"Look—Maximilian is confused. See? All that hard work has finally paid off. Dumi is truly a legend," said Oswin, With a low five, Winston reflected on the unusual friction he felt while man-marking Maximilian. He felt something. "He truly is a legend, let's stay focused though—you never know what he is planning. Be careful, he might injure one of us,"
"Nah, I am not worried—he will surely lose today's match,"
The match resumed, and Maximilian, inexplicably, maintained his calm instead of repeating his earlier actions. Like going alone to score the goal, he passed the ball to his teammate. When Winston glanced at Maximilian when he was jogging past him, an ear to ear smirk was plastered on his face. Maximilian shifted his eyes to Winston and chuckled, both Winston and Oswin lunged at the youth midfielders who were passing the ball among each other. Winston's squad utilized the formation previously used in their match against Arlesey Athletic F.C.
Winston and Oswin took turns marking, while the attacking midfielder stayed in the middle, ready to pick up his man. The other youths held the defensive line.
Ding!
[User Daily Challenge]
[Score: 01/04]
[Goal heading: 00/01]
[Cripple Maximilian]
The Maximilian teammates were also calm and passed the ball among each other, they started passing the ball along the right side of the field. Both Winston and Oswin boxed the youth who ran back along the edge of the box. He passed it to the goalkeeper, Winston tapped Oswin on the shoulder. "Let's go back to our position,"
Owin didn't reply, he nodded, and both jogged back to their positions as Winston passed Maximilian, who was nonchalantly striding toward his side of the field. Maximilian waved his hand to the goalkeeper, who kicked the ball straight to Maximilian, who chuckled to himself when he noticed both Winston and Oswin were preparing to box him. With a significant jump over Winston and Oswin, Maximilian executed a backflip, placing his hands on their shoulders while keeping the ball between his ankles. For a moment, the entire crowd was in awe; they had never seen such a thing being done before, Maximilian stood there for a minute before he shifted the ball into his sole and pushed the ball up in the air. In a fast motion, he let go of both Winston and Oswin and twisted his body as the ball dropped low—punt the ball so hard. It created a sound barrier that screeched past the other youths on the Winston side, even the goalkeeper was stunned.
Thawck!
As Maximilian gently landed on the lush green field, everyone on and off the field was stunned by what they witnessed. Even the striker coach was now paying attention, Winston stood there stunned. He was not only shocked by what Maximilian just did when Maximilian touched his shoulder, a firm line similar to that he witnessed in the simulation when he was playing with the black silhouettes. "WTF, bro, did you see that—what was that? I didn't know Maximilian was so acrobatic," said Oswin, glancing at Winston.
"Me too,"
Maximilian chuckled over his shoulder, before walking away he said over his shoulder. "Let the game begin, you should have stayed in your room, loser," and he proceeded to walk over to his teammates who were shocked. Some rubbed their eyes in disbelief at what they had just seen. After a while, the crowd erupted in celebration, some even emitted football legend's celebrations. "Fuck, now I wish I bet on this Maximilian kid,"
"I told you to bet on this Maximilian kid. He even played better than he was playing in the Supreme League,"
Some people who had bet on Winston slumped their heads in regret, they truly felt their savings were long gone. Some even vented among each other, pissed. "Ahem, I lost everything, shit, my wife is going to kill me,"
Now the game was two, one. The head coach blew his whistle for an interval, Winston jogged to the head coach and huddled around the head coach. "I like what I am seeing, the rest of you must have the same strive as Winston and Maximilian. I am happy that the game is clean, keep it clean, we still have a few league games to play. So keep up your hard work," the head coach said, gazing at both Winston and Maximilian. Winston glances over at Maximilian, who shifts his eyes with a calm demeanor and smirks at Winston. Following the head coach's motivational talk, he directed his team to catch their breath for a few minutes before the match resumed. Over the concrete sink at the side of the changing building, Winston stood, his head pushed into the splashing faucet as he pondered. Until a gentle tap on his shoulder jolted him out of the splashing faucet, drenched, "Are you okay, I saw the match."
"Yes, I am okay, what are your thoughts? Do I have a chance of winning?"
Annalise, seeing Winston's calm demeanor, "I think you have a chance, judging by how calm you are,"
"You know what will make me feel extra calm," Winston held Annalise's waist and pulled her closer for a brief kiss. When the head coach cleared his throat, they immediately stopped. Winston, looking embarrassed as he rubbed his head, ran to his teammate. Oswin, with a grin, commented, "Damn, you landed the receptionist girl, respect. Now let's focus on the match so we can make you look good to your girl."
When Winston began the match again, the hum of a solitary sine wave shifted so dramatically that the entire stadium appeared to be in slow motion when he looked around. Winston passed the ball down his side of the field; still disoriented, he darted in a straight line across the field. Glancing up, he noticed a shadowy silhouette around him, surrounding him, for a moment, he wondered if he was in the plain simulation. A slow-motion silhouette of Oswin dribbling the ball on the left side of the field, Winston looked at his hand when he moved. They were creating a flickering (stroboscopic) effect, everything around him started to have a flickering (stroboscopic) effect.
Forcing himself into a sprint, his peripheral became bright, the effect of the flicker (stroboscopic) suddenly subsided, and he stopped and scanned the entire stadium. "Welcome to my domain," an echoing voice rang out, Winston looked around before he could ask who was there. A figure appeared on his left shoulder, "I knew it, you also took the pill too," when Winston turned on his left shoulder the flickering silhouette disappeared. Winston narrowed his eyes and scanned the stadium, everyone was now standing there like statues—not even blinking. The voice echoed out again, "Hahaha, I am the best in this club," the flickering silhouette appeared on his right shoulder, "it's just me and you, nobody is here, don't be afraid. Get your mind in the game, we have a game to finish don't tell me you are giving up now,"
Maximilian's flickering silhouettes bumped Winston from behind him as these flickering silhouettes walked in front of him until they all combined and formed a solid figure, which was Maximilian with a smirk on his face. Leg pressing on the ball, he kicked the ball into the center of the field. In a menacing, echoing voice, "hehe let's finish this loser," Winston glanced at the flashing translucent notification, with the notification flashing at the specific challenge.
[User Daily Challenge]
[Score: 01/04]
[Goal heading: 00/01]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]
[Cripple Maximilian]