Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
"It's still not enough," Lance sighed, lying on the green grass, looking at the night sky of Madrid, and opening his system.
Previously, important matches would reward gold and silver coins, used to draw template props from the wishing pool.
He had accumulated 1350 silver coins, but only 7 gold coins, which was not enough for a 10-pull.
However, Lance didn't need these at the moment; his current abilities were enough to dominate La Liga.
La Liga focuses more on short passes, small-group cooperation, and tactical positioning of players on the pitch, with relatively less physical confrontation compared to other leagues.
This is one of the reasons why Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo often score close to 50 goals; the intensity of defensive physical pressure is not as high, and the referee's officiating standards are stricter, allowing players to utilise their technical advantages more freely.
The Bundesliga, on the other hand, has higher physical confrontation intensity.
Lance's lack of physicality would be a weakness in the Bundesliga, but it would be more advantageous for his performance in La Liga.
According to statistics from Kicker magazine, amongst the top five European leagues, Serie A averaged 24 fouls per game (1st), La Liga 22 fouls (2nd), Bundesliga 19.6 fouls, and the Premier League ranked lowest with 18 fouls.
It is evident that the Premier League has more lenient officiating standards for the sake of game fluidity, leading to more intense physical confrontations.
In La Liga, even slight pulling, tripping, or overly exaggerated body movements are strictly penalised.
Lance currently possesses the Nagi Seishiro, Bachira Meguru, and Hyuga Kojiro templates, in addition to some lower-level templates, which are sufficient for ordinary matches.
Unless it's a showdown against Real Madrid or Barcelona, where the intensity of the game would suddenly rise to another level, Lance might already have new skills or have unlocked new templates by then.
Thinking of this, Lance no longer dwelt on the system.
This was an auxiliary growth ability.
"That's right! Let's see what my true level is" Lance had made a decision.
Since he had switched to a new league and started anew, he needed to gradually get used to shedding his reliance on the system and try to fight with his own abilities.
Except for some crucial matches where points were essential, when facing ordinary teams like Sporting Gijón, Levante, or Getafe—teams that were essentially 'free points'—Lance actively imposed a 'Forbidden Decree' on himself, disabling all templates.
If the future 'God of Circles' Anthony could dominate La Liga for Real Betis, why couldn't Lance?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
Lance sprang up from the grass, wishing the season would start immediately.
But looking around, he was only on his private football pitch at the villa.
It was currently the holiday season, and the club hadn't even started training camp yet; the La Liga season was still at least two months away!
"When I was a child, I thought I'd be happy only when I had money. Now that I have money, I realise I'm truly not interested in it anymore."
Leaving his private football pitch, Lance went to the hot spring jacuzzi in the villa's backyard for a bath.
"Señor," before Lance could even ask, his housekeeper, Juana Sánchez, thoughtfully brought over lemon tea and pre-cut fruit, placing them nearby.
It was a good thing Lance didn't smoke or drink much, otherwise cigars and red wine would surely be served meticulously.
The live-in housekeeper, recommended by a local domestic service company when he bought the villa, earned 1800 euros per month, including food and lodging.
Her main responsibilities included daily cleaning, household services, and preparing Lance's nutritious meals.
Juana was only 25 years old and came from a small village in Colombia; she was already a mother of two.
She had received training in Western cooking, housekeeping, luxury item maintenance, nutrition, first aid, and other related fields.
In many people's eyes, this type of full-time housekeeper serving the wealthy was not very respectable, but Juana was very happy to accept the job.
Even Lance, who didn't particularly like being waited on, had become somewhat spoiled by her care.
In addition to Juana, the villa also came with a bodyguard from Northern Europe, a retired mercenary named Anderson, and a gardener named Raúl who visited weekly for maintenance.
As for the villa Lance was in... when he first arrived at Atlético Madrid, he preferred to rent a flat.
He wasn't sure how long he would stay in Madrid, so there was no need to buy property.
However, at the suggestion of Zhang Lin, a club director and Wanda executive, Lance still purchased his first property.
It was located in Los Lagos, a high-end villa community in the north of Madrid.
Originally a top-tier luxury mansion valued at 30 million euros, Wanda Real Estate offered a friendly price of only 9 million euros.
It covered an area of 35 million square metres and was equipped with facilities such as a private panoramic terrace pool, a private gym, a private golf course, and a football pitch.
The only drawback was that his neighbours were all Real Madrid players.
To the front left of Lance's villa was Gareth Bale's property, later bought by Mbappé for 10.5 million euros; both villas were of similar specifications.
Next to Bale's villa was Cristiano Ronaldo's mansion, covering 5,000 square metres.
Nearby were also Toni Kroos, Modrić, Ramos, and Casillas.
If Atlético Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone hadn't also lived in this neighbourhood, Lance really wouldn't want to mix with these Real Madrid people.
As for other Atlético Madrid players, their annual salaries were relatively lower, so they opted for more cost-effective townhouse areas or the middle-class Ciudad Lineal community.
For example, Atlético Madrid teammate and versatile attacker Saúl, Atlético Madrid youth product and midfield general Koke, and Atlético Madrid's goalkeeping god Oblak all resided in these areas.
The different areas were quite far apart, making it inconvenient for Lance to invite them to his villa for a barbecue party.
Invite Atlético Madrid's head coach Simeone? He thought about it and decided against it.
Lance had only spoken to Simeone on the phone; they weren't that close yet.
To outside fans, Simeone was known as the "Bandit Coach," with a fierce look, and he resembled a suit-wearing thug when directing from the sidelines.
His personality was flamboyant and passionate, and his discipline was strict.
He seemed like someone difficult to get along with.
Lying in the pool, looking at the starry sky of Madrid, Lance couldn't help but feel a bit lost.
"I don't know if this choice is right or wrong... Oh well, I'll take it one step at a time."
...
There were no major football tournaments in the summer of 2015, so fans could only wait for transfer news every day.
In the Premier League, Manchester City signed De Bruyne for 52 million pounds, making him the Premier League's summer transfer king.
Subsequently, they signed Sterling for 49 million pounds, showcasing their "money power" during the summer transfer window, determined to contend for the title.
However, the head coach was still Pellegrini.
Manchester United signed Martial, Netherlands international Memphis Depay, and Bayern midfielder Little Pig for high prices.
They also signed England defender Harry Maguire for 50 million pounds.
After David Moyes was sacked and world-renowned coach Van Gaal took over, his "Van Gaal's Billion-Pound Spending" era began.
At the same time, Van Gaal also promoted youth academy player Rashford.
Veterans like Rooney were gradually marginalised, and Di María was shown the door.
Liverpool signed Bundesliga champion contributor and Lance's former teammate Firmino for a high price of 35 million pounds.
They also signed Benteke for 32 million pounds, and star defender Virgil van Dijk for 65 million pounds!
They spent over 100 million to strengthen their squad and brought in former Dortmund head coach Klopp.
The new season's Liverpool was about to rise and become a Premier League powerhouse!
Arsenal didn't make many moves, and the much-anticipated Lance never joined.
North London rivals Tottenham, however, made two important signings: England's talented midfielder Dele Alli, and Bayer Leverkusen's left-wing sharp-shooter, Lance's former teammate Son Heung-min, valued at 50 million pounds, second only to De Bruyne!
In La Liga, there was only one significant signing: summer transfer king Lance, who joined Atlético Madrid for 150 million euros.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern brought in Juve midfielder Vidal and signed Joshua Kimmich for 35 million.
By then, Bayer Leverkusen's "double-winner" core squad had completely disintegrated.
In the summer of 2015, the biggest topics were only the "Bayer Leverkusen Supermarket" and Lance's record-breaking transfer fee.
As fans counted down the days on their calendars, waiting for the league to start, Atlético Madrid officially assembled in July to prepare for the new season!