The System
Observing how hisfriends train every morning is something Kein never does. Because he usually participated in the warm-up session to the cool-down session. There was nothing special until they started training this morning with object sensitisation exercises. As far as he knew Damian, Kein had never seen his friend complete a ball throw at 20 metres per second more than ten times.
It was just that he was not dreaming when he saw Damian make no mistakes as the speed of the ball thrown by their friend increased. It made him even more envious and impatient to showcase his long-buried skills. Kein wanted to shine and get noticed by other players, of course.
Not only Damian but his teammates' shortcomings from three months ago were being covered up one by one by their hard work and increasingly tight training schedules. It may sound like murder to the uninitiated, but a loser should at least train harder than those who already have the talent. Imagine how much lower you will be when those with talent also decide to train harder.
Kein was not born a perfect athlete but he did have a little talent that could come in handy during matches: vision.
Back on the field, Kein was getting bored of sitting for long periods of time. He decided to take a lap around the field in the building, only what made him look ridiculous was that his gaze was completely undirected and fixed on his friends who didn't stop running and dribbling.
It had been a long and tiring day for Kein. On the other hand, he gained fitness and his legs were no longer stiff at all. The players return to their rooms after being briefed by Coach Marlon at the end of each training session. Damian and Kein are in the same room, as are his teammates and no one gets more facilities than the other.
Kein was a little sweaty and decided to take a shower before he rested his body on the bed. It was already nine in the evening and they didn't have any conversation as Damian was already snoring on the top bunk. Kein also positioned his legs as best he could to avoid any minor injuries or cramps that would make it difficult for him to train tomorrow.
Sometimes holidays can be a boomerang for young athletes when they are put under pressure and trained hard by coaches who have no idea how far their players can physically go.
The next morning, Damian woke up without using an alarm. Before getting out of bed, he at least stretches and waits for three minutes until his body is less stiff. Just as he was about to start stretching, a loud moaning sound came from underneath his mattress. Spontaneously, she went down the stairs of the bunk bed and saw Kein bending his legs and body.
"Kein, Kein! What happened to you?" Damian panicked because it was unusual for his roommate to moan loudly. "Wait a minute! Hold on a bit."
Before his friend came out, Kein managed to hold Damian's hand while shaking his head, not to involve anyone. Question after question continued to be asked by Damian until he managed to escape the hold.
Kein did not reply and continued to fight the pain from inside his body. All of his organs seemed to fall out like dry hair and his vision swirled around like the world was upside down without any gratification. His brain seemed to be working a hundred times faster than usual.
The reason behind this pain was already known to Kein as there was no other reason. That's right, the mysterious capsule he swallowed yesterday had a tremendous effect after a day had passed.
The feeling from inside his body that kept rebelling and bumping against all his organs came from the influence of the active capsule. Unable to endure the pain any longer, Kein closed his eyes and bent his body and legs even more. The things on his bed were scattered on the floor, leaving only the bed sheet and mattress.
After a few minutes, the effect of the mysterious capsule stopped. Kein could feel the relief of a body that was sweating profusely. His breathing returned to normal and he opened his eyes. But something was disturbing his vision.
"What the hell is this?"
His vision was slightly obscured by the floating transparent screen. Kein closed and rubbed his eyes again as he felt something was wrong with his vision. The second time he opened his eyes, the screen was still in front of him and had become even more dense.
[Welcome aboard, rookie.]
That was the first sentence that appeared on the transparent screen with a bright green colour on each side.
"Me? A rookie? In what way? And what are you?" It's not uncommon for normal people to suddenly have visions that are slightly different from others.
[You have been selected to be an athlete who will run the activities and training of a 'system'.]
"Hey, answer my question! Can't you hear my question?!" Kein instantly became temperamental when his body was already being tortured and now a figure who claimed to be the 'system' appeared.
[You can call this system the 'Hall Of Fame System'.]
[Your task is very simple. Following the system's directions every day, you will get whatever you need.']
"What do I need? Now, make me a successful basketball player like Stephen Curry." His face lit up after mentioning an unreasonable wish.
[Request not accepted. Losers have no right to ask for anything.]
"Bastard!"
Kein tried to erase the screen by swinging both hands at the location of the screen. However, the system was completely ignored and he looked like a 'special needs person'. At that moment, Damian and the dormitory attendant were in a hurry.
The ridiculous behaviour observed by strangers was embarrassing and Kein stopped his hand. Just then, the 'system' disappeared from his sight.
"Look, sir! He looks like he's possessed by an evil spirit! Before that, he was whining in pain like a baby. Can you take him to the academy hospital?" Damian panicked while pointing at his friend's face.
"I don't want to go back to that place!"
"Are you okay? I heard you just got out of the hospital after six months of treatment. If you feel that something is wrong, I'll have to take you back to that place,' said the academy staff.
"I'm fine and leave me alone!"