Do You Want to Become the King of Football?

"I'm having such a hard time!"

At half past five in the morning, Su Dong wandered through the streets of Lisbon, his mind a jumbled mess.

He didn't know how to describe what he was feeling, nor whom he should tell about what had happened to him.

He had been walking along this brightly lit, spacious street for half an hour without seeing a single pedestrian. Only the occasional passing car and the unfamiliar license plates reminded him of the truth.

He had transmigrated.

Half an hour ago, he had still been at home in a small or mid-sized city in southern China, grinding away at the pirated copy of Championship Manager 00/01 he had just bought. He had led his idol Ronaldo's Inter Milan in sweeping across the entire Apennian Peninsula and Europa, winning ten consecutive Champions League titles.

Veteran Ronaldo had decided to retire and bid farewell to his mentor, while Su Dong had decided to accept an unprecedented god-level challenge: take over the Chinese national team and fight for a place in the World Cup.

Just as he faced the invitation from the national team and clicked the accept button, a pop-up window suddenly appeared in the game.

"Do you want to become the King of Football?"

What the hell?

Su Dong was utterly confused and tried to close it, only to discover that apart from the two options, [Want] and [Don't Want], he had no way to shut the pop-up. All he could do was curse those unscrupulous pirates under his breath.

They were already selling it for five yuan a copy, and they still had the nerve to put advertisements in it? That was too much!

Next time, he'd buy the three-yuan version.

With no other choice, he could only pick one of the two options.

Without hesitation, Su Dong chose [Want].

Influenced by his father, a passionate football fan, he had signed up for football training as a child. Becoming the King of Football, like Ronaldo, dominating the pitch and crushing all opposition—that had absolutely been his most cherished dream.

But as he grew older, that dream had gradually faded, leaving him to pursue it only in games.

Yet at the moment he made his choice, a faint heat stirred in his heart.

What he never could have expected was that the moment his hand controlled the mouse and clicked the [Want] button, the world spun around him. His vision went black, and he fainted.

When he woke up, he was in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

He was also called Su Dong, was also sixteen years old, and had also come from a small or mid-sized city in southern China, from an ordinary working-class family.

His father was also a veteran football fan. Although the family was not well-off, he had enrolled Su Dong in football training from a young age.

Their family backgrounds, appearances, personalities, and even life experiences were all exactly the same.

Their paths had diverged a month ago.

Before transmigrating, he had just bought a computer and was focused on grinding games, so he rejected his father's suggestion that he sign up for a summer football camp. The version of him after transmigrating, however, had accepted his father's suggestion.

What happened next was straight out of a cliché.

A Chinese scout supposedly of Portuguese nationality came to the summer camp. After training with the team for three days, he discovered that Su Dong had an exceptional physique and the potential to become a professional footballer. He claimed he could arrange for Su Dong to join the youth academy of a Portuguese Super League team and receive the most advanced professional football training in the world.

Su Dong's father naturally did not believe him right away, so he investigated through various channels. In the end, he learned that everything was legitimate and had the backing of an authoritative football administration.

Although the family was not well-off, for the sake of his only son's football dream, Su Dong's father resolutely scraped together the money and sent Su Dong on a plane to Portugal.

Su Dong himself arrived on the Iberian Peninsula full of anticipation, only to find himself in a truly absurd situation.

The other party quickly fulfilled the contract by placing Su Dong in the youth-training system of a Portuguese Super League club—but not an actual Portuguese Super League team. Instead, it was a club from the third-tier Portuguese Second Division League.

When Su Dong discovered the problem and confronted them, the fraudulent company brazenly told him that this was exactly the team they had promised. Although it was not a Portuguese Super League team, it was the satellite club of Belenenses, a Portuguese Super League team, and the two clubs had extensive cooperation in youth training.

"Besides, think about it. This team is called Sporting Portugal. It has a national-level name and is even one level higher than Sporting Lisbon. That shows it's a historic traditional club with a deep foundation."

"Focus on training here. If you can stay after two months, you'll definitely have a chance to play in the Portuguese Super League in the future."

The money had already been paid, and he had already arrived in Portugal. With no other choice, Su Dong could only remain at Sporting Portugal.

Right up until today.

He did not know how long he had walked. Feeling somewhat tired, Su Dong entered a park.

The surroundings were so quiet that only the faint chirping of insects could be heard, along with a dim light visible in the distance.

Su Dong walked toward the light and discovered an indoor football pitch.

Calling it an indoor football pitch was not entirely accurate, because it only had a roof. Wire fencing surrounded the area, dividing it into three large, medium, and small indoor pitches, corresponding to three-a-side, five-a-side, and seven-a-side games.

The smallest pitch was lit. It was completely empty, save for a black-and-white football in the middle.

Under the lights, it looked like the irresistible forbidden fruit before Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It also resembled the precariously dangling apple above Newton's head, as though it carried some weighty mission.

Su Dong watched through the wire fence for a moment, then entered the pitch and walked over to the football.

He extended his right foot and gently flicked the ball upward.

At that instant, a stream of information flashed rapidly through his mind.

"System [Path to the King of Football] activated."

"Binding in progress. Please wait..."

Su Dong was startled. The system [Path to the King of Football]? What the hell?

Could it have come from his transmigration?

"System binding successful."

"Congratulations on successfully binding [Path to the King of Football]. Please confirm your identity."

"Name: Su Dong?"

Su Dong glanced at it, and his consciousness immediately settled on the [Yes] option in the lower left. He soon entered the next page.

"Nationality: China?"

Yes.

"Age: 16?"

Yes.

"Gender: Male?"

Obviously! Of course! One hundred percent yes!!

"Height: 183 cm. Weight: 61 kg?"

Yes.

"Identity verification complete. Please choose your position on the pitch."

"Striker, winger, attacking midfielder, midfielder, wide midfielder, center-back, goalkeeper, full-back..."

Su Dong gradually came to his senses. He was young, after all, but he began to vaguely realize that he seemed to have gained some kind of superpower after transmigrating. The thought filled him with excitement and anticipation.

The Path to the King of Football!

Did this mean he had a chance to achieve his dream, to dominate the world stage like Ronaldo, crush all opposition, score goals by the bucketful, and become a legendary King of Football?

At the thought of this, the young Su Dong's blood surged with ambition. Without hesitation, he chose [Striker].

A transmigrator who did not want to be a striker was no true football fan.

After his choice was confirmed, the system automatically opened the Personal Attribute Panel.

"Welcome to [Path to the King of Football]."

"Current level: Ball Zero, beginner-level rookie."

"Next Level: Ball One. King of Football Points required for advancement: 10,000."

Ten thousand?

Su Dong was already starting to feel a little dazed. Wasn't that far too many?

And where was he supposed to earn King of Football Points?

The system offered no explanation for any of this. Su Dong was completely baffled, so he could only keep reading.

When he entered the current abilities interface, the system soon displayed a notice.

"Since you are currently still at the lowest level, Ball Zero, the system will automatically consolidate all attributes."

Su Dong was very frustrated. Put into ordinary language, this meant that his level was too low, so there was no need to divide his attributes too finely.

Wasn't that simply looking down on him?

What was wrong with Ball Zero?

Did being Ball Zero mean he had no human rights?

I'll level up as quickly as possible. I won't let you look down on me.

Su Dong made up his mind, but the personal attributes assessed by the system left him bitterly disappointed.

"Attack: 33; Defense: 28; Physical: 29."

These were my ability scores?

Weren't they a little too low?

With a maximum score of 99, even if he only got a passing grade, he should have received at least 60 points. How had he ended up with so little?

But when Su Dong combined this with the memories in his mind and recalled his experiences in Lisbon, he had to admit that the system's evaluation was indeed rigorous.

How should he put it?

Over the years, he had rated himself too highly. A major reason was that he had been one of the best players in his city's youth football academy and the star of his school team. He had always received praise, so it was only natural that he had overestimated himself somewhat.

But among his peers across the country, he was not nearly as outstanding.

And when compared with Portugal—even with players from a third-tier team like Sporting Portugal—their youth players were far stronger than Su Dong, let alone the players from the strongest youth academies in the Portuguese Super League.

Compared with his peers in the world's top youth academies, such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, and Ajax, the gap was as vast as heaven and earth.

Having realized this and felt the gap for himself, Su Dong was not discouraged in the slightest.

This was the shared strength of both his lives: he never admitted defeat.

In his previous life, he had led Ronaldo's Inter Milan to ten consecutive titles because he had stubbornly and persistently reloaded his saves again and again. The most outrageous time had been against Juventus, when he had ground through more than twenty matches before finally defeating them.

In this life, he likewise refused to give up easily. Even after falling into the scammers' trap, and even after discovering his own shortcomings, he still stubbornly wanted to carve out a place for himself at Sporting Portugal.

He had possessed this determination even before transmigrating. Now that he had crossed over and gained a cheat like the Path to the King of Football, he was even less likely to lose heart.

Wasn't it just a matter of grinding?

Who was afraid of whom?

After thinking it through, Su Dong once again flicked up the football on the grass and began with the most basic juggling practice.

He needed to warm up.

After every successful juggle, a line of information would flash rapidly through his mind.

"Obtained 1 King of Football Point."

"Obtained 1 King of Football Point."

"Obtained King of Football Point..."

"Obtained..."

Fine. Wasn't it just ten thousand juggles?

I'll grind it out!

When the first rays of morning sunlight fell across the grass of Edward VII Park, Su Dong was still bent over, training hard.

He was completely caught up in it. He had forgotten the time and everything around him. His entire mind was filled with football.

He did not even notice that outside the wire fence, a Portuguese boy about his age and height had been watching his training with great interest.