After barely managing to fall asleep last night, I woke up about half an hour before my alarm went off. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. As usual, Sofia—who always woke up earlier than me—had just finished brushing her teeth as well. When I saw her, I smiled and said,
"Good morning. You're up early again, as always."
She didn't respond and simply walked past me.
A few weeks ago, if I had greeted her like that, she would have shot me an annoyed look and walked away. Now, at least, she didn't react negatively. It felt like our relationship was slowly improving. I needed to keep trying if I wanted things to get better between us.
After brushing my teeth, I went to the table and had breakfast. Then I grabbed my bag and headed to school. Once the first class ended, I chatted with David for a bit. When the break was over, we went to the gym for our second class—physical education.
Today, after two weeks, we were finally playing football again. The teams were chosen randomly, and we stepped onto the field to start the match. As always, the team captains were Caleb and Evan. This time, I was on Caleb's team.
With my stats improved, I felt confident that I could perform much better than in the previous match. That said, I didn't really need to play exceptionally well. Through the system, I had realized that the points earned depended on the quality and level of the match. I probably wouldn't gain many points from this game. Still, I planned to play passionately to shake off the tension from waiting for the trial results later today.
Before the match began, I told my teammates and moved to the left-back position instead of staying in defense like last time.
Just before kickoff, a system message appeared:
• Successfully complete 5 dribbles
• Win 2 aerial duels
• Successfully complete 5 defensive interventions
Unlike last time, these tasks felt surprisingly easy.
In just the 3rd minute of the match, I received the ball and sprinted down the left wing. I spotted Caleb inside the penalty area and, with the help of my improved crossing skill, sent the ball perfectly to him. Caleb controlled it with his chest and fired a powerful shot into the bottom-right corner.
• You earned 8 points for providing an assist.
The opposing team restarted with a kickoff, and the match continued. Led by Evan, they launched a dangerous attack. After moving past midfield with quick passes, Evan sent the ball to a teammate on my side. Thanks to my jumping ability, I won the aerial duel cleanly.
After securing the ball, I pushed forward quickly into the opponent's half. I passed to a teammate and continued my run toward the penalty area. He immediately sent the ball to Caleb, who spotted me inside the box and delivered a perfectly timed pass to my feet. I took the shot toward the near post and scored.
• You earned 20 points for scoring a goal.
Caleb ran toward me, and we celebrated the goal together. Afterward, he and the rest of the team asked why I was playing so well today. With a light, joking tone, I told them I always played like this.
The match went on, and I found myself building great chemistry with Caleb. In fact, both Caleb and Evan had participated in tryouts for the 4th Division team Bravion Thunder and a football academy before the school term began. However, their competition had been far stronger than expected. As a result, they later tried out for another amateur club, Reedmoor Town, wher
e they were successfully selected.