Bergamo. Gewiss Stadium.Coppa Italia - Round of 16.Tuesday. 21:00 PM.
"Welcome to the Meat Grinder." Adrian's words from the pre-match briefing echoed in Rio's mind as he stepped onto the pitch. Rio looked around. The stadium in Bergamo was compact, steep, and felt like a gladiator's pit.
Atalanta BC. They didn't have the glamour of Milan or the history of Juventus. What they had was Gian Piero Gasperini's System. A relentless, man-to-man pressing machine that required players to run until their lungs collapsed.
Adrian had warned him: "Stone is watching from his office. He told the media that tonight will prove if you're a 'Sustainable Asset' or a 'Broken Toy'. He's specifically tracking your Post-Impact Recovery."
Rio looked at Kenjiro. The Japanese midfielder was already sweating profusely. The Symbiotic Link was active, and Rio could already feel a dull, phantom throb in his own knee—a reflection of Kenjiro's anxiety.
[System Notification][Symbiotic Contract: ACTIVE][Status: Pain Transfer Enabled][Remaining Lifespan: 315 Days]
The Match. Minute 10.
The whistle blew, and the nightmare began. Most teams give you a few seconds to breathe when you have the ball. Atalanta gave you zero. Every Bologna player had an Atalanta player "glued" to their back like a shadow.
Kenjiro received the ball. Before he could even turn, Ederson, Atalanta's powerhouse midfielder, slammed into him. WHAM. It wasn't a foul. It was "physical dominance." Rio, standing ten meters away, gasped. He felt the impact in his own chest, as if an invisible hammer had struck him. His breath hitched.
"Don't stop!" Rio shouted, forcing himself to run toward Kenjiro to provide an outlet. But as soon as Rio moved, Sead Kolašinac was there. The man they called "The Tank." Kolašinac didn't care about the ball. He put his massive arm across Rio's chest, pinning him against the sideline.
"You like to fly, little bird?" Kolašinac growled in his ear. "Tonight, we clip your wings."
Minute 35.The Breaking Point.
Bologna was suffocating. They couldn't complete three passes. Tyler Stone's "Oracle" algorithm was likely screaming in delight. Bologna's pass accuracy had dropped to 60%.
Kenjiro was being hunted. Because every team knew he was the brain, Atalanta's instructions were simple: Destroy the brain.Marten de Roon, Atalanta's captain, caught Kenjiro's ankle with a nasty "tactical" clip from behind. Kenjiro went down, his face contorted in pain.
Simultaneously, at the halfway line, Rio doubled over. He clutched his own ankle, screaming silently. AHHH! The pain was white-hot. It felt like a serrated knife cutting through his Achilles tendon.
[WARNING: Neural Overload Detected][Target: Kenjiro Tanaka - Pain Level: 88%][Transferring Load to Host...]
The referee looked at Rio, confused. "Get up, #10! Nobody touched you!" Rio ignored the ref. He staggered toward his friend. "Get up, Kenjiro!" Rio hissed through gritted teeth. "If you stay down, Stone wins. He'll sell you tomorrow!"
Kenjiro looked up from the grass, his eyes glassy. He saw Rio trembling, saw the sweat pouring down Rio's face—not from running, but from absorbing his agony. Kenjiro's pride ignited. He realized Rio was carrying his cross. He grabbed Rio's hand and pulled himself up. "I'm okay," Kenjiro whispered, though his leg was shaking. "The pain... it's gone." "I know," Rio wheezed. "Because I have it."
Minute 44.
Bologna won a rare throw-in near the corner flag. The players were exhausted. Even the "Ghost" movement was failing because Kolašinac was literally holding Rio's jersey.
Rio remembered Adrian's tactical advice from the locker room: "Rio... do you remember the [The Matador] passive? It's not just for dribbling. It's about using the bull's weight against him."
Rio looked at the massive Kolašinac leaning on him. Using the weight...
The throw-in came towards Rio's chest. Kolašinac pushed into Rio's back, preparing to physically dominate him and head the ball away. Rio didn't resist. Usually, Rio tried to stand his ground. This time, he collapsed his own posture. He went limp, dropping his center of gravity instantly.
Kolašinac, who was leaning with all his 85kg of muscle, suddenly lost his "wall." He tumbled forward, off-balance, stumbling past Rio. In that split second, Rio spun. He didn't use a skill. He used Physics.
Rio was free. The ball bounced high near the goal line. But the angle was impossible. He was almost at zero degrees. "Shoot?" Rio thought. No. The keeper, Juan Musso, was covering the near post perfectly.
Rio saw Kenjiro arriving at the edge of the box. Kenjiro was unmarked for the first time because his "jailer," De Roon, had stepped up to help Kolašinac. The ball was too high for a pass.
Rio activated [The Salmon]. He exploded upwards. He didn't jump to head it at the goal. He jumped to defy gravity. He hung in the air, towering over the recovering defender. At the apex of his jump, he twisted his neck and headed the ball backward. A "Cushioned Header" back into the danger zone.
The ball zipped into the path of Kenjiro. Kenjiro didn't have to run. He just stood there. Ping. A perfect half-volley from 20 meters.
GOAL.Atalanta 0 - 1 Bologna.
The "Meat Grinder" went silent. In the VIP box, Tyler Stone stood up so fast he knocked over his glass of sparkling water. "That... that's not in the model," Stone muttered, staring at the screen. "Why did he head it backwards?"
Halftime.
Rio sat in the locker room, his body feeling like a bruised plum. The Symbiotic Link was glowing red in his vision.
[Stamina: 22%][Vitality Drain: Accelerated][Lifespan: 314 Days]
Coach Rossi looked at his players. They were broken, bleeding, and exhausted. But they were winning. "They will come harder in the second half," Rossi said grimly. "Gasperini is angry. They will try to break your bones."
Rio looked at Kenjiro. "Can you do it?" Rio asked.
Kenjiro looked at his knee. It was swollen, but the System's "Patch" was holding the structure together. "As long as you can take the pain," Kenjiro said, "I can provide the ammo."
Rio stood up, his legs heavy as lead. "Then let's give the Billionaire a heart attack."