[Ding! Congratulations, host! 20 laps completed! 2 system points awarded!]
[Ding! Congratulations, host! 40 minutes of ball-work training completed! 1 system point awarded!]
[...]
At Sarria Stadium, Leon was working through drill after drill in the light rain.
Leon had gradually worked out the daily cap on system points that could be earned through training, which stood at 10 points per day.
So Leon's training had taken on a frantic quality, pushing every session until he had maxed out the daily limit.
What gave Leon even greater comfort was that hard work paid off.
On the sixth consecutive day of relentless training, he had finally accumulated a total of 500 system points and unlocked the [Badge System].
[Ding! Detected that system points accumulated by host across all channels have reached 500! The [Badge System] can now be unlocked!]
Leon now had two modules available to use: the System Shop and the Badge System.
The items in the System Shop were divided into several categories.
Special Items: such as [Injury Recovery Potion] and [Free Trial Card: Choose Any].
Equipment: such as [Boots] and [Kit].
Items in this category were invisible when worn and carried special effects.
For example, Vision +10.
For example, Command of Area +5.
For example, Injury Resistance +10%.
The higher the quality of the equipment, the stronger the attribute bonus it provided.
Equipment bonuses could also push attributes beyond the maximum cap of 20.
The prices, however, were steep.
5,000 system points would only stretch to a single Silver-grade piece of equipment.
Bronze-grade equipment was the lowest quality available and still cost 3,000 system points.
The final category was more unusual: Trait Cards.
For example, [Throwing Master].
This would increase the success rate and accuracy of throwing the ball out by hand.
But it would reduce the success rate and accuracy of kicking from the hands.
The higher the quality, the stronger both the primary and secondary effects.
Trait Cards were one-time consumables, however.
They only applied for a single match.
These would need to be selected based on the opposition.
Since they were one-time consumables and each came with a drawback, the price was relatively modest at 1,000 system points.
Used wisely, the System Shop could give Leon a powerful immediate edge.
Leon also looked into the [Badge System] that had just been unlocked.
Badges could be drawn from star players in the opposing squad.
Certain conditions had to be met, of course.
The match had to be won.
And a clean sheet had to be kept at the same time.
Meeting both conditions simultaneously was not going to be straightforward for Leon.
"That's Leon Feng?"
Su Jing had already arrived at Sarria Stadium and was watching as Leon finished a rest and started running laps again.
He was still 3 system points short of hitting the daily training cap.
Although Leon's legs were heavy with exhaustion, he was still gritting his teeth and pushing through.
It was all worth it.
The more drills completed in a day, the fewer system points each subsequent one yielded.
Leon had no choice but to tough it out and grind through the time.
Beyond the system points, the days of punishing training had not been without their own benefits.
[Stamina], [Determination] and [Work Rate] had all risen from 15 to 17.
That was the result of the gruelling training regime.
To raise those same attributes through system points, each additional point in the 16 to 20 range cost 500 points.
Leon had effectively saved himself 3,000 system points.
He felt that for those three attributes, he would not need to spend system points at all and could simply train them up to their maximum through sheer hard work.
"This is excessive."
"This kind of training is not scientific."
"The toll it takes on the body is enormous."
Up in the stands, Su Jing had been watching Leon train for quite some time without realising it.
The plan to go to the church and collect her pilgrim passport had completely slipped her mind.
'This cannot go on! I have to go and say something to him!'
'How can Leoia's training staff be this irresponsible?'
'Letting a player just train like this on his own without any supervision?'
While watching Leon train, Su Jing had already confirmed his identity through the Leoia club website.
Leon was indeed a player for Leoia in the Segunda División B, listed as a goalkeeper.
Height: 1.91 metres.
Weight: 86 kilograms.
Age: 18 this year.
Date of birth: 20th November 1996.
All of this was publicly available information on the club website.
Su Jing had also built up a solid understanding of football training methodology during her time at university.
It was necessary knowledge for someone planning to go into sports media after graduating.
In Su Jing's eyes right now, Leon was simply making a mess of his training.