"Slow it down a little more! Stop!"
"Cut all of that out!"
Mancini Jr. felt sweat forming on his forehead without realising it, then wiped it away.
Losing the Milan Derby had put far more pressure on Mancini Jr. than he had anticipated.
Although the management had ultimately not sacked him, the fury from the supporters had come crashing in like waves.
Honestly speaking, AC Milan had also lost the first Milan Derby earlier in the season, yet the AC Milan supporters had not reacted anything like this.
The reason was easy enough to understand.
Losing at the start of the season could still be excused with arguments about the squad needing time to gel.
But losing after the halfway point of the season meant you were simply not good enough.
Especially since, after Inter Milan dropped that Milan Derby, not only had AC Milan overtaken them on points, Inter Milan had also slipped all the way down to twelfth place in Serie A.
That was arguably Inter Milan's worst league position in several seasons.
Given all of that, it was easy to imagine just how much pressure Mancini Jr. was carrying.
And now, Mancini Jr. had suddenly latched onto what felt like a lifeline.
"Did you get your hands on the fitness test data from when Leon joined AC Milan?"
Mancini Jr. followed up.
"Got it!"
The assistant beside him handed over a stack of documents relating to Leon.
"Just as I thought!"
The corner of Mancini Jr.'s mouth twitched instinctively.
"The fitness test figures don't match up with what he's been doing on the pitch at all!"
"Several of those saves would require explosive power and reaction speed of the highest order!"
"For someone with Leon's numbers, that simply should not be possible!"
"The only explanation is that Leon took a banned substance before the match!"
Mancini Jr. was not sure whether he was explaining it to his assistant or convincing himself.
Although performance-enhancing substances did not have as dramatic an effect in football as in some other sports, that did not mean they had no effect whatsoever.
"Take it to the press and let them run it."
"Pippo, don't blame me for being ruthless."
"Neither of us has had an easy time of it this season."
Mancini Jr. murmured to himself as he thought of Inzaghi, his fellow sufferer of the season.
Both Milan clubs collapsing together this season had genuinely caught many supporters off guard.
Leon, for his part, had no idea that a serious storm was heading his way.
After beating Inter Milan, Leon received another substantial haul of System Points from the settlement!
The standard post-match settlement awarded him 108 System Points.
After completing the pre-match system mission [Win the Milan Derby], the system further rewarded him with 500 System Points.
That brought Leon's total System Points to 922.
Leon browsed through the system and found that 922 points were still far too few to do anything truly significant.
The most worthwhile use remained exchanging for attributes to keep improving his core abilities.
At this point, every module in the system had been unlocked apart from the [Talent System].
The most recently unlocked module was the [Trait System].
[Trait System]: Grants abilities that influence the entire squad!
Example: The [All-Out Attack] trait reduces the team's defensive output by x% while boosting attacking output by 2x%!
That was a trait which sacrificed defensive solidity in exchange for double the attacking output bonus.
However, [Traits] were not purchased with System Points; instead, winning a trophy was required to unlock the exchange opportunity.
Trophies included domestic cups, the league, and continental competitions.
For AC Milan specifically, those were the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Champions League.
If Leon wanted to experience the [Trait System] quickly, winning the Coppa Italia this season was something he simply had to pursue.
The Serie A title was already essentially out of reach given how poorly AC Milan had performed in the first half of the season.
Juventus had been pulling away from the rest of the table all season and currently led second-placed Roma by ten points.
As long as Juventus did not completely fall apart in the second half, they would secure the Serie A title comfortably.
'Keep pushing.'
Leon gathered himself.
After putting in such a strong performance in the Milan Derby, he had firmly established himself at AC Milan.
Although he would certainly have to compete for the starting goalkeeper position once Diego López returned from injury, Leon was not afraid of that battle.
His style of play was clearly a far better fit for Inzaghi's managerial approach.
That gave Leon a natural advantage from the outset.
'Off to training.'
Leon was still living in the dormitory at Milanello.
Since joining AC Milan, his weekly wage had risen from zero to 800 euros.
That said, when the contract had been signed, Leon had negotiated a specific clause.
Once he reached ten appearances for the first team, his weekly wage would jump to 3,000 euros.
That was well worth having.
AC Milan had never imagined Leon would get a single first-team appearance this season.
But at the rate things were going, it would not be long before his wages went up significantly.
'Looks like it's time to find an agent.'
Leon thought idly.
Because he had no agent, Leon had gone into the contract negotiations with AC Milan entirely on his own.
But due to his lack of professional expertise, the contract contained nothing beyond the wage clause.
That was because Leon stuck to one principle: the more clauses, the more ways to get caught out.
Without a proper agent, it was better to keep things simple.
"Look! That goalkeeper from the East is doing laps again!"
"Typical small-town mentality, just running laps endlessly, what's the point!"
"What do you mean what's the point? He went straight into the first-team starting lineup, that's absolutely mental!"
"Hmph! Haven't you seen the news? He's about to be in serious trouble!"
Out on the Milanello training pitch, Donnarumma was walking alongside a few youth team players when they spotted Leon doing laps.
Leon had played just one match for the youth team before being pulled straight into the first team for the Milan Derby, and that was something Donnarumma simply could not come to terms with.
He had only recently been running through his own internal monologue about how he was going to win back the starting goalkeeper spot in the U18 squad from Leon.
And then Leon had gone and joined the first team entirely.
'Turns out the fool was me all along.'
"Leon! Take a break! Someone needs to talk to you!"
First-team assistant coach Tassotti arrived at the edge of the training pitch, spotted Leon doing laps again, and a look of appreciation crossed his face.
Coaches always had a soft spot for players who trained with dedication.
But Tassotti's expression quickly turned serious again.
Leon was about to be caught in the middle of quite a significant media storm, and Tassotti was not sure whether he would be able to handle it.
"Coach! You were looking for me?"
Leon stopped his laps, a little surprised that Tassotti would come looking for him at this hour.
Today was not a scheduled training day.
Even so, Leon trained every day until he had maxed out his 10-point daily training allocation from the system.
That had long since become a habit.
"Head to the manager's office."
"There's an urgent matter that needs dealing with."
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