Chapter 219: [219] "UPGRADE COMPLETE"

The cold wind sweeping across the open park carried the scent of damp earth and dead leaves. The ambient noise of the city waking up very late could be heard in the distance. Zara sat on the far left.

On the right side of the bench, Luc Beaumont sat with Rose rested against his shoulder. Her breathing had slowed. She wasn’t asleep, but she was relaxed, siphoning the body heat radiating through the thick material of his windbreaker.

Luc kept his right arm draped casually along the back of the wooden rest, allowing his legs to stretch out toward the gravel path. He was medically sound.

As he stared out at the bare branches of the massive oak trees lining the perimeter of the clearing, the familiar, translucent blue of The Everything System materialized...after so long.

It didn’t flash or demand immediate attention. It overlaid the gray morning sky with text.

[System Notification]

[Player Fitness Level: Fit.]

[Upgrading...]

[Upgrading..]

[UPGRADE COMPLETE]

Luc didn’t move his head and kept his gaze fixed forward, engaging the interface purely through his neural link.

"Long time no see," Luc greeted the system internally.

He hadn’t interacted with the interface since forever. The mandated rest period had kept him isolated from the pitch, and the system had remained dormant, offering no evaluations or prompts while he was confined to no football.

[WELCOME BACK, LUC BEAUMONT.]

[INJURY RECOVERY REACHED. INITIATING COMPENSATION PROTOCOL.]

Luc blinked, focusing on the blue text scrolling across his vision. Compensation protocol was a new phrase. TES usually operated on a strict meritocracy. Points were awarded for goals, assists, successful tactical executions, and dominant performances. The system didn’t deal in charity..."must have felt useless, not being able to help with the injury and all."

[CALCULATING...]

[MATCHDAY 26: OLYMPIQUE NANTAISE (DNP).]

[CUP QUARTER-FINAL: UNION AQUITAINE (DNP).]

[APPLYING INJURY COMPENSATION BONUS.]

The text blinked once, then expanded.

[REWARD: GENERAL POINTS (GP) TOPPED UP TO 100.]

[REWARD: SKILL POINTS (SP) TOPPED UP TO 100.]

Luc’s pulse increased slightly. He kept his reaction suppressed though, mindful of Rose resting against his shoulder, but internally, his mind was spinning rapidly.

One hundred General Points. One hundred Skill Points.

This was a massive injection of capital. He usually had to work a shit ton for a fraction of that balance. He had ground his body into dust just to secure a handful of points to purchase consumables. To have both balances instantly gifted was unprecedented.

The system wasn’t done.

[ACCESSING TES STORE...]

[RESTRICTION: PASSIVE SKILLS LOCKED DURING BONUS CYCLE.]

[CONSUMABLES CATALOG ONLY: UNLOCKED.]

Luc analyzed the restriction. It made logical sense. Passives were permanent upgrades to his physical and technical operating. Skills like Captain’s Aura, Absolute Poacher, and Physical Anchor fundamentally altered how he interacted with the pitch on a permanent basis.

Allowing him to purchase a game-breaking passive skill using unearned compensation points would violate the system’s core progression mechanics.

Consumables, however, were temporary. They were single-use weapons. Tactical band-aids designed to solve immediate crises on the grass.

The store interface populated his vision, scrolling a long list of available single-use items.

He checked his current inventory first. He still possessed two charges of Predatory Aura, the consumable that drastically amplified his finishing probability by external means for a short duration.

He needed to spend the new points efficiently. He had to look at the board state of Ligue Alpha.

Fresko was sitting at twenty-nine goals. Luc was at thirty. The Phocéen striker was a machine, fed by a relentless possession system that manufactured tap-ins easily for him. Luc’s four-goal cushion had evaporated while he sat back on his injury.

Furthermore, the title race had contracted. SC Valois had dropped points against Olympique Nantaise.

Matchday 27 against FC Côte d’Azur was looming on Sunday. It was an away fixture against a highly organized squad. They were going to cross the ball endlessly, targeting Pinto, the backup goalkeeper who refused to step off his line.

Luc needed consumables that would directly counter Côte d’Azur’s tactics and ensure he retained his lead over Fresko.

He began scrolling through the catalog.

[VACUUM TRAP]

[COST: 5 GP, 15 SP.]

[DESCRIPTION: GUARANTEES A FLAWLESS FIRST TOUCH ON ANY AIRBORNE DELIVERY. NEGATES ALL MOMENTUM, VELOCITY, SPIN, AND WEATHER INTERFERENCE. LASTS FOR ONE SINGLE TOUCH.]

Luc visualized the pitch at Côte d’Azur. He saw Pinto panicking under the pressure of a high cross. He saw the backup goalkeeper punching the ball weakly toward the edge of the penalty area. Côte d’Azur would have their central midfielders waiting to recycle that clearance and launch a secondary attack.

If Luc dropped deep into his own half, he could use the Vacuum Trap to intercept those panicked clearances. A ball falling from fifty feet in the air, spinning violently, would normally require a conservative chest trap or a headed clearance.

With this consumable, he could simply extend his boot, kill the ball dead, and instantly launch a counter-attack towards a winger.

It was a transition weapon. It turned defensive panic into immediate offensive leverage.

"Purchase two," Luc commanded.

[TRANSACTION COMPLETE. VACUUM TRAP (X2) ADDED TO INVENTORY.]

[REMAINING BALANCE: 90 GP, 70 SP.]

He continued scrolling. The list was extensive, offering temporary boosts to sprint speed, stamina regeneration, and tackle evasion. He ignored the stamina items. His conditioning was elite, and he had just rested for ten days. He needed lethality.

[CANNON HEADER]

[COST: 15 GP, 20 SP.]

[DESCRIPTION: AMPLIFIES NECK, CORE, AND SHOULDER ROTATIONAL FORCE BY 300% FOR A SINGLE AERIAL STRIKE. GUARANTEES MAXIMUM KINETIC TRANSFER REGARDLESS OF DEFENSIVE PRESSURE OR LEVERAGE DISADVANTAGE.]

Luc analyzed the mechanics. Côte d’Azur played with two massive, traditional center-backs. They were going to double-team him inside the penalty area, trying to sandwich him out of the play whenever someone whipped a cross into the box.

He remembered Amadou Fall’s goal against Union Aquitaine. The Senegalese defender had utilized raw, blunt force to drive a header straight through the hands of the opposing goalkeeper. Luc’s Physical Anchor passive allowed him to hold his ground, but he didn’t naturally possess Amadou’s raw aerial dominance.