We're Rich!

Sometimes, all we lack is the courage to mount up and charge into a fight.

That was how Su Dong used to be.

But now, even something as rare as a jackpot among jackpots—a transmigration—had happened to him, complete with a free system to boot, giving him unprecedented courage.

If he still couldn't bring himself to grind after all that, he'd look down on himself.

He kept grinding until he was panting like an ox, genuinely unable to kick anymore, before he allowed himself to stop and rest.

He entered the system and checked his King of Football Points. Damn, he'd ground all the way to 1,264 points in one go.

He glanced at the time, estimating about three hours had passed.

During that stretch, he'd done a series of basic drills—juggling, passing, dribbling—and each one had netted him 1 point.

Having racked up this much, he was pretty satisfied.

He aimed to grind to the next level within two days.

With that thought, Su Dong felt a surge of motivation.

A sixteen-year-old kid always had endless energy to burn.

"Bored all alone? Want me to play with you?"

When Su Dong had rested enough and picked himself up off the ground, ready to dive back into his leveling grind, a stranger's voice came from behind.

A boy about his age and height walked into the training ground, approaching Su Dong with an eager look.

At first glance, Su Dong figured he was just an ordinary Portuguese kid, but as he got closer, he noticed the boy's skin was a bit darker—probably mixed with some African heritage.

That was totally normal; mixed-race kids were common in Portugal.

In fact, many Portuguese teams had been recruiting African-descended players in recent years.

"My name's Rony. I live nearby and come here to practice often." The guy was pretty friendly, introducing himself with a smile.

His smile was warm, especially when he flashed those neat teeth.

"I'm Su Dong. First time here. I'm... not that good."

With that, Su Dong kicked the ball over, accepting the challenge.

He put a little trick into that pass—fast and hard—to test the other guy's skill.

But Rony didn't seem to notice, keeping his smile as he looked at Su Dong. "No worries, just messing around."

When the ball reached him, his right foot made a quick, nimble trap. Su Dong didn't even see how it happened before the ball was steady under Rony's foot.

A pro!

That assessment popped into Su Dong's mind.

During his time at Sporting Portugal, he'd gotten a sense of the youth academy players' abilities, but he had a gut feeling this guy was stronger than anyone he'd seen before.

"Here I come, then." Rony grinned in warning.

Su Dong was eager to see just how good he was and immediately dropped into a defensive stance.

The guy nudged the ball forward lightly, his body following in a smooth start, steps light as he closed in on Su Dong.

Standing right in front of him, Su Dong felt a shock that no outsider could grasp. The guy barely seemed to move, just dribbling closer, but his whole body—from head to shoulders, from hands to legs—was full of subtle little feints.

Each feint hinted that he might blow past Su Dong from some direction.

But which direction?

Su Dong couldn't read it at all. So when Rony charged right up to him, Su Dong lunged blindly to poke the ball away, only for Rony to easily cut it back, slip past the gap, and shoot with his right foot.

Goal!

The moment they clashed, Su Dong was beaten, without a shred of resistance.

"Your turn."

Rony turned around with a smile, only to see Su Dong standing there dumbfounded. A twinge of guilt crept in.

He'd already figured Su Dong was just an ordinary amateur soccer fan. As a quasi-pro player with a decade of formal youth training, he was kind of bullying the guy.

What Rony didn't know was that Su Dong's shock wasn't from his skill—it was from what had just flashed before his eyes.

The instant Rony blew past him, a message scrolled through Su Dong's mind.

"Cross-level challenge: Earned the current level's King of Football Points cap of 100 points."

100 King of Football Points?

Su Dong was first drawn to that number. Skeptical, he immediately checked the interface and found his points really had gone up by 100—genuine, no tricks.

But as he thought it over, that message revealed a lot.

For instance, the max points he could earn in one go right now was 100.

And this Rony guy was way above his level, so he could've earned more points, but the cap limited it to 100.

Even capped, those 100 points sent Su Dong into a frenzy of joy.

After all, in the previous three-plus hours, he had trained until utterly exhausted and only managed to accumulate just over a thousand points. Now, to suddenly gain a hundred King of Football Points in one go—was there anything more astonishing than that?

Yet amid the surprise, Su Dong couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt.

Just how strong was this Rony, really?

Roughly what level would he be in Path to the King of Football?

"Hey, you okay?"

Rony saw Su Dong frozen in place, walked over, and waved a hand in front of his face.

"I'm... I'm fine." Su Dong snapped back to his senses.

"How about we call it quits? You can take it easy." Rony said with a smile.

"No way." Su Dong blurted out.

Rony was taken aback.

"I mean, we can't just let it go like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't paying attention earlier and fell for your trick. Let's go again."

"You sure?"

Su Dong's answer was a resolute look in his eyes and a stance ready to charge at him with the ball.

No kidding—one round was a hundred King of Football Points. How could he just let such a golden opportunity slip by?

If he missed this once-in-a-lifetime chance, Su Dong would regret it until his guts turned green.

Seeing his determination, Rony smiled, nodded, and then beckoned Su Dong with a curl of his finger.

He could tell now—this guy his age wasn't much of a player, but he had plenty of competitive fire.

Just like him.

Hadn't someone once said?

Without a fierce will to win, you can't become a great footballer.

As Su Dong charged at him with the ball, Rony could only smile wryly.

Because in his eyes, Su Dong was wide open everywhere. To put it bluntly, he didn't even need to stick out a foot—just using his body to block the path would be enough to easily take the ball away.

And the facts proved him right.

In one encounter, Su Dong lost the ball.

But another message flashed through his mind.

"Cross-level challenge, reward: current level's maximum King of Football Points—100 points."

Jackpot!

He was really going to be rich!

All transmigrators really did come with a protagonist's halo—this luck was unstoppable!

"So, are you convinced now?" Rony asked with a smile.

The gap in skill was obvious, plain as day.

But unexpectedly, Su Dong shook his head firmly and even shot him a disdainful look. "With skills like that, you think you can make me give in?"

"This time, you attack. Come on!"

Soon enough, in another encounter, he was easily beaten again.

"And this time?"

"Cow tail flick? That's still lacking. Watch mine!"

The result was the same—one encounter, and the ball was stolen.

"Convinced?"

"Convinced my ass. I just tripped over my own heel and let you get lucky. Again."

"Convinced?"

"No!"

"Not convinced!"

"I'll never accept defeat!"

Before they knew it, the two of them had been going back and forth on the indoor pitch, trading countless matches.

At first, Su Dong stuck to the rules, but as he lost more and more, he started to get hot-headed and red-eyed. Eventually, he threw all rules out the window, using both hands and feet, and even wrapping his whole body around Rony a few times in a desperate attempt to steal the ball from under his feet.

Rony had been alone for a long time, and it was rare for him to meet a peer who clicked with him. At the start, he was mostly trying to joke around, but gradually, he developed a temper too, wanting to humble the kid in front of him.

With his current fame and status, if he couldn't even humble an amateur, it would be a serious blow to his pride and self-respect.

Besides, deep down, he was fiercely competitive.

Su Dong was indeed tenacious, but the more he was, the more Rony wanted to make him submit.

So the two of them tangled on, completely losing track of time.

It wasn't until both of them were starving that they realized the sun was already high in the sky.

"You're such a pain in the ass," Rony said, a little out of breath.

Su Dong didn't care at all, grinning back defiantly. "So what? With your crappy skills, you think you can make me submit? Dream on! If you've got the guts, let's go another round."

"Bring it on, who's scared of who?"

They were both at an age brimming with male hormones, both stubborn and competitive, neither willing to back down.

Just as they were about to start again, their traitorous stomachs let out a simultaneous grumble of protest.

"Forget it, don't say I'm bullying you. Let's grab a meal first. After we eat, we'll meet back here in the afternoon. Whoever doesn't show is a coward," Su Dong deliberately provoked Rony.

He could tell that Rony was dead set on making him submit.

But how could he ever give in?

This was a golden opportunity to farm King of Football Points. Why wouldn't he seize it and grind as much as he could?

Rony had originally planned to use the meal as an excuse to call a truce, but Su Dong's challenge for the afternoon caught him off guard.

Truth be told, he knew full well that Su Dong's skills weren't even in the same league as his. They'd sparred for hours in the morning, and Su Dong hadn't managed to gain even the slightest advantage, while he himself had scored every time he dribbled past him.

Fighting an opponent like that was pointless.

But he was still pissed off. He still wanted Su Dong to admit defeat.

Did it matter if it was pointless or not?

So, swallowing the words of truce halfway, Rony instead pointed at Su Dong and said, "Fine, you're on."

Watching Rony turn and walk away, Su Dong couldn't help but laugh.

Especially when he entered the Path to the King of Football system and saw his King of Football Points, he nearly burst out laughing.

Since I can't sign a contract during the National Day holiday, I can only maintain one update for now. My apologies, brothers!

During the new book period, I'm begging for tips, collections, and recommendation votes! Thank you!!