"The host has acquired the skill from the bubbles: Glamorous Smile +1. Today's pickup progress is 3/10."
What?!
Julian was utterly shocked:
What the hell is this?
Where is the full moon scimitar I wanted?
What about my golden right foot?
And what's with the super long lob?
Give me a girl-picking skill? Am I supposed to confound my opponents with a smile on the court?
"Reminder: This skill enables the host to induce an uncontrollable heartbeat reaction in girls with his smile, with the effect on Victoria Beckham being doubled."
Isn't Victoria Beckham married?
I'm...
Does it mean Mrs. Beckham will have double the affection for me?
This turn of events is utterly ridiculous. Those two bubbles are such a cheat!
Julian was feeling down, when the director caught his breath and glared at him, "Where the hell did you come from, photographer? I've been wondering since I got the coffee earlier, why haven't I seen you before?"
Julian's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure.
Time for some real acting!
Julian said calmly, "Director James Dolores, you don't really forget, do you? We met last night! I informed you that I was the photographer, Edward Stark, sent by the higher-ups to help with the shoot. Ke, you told me to head straight to the beach."
"Edward Stark?" The director looked bewildered, trying to dredge up his memory.
Julian had thrown him off guard. The director didn't recall Edward Stark, but the name did sound familiar. Julian had mentioned it so casually, which made the director question his own memory.
Julian leaned in and spoke in a hushed tone, "After you finish chatting with me, go back to the RV and communicate with a good-looking guy who plays football..."
The director snapped his fingers, his expression brightening. "Ah-ha! I remember, Edward! Yes, the superiors have talked about you; your skills are supposedly excellent! So, the photographer you brought today will suffice. You can just stand by and assist casually."
Perfect!
Julian nodded with a smirk, "Alright, director."
The director turned to Beckham with concern, "Mr. Beckham, are you feeling better? Are you ready to start shooting?"
Beckham waved his hand weakly in response.
The director exclaimed immediately, "Mr. Beckham said there's no problem! Let us applaud the dedicated Mr. Beckham! Attention all departments, those five football actors, hurry up and take your seats!"
Beckham: ...
Soon, the actors began to walk out.
Julian followed the close-up photographer, feigning assistance.
After going through the scene once, Julian grasped the content of the advertisement. It depicted Beckham on a leisurely beach vacation, when several muscular men approached to challenge him to a football match. The twist was that Beckham's charm was so overwhelming that even a simple act of sipping Pepsi could make him outshine them.
Theoretically, such an advertising concept was more apt for Messi or Ronaldinho, not Beckham. It was a creative notion to suggest that a mere sip of Pepsi could enable Beckham to outperform others, but as Beckham himself, he probably wouldn't be able to achieve the desired effect with his actual football skills.
Really...
As the actual filming commenced, Beckham attempted more than a dozen passes, but he couldn't get past the five strong players smoothly.
The five robust men the director had selected were quite good, all of them young and energetic.
Several times, Beckham was nearly overpowered on the beach by the strong players. This unfolding scene was making the director increasingly anxious.
Beckham grew more and more agitated, resorting to tactics such as knocking the opponents down with his feet or using excessive force to kick the ball away so they couldn't keep up.
After half an hour of filming, no satisfactory progress was made, not even a single suitable shot had been captured.
"Don't shoot yet!"
Beckham eventually lost his patience and dramatically retreated to the recliner to rest, waving his hand dismissively.
The five strong lads remained on the beach, puzzled, gesturing with their hands and shrugging.
The director slumped on the sand, his arms cradling his head, pondering the situation as the commercial shoot reached a standstill.
As a spectator, Julian contemplated whether to offer advice to the director when a familiar system notification popped up in his thoughts:
"Detecting 76 points of negative emotion from David Beckham, system bubbles are being generated..."
Julian was astonished for a moment! It wasn't his negative emotions triggering this!
Beckham's negative emotions were likely aimed at those five strong guys!
Could it be that as long as anyone within five meters of me has any negative emotions, I can sense them?
Julian looked up, and to his amazement, a blue bubble appeared under Beckham's feet!
Ah-ha!
It's so amazing!
As long as my sensing range is wider, in the future, I can extract them without even standing up!
It's a pity that the maximum amount I can absorb per day is 10, and I'm not sure how high my personal rating needs to be to surpass this limit.
Before Julian approached Beckham to collect the bubbles, the system beeped continuously:
"Detecting 35 points of negative emotion from Nelson Matt. System bubbles are forming..."
"Detecting 38 points of negative emotion from Maurice Jeremy. System bubbles are forming..."
"Detecting 40 negative emotion points from Roz Emmanuel. System bubbles are forming..."
"Detecting 43 points of negative emotion from Raleigh Kewulf. System bubbles are forming..."
"Detecting 45 points of negative emotion from Boyle Borg. System bubbles are forming..."
White, ordinary bubbles began to form around the five promising young players from the British Championship team.
Interesting!
It seems these five British Championship team members secretly harbor dissent towards Beckham.
Julian discreetly felt a sense of satisfaction as he passed by the strong young players and touched the five bubbles one at a time.
The five white bubbles transformed into five shimmering threads each, merging into Julian's body.
"The host has collected from the ordinary bubbles: leg training +10 hours. Today's collection progress is 4/10."
"The host has collected from the ordinary bubbles: aerobic long-distance running training +10 hours. Today's collection progress is 5/10."
"The host has collected from the ordinary bubbles: anaerobic acceleration training +10 hours. Today's collection progress is 6/10."
"The host has collected from the ordinary bubbles: dribbling training +10 hours. Today's collection progress is 7/10."
"The host has collected from the ordinary bubbles: comprehensive strength training +10 hours. Today's collection progress is 8/10."
Wow!
Julian could feel his physical condition improve significantly.
The white bubbles from these five Championship players are incredibly valuable!
This round is equivalent to completing 50 hours of intense specialized training!
And with the 40 hours accumulated earlier, I only need 10 more hours of training results to exchange for a precious talent point!
Other professional players have to train rigorously for 100 hours to increase one attribute, but I can do it effortlessly!
The collection isn't over yet!
There's a blue bubble under Beckham's feet with a negative emotion value of 76 points!
This time, I should be able to obtain a useful football professional skill, right?