Redeeming the Rewards
Kai slowly reached his hand out, anticipation bubbling in his chest, as he selected the first reward from his newly awakened system: [A-Grade Potential Enhancing Elixir].
The moment his finger tapped the option, a faint glow shimmered in the air before him.
With a soft flicker of light, a small white vial materialized in his palm, cool and delicate to the touch.
The liquid inside swirled hypnotically — a luminous blue substance that pulsed faintly, as if alive.
Kai stared at the vial, turning it slightly under the fading sunlight.
"So… this is supposed to enhance my potential, huh?"
His voice was quiet, but beneath his calm exterior, he was buzzing with barely restrained excitement.
To most people, it might not have looked like much — just a strange bottle of glowing liquid. But to Kai, this was monumental.
He had always loved football. Ever since he was a kid, he had poured everything he had into the sport — hours of practice, watching matches, studying techniques.
But no matter how hard he trained, no matter how obsessed he became, there was always a wall.
That wall was talent.
He simply didn't have enough of it.
No matter how much he tried to tell himself that hard work would beat talent in the end, the harsh reality had always proven otherwise.
But now, for the first time… that wall might actually crack.
Kai didn't hesitate.
He popped the cork off the vial, raised it to his lips with hopeful determination, and downed the contents in one go.
Gulp.
The blue liquid was surprisingly cool and smooth, with a faint, sweet aftertaste — almost like mint mixed with starlight.
Ding!
A mechanical chime rang out the moment he finished swallowing. Just then, a translucent window appeared in front of his eyes.
[Detected that user has consumed "A-Grade Potential Enhancing Elixir"...]
[Assisting user with potential enhancement...]
[Potential is being upgraded...]
"W-Wha…?" Kai murmured, blinking rapidly as a strange sensation rushed through his body.
It felt like every cell inside him had suddenly been dipped in heat— not painful, but intense.
Overwhelming.
And then — thud.
His knees buckled. The world spun.
He collapsed backward onto the grassy field, landing with a soft, unceremonious thump as the darkness took him.
------⚽------
Time passed.
The sun dipped lower in the sky, casting golden-orange hues across the open field. Evening approached.
Then—
"...ey."
"Hey…"
"HEY!"
A loud voice jerked Kai back into consciousness.
His eyes fluttered open to find a group of boys standing over him.
These were the same kids who had been playing basketball nearby just a week ago.
The ones who had casually mocked his sloppy practice shots and lonely drills.
Kai blinked up at them, disoriented and still a little woozy.
"You good?" one of them asked — a tall boy with a cautious expression.
Kai quickly sat up, brushing off the grass clinging to his clothes.
His face flushed with embarrassment as he recalled what had happened.
He had passed out.
Just like that.
In the middle of the field.
In front of anyone who could've seen.
"Yeah, just, uh…" he ran a hand through his hair, trying to play it cool. "Dozed off after training. Guess I overdid it."
The boys looked at each other with raised brows. It was clear they didn't totally buy it — but they also didn't care enough to press further.
"Alright, well… just be careful..." the tall one said. "It's almost night."
One by one, they turned and walked off, occasionally glancing back at Kai with lingering curiosity before disappearing toward the street.
Kai let out a long breath.
"...Haa."
He slowly stood up, shaking the dirt off his clothes and flexing his limbs.
Everything felt… normal? No, that wasn't quite right.
Something felt different, but he just couldn't quite put a finger on it.
All he knew was that he was feeling much better than before.
This had to be from the elixir.
As the last traces of sunlight dipped below the horizon, Kai took a seat on the grass again, cross-legged and alone.
The field was quiet now. Only the sound of crickets and the distant hum of city traffic remained.
He exhaled slowly and looked around to make sure no one was watching.
Then, with a flick of his hand, he opened the system interface.
A new notification blinked in front of him.
[Potential has been successfully upgraded.]
[Procedure complete.]
The screen shifted and his status panel unfolded:
--------------------
[Supreme Soccer System]
System Level: 1 (10/100 Supreme Points to level up)
Name: Kai Montclair
Age: 12
Talent: C
Potential: C+ ➔ B+
Summary: A typical middle-school soccer player with below-average skills and slightly above-average potential.
--------------------
Kai stared at the data, heart thudding with a mix of relief and excitement.
"So it worked…" he murmured, eyes gleaming.
He finally understood what the system meant.
Talent represented his current ability.
Potential, on the other hand, was how far he could grow — his upper limit, the height he could one day reach with effort and time.
Before today, both were painfully low.
The system had told him in the previous summary that his talent was low-tier.
But now? His potential had risen to B+.
Not just some meaningless boost either.
This was probably on a global scale.
He thought about nations like Brazil, Germany, Spain — countries that birthed generational talents every year.
If B was the world average, and he was now B+, then he was finally ahead of the curve, even if it was just slightly.
In terms of America, he was probably even further ahead than others.
Finally, after years of failure, Kai Montclair had a chance.
A real one.
He clenched his fist and looked out across the empty field, imagining goals, stadium lights, roaring crowds… and a future that no longer seemed out of reach.
As Kai sat alone under the deepening twilight sky, a new question crossed his mind.
"By the way…" he muttered aloud, brows furrowing, "what about my improvements from earlier?"
He hadn't just been lying around this past week.
Ever since he awakened the system, he'd been grinding hard — training relentlessly every day with the goal of improving, even if just a little.
Surely that effort had borne some fruit?
Driven by curiosity, Kai navigated to the Attributes tab on his system panel.
--------------------
[Physique: D- ➔ D+]
[Dribbling: C+]
[Agility: C+]
[Shooting: C ➔ C+]
[Passing: C]
[Defending: E+ ➔ D-]
[Intelligence: D+ ➔ C-]
[Mentality: B-]
[Skills: ---- ]
--------------------
Kai raised an eyebrow as he examined the stats.
"Just as I thought…" he murmured thoughtfully.
Several attributes had clearly improved.
Physique had jumped two sub-ranks, given how much physical work he'd put in, it wasn't too much of a surprise.
Same for Defending, which had been abysmally low to begin with.
The Intelligence upgrade was also pretty surprising.
But what caught his attention the most was Shooting.
That improvement was unexpected.
He was aware that high-ranked skills were harder to improve, especially when they were close to his limit ceiling, and yet it had risen from C to C+.
That realization made him pause.
As he sat there, legs crossed on the now dew-kissed grass, his gaze drifted toward the sky, stars beginning to peek through the navy blue canvas above.
'…It's probably because of my memories.' he thought to himself.
Memories of his life before regression.
The drills, the techniques, the hours upon hours spent perfecting every motion — they were still fresh in his mind, embedded in his muscle memory even if his body was technically younger.
'That must be it.'
Not only was he training hard this past week — he was building on a foundation forged over years of obsession. Years spent pushing himself beyond what most could endure.
In that previous life, despite his lack of natural-born talent, he had climbed his way up.
Slowly, painfully.
If he had to guess, he was probably close to or already reached B- to B rank in most attributes, all through sheer willpower, repetition, and sacrifice.
It had taken him so long, and even then, he still wasn't good enough to break through that invisible wall.
A wall named "Talent."
No matter how close he got, it had always been out of reach. That bitter truth had followed him like a shadow.
Now, remembering all that, Kai felt a familiar sting in his chest.
But instead of drowning in regret, something else rose up inside him — something sharper, stronger.
Resolve.
This time, things were different.
This time, he had help, a system that could enhanced potential, and the wisdom of experience.
He wasn't starting from scratch anymore. He had a second chance… and he was not going to waste it.
He clenched his fists as he stared at the attribute screen one last time.
'I swear… this time, I'll make it.'
Kai snapped out of his thoughts and looked around.
No person was in sight.
The field and nearby streets were bathed in the soft glow of nearby streetlights. The night had fully arrived.
He stood up, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and began the walk home.
------⚽------
Later that night, after dinner with his mother and little sister — the warmth of their small home grounding him in reality — Kai lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
His body was tired, but his mind was alive.
He had only one week left before school started again.
One final week to change his fate from being cut from the starting eleven.
It was a countdown to transformation.
And now that he had the system, boosted potential, and the fire of a second chance, he knew what he had to do:
Push himself to the limit. Every single day.
With that thought etched firmly into his heart, Kai closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep — already planning tomorrow's training before the first dream even came.