Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
In the 73rd minute of the match, shortly after his hat-trick, Lance was substituted.
At this point, Lance's physical stamina reached its critical limit; at 16 years old, his physical condition still couldn't compare to adult players.
Moreover, Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 lead over Real Sociedad made victory a certainty.
Additionally, Lance had received a yellow card for taking off his jersey to celebrate his hat-trick.
To protect this treasure of a player, Sascha Lewandowski simply took him off the field.
Son Heung-min was very excited; he finally had a chance to play.
The Korean Oppa couldn't understand it; he was clearly the main player Bayer Leverkusen bought for 10 million euros, always an undisputed starter.
Lance was just leftover material from Bayern Munich's youth academy that they didn't want; the club took him in like a stray cat out of pity.
How was it that after only a few matches, Lance had become a stable starter?
And Son Heung-min's starting position was becoming unstable again?
However, Brother Son didn't envy Lance; he knew his place.
If he had played, he might have been able to defeat Real Sociedad, but definitely not with such ease.
A hat-trick, 3-0, taking the game away—Son Heung-min was thoroughly convinced.
"Well done, Lance."
"Keep it up."
The two high-fived to complete the handover, and Lance returned to the bench to sit down, finally getting a chance to check his system.
Template: Nagi Seishiro - S (Fusion Value 75%)
--Skill: Perfect Ball Control
--Skill: Hardcore Shot
--Skill: Mirror Learning
Rage Value: 85%
After the hat-trick, there was an additional reward of Fusion Value; before the match was even over, the Fusion Value was already 75%!
And the Nagi Seishiro (S-Rank) template had unlocked its 3rd skill!
What the hell is Mirror Learning?
(Mirror Learning: When triggered, it can instantly lock onto and analyze any player on the field, allowing the user to temporarily use that player's abilities. This learning effect is not permanently mastered.)
(Ah ah ah... So troublesome, just want to go back to sleep...)
(Oh? Is that possible? I'll try it too...)
(Sure enough, many ideas from the game emerged...)
(It's so easy to do, a bit boring, huh...)
As Skill 3 unlocked, a lazy, indifferent voice suddenly echoed in his mind, as if disdainful of the entire world and unenthusiastic about anything.
This feeling even affected Lance.
The Champions League, which had originally excited him, now felt incredibly boring; he just wanted to quickly return to his apartment and sleep.
Lance quickly slapped his cheeks, trying to dispel this negative, world-weary attitude.
He was passionate about football and matches!
However, a 75% fusion degree had already allowed Lance to gradually connect with the template character's inner self.
When he reached 100% fusion, Lance couldn't imagine if such a character would affect him.
What if it really changed his personality, or led to even more serious consequences?
Lance hesitated for a moment, not daring to increase the fusion degree; his current skills were enough for him to dominate on the field.
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to adjust his mindset.
Lance's eyes became resolute again.
He had enough confidence in his willpower!
Even if the template character's influence was enormous after 100% fusion, Lance was confident he could resist it and maintain his original personality.
As long as he could become stronger!
However, this new skill, Mirror Learning, was worth studying.
Currently, Lance's strength was his Perfect Ball Control, which allowed him to instantly create opportunities on the field and break the balance of offense and defense through his ball control.
Whether it was dribbling, passing, or shooting, the prerequisite was ball control.
So, the question was, what if he encountered even tighter defensive situations, where relying solely on post-ball control actions became more difficult?
Lance's speed, physicality, passing, shooting, and other abilities all had room for improvement.
He was able to achieve a hat-trick now because his opponent was Real Sociedad.
What if he encountered peak Manchester United, peak FC Barcelona, peak Chelsea, peak Real Madrid...?
With his current methods alone, it would be difficult to get so many shooting opportunities.
If he could use Mirror Learning to temporarily imitate opponents, such as imitating Lionel Messi's quick breakthroughs, or imitating Andrea Pirlo or Xavi Hernández's master-level passing, Lance would have even greater destructive power!
When facing stronger opponents in the future, he would have more capital to challenge them!
...
After Lance left the field, Son Heung-min was relatively active on the left wing, creating many good opportunities.
Real Sociedad, having gotten rid of Lance, the "Great Demon King," finally recovered some of their morale.
Antoine Griezmann performed excellently, breaking through and cutting inside near the penalty area to create a good chance, passing directly to Carlos Vela.
The Mexican striker scored a face-saving goal with a single shot.
Ultimately, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 at home, securing a winning start!
After the match, Lance was given a high overall rating of 9.6 by the media, undeniably winning the Man of the Match award!
His first Champions League MVP trophy was in hand!
New honor +1!
Compared to the DFB-Pokal and Bundesliga MVP trophies, Lance really liked the design of the Champions League trophy; it had a silver base with a hollow sphere on top, just like the Champions League logo.
Most importantly, this trophy was the lightest to hold.
"Lance, what was it like to participate in the Champions League for the first time and score your first hat-trick?"
"I don't feel much, the Champions League is just like any other match. I just hope we can qualify smoothly and make it to the knockout stage."
Listen, is that even human speech?
16 years old, participating in the Champions League for the first time and scoring a hat-trick, and he felt nothing?
Many other players find it difficult to even enter the Champions League in their lifetime, let alone score a hat-trick in it.
And you're acting cool about it?
Actually, Lance wasn't putting on an act; he genuinely wasn't overly excited. What was there to be excited about for a Champions League group stage match?
It wasn't the Champions League final or the World Cup final.
Perhaps influenced by the Nagi Seishiro template, Lance wasn't particularly enthusiastic, calmly completed the interview, and walked into the locker room.
Inside the locker room, the Bayer Leverkusen teammates had already started celebrating wildly.
They were all shirtless, singing and dancing madly.
"Bayer, Bayer 04, we stand with you!"
"Bayer, Bayer 04, we stand with you!"
One of Bayer Leverkusen's official team songs, "Bayer 04, wir stehen zu dir (We Stand with You)" The rousing melody made the madmen in the locker room constantly repeat this line.
Lance was about to pull out his phone to record a video of the locker room as blackmail material for his teammates, to prank them later.
But then he noticed several missed calls on his phone, all from his agent, Jorge Mendes.
Jorge Mendes himself.
Usually, Jorge Mendes would only contact him through his agent assistant, Harry Kane.
A call from Jorge Mendes himself probably meant something important.
"Mr. Mendes?"
"Ah ha!! Lance! Congratulations, I watched your match, it was quite beautiful!"
Jorge Mendes was very happy.
The reason for his happiness was simple: Lance's hat-trick in the Champions League meant massive exposure.
Exposure meant traffic, traffic meant market value, and market value meant Lance's transfer fee would rapidly climb in the future.
Currently, on the "Transfermarkt" official website, Lance's market value had already soared from 500,000 euros to 25 million euros, which was roughly the market value of FC Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcântara, Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera, German forward André Schürrle, and Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
What did 25 million at 16 years old mean?
Jorge Mendes knew very well!
This meant that Lance's future ceiling was at least 100 million!
The comparable players included Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Neymar, and Lionel Messi!
This time, he had truly struck gold!
Lance, originally perhaps just an A-level player in Jorge Mendes's agency, was now an undisputed SSS-level priority player!
An ace whom Jorge Mendes could personally contact and personally pay attention to at any time!
"Thank you, Mr. Mendes. Is there any important information?"
"Oh right, hahahaha, I forgot to tell you, the Belgium Football Association, the Spanish Football Association, the German Football Association, and the Portugal Football Association are all considering inviting you to join. Of course, there's also your Chinese National Football Team... Which one do you want to join?"