Chapter 10: Activating the Immortal Skill
Chapter 10: Activating the Immortal Skill
"Send it to me."
Rains spoke curtly to Turas, then walked to his position. His eyes locked onto the young man who had just dealt him a massive humiliation. Turas felt the fire of competition blazing within him too. Any thought of letting the reserves develop their skills had completely vanished.
Football had winners, losers, and draws. For Germany's number one team, even a draw against the U23 squad would be shameful. But to actually lose—conceding two goals without scoring back—that was unthinkable.
Truth was, if the match ended like this, it wouldn't matter much to outsiders. People would just think the U23 team played well while the main squad was slightly off form, then forget about it entirely. No football fan bothered remembering practice matches. But for the players themselves, it was different. They were being schooled by some rookie kid, unable to teach him a lesson in return. Worse, deep down, they felt the creeping sensation of defeat approaching. This couldn't continue. Every world-class player despised losing with every fiber of their being.
They had to break through. They had to penetrate. They had to score until it hurt. They had to reclaim every shred of dignity they'd lost.
No more words were needed.
A single glance told them everything.
Warning: Red Kaiser's "Complacent" status has been removed, resulting in a 10% increase in overall team strength.
Well then. Time to wake the sleeping tiger.
Ding
Hm? What now?
Red Kaiser has gained "Fired Up" status, increasing overall strength by an additional 20%.
Combined, that's a terrifying 30% boost...
"Everyone!! Don't let up now!! Focus—we have to stop this attacking play!!" Aran shouted his warning.
"Yes!!" Everyone responded with fierce determination.
The whistle blew. The ball flew quickly to Rains.
"Kiebler, don't drop back—I've got this. Patrick, stay ready behind me." Before Aran could finish his instructions, Rains had already jerked the ball away to the left. Aran didn't panic, immediately closing in to intercept. But Rains, once he started moving, showed no weakness, continuing to dribble and weave, trying to break free. Their duel continued in front of the penalty area.
Rains spun around, facing right, then backheeled the ball behind him. The U23 defense froze—they never expected Rains, who'd been playing solo all match, to actually pass. Worse, his target was his striking partner, Rudi.
"Don't panic!! Just block his path!!" Goalkeeper Noah quickly directed the defense.
Rudi maintained his usual calm style, dribbling in circles, patiently searching for a scoring opportunity. As he moved, his eyes caught sight of someone making a run. Without hesitation, he slipped the ball back to the empty space in the center.
"Long shot!! Get in there and block it!!"
The ball Rudi had played to the meeting point was struck cleanly by Marcus, the midfielder who'd made the run, firing toward goal.
Swoosh!!
The sound of ball hitting net rang out. The shot came with tremendous power and a deceptive curve that found the corner. Though Noah saw it coming, he couldn't turn and dive in time.
Red Kaiser's main squad had equalized!! With a beautiful long-range strike from Marcus!!
No time for celebrations. Rudi immediately ran to retrieve the ball from the back of the net to restart play. Seeing their serious, determined attitude, the U23 team began to feel genuinely unsettled.
Strength.
Both individual skills and team coordination—the main squad was truly powerful.
"It's alright, what's done is done. Let's go score one back!!" Julian tried to lift spirits, but it couldn't erase the image of that razor-sharp play. Many in the U23 squad, including Julian himself, couldn't help thinking that if the main team had played with this level of coordination from the start, they would have conceded multiple goals by now.
"What's wrong? Not confident you can get past me, so you chose to pass instead?" Aran probed Rains.
"Say whatever you want. But I won't let this team lose like this," Rains replied flatly, his eyes flashing cold for a moment.
"Take the lead first. Then you'll see how confident I am."
Both Rains and Rudi had the bad habit of being individualistic players. But that bad habit only surfaced in pressure-free practice matches. In real competition, they never showed such selfish play. Now both world-class wingers had cast aside their bad habits, because they saw this match as a battle they absolutely had to win.
The ball was kicked off again. Aran led it across the halfway line, but he hadn't gotten far when that voice rang out.
"Rains!! Turas!!"
The two main pillars of the senior squad rushed in to challenge for the ball. Suddenly, Aran froze, losing possession to the pair.
"Hey!! Get back quickly!!" Julian shouted.
This was bad!
Losing the ball in midfield like this was a massive error for the U23 team, but a golden opportunity for the main squad.
Rains wouldn't let this chance slip away. In the blink of an eye, he'd sprinted to the front of goal.
Patrick stood blocking his path. Rains could have dribbled around him to shoot, but he didn't. Instead, he flicked the ball left to Kimmel, who'd made an overlapping run. Kimmel carried it almost to the byline before cutting it back into the box.
Defender Sven hadn't anticipated the cutback. His sliding tackle to intercept the initial cross proved useless. Kimmel's delivery reached the front of goal and was simply poked home by the ever-opportunistic striker Michael.
Red Kaiser's main squad had scored the equalizer!!
Another goal conceded... and so easily too.
The mental state of the U23 players plunged further into despair. But there was still one person who didn't feel that way—instead of despair, he felt irritation. That was Kiebler.
"Aran, what the hell was that! That's not like you at all!!"
Actually, Kiebler wasn't angry because Aran had lost the ball and led to the goal. He was furious because after losing possession, Aran had just stood there instead of running back to win it back.
Kiebler ran over, planning to have it out with him. But when he arrived, he couldn't speak. Aran's right hand was clutched to his heart. His face was down, breathing heavily as if he'd just finished a marathon.
"Aran, is it your heart...?"
Damn it!! This stupid heart—couldn't it give him just ten more minutes?
Aran's heart was now beating erratically like a frenzied drum, making it impossible to control his breathing.
"Hey!! Aran, are you okay?!"
Shit. Is this all I can manage? Aran cursed inwardly.
Just as he was about to give up, the Arcana necklace hidden beneath his shirt began to glow.
A holographic message appeared before Aran once again.
Calculating skill appropriate for current situation ... ... ... Complete
Use 0.1 Arcana points to activate Immortal skill for 5 minutes
Immortal skill will render the body in a state of complete immortality. All diseases and injuries will have no effect.
Current Arcana points: 0.3. If used, remaining points will be 0.2
Do you wish to use Arcana points?
Immortal skill? All diseases rendered ineffective? Of course—what other choice was there in this situation?
Confirmed
Activating Immortal skill
Body is now in a state of complete immortality (4:59 remaining)