The Goalkeeping System

Dave was conflicted by the voice in his head and the messages that just popped up in his field of vision but that wasn't the rest of the messages.

[ Player Profile ]

[ Name: Dave Richard ]

[ Player level: 1 ]

[ 100/100 HP ]

[ 0/100 EXP ]

[ Position: Goalkeeper ]

[ Goalkeeping skills: none ]

[ 100/100 Energy ]

[ Skill points: 0 ]

[ Physical Status ]

[ Strength: 15 ]

[ Dexterity: 5 ]

[ Endurance: 10 ]

"What the heck is all of this?" Dave said staring at the screen.

<It seems your goalkeeping career isn't going that well Dave> He heard the female monotone voice say in his head again.

"Who are you?" Dave asked.

<My name is Catherine an AI built into your system>

"AI?"

<Yes artificial intelligence and I'm here to help you improve as a goalkeeper>

Dave wanted to laugh out loud, how the hell did a voice in his head think it was going to improve him as a goalkeeper?

<It may sound unbelievable but you get exp with every quest you're given and each quest completed grants you exp for leveling up>

"What type of quests?"

<I am sorry but the quests are not generated by me>

"What do you mean…."

[ Daily quests received ]

[ Run two kilometers every day]

[ Drink two liters of water every day]

[ Spend two hours in the gym every day]

"What type of quests are these and why do all of them have the number two?"

<Those are the quests necessary for your body now>

"Do I have to do all of them?" Dave asked.

<It's not mandatory but if you want the exp to level up and increase your stats you will have to do them>

Dave was about to reply to her when he started hearing footsteps coming up the stairs. He dropped the box quickly, climbed out of the small underground room, closed it with the wooden door, and then covered the broken part with his rug.

"Dave," Emma called as she slowly entered the room.

"Emma." Dave with a surprised voice as she wasn't the one he was expecting to see.

"I was waiting for you outside when I saw you leave with your car," Emma said slowly walking toward him. "That's very unlike you not to look for me after a match."

Dave had his eyes fixed on the spot that he had covered with the rug as Emma approached it.

"Emma no." He tried to warn her but it was already too late as she had stepped on the exact spot where the hole was.

It wasn't exactly too late as he grabbed her arm before she could fall into the hole. Emma was breathing heavily as she looked down at the hole and looked up at Dave.

"Why is there a hole on your floor?" She asked.

Dave pulled her up and led her to his bed where he explained everything up to the point where the gloves had disappeared but he didn't tell her about the strange system and Catherine because Catherine had said something.

<I think you should keep the new development on your body to yourself for now>

"So you're saying strange gloves just rose up from the box and disappeared," Emma said.

"Yeah," Dave said.

Emma stared at him for a while without saying anything and he knew very well what that stare meant.

"You don't believe me," Dave said.

"Yeah because you sound quite unbelievable."

Dave stared at her for a while before turning to the hole on his floor.

"Just forget about it," Dave said with a depressed tone.

"Hey come on," Emma said, pulling closer to him. "I know you're sad about what happened tonight."

"I'm not sad, I'm just disappointed in myself," Dave said.

"Hey, don't you ever say you're disappointed in yourself," Emma said, grabbing him by his face and pulling it closer to hers. "You just need a few more seasons to adapt to the style of professional football."

"How many more seasons Emma, this is my second season, and I still….."

His voice got muffled before he could finish what he was saying as Emma had closed it in a way he wasn't going to resist.

"Stop worrying over nothing, you'll get a hang of it and besides it's not like you guys are in the relegation zone, you have just a few more matches and even if you lose all those matches you'll still be safe," Emma said after pulling out from the kiss.

"But I don't want to lose any of those matches, I just want to help my team to see if we can try and secure a conference league spot," Dave said.

"You can still do it," Emma said, grabbing his hands. "I know a lot of them out there don't believe in you but I do."

"Thanks, Em, you're the best," Dave said with a smile.

"Yeah," Emma said, smiling back at him. "Have you eaten?"

"No," Dave replied.

"Ok let me make dinner for you," Emma said getting up from the bed.

"No Emma, don't stress yourself, we could order pizza," Dave said.

"No pizza, I'm making dinner myself," Emma said walking out of the room. "You should fix that hole."

Dave ate the meal prepared by Emma and he could say it was quite appetizing, unlike the last time she cooked for him.

"Did you take a cooking class?" Dave asked.

"Yes, I knew you didn't like my food last time no matter how much you tried to hide it."

"Sorry babe," Dave said. "But you've really upped your game this time."

"Anyone can improve, you just have to follow the right process," Emma said.

"Right process." He repeated in his mind as he got up from his seat.

"Where are you going, there's water on the table?" Emma said.

"I want to grab a juice from the fridge," Dave said.

"If you wanted juice you could have just told me to bring it," Emma said, getting up from her seat.

"No, it's okay I'll grab it by myself," Dave said.

He walked to the fridge in the kitchen and pulled it open to reveal the variety of drinks in it.

His eyes darted towards the orange juice but that wasn't the reason he was here as his gaze turned to the large water bottle with a label of two liters written on it.

"I just hope I don't wet my bed tonight after drinking all of this." He said as he grabbed the bottled water.

He slowly opened it, raised it above his mouth, and allowed everything to pour in.

[ Daily quest completed ]

[ Drink two liters of water ]

[ +5 exp received ]

"Dave," Emma called.

Dave turned to see Emma standing at the side and it seemed like she had seen him gulp down all that water.

"I thought you wanted to grab a juice." She said with a surprised expression.

______ _______

The sun shone through the window and immediately it touched Dave's face he shot his eyes open and then slowly slipped out of Emma's hands.

He slowly made his way down the stairs and made his way to the fridge where he grabbed the last two liters of bottled water and gulped it down at a go.

[ Daily quest completed ]

[ Drink two liters of water ]

[ +5 exp received ]

<Great now it's time for your two kilometre run>

"Yeah," Dave said, looking into his watch.

*****

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