The floodlights were blazing down on Tokyo FC's youth pitch, and all these eight-year-old kids were running around like maniacs, screaming and chasing the ball like their lives depended on it.
But Takeshi? He was just standing there at the center circle, staring at his tiny hands like he'd never seen them before.
What the actual fuck is happening to me?
His mind was spinning. One second, he'd been dying—actually dying—in that shitty apartment, his liver finally giving up after years of drowning it in alcohol. He could still taste the blood in his mouth, still feel that crushing weight on his chest as everything went dark.
Now he was here. Eight years old again. In his old Tokyo FC uniform that smelled like grass stains and childhood dreams.
This can't be real. This is impossible.
"Yamamoto! What the hell are you doing? The match is starting!"
Coach Tanaka's voice hit him like a slap. Same old Coach Tanaka—graying hair, weathered face, eyes that could spot talent from a mile away. The man who'd believed in him before everything went to shit.
The youth cup match. Holy shit, I remember this.
This was the game where it all started. Where he'd scored his first hat-trick and caught the attention of scouts. The beginning of his rise to the top and his eventual crash to the bottom.
But something was different this time.
Blue text suddenly appeared in his vision, floating like something out of those web novels he used to read when he was too drunk to sleep.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
Welcome back, Takeshi Yamamoto
Current Level: F Rank Starter
Age: 8 years old
Position: Attacking Midfielder
STATS:
Technical: 15/100
Physical: 8/100
Mental: 45/100 (Boosted by previous life experience)
Special: 0/100
ACTIVE QUEST: Youth Cup Debut
Score at least one goal in your first match
Reward: +2 Technical, +1 Physical, Skill: [Basic Shot Power]
A system. A fucking leveling system.
Takeshi's breath caught in his throat. This was like those fantasy stories he'd binged during his darkest hours, when reality was too painful to face sober.
Except this wasn't fiction. This was real, and it was happening to him.
"Yamamoto!" Coach's voice was getting sharper. "You look like you've seen a ghost. You okay, son?"
"I'm... I'm fine, Coach." His voice came out all high and squeaky—a kid's voice instead of the broken man's rasp he'd gotten used to.
Focus, you idiot. You've been given a second chance. Don't fuck it up this time.
The opposing team was already in position. Kawasaki Frontale's youth squad—kids he vaguely remembered from his first life, some who'd made it pro, others who'd faded into nothing.
Just like I did.
As he jogged to his starting position, he spotted Hiroshi Sato waving at him with that bright, innocent smile. His best friend. The one person who'd stuck by him even when the drinking got bad, even when Takeshi had pushed everyone else away.
Not this time. This time I'll protect the people who matter.
The referee's whistle shrieked, and the match began.
Immediately, Takeshi knew something was different. Where before he'd just relied on instinct and natural talent, now he could see everything. Every player's position, every gap in the defense, every passing lane opening and closing like a tactical puzzle.
[MENTAL STAT BONUS: Advanced Game Reading Active]
A Kawasaki defender came charging at him with the ball, and in his previous life, eight-year-old Takeshi would have tried some fancy dribble to show off.
But now? Now he saw the bigger picture.
Hiroshi's making a run down the right. Their left-back is ball-watching like an idiot.
"Here!" Takeshi called for the pass, his voice carrying authority that shouldn't have belonged to a kid.
The ball came to him, and he could feel the difference immediately. His touch was still that of a child, but the system was helping somehow, making the ball stick to his foot like it was magnetized.
[QUEST UPDATE: First Touch Successful - Technical +0.1]
Without thinking, he played a perfect through ball to Hiroshi. The pass sliced through three defenders like they weren't even there, inch-perfect, weighted just right.
How the hell did I just do that?
"GOAL!"
Hiroshi slammed it past the keeper and went absolutely mental, running around with his arms spread like he was flying. The whole Tokyo FC bench exploded.
But Takeshi just stood there, staring at his own feet in amazement.
[ASSIST REGISTERED - Technical +0.2, Mental +0.1]
[HIDDEN QUEST DISCOVERED: Perfect Assist]
Create a goal-scoring opportunity with a pass accuracy of 100%
Reward: Skill [Precision Passing Level 1] - COMPLETED
This is actually happening. This is real.
His teammates were losing their minds, celebrating like they'd just won the World Cup. And maybe, for eight-year-old kids, this felt just as important.
God, I'd forgotten what it felt like to be happy about football.
The match restarted, and Kawasaki came at them harder. But Takeshi was in complete control now, dropping deep to help with the buildup, finding spaces that shouldn't have existed, playing passes that made the parents in the stands point and whisper.
Then, in the seventieth minute, his moment came.
A loose ball bounced to him twenty-five yards out. The keeper was off his line. In his original timeline, eight-year-old Takeshi would never have attempted the shot, it was just too far, too difficult.
But the man inside the boy's body knew better.
I've scored from here before. Just not in this lifetime.
He struck it clean, putting everything he had behind it. The ball sailed through the air in a perfect arc, dipping just under the crossbar while the keeper scrambled backward like his ass was on fire.
Net. Fucking. Bulged.
The silence lasted maybe half a second before absolute chaos erupted. Even Coach Tanaka was jumping around like a maniac.
[QUEST COMPLETE: Youth Cup Debut]
Goal scored - Technical +2, Physical +1
New Skill Acquired: [Basic Shot Power]
Level Up! You are now Level 2
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: Hat-trick Hero]
Score two more goals in this match
Reward: +5 Technical, +2 Physical, Special Skill [Zone Entry Level 1]
Takeshi looked at the floating text and felt something he hadn't experienced in decades: pure, unfiltered hope.
A hat-trick. Just like the first time. But this time, it's only the beginning.
The final twenty minutes were like a highlight reel. Takeshi was everywhere, creating chances, making tackles, threading passes that had the parents in the stands filming with their phones.
His second goal came from a scramble in the box, not pretty, but it went in. His third was a thing of beauty, curled into the top corner with the kind of technique that made grown men weep.
[QUEST COMPLETE: Hat-trick Hero]
Level Up! You are now Level 3
Special Skill Acquired: [Zone Entry Level 1] - Allows temporary enhancement of all abilities during crucial moments
When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard read 4-0. Four goals. Four fucking goals in his first match back.
Everyone was surrounding him, his teammates, coaches, and even some of the Kawasaki players, wanting to shake his hand. But Takeshi's mind was somewhere else entirely.
This is my second chance. My shot at redemption.
He looked up at the night sky, stars starting to peek through the city lights, and made a promise that went deeper than any system quest.
I'm coming for you, Ballon d'Or. And this time, I won't fuck it up.
This time, I'll do it right.
This time, nothing will stop me.
The broken man was dead. The champion was just getting started.
And God help anyone who tried to stand in his way.