Atsushi ran around the race track on the field for the tenth time that morning, his pacing getting slower by the minute.
He rested his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily.
—DING!!
He released a deep sigh of relief before falling on the floor.
"Finally..." He groaned, looking at his phone.
A week had gone by since they all arrived at SW East, and things were going smoothly, maybe a little too much.
The other members of Team C were still getting to know each other and were busy getting acquainted with the place.
● Run 10 laps in 15 minutes - 8pts (Claim)
He clicked on the icon and a notification suddenly popped up.
— Stamina increased by 20 SP.
— Top speed increased by 10 SP.
— Acceleration increased by 20 SP.
— YOU'VE RECEIVED 8 SW POINTS FROM YOUR DAILY QUEST BOARD.
— YOUR SW POINTS BALANCE IS 41pts.
"Ha..." He sighed, smiling at his screen.
And now, for the reason his 1000pts turned to 41pts.
Two days before that, he laid lazily on his bed, swiping through his phone.
The coach still hadn't returned from wherever he went to on the day they arrived, so they didn't have much to do.
He couldn't make friends with any of his teammates since most of them seemed like the outgoing types and being the way he is, he couldn't get himself to speak to any of them.
On that day, he just kept staring at his SWE app and couldn't help but wonder what blissful things hid behind those two unlocked tabs.
The SW Market ad had stopped popping up after that day, and he couldn't help feeling that it was super important, like something was drawing him to it.
After finding the market from his app, he stared at it for a really long time, contemplating whether to click on it or not.
— Activate the SWE market, Yes/ No.
He clicked on yes even before he could realise what he was doing.
"Boo-hoo, I could have bought some stuff with those points."
Earlier that week, He got a notification...
— Your 10pts weekly bonus has been added. Balance= 1010 points.
So, after activating the market, he was left with just 10 points.
"Well, looks like I'm not the only one." He said.
— Congratulations on being the third player to activate the SWE Market.
— Bonus: 10 extra points per week, 1000 free SPs, 10% discount on market items, and 1 extra AP per matches won.
— These bonuses are only available for the first 5 players to activate, and for the next 5 to activate, 1500 points are needed. 2000 for the rest.
He kept swiping through the messages until he reached the end.
"More importantly, what's with these SPs? I saw it in the app previously."
Well, SPs are skill points, and APs are attribute points.
100 SPs can be exchanged for 1 AP, which can be used to upgrade player stats.
He left the market and tapped the app.
— Congratulations, player Atsushi Kudou, for activating the SWE Market.
— Number 1 requirement for activating the 8th tab completed.
—The 9th tab has been opened.
Just as he had assumed, the eighth and ninth tabs had something to do with the market.
He swiped to the eighth tab.
— SWE PERSONAL QUEST BOARD.
● Activate the SWE Market - 5 points. (Claim)
"Damn, this thing's actually sick."
That was actually pretty cool, a quest board, and an extra way to earn more points.
He swiped to the ninth tab, and what he saw actually surprised him.
— MENTORSHIP BOARD.
— Choose a mentor.
He stared at his screen, not knowing how to feel about that.
"Th-that's so damn cool!"
They were lists of soccer players and the different stats they helped to improve.
He gulped hard, thinking of the name to click on.
"Let's just see how it is."
He tapped a random name on the screen.
— Insufficient SW points!!!
— Points needed to pick a mentor, 3000 points.
— Bonus from being among the top 3, 10% off, 2700 points.
He stared at his screen blankly.
"3000 points, again? Why don't you just rob me?!"
Getting points seemed to be a hard thing since the coach wasn't telling them how to get them.
"But this quest board... the reward is so damn little! I'd die if I just rely on it."
— Daily quests updated every day.
— Weekly quests will be updated every Saturday.
— Monthly quests will be updated every 1st day of the month.
— Random quests appear randomly.
— Special quests relate to your daily life and can be updated hourly.
That was how he began his daily missions in order to get points.
He sat up from the race track when he heard the sound of the chain-link gate opening.
"Oh, there you are, Atsushi-kun." Akaji called, waving while walking towards him.
"Tanaka-san?"
"Ah... you were running? Sorry for bothering you."
Atsuhi walked towards him, wiping his sweaty face with a towel.
"I just concluded." Atsushi smiled.
"Oh, is that so? Then... let's go in. We've got a meeting."
'He's been training out here since early morning. Does he also...' Akaji thought, his eyes parting slightly.
They walked towards the main building and joined the others in the meeting room.
"Oh, you're finally here, Akaji." Kimishita said when they got in.
"Sorry, I just went to fetch Atsushi-kun." He apologised, walking towards them.
"You didn't really have to go all the way. You could have just sent a text."
"Haha, I just wanted to check up on him." Akaji smiled, rubbing the nape of his neck.
'Ugh... leave me out of your quest for popularity.' Atsushi grimaced, shutting the door behind him.
"Okay, we'll start discussing our training. We really need to begin soon."
"Yeah." They chorused.
"Well, I used to play in Seikawa High School's soccer team as their main striker and captain. What about you guys?" Akaji asked.
"Oh, intro's again? And did you say you were Seikawa's captain?" Kimishita asked.
"Mm-hm."
"Whoa! The captain of Seikawa, huh? Seikawa's a really good club!" Ryuto said.
"Haha, thanks."
"Well, that should do it then. You can just act as captain for us until the coach returns." Shoichi suggested, looking around for the others to support him.
"I-I can't possibly..." Akaji started, looking at them worriedly.
"Does anyone want the position?" Kimishita asked.
"No."
"Just take it, Akaji-kun."
"Yeah, you'll make a great leader."
"Ah... thank you, guys. Since you want me to lead you, I'll do just that." He smiled, bowing slightly.
And just like that, he got the position temporarily.
'Foolish people, he obviously wanted the position badly.'