Chapter 3: Rely Less on Physique, More on Technique
In the Honor Store, the merchandise was divided into three categories: Talent Cards, Skill Cards, and Player Cards.
Kaka's gaze first landed on the Talent Cards.
1. Talent Name: Threading the Needle
Belonging to: Kaka
Price: 0 Honor Points
...
2. Talent Name: Striker's Instinct
Belonging to: Filippo Inzaghi
Price: 100 Honor Points
...
3. Talent Name: Iron Body
Belonging to: Batistuta
Price: 100 Honor Points
...
4. Talent Name: Natural Ball Sense
Belonging to: Roberto Baggio
Price: 100 Honor Points
...
5. Talent Name: Precision Guidance
Belonging to: David Beckham
Price: 100 Honor Points
There were also talents like Green Lightning Rois, Hawk Eye Alonso, Lightning Reflexes Casillas, and Absolute Leader Martini, eleven in total.
Next were the various Skill Cards.
1. Skill Name: Meteor Stride
Belonging to: Kaka
Skill Effect: Increases dribbling speed and successful dribbling rate
Price: 0 Honor Points
...
2. Skill Name: Earth-Shattering Strike
Belonging to: Batistuta
Skill Effect: Increases shot power and long-range shooting accuracy
Price: 50 Honor Points
...
3. Skill Name: Crescent Blade
Belonging to: Beckham
Skill Effect: Increases free-kick accuracy and scoring from free-kicks
Price: 50 Honor Points
...
4. Skill Name: Lightning Raid
Belonging to: Inzaghi
Skill Effect: Increases shooting technique and getting into scoring positions
Price: 50 Honor Points
...
5. Skill Name: Elegant Interception
Belonging to: Nesta
Skill Effect: Increases tackle and interception success rates
Price: 50 Honor Points
The remaining skills were Dream Footsteps (Baggio), Threading the Needle (Xavi Alonso), Shadow Form (Cannavaro), Death Embrace (Martini), and One-Hand Covering Heaven (Casillas), each costing 50 Honor Points.
Finally, there were the Player Cards.
1. Player Name: Kaka
Talent: Threading the Needle
Skill: Meteor Stride (Increases dribbling speed and successful dribbling rate. If the user already has this skill, the effects do not stack)
Card Effect: Gain this player's talent and skill for 30 minutes. Card disappears after use but can be repurchased.
Price: 0 Honor Points
2. Player Name: Filippo Inzaghi
Talent: Striker's Instinct
Skill: Lightning Raid (Increases shooting technique and getting into scoring positions. If the user already has this skill, the effects do not stack)
Card Effect: Gain this player's talent and skill for 30 minutes. Card disappears after use but can be repurchased.
Price: 5 Honor Points
3. Player Name: Batistuta
Talent: Iron Body
...
In total, there were eleven players, each with one talent, one skill, and one player card. Aside from Kaka's free talent and skill, all other skills cost 50 Honor Points, and talents cost 100 Honor Points.
The Player Cards were relatively special - inexpensive and practical, but if the user already had that skill, the effects would not stack. Plus, the duration was only 30 minutes, so they were consumable items - pay to be happy temporarily, but if you're broke, tough luck.
Overall, this system followed basic reincarnation rules - no cheat codes to become overpowered right away. It was a gradual, all-encompassing path. But the inclusion of players like Batistuta, Baggio, Rois, and Beckham seemed very familiar.
"Wait, isn't this just my squad of handsome players from back in the day?" he finally realized, giving himself a slap. "Don't judge solely on looks, you fool!"
He thought about how, if during his gaming days he had swapped Inzaghi for Ronaldo, Rois and Beckham for Messi and Ronaldinho, and Kaka for Maradona...well, maybe not the last one, since reincarnating as Maradona would be disastrous.
After all, while Maradona was a legend, his casual look wasn't the most appealing.
Appearance is still important - those who say "don't judge a book by its cover" are just used to ugly covers.
...
Kaka didn't feel the surge of excitement he had imagined upon gaining a system.
For him, whether or not he had some special system was ultimately not that important - a fact he was well aware of.
As long as he diligently followed the path Kaka took in his previous life, trained hard, played soccer obediently, seized opportunities, and addressed his weaknesses, he would eventually make a name for himself.
After all, he was a genius talent, so as long as he didn't sabotage himself, success was almost inevitable.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was avoiding serious injuries.
Unfortunately, he hadn't inherited Kaka's innate natural ability for the game, so the "genius" label came with a big discount.
No matter how diligent he was, even working a hundred times harder than Cristiano Ronaldo, there were some things he just couldn't develop through practice alone. Things like natural ball sense, a unique personal style on the pitch, and those flashes of brilliance. Trying to forcibly imitate would only lead him astray.
He might be able to run as fast as the original Kaka, or even become more skilled at dribbling. But he wouldn't be able to dribble at full speed while making it look effortless and joyful, punctuated by a pinpoint longrange finish.
He might be able to shoot as powerfully as Batistuta, or even build a stronger physique. But he wouldn't have that earth-shattering aura that made goalkeepers panic just from Batistuta receiving the ball 30 yards out.
In this situation, having some kind of system became essential.
Supposedly the latest trend is to craft sentences like "Everyone else's system does this boring thing, but MY system does this cool thing instead." Using a mix of criticism and praise to lowkey imply your system has personality, is balanced, simple and refreshing, while other systems are just stupid overpowered messes. Wanting to keep up with the experts, Kaka tried adopting this format to subtly flex his superiority...but after much deliberation, he couldn't nail their smug rhythm and could only end with "Damn it."
While crude, the two words "Damn it" carried profound depth. Apparently the specific tones used for "wo" and "cao" could convey completely different emotions - quite ingenious.
Still, the system didn't disappoint Kaka. While lacking a beautiful virtual assistant or user manual, resulting in a poor user experience, the core data itself wasn't too complex once he understood it properly.
Talents, skills, honor points, the honor store - these were the key system components, their functions easy to guess from the names with 80-90% accuracy.
And while there was no newcomer's gift pack, Kaka's talent and skill were completely free - essentially a generous head start bonus for new users.
Talent: Threading the Needle
Skill: Meteor Stride
No need to explain Threading the Needle - it was clearly a long-range shooting talent, a perfect match for things like Batistuta's Earth-Shattering Strike or Beckham's Crescent Blade free-kick skill. The focus was on Meteor Stride.
This was Kaka's signature move at his peak, a dribbling style mostly lost after his retirement.
Meteor Stride, put simply, was all about taking long, accelerating strides while maintaining close dribbling control. Its defining traits and challenges lay in the rhythm changes and the tight player-ball connectivity required. Leaving aside in-game effects, just the visual aspect alone was like watching an elite sprinter take to the pitch.
That's exactly how Usain Bolt played football - everyone raved about how incredibly fast he ran, while conveniently forgetting the guy was actually pretty decent with the ball too.
This dribbling technique heavily relied on speed and explosive power. The visual impact was stunning, but also extremely detrimental to a player's longevity. Stars with similar styles like Owen, Bale and Robben were unstoppable at their best, but their bodies were as fragile as glass. They suffered injuries at a young age, struggling through their entire careers while constantly nursing themselves back to health, never truly fulfilling their potential.
They overexerted their bodies during their glory days, paying a painful price when it came time to repay the debt. Five months of charging forward, then three minutes of full sprint explosion - the initial enjoyment was matched by later suffering.
Kaka was only three years older than Cristiano Ronaldo and five years older than Messi, but looking at their professional longevity, you'd think he was from a different generation entirely. While the "Dual Jewels" were still at the center of the football world, Kaka had already retired back home in São Paulo.
To be fair, apart from the occasional malicious challenge from opponents, most injuries to speed-based players were self-inflicted. Just look at sprinters - they have virtually no physical contact in training, yet still suffer numerous muscle injuries.
It all stemmed from the excessive explosive sprinting placing an immense burden on the body. Going flat out wasn't something that could be remedied by a short walking break to recharge - the toll was massive.
Therefore, Kaka didn't want to make Meteor Stride, an ability that pushed his body to the absolute limit, his regular go-to skill. Instead, he planned to strengthen his overall dribbling and dribbling success rates, relying more on technique rather than just physicality. This approach would not only effectively avoid most injuries but also prolong his professional career.
He already had some ideas about how to achieve this.
One was to practice yoga, inspired by the ageless Ryan Giggs, primarily to increase muscle flexibility and joint agility, toughening his body to endure more punishment. The other was reinforcing and upgrading his skills and overall playing style, making his attacking repertoire more diverse and efficient while avoiding over-reliance on explosive skills that could burden his body during matches.
The yoga idea was straightforward - while still a niche practice, it was learnable if he truly committed to it. However, the technical upgrades and skill improvements were more challenging.
Kaka was now nearing his 18th birthday, long past the stage of honing fundamental techniques. His skillset was mostly set at this point, with team training focused more on tactics and accumulating game experience. Improving ball control would require extra individual practice, but traditional drills like cone work and juggling had diminishing returns after over a decade of practice. Rapid improvement would need a more unconventional approach.
He did have one idea in mind for this, in addition to utilizing the system abilities - street football could be a means to elevate his overall skill level.
While both soccer disciplines have similarities, there are major differences between street soccer and the professional game.
Street soccer is primarily for entertainment and leisure, with players showing off fancy footwork and outstanding individual skills. Due to the tiny field sizes where just a couple of steps reach the ends, players must master extremely tight ball control to excel. Hence, skilled street ballers tend to possess ball control abilities that can only be described as transcendent.
The professional game, on the other hand, tends to involve much more physicality, tactics and teamwork, with a more functional and competitive nature.
A street soccer king might get bullied on a professional pitch, while a prolific professional goalscorer could look foolish on a small court or cage. The two worlds share commonalities but the differences are greater - only true masters of the ball can dominate both realms.
Many clubs in Brazil, Spain and Portugal actually utilize street soccer as a training tool for their youth academy players. Kaka himself had received some futsal and small-sided game training as a child, though he never fully committed to it. But using the street soccer concept to improve his overall ball mastery seemed a viable path forward.
The first rule of survival for the reincarnated: keep a low profile and develop steadily, without making waves.
(end of chapter)