand up.
Rio gripped his duvet up to his chin, fear evident in his features.
"L-L-Leo I’m sorry! I got too caught up read—"
"GO TO SLEEP! I have an exam tomorrow!"
"EEK!"
The sound of the door slamming caused the room to almost visibly shake, or perhaps that was Rio shivering in fear that made it appear so.
He had almost forgotten just how scary his brother was if he didn’t get enough sleep. Even his father, who negotiated with millionaires, would make his presence scarce whenever this occurred.
Once his beating heart finally calmed down, Rio decided it was no longer worth the risk of staying up, so he decided to go to sleep.
The next morning Rio woke up at the usual time, feeling a little out of sorts. Thanks to using the Image Training every night for the past month to complete the Creator mission, he had only been sleeping for around 6 hours every night.
’I guess my sleeping pattern is catching up with me.’ He remarked, rubbing his bleary eyes.
He got up and washed his face, sluggishly getting changed into his workout gear.
"Morning Leo," Rio said sleepily, on his way to the front door.
Eerie silence was the response, causing him to pause his steps. He could feel a dangerous aura behind him, silently screaming at him to not turn around.
"I-I’m going out for a run..." He said in a panicked voice, quickly picking up pace and running out the door without even stopping to check his phone.
It wasn’t until he closed the door that Rio breathed out a sigh of relief.
"That was scary... I might go a different route this morning and take my time."
Rio put his headphones on and started his run. Thanks to it being late autumn, the sun was beginning to rise a little later in the day, however, it was still rather dark and foggy at this time in Leeds.
He always felt alive on his morning runs, allowing his body to warm up and embrace the day. Yet ever since Mateo had left for Manchester, his run had been a little lonely.
If it wasn’t for his determination to get better, it might have been a lot harder to keep up this kind of consistency. But once he got into the rhythm, it allowed his mind to roam free.
’Ah, I should really test out this new Tactical Blueprint function on myself.’
During his run, Rio remembered that he could also use his new function on himself to improve his understanding of roles.
[TACTICAL BLUEPRINT]
PLEASE SELECT A ROLE YOU WISH TO MASTER:
Winger (Inverted): S- [500 Major Points]
Playmaker (No. 10): B+ [100 Major Points]
False Nine: B [100 Major Points]
Box-to-Box: A- [2000 Major Points]
Target Man: C [1000 Major Points]
Complete Forward: S [10,000 Major Points]
The first thing he noticed was how exaggerated the cost was for the elite roles.
’Isn’t this just to make a training plan for improving a role? So why is it so expensive?’
He stared at the list in front of him for a while, not sure of what decision to make. If he assumed making it to S grade gave additional rewards, then the best course of action would be to upgrade his Playmaker role, since Farke had just made him the No. 10 for the QPR game.
However, this was quite costly. Playmaker wasn’t his natural position yet.
Of course, it would have impacts on his ability to find space between the lines, but he hadn’t even talked to the manager about how permanent this switch was. If he was just filling in for Piroe, it might make sense to save points.
This led to another point: just how much would it cost to create tactical plans for his teammates? If they were as expensive as his own, then could he afford to spend his Major Points on himself?
It would make more sense to dedicate his Major Points into strengthening the team’s defensive shape, giving them the best chance of keeping clean sheets.
With these thoughts in his mind, Rio decided to dismiss the window for now until he learned some more information.
Rio felt a bout of pain as he crashed into something hard, causing him to tumble unceremoniously to the wet pavement. He had been so focused on the System window in front of him that he had not even been paying attention to the path in front.
Since the fog was thick, it did not help his circumstances.
"Argh damn, that sucked." He admitted, standing up and dusting himself off.
He turned his head to try and see what he had run into, only for his body to seize up.
"I’m so sorry! A-Are you okay?"
A soft yet panicked voice rang out, causing Rio to flinch in response.
’A-Archie!? What is he doing here?’
Rio was dumbstruck. How could he have done such an embarrassing thing in front of this kid of all people.
"Rio is that you?" He asked, however, in the next moment his voice turned to panic.
"A-Ah Rio, are you injured? Oh no, what happens if you can’t play against QPR because of me? The Boss will kill me!"
Archie began to fuss, checking him over for injuries. Since the situation was so urgent, he completely forgot about his protective boot.
Rio felt a little weird being fussed over by a teenager, but he was still too stunned to talk. He saw that a bicycle was on the ground, along with a bag of balls which had spilled out in the collision.
’Crap, I must have run into him while he was cycling to rehab.’
There were footballs rolling into the road, but the thing that caught his eye was the grimace on Archie’s face as he put weight on his bad ankle.
’T-This kid is injured, but he’s the one checking over me without even complaining.’
Only after a few moments was Rio able to speak up.
"I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Let me see your ankle," He said after working up the courage.
He grabbed Archie’s arm gently, steadying him. The boy flinched in response, not expecting the sudden support. Yet after feeling the strong grip of his vice-captain, he relaxed.
"O-Ow."
"Sorry! Come, let’s head to my place and get you some ice. My dad has the good stuff from Spain," Rio replied.
"Ah... But my bike." Archie looked at his bike which seemed to have seen better days; the chain had come off. "Ah! The balls... I was meant to bring them to the academy for the U12s."
Rio instantly felt embarrassed, having caused all this mess. However, he quickly made a decision and bent down to pick up the bike, slinging it over his shoulder effortlessly thanks to Titan’s Core.
He also collected the bag of balls and handed it to the boy beside him.
"Let’s drop these off at my garage and call a cab. You shouldn’t be cycling on that foot anyway."
Archie looked at Rio, his eyes wide.
"You... you’re carrying the bike? But we have a game tomorrow!"
"It’s cross-training," Rio grinned. "Come on. If Farke finds out you were cycling, we’re both dead."
They walked back towards Rio’s apartment in the fog.
[Chat Room Active]
The_King: You ran into a bicycle? Clumsy. A King glides. He does not crash.
Total_Football_14: It was an accident. But carrying the bike... that is good leadership. You carry the burden.
Zizou_5: And maybe buy him breakfast. The kid looks hungry.
Rio laughed internally.
"Hey Archie," Rio said, breaking the silence. "You hungry?"
"Starving," Archie admitted. "My mum didn’t make breakfast because I left early."
"Perfect. Leo makes great pancakes. But you have to promise not to tell him I woke him up."
"Deal," Archie smiled.
As they walked, Rio felt a notification buzz.
[Tactical Blueprint Updated]
[New Synergy Found: The Mentor & The Student] 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
[Effect: When playing together, Archie Gray gains +10% Composure.]
Rio smiled.
’Maybe crashing wasn’t so bad after all.’
But first, he had to survive Leo’s wrath when they walked through the door.
"Leo!" Rio shouted as he opened the door. "I brought a guest! And a broken bike!"
A groan came from the bedroom.
"I hate you," Leo’s voice drifted out.
