System awakening

~----~

[You have completed system mission: Make your mark on the Christmas Game!]

[Mission penalty has been voided!]

[Randomizing mission completion reward…, please wait…]

[Randomization complete!]

[You have been rewarded with a +2 increase to your dribbling attribute!]

[Congratulations! You have met the requirements to level up!]

[Your overall player rating has increased to 68!]

…

Player Attributes:

*Pace: 70

*Shot: 69

*Pass: 74

*Dribbling: 66

*Defending: 33

*Physicality: 60

*Stamina: 78

Overall Rating: 68

~----~

Seated in the front sit of his father's Camry car, Sam had a big smile on his face as he looked at the contents of the system notification.

Of the player attributes that the system attributed to him, as an attacking midfielder, there were naturally certain attributes that he was biased towards and one of them was his dribbling ability.

An attacking midfielder with good dribbling ability was in his element. The random reward of the system falling on his dribbling attribute excited him.

He was excited for another reason, he wanted to test out the effects of his improved dribbling ability. This was not the time and place though.

What surprised Sam though was that, this was not the only notification that the system displayed before him.

There was an entirely different separate notification tab.

Sam threw a brief look at his dad who sat in the driver's sit, he also looked at his best friend who was in the backseat before freely accessing his system, tapping at the virtual screen right in front of them to open the new notification.

"You're interacting with your system?" Ian noticed and asked.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

Hearing his son and his best friend speak, Moses finally paid attention to his son. "Your mom, have you thought of how we're going to settle her?"

Hearing that dreaded name, Sam's shivered slightly and paused as he took his eyes away from the system notification. "Umm, I thought you had everything under control".

"What? If you hear in a dream that I have your mom fully under control, you'll really believe?"

Sam chuckled. "So, what's the plan?"

Moses focused back on the road. "Well, Sam if you're willing to make a few sacrifices, I can promise you that I'll help you stem the wrath of your mom".

Hearing that tone, Sam became suspicious. "What type of sacrifice are we talking about, dad?"

Moses grinned. "Check your bank account, you should have received the prize money that was promised".

Hearing that, Sam remembered his prize money as his excitement levels rose again. "Yes!" He exclaimed. "I've received it, 200,000-naira credit alert! That's the most money I've seen in my account that's mine".

Sam was excited as his best friend cheered from the back seat.

Moses threw glances at the 2 boys and chuckled. "Well, Sam, if you're willing to part ways with half of your prize money, I can help you with your mom".

Hearing that, the excitement levels in the car instantly dropped.

Moses kept his gaze on the road. "What?"

"Dad, that's just pure evil!" Sam complained.

"Listen to me son, let me explain…"

In the end, after taking a lot of time to explain and convince his son, reluctantly, Sam had no choice but to transfer 100,000 naira to his dad's account.

Today was the best Christmas day of his life, he didn't want to let his mom ruin it because he was too stingy to part with half of his prize money.

And with that out of the way, still pained by the dent on his bank account, he finally paid attention to the other system notification.

'Let's see what we have here'.

~----~

[You have completed your first system mission!]

[Congratulations! The system has awakened to level 1!]

[You have unlocked level 1 perk: Snooping Tool]

>This is a tool with which you can spy on the status and attributes of other professional football players<

…

[NOTE: To level the system to level 2 and unlock the corresponding level perk, complete hidden system mission.]

…

[You have completed a hidden system mission: Sign your first professional football contract!]

[Congratulations! The system has awakened to level 2!]

[You have unlocked level 2 perk: Skills Market]

>This is a market where all the football skills in the world can be found, from the popular to the obscure. By paying the appropriate price, you can purchase football skills from this market and their masteries<

>Football skills are ranked according to mastery. There are 4 major mastery levels, basic, intermediate, advanced, and perfection<

[Current available football skills:]

>…<

…

[NOTE: To level the system to level 3 and unlock the corresponding level perk, complete hidden system mission.]

[NOTE: Skill points are needed to purchase skill masteries from the skill market, and they are rewarded after each completed mission.]

~----~

Fascinated by what the system was showing to him, Sam was eager to see more but he was interrupted as after an 8-minute drive, before he could focus on the first football skill on display, his dad finally pulled over on his Camry car into their compound.

He was tempted to keep on looking but seeing his mom at the door, Sam gulped before setting his system aside for now.

At this moment, he worked with abstraction. And his common sense told him that stemming the wrath of his mom was the greater priority.

He could see the crazy changes to his system later.

As soon as Sam and his dad came out of the car, placing her hands akimbo on her waist, Mrs. Moses was about to raise a storm till she saw Ian come out.

Her mouth was left hanging open for a few seconds till she recovered, she smiled. "Ian, my boy, you came for Christmas?"

Ian smiled brightly. "Yes ma, I missed your food".

Hearing that, this middle-aged woman beamed. "There's a boy that knows how to appreciate food," her smile widened. "You came right on time then my son, food is ready".

And with that, Sam and his dad were able to temporarily escape the storm.

Ian went in first, Moses followed, but as Sam passed, Mrs. Moses frowned. "Sam, you reek of sweat, what did you do?"

"Haha, I think I have to go take my bath".

"Come here!"

Sam dared not stay, he was gone to his room to take his bath.

Before his wife could raise a storm though, Moses finally winked at her, gesturing for her to follow him to the room.

This woman had a suspicious look on her face but the occasion reduced her paranoia. 'It's Christmas, did he get a gift for me?'

She followed her husband to the room after leaving instructions for Sophia to serve a plate of food for the visiting Ian.