My Goalkeeping System

'Just as I said, Catherine, it was quite easy to figure out but I tried to keep it out of my mind because of that thing you said but my mind kept coming back to it and then.'

<You opened your inner Subconscious>

'Yeah, I started thinking about it and you just couldn't hear me.'

It was a bright new day in the home of the Richards and disregarding what happened last night, Dave got up early to kick off his day the way he usually did, with some training.

He was in the gym now running on the treadmill while having a little chat with Catherine.

<To be honest I would have confirmed my suspicion of you being a dunce if you weren't able to figure it out with everything I told you>

'That's sort of rude but I guess you're right.'

<Hmmm>

'So, are you going to tell me about him?' The goalkeeper asked subconsciously before slowly getting off the treadmill. 'You've been with him for quite a long time just like you're with me now, right?'

<Well, I guess there's no harm in that>

'Great, you can tell me all about him while I make breakfast for Emma.'

With Emma now in the second trimester of her pregnancy, she was starting to find it hard to do some of the things she used to easily do in the house, so he took it upon himself to help her out any day he didn't really have anything urgent to deal with.

Today was one of those days, they had a training session in the evening so he had a lot of time to spare until then.

Catherine told him almost everything he wanted to know as he prepared something in the kitchen and he got distracted a couple of times when she mentioned a skill being used.

'So he never really uses his attributes unless you make him do so?'

<Yeah, and he also didn't like using his skills but he instinctively activated them during matches>

'So, he just wanted the system to go away.' Dave said subconsciously before throwing the pepper he chopped up into the pot.

<Yeah, to him, it felt like cheating because he believed that the other players didn't have the kind of abilities he had but I explained it to him>

'Oh, and how did you explain it to him?' He inquired before closing the pot.

<It's not cheating when it's something that's a part of you>

'Huh?'

<I already explained this to you, but the system will always go from generation in this family>

'Huh? But what if I didn't open that box under my room that day?'

<Oh, that was just something I set up to make everything look cool, if you had failed to take the bait that day you would have still heard a ding in your head with all the system messages. The system has always been with you since the day you decided to become a goalkeeper, I just wanted to see how far you could go without it, but sadly, compared to your grandfather you were a huge pessimist>

'So the system is a part of us and is passed down from one generation of goalkeepers to the other.' The goalkeeper recapped in his mind. 'But how did this system even come to be, Catherine?'

<I can't go into details because I wasn't there from the beginning but I can tell you that this world didn't use to be this peaceful a long time ago>

'Peaceful? There's been two world wars and there's always disputes breaking out here and there.'

<Trust me, Dave, those are nothing compared to how things were back then>

"Seriously?" The goalkeeper muttered as his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

<Yes, I'm serious but that's not the point, but the system has always belonged to this family but it wasn't a goalkeeper's assist from the start>

'Huh? Then what was it meant for?'

<Football wasn't a thing back then so there was no need for it, it served a more useful purpose back then, questionable but useful>

'Questionable?'

<Don't think too much about it, come to think of it, your unborn son will be the third Devon in this family>

'Wait, so my grandfather was the second? Who was the first then?'

<You wouldn't know him but just know that he's the main reason why you got to see a world like this, he's the reason this world still exists>

'Okay, now my head is spinning.'

<Huh?>

'All this sounds like something straight from a fantasy novel.'

<Well, you have a system, that's something straight from a fantasy novel>

'I guess you have a point.'

"Anyway, let's see how this is doing." He muttered before opening the pot to check his chicken soup.

'This world is a strange place.'

_______ _______

Three days later, the players had to return to the Bilbeth Premier League.

They were up against Junami United this time around and according to this season's statistics, they were the better team.

However, after that loss against Lyon, some people were starting to reconsider who they believed were going to come out on top in the match.

The last two matches had been quite something for them, beating Supreme United for the first time in a while and then going on to pick up their first loss in the Europa Conference League.

Before that match, everyone believed that they would crush Junami United but now, they believed that their morale would be low because of the loss and Junami United would have the chance to beat them.

That was a possibility because it has happened to a couple of teams in the past but they should have given a bit more thought to it because there was also another possibility.

The referee's whistle pierced through the air the third time as Unique FC players raised their hands with bright smiles on their faces.

It was another victory for them in the league, but it wasn't just any victory because the scoreboard displayed six goals to zero as the final score of the match.

They failed to consider the possibility of them taking out their anger on Junami United after their loss against Lyon and that was just what happened here today.

Unique FC ran riot on Junami United throughout that match but somebody was pretty awful that day even with that scoreline.

No goal, no assist and he kept losing the ball throughout the game. Surprisingly it was Mateo who could be seen panting on the sidelines with both of his hands on his knees.

"What is going on?"