That Friday morning, the halls were much noisier than usual, with students chatting excitedly about the first game of the season.
Ren was making his way to class, while Ryo had already gone off with his friend.
"Hello, Ren-kun, are you ready for the game tomorrow?" a boy asked, putting an arm over Ren's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm excited. Are you going to watch, Yuto-kun?" Ryo responded.
Ishida Yuto, one of Ren's friends and a member of the football club's second team, had been there the day Ren got tricked by his younger brother—and had been the unlucky one to break the news to him.
I still have to get revenge on Ryo for that one.
"Of course," Yuto said with a grin. "I can't call myself a second-team player if I don't even watch the first team's games."
"That's true. Coach Takigawa would probably be disappointed." Ren smiled, then added, "By the way, doesn't it seem like everyone else is more excited than usual?"
"Hmm, maybe? Football's always been popular at this school, so it's hard to tell. But the national team's been getting more attention since the World Cup two years ago."
Ren knew what Yuto meant. Ren played football casually in the club during his first year, but after the World Cup, he was inspired to improve and devoted most of his time to practicing.
National interest in football drastically increased after that World Cup. Although they only made it to the round of 16, Japan had pulled off a stunning upset in the group stages, beating France, the eventual champions. They'd only been eliminated after a narrow loss to Spain, who were the eventual runner-ups.
And every year since, an increasing number of people have gained interest in the sport.
"I guess that's true," Ren said, opening the classroom door. He headed to his desk, leaned back in his chair, and glanced out the window. From the top floor, he could see the back of the campus, where the football pitches gleamed in the morning light.
I just need to get through today; we have our first game tomorrow.
But before that, Ren would have to survive math class.
I'm glad Ryo was able to help me solve my homework. It started making a lot more sense after he explained it his way. But how did he see I was wrong just from one glance, even while looking at it upside down?
Just then, Ren's homeroom teacher walked in. "Alright, class, let's get started. I'll take attendance first."
The teacher quickly went through the attendance and other homeroom proceedings before finally starting the first course of the day.
"Have you all finished your homework?"
"Yes, Sensei!" Several students shouted at once
"Sensei, the homework was too difficult." A few other students complained.
The teacher smiled, "It was a bit more difficult than usual, but that's why you had two days to do it."
Ren sighed. It was much longer than he had initially thought, and he wasn't able to finish before he went home yesterday. He had to spend an extra 20 minutes at home to finish it.
I still had to ask Ryo for help on the last questions… Seriously, when did he get so good at math?
"Alright, swap notebooks with your neighbor, and we'll go through the answers together."
Ren turned to his right and exchanged notebooks with the blond-haired girl beside him. Her ears were red, her hands trembling slightly as she held out her workbook.
"P-Please t-take care of me, A-Aoyama-san."
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Ryo stretched on the grass before practice, making sure his muscles were all warmed up. Classes today felt so long… I could almost feel every second counting up. Maybe I was just too excited, but now classes are over!!
"Ryo-kun, do you think you'll be a starter for the first game?" A voice asked from his left. Taiga was also stretching on the ground next to him.
"Hmm, probably?" Ryo said without boasting, just stating the truth. "We have been playing well on the left flank, so I doubt Coach would switch us out now."
Taiga nodded his head as he stood up, "I agree, Ken-kun has been scoring many goals, and Coach seems happy with our strategy."
"I guess we'll figure it out soon," Ryo replied, getting to his feet as the coaches appeared on the sidelines.
A moment later, Coach Matsumoto waved all of the players over and spoke loudly.
"Alright, tomorrow is the first game of the season. I hope you all are ready." Matsumoto looked around, watching the players' reactions. "Tomorrow we will play with our best formation, the 4–4–2. So far, I've only confirmed six starters—Ren and Ken as forwards, Kenta as goalie, Taiga as fullback, and Ryo in midfield. The rest of you, today's practice will determine whether you start tomorrow, so do your best."
Some of the players muttered amongst each other before the coach continued, "Today's practice will be more relaxed because of the game tomorrow. Practice will only be a few short drills followed by a scrimmage with the second team."
Today's the last day of my daily quest. I'll make the most of it.
As Ryo hyped himself up, the team's practice started—simple tactics training, passing drills, shooting drills, and a scrimmage with the second team.
Ever since the two teams first started playing against each other, the second team has never won a game, but they were able to score a few times. On the other hand, Ryo was able to score a few goals against them, and he also provided many assists to both Ren and Ken.
After the scrimmage, most players headed home, but as usual, Ryo stayed behind with Ren for extra practice. They were extra careful of the time, because they had once been caught when the security guard made one last round through the school. Luckily, he had been lenient and let them go, but he told them not to stay so late in the future.
At last, with one final corner kick, a notification popped up before Ryo's eyes, and a grin spread across his face.
{Daily Quest Complete!}
[Reward: +1 Unused Stat Point]
{New Total!}
[Unused Stat Points: 16 —> 17]
"Ren-nii, let's head home early today. We should save our energy for tomorrow," Ryo called out.
"I agree—it's going to be your first game!" Ren said, almost more excited than Ryo himself. "Mom said we can go straight home today. She'll be there for a bit before heading to the restaurant."
"Okay, let's go then."
The two of them walked back home, where hot food was already waiting for them, and after a quick bath, they quickly went to bed.
Time to finally allocate all of these unused stats. Let's see…
Ryo thought carefully, then decided where to spend them. That night, he fell asleep smiling, The System's glow lingering faintly on his face.