The Greatest Of All Time Chapter 3
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Zachary was jogging at a steady pace.
He was mindful of neither the ever-present potholes in the dirt-roads of eastern Bukavu nor the mud heaps brought about by the rain of the previous day.
He hummed the Chris Brown song (Don't Wake Me Up) that was supposed to be released two years later.
Zachary smiled softly. He was in a good mood.
Above him loomed the blue sky with just a few stratus clouds making their unhurried way toward Lake Kivu in the north. The sun was already a golden ball of yellow above, promising more heat as the day progressed. All in all, he could not have asked for better weather to complete the system mission.
It had been six days since Zachary returned to the past, and he was very close to completing the tasks in his first system mission.
He had been exercising like there was not a tomorrow in his vocabulary.
With the G.O.A.T system, he had the motivation to work hard and thus never once thought about giving up when the going got tough.
Every morning, he would start with a routine of one hundred seat-ups, then do fifty press-ups before jogging ten or more miles around the dirt roads of Bukavu. He would then complete his day's training in the evening by going through six rounds of Hatha-yoga routines. His daily yoga practice always included the serpent, bow, peacock, tortoise, eagle, and Matsyendra poses.
In his previous lifetime, he had come across an article explaining how yoga was essential to improving the flexibility and body coordination of any sportsman. Zachary was determined to stick to this practice as it would reduce the risk of him getting injured later in his career.
He feared getting injured again the most. Injuries would diminish the player's form and destroy careers if not meticulously handled.
An injury had been the start of Zachary's downfall in his previous lifetime. But he was determined not to let it affect him in his new one.
Throughout the past six days, his injured ankle had hurt like hell after continuing to support his strenuous exercise without much rest. It had swollen and taken on a reddish hue like that of a perfectly boiled shrimp. But Zachary had chosen to ignore the pain and continue the tedious tasks imposed on him by the system.
A few times when he felt he could not hold on, he just had to think about the great heights achieved by some of the top athletes from poor backgrounds in his previous lifetime. Soccer stars like Sadio Mane, Frank Ribery, and Cristiano Ronaldo had made it to the top by capitalizing on their talent. Through sheer hard work and their unrelenting attitude towards soccer, they had almost achieved the G.O.A.T status supported by the common consensus of the pro-sports community.
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Zachary believed that the pain and fatigue he was feeling at that moment was his weakness leaving the body.
He could see the bigger picture.
The climb might be tough and challenging, but if he ever made it to the top of the soccer world, the view would be worth it. So, he decided to work harder than any athlete alive and see if he could also become one of the greats. He would try becoming the best or die trying. With a cheat system aiding in his rise, he would not settle for less.
Zachary was in the zone and felt like running was a form of whole-body meditation. He continued his steady motion at a steady pace pushing away the pain and fatigue from his mind while humming song after song to psyche himself up.
On the nearly empty Bukavu dirt-roads, he had no worries. Zachary didn't need to fret about high-interest loans like in his previous life, no problematic girlfriend, no therapist. It was just him cutting across the warm breeze caressing his skin.
Stick sweat soaked his oversized tracksuit while his old second-hand Nike snickers were all covered in mud. He panted as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He could only imagine how badly he stunk.
As he rounded a bend heading back towards his grandma's farm, a Ding sounded in his head.
The sound elevated his mood as it was the now-familiar system notification indicating that he had completed one of the mission tasks.
But Zachary resisted the urge to open the system User-Interface and continued jogging across the plains, up the hill, until he was back to his grandma's house.
Once he stopped running, the perspiration lay cool on his skin, cooled further by the noon breeze, and he began to shiver.
He hurriedly washed up before stretching to cool down his muscles. He was then just about to start his yoga routine when he was interrupted by the high-pitched voice of his grandma.
"Zachary," she yelled. "You're running on that foot again. Didn't Dr. Kazadi tell you to desist from straining it for three months? Child, I don't have any more money to take you to the main hospital." She was speaking in Swahili - one of the local languages in Bukavu.
"Grandma, I'm now fine," he lied, voice humble. "I will be okay by the time school starts once again. I want to be ready for the school team trials."
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[Sorry, grandma. I can't tell you everything now. But I'll surprise you in the future.] Zachary vowed inwardly.
"Are you sure?" She asked. "I will come and take a look at that foot myself. I won't trust your words." She added.
"No, Grandma," Zachary hurriedly yelled back while bolting the wooden door to his room from the inside. "I am currently dressing. Maybe later."
"I can tell that you are lying," the voice of his grandma had risen a crescendo.
"That does it. Tomorrow, I will ask Dr. Kazadi to look at your ankle again. If he says that it's okay, then you can do whatever you want. But I don't want to see you out running before that." His grandmother warned, voice somber.
"Yes, grandma," Zachary replied humbly.
[I will have completed my mission by tomorrow. If the elixir reward can right away heal all my torn ligaments and dislocated bones, then there'll be no need to worry.] He thought.
He once again focused on his training and went through his Yoga routine. Today, he had woken up very early and worked extra hard to finish the mission before lunchtime. He was eager to receive the first rewards from the system. He would then be able to gauge if the G.O.A.T system was as badass as the ones in most of the web novels he had read.
In a few minutes, he completed the yoga routine, and the Ding sound once again resounded in his mind.
Without even taking a minute to relax, he summoned the system's user interface to check the changes in his stats.
****
SOCCER G.O.A.T SYSTEM
SYSTEM LEVEL: 1 (15/100 juju-points to level-up)
USER: Zachary Bemba
AGE: 15 years
TALENT ASSESSMENT: Grade-D
JUJU-POINTS: 15 (1 msg)
(Evaluation: A pitiful boy far from becoming a professional soccer player)
----
USER MENU
*USER STATS
*G.O.A.T MISSIONS (4 msg)
*SYSTEM SHOP (temporarily-unlocked)
*SYSTEM LOTTERY (temporarily-unlocked)
*SNOOPING TOOL (locked)
----
NB: Pls level-up system to unlock more functions.
****
Zachary instantly noticed the juju-points, G.O.AT-missions, system-shop, and system-lottery tabs blinking red on the user interface. With his expertise gained through reading web novels, he could tell that he had received new messages or status changes in those tabs.
So, he tapped on the tab towards the top of the virtual blue screen.
****
JUJU-POINTS: 15 (1 msg)
-> You have completed mission – Preparations to Become a Soccer G.O.AT. You have earned 15 juju-points.
----
NB: Please complete more system tasks, win matches, and gain fame to gain more juju-points.
****
Zachary understood the message at first glance. He closed the tab in a way similar to that of navigating the android tabs of a smartphone and then fixed his attention on the G.O.A.T mission tabs.
[What rewards will I get from the system?] He wondered.
[Will the vitality enhancing elixir cure me?]
[What if this is a dream? Am I just about to wake?] A lot of doubts ran through his mind making his brain tingle with anxiety.
But he suppressed them and tapped on the G.O.A.T missions tab.
****
"DING"
#4 new messages
CONGRATULATIONS
-> You have completed mission (Preparations to Become a Soccer G.O.A.T).
----
->Mission-Rewards
1) B-grade vitality enhancing elixir (Available in system-shop; temporarily unlocked. NB: The user must consume the elixir within 5 seconds after being removed from system shop.)
2) A random G.O.A.T skill (Available in system-lottery; temporarily unlocked)
3) 5 juju points
----
->Mission Summary
*Task 1: Run 70 miles within a week. (74/70 miles completed; rating A+)
*Task 2: Complete 100 seat-ups daily for a week. (Av. 200/100 seat-ups completed daily; Rating S)
*Task 3: Complete 50 press-ups daily for a week. (Av. 64/50 press-ups completed daily; Rating A+)
*Task 4: Complete four rounds of half a dozen Hatha-Yoga routine daily for a week. (Av. 6/4 rounds of Hatha-yoga poses completed; Rating A+)
----
Overall Mission Rating: A+
----
->Bonus rewards
You have earned 10 bonus juju-points
----
****
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My Witch-Infested Life!
Key, who spent most of his days alone. A person who doesn't want to socialize.. But he's life routine changed when his mom sent someone to watch him over. Unbeknownst to him, he's being watched over by a.. witch? A loner and a witch. Now living under the same roof.
8 194Me And A Rejection ✔
One more step and my whole life changes. I'll become a rogue, all the connections I have with the pack will be lost.Do I really want to do that? Do I just want to walk away from everything? Am I gonna ruin my pack life just because of a stupid rejection? What will I do after I leave? Where will I go?*******'Rejection' Who knew that this word, would crash my world? What would you do, if you wait 7 years for your mate to arrive, and the first thing they do, after laying eyes on you is, to reject you. I'm Alexis Greyback and this is how I survived being a reject.
8 123A Sky Full Of Stars (#5)
Getting married to the person you loathe is the worst nightmare ever.But for Leona Wilbrose, this nightmare came true when she was forced into a marriage with her childhood enemy, Rafe Andrews. Someone who's arrogant, rude and has no manners while talking to her. Just her. As for everyone else, he's the perfect man to ever exist.Why does he hate her? Well, she has no idea.Why does she hate him? Cause he hates her.Both of them belonged to reputed families, with Rafe being a self made billionaire and Leona being the heir to her father's company.But when destiny starts to play its game and feelings start to grow...then maybe being married to your enemy wasn't a bad idea._____________________________________________I was breathing heavily. His lips a breath away from mine. He gripped my jaw firmly in between his fingers. His eyes were dark and blazing with rage. When he spoke, his voice was low and sounded dangerous and husky. "You pull this trick ever again and I am going to fuck you so hard, you won't be able to walk for a fucking whole week."Most Impressive Ranking:#1 in shortstories#1in arrangedmarriage#3 in billionaire(In case you are wondering why the hell there's a hashtag next to the title, numbering it...go read my bio.)
8 172His woman|| KTH [Completed]
Би бол дэлхий даяар алдар нь цуурайтсан Ким Тэхёны бүсгүй.Нэр хүндийг нь сэвтээхгүй гэсэндээ сүүдэрт нуугдах өрөвдөлтэй нэгэн.Түүнийх гэх тодотголтой ч хайраар дутсан Ким Тэхёны бүсгүй.
8 119Return Of The Nerd|||| COMPLETED
Adrianna Rodriguez is humiliated by her boyfriend when she finds him cheating on her at school. Distraught she leaves home for a year and focuses on herself. When she returns she is dead set on getting revenge what she didn't expect was to form a relationship with her ex's enemy. Together they team up to give him hell but they didn't know that Jeremy has a secret, a very dark secret. Throw in a fake pregnancy test, a trip to the hospital and a court case and getting revenge seems a lot more complicated.They say revenge is best served cold, but what if its frozen?50000-60000 words.Highest ranking on the what's hot list:#1- featured #1- queenbee#2- nerd#7 - pranks#7- revenge#34- drama #37- teenromance#85- teenfiction#490- romance
8 130Festival Of The Gods [Unedited]
What would you do if, after getting drunk in a party and passing out somewhere you don't remember, you woke up in a cart that is pulled by a horse with two people speaking weird language and wearing white sheets over their bodies? You panic, obviously.Era never believed in Gods and magic. Why? Because it wasn't explained by scientists. She doesn't even change her view when she is thrown down the time hole and back to the ancient Greece -time when people believed in everything, especially Gods of the Olympus.But her talk of "Gods don't exist" lands her into a festival of the Gods - a festival where people marked by one of the Gods of the Olympus fight for their life by performing something sociated with the god that they represent.And she is supposed to survive when she is marked by the God of the Underworld himself. He goes by the name of Hades.2# in Festival 2018/05/20123# in Gods 2018/05/262# in Ancient Greece 2018/05/31Cover by PhoenixOfStorys
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