Project Mbappe

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Nothing exciting really happened for the rest of the match. After James Charles pulled a goal back, they pressed heavily for the equalizer, but Jeremiah Hayes Football Institution managed to keep their cool and even went close to extending the lead a couple of times. Ultimately, the match ended with a 2–1 scoreline.

[Ding!]

As soon as the referee blew his whistle to signify the end of the match, Jerry heard the sound of a bell chime. This time, though, the bell chime wasn't followed by any kind of notification. It was just a bell chime.

"Weird," Jerry muttered under his breath as he shook the captain of the opposing team's hand.

Jeremiah had a small frown on his face as the match ended. He turned to look at James. "Alright, I'm leaving now. Write down all the names that you think will be good enough to play for us and anyone else who looks very technical or physical."

"What's with your obsession with physical players?" James raised an eyebrow. Since the match started, Jeremiah had been going on and on about those two attributes. Even the players he had in his academy showed how much he prioritized those things.

"You'll see... You'll see." Jeremiah leisurely waved one of his hands and stepped out of the stadium through the back exit. He didn't want to be seen and mobbed by the masses. Even though he was forced into early retirement, he was still quite famous. In fact, he was a lot more famous than many current footballers.

"You'll see... You'll see," James mockingly muttered a few seconds after Jeremiah exited the stadium. He stared at the abundance of names he had written on his notepad and had an urge to cancel everything out.

"I want to do so much... But I can't. He'll definitely kill me... Damnit!"

In the end, James could only turn to another page and write down the fixture that would soon be played.

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Locker Room

"Good match, lads!" Victor said with a smile as he entered the locker room. He was met with what most would consider a very disturbing sight: half-naked teenagers playing around with some of their clothes slung about. There was only one person still fully kitted, sitting at the back of the locker room.

"We played well, and we won... The two most important things in a match. We could've scored more, for sure, but we didn't lose, so I'll let it slide. You'll have tomorrow off to rest, and we'll do some light training the day after tomorrow so you won't be too tired for the quarter-finals."

Everyone in the locker room looked happy enough with the arrangement. After a few more words of encouragement, Victor left the locker room.

Jerry wasn't really focused on what Victor was saying. Halfway through Victor's speech, he heard another bell chime, and this time it was followed by a bunch of notifications.

[Ding!]

[System bonus download complete]

[Host has been granted ten free points]

[Host has until the end of next week to allocate all his points, or they will be retracted by the system]

Jerry stared at the notifications for a few seconds. His first thought was to spend all the stat points at that moment, but after a bit of consideration, he decided against it. He would need time to consider what he needed to add to his game the most.

"Oi! Good match, bro."

While Jerry was thinking, Moses walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. Jerry smiled in response and nodded his head.

"Yeah. We dog-walked them."

"We didn't," Moses scoffed. "We would've if you forwards did your jobs."

"You're forgetting that I'm basically another midfielder," Jerry said with a smile. He removed his kit and used a towel to wrap around his waist. "Zach and uh... the other twat are the ones you should be screaming at."

"Did you actually forget Jordan's name?" Moses asked, his lips twitching as he tried his best not to laugh. "Bro's been here since he was nine, and you really can't remember his name?"

"I've been here a few months, so..." Jerry shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower before my sweat dries."

"You know scouts watched us today?" All of a sudden, Moses' face turned serious. "They're probably monitoring a few of us already."

"Yeah," Jerry said slowly. "The gaffer mentioned it." Jerry was confused as to why Moses brought up the scouts all of a sudden.

"Now, you're the son of Jeremiah Hayes. You know, even if you don't do well, you'll probably still get scouted to a top club, but it's not the same for me." Moses looked down as he talked. "We both know that I'm probably not going to get scouted. And don't try to encourage me—I think it's pretty clear to both of us that I'm not good enough."

Jerry was prepared to say something encouraging, but after hearing Moses' second statement, he decided against it.

"I just want you to promise that if you go on and make it—if you actually become as good as your dad wants you to be—I want you to promise that things won't change between us. You've been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and we've come a long way together," Moses said.

Jerry was quiet for a few moments. He didn't think the recent developments had caused Moses to feel this way. He stretched out his hand and smiled at Moses.

"I promise. No matter what happens, things won't change between us. You'll always be my best friend," Jerry said. After he finished speaking, he gagged. "That was so cringe, man. Don't ever make me do anything like this again."

Moses nodded. "Agreed. I don't even know how you said those words with a straight face."

"You caused—"

"Don't you dare blame me for that," Moses said with a laugh. "You could've just said, 'I promise.' You didn't have to say all that cringe stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, leave me alone," Jerry said with a shrug as he started walking toward the shower.

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