Suk excitedly rubbed his hands together, turning the system interface to the card drawing page.
First, the match rewards.
Still five card slots.
Suk whispered excitedly, "Start drawing cards!"
The familiar shuffling sound and card-cutting animation played.
Before long, five cards appeared before him.
[White Card (Skill Card) — Ronaldo's Dribbling — A Ronaldo who shares a name with the alien. He dreams of becoming a player like his idol. Their dribbling styles are extremely similar, but dreams ultimately reflect reality. This Ronaldo is not that Ronaldo!]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Tross's Physicality — The beast Tross is a notorious butcher in the South American leagues. His playing style is fierce, and any player targeted by him will not have a good outcome.]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Bastia's Header — A player with excellent heading ability. Many say he is constantly jumping because he yearns for the sky!]
[White Card (Skill Card) — Ange's Ball Control — Ange has stable ball control ability. He can smoothly control any type of pass.]
[Red Card (Skill Card) — Status Recovery Card — Clears all negative statuses. Single use.]
Suk raised his eyebrows slightly. The overall quality was uneven.
Four white cards, one red card.
Among them, the Status Recovery Card was undoubtedly the best. After all, it was a leg-saving artifact.
But it appeared too frequently.
If I reach a higher-level league, will the quality of rewards increase? Suk wondered.
Thinking about this, Suk began trying out each card one by one.
In the end, only Ronaldo's Dribbling and Ange's Ball Control could be embedded.
However, both of these cards were not very useful.
Ronaldo's Dribbling was similar to Suk's current dribbling card, with little improvement.
As for ball control, Suk's own ability was already very good, and this card might not even match his level.
The only real gain from the match rewards was the Status Recovery Card.
Still, that was a very good gain. Suk nodded slightly and moved on to drawing again.
This time, it was the season reward cards — much richer rewards.
Under Suk's nervous gaze, five cards appeared again.
[White Card (Skill Card) — Modell's Save — As a goalkeeper, he has excellent goal-line saving skills, but based on his hand shape, he often tends to fumble.]
"Isn't this Bakic!" Suk muttered under his breath.
Useless. Next!
[White Card (Skill Card) — Suarez's Bite — When frustrated or irritable, he habitually vents by biting, making opponents fear him!]
Suk: "..."
Next!
[Attribute Card — Add any attribute by one point!]
A brief description, but it made a huge smile bloom on Suk's face.
It was here!
An Attribute Card, compared to skill cards, directly improved physical functions — extremely precious.
[Red Card (Skill Card) — Status Recovery Card — Clears all negative statuses. Single use.]
Suk was surprised.
Is it really that generous?
This was already the third one!
But who would complain about too many recovery cards?
Take it! Take it!
The last card.
Suk rubbed his hands together, silently praying for a good one.
[Red Card (Special Card) — Andre's Swift Feet — In sprinting, stride length determines speed, but foot frequency is also key. Andre, being short in stature, lacked stride length, but his swift foot frequency was his strength! (Increases speed by 15 points when equipped.)]
Not bad!
In football, speed was crucial.
Compared to long strides, quick foot frequency was better for ball protection.
It was a very suitable speed card for football.
And being a special card, it ignored attribute restrictions and could be equipped freely.
Finally, Suk organized everything:
Two Status Recovery Cards — including the earlier one, now he had three.
One Attribute Card and one Swift Feet card.
Suk immediately used the Attribute Card to boost his speed attribute and equipped Swift Feet.
---
Personal Panel:
[Diamond Card (Special) — Inzaghi's Awareness]
[Red Card (Skill) — Torricelli's Short Pass]
[Red Card (Special) — Andre's Swift Feet]
[Red Card (Skill) — Status Recovery Card]
[White Card (Skill) — Roberts's Dribbling]
[White Card (Skill) — Leistner's Shooting]
Attribute Panel:
Name: Suk
Height: 151 cm
Weight: 48 kg
Speed: 72 + 15
Agility: 80
Strength: 60
Explosiveness: 77
---
The speed stat had greatly increased with Swift Feet equipped, but Suk still didn't know exactly how fast he was now.
He planned to test it later — especially to see how it affected his dribbling.
The number and quality of card slots had also improved significantly.
A season's worth of effort hadn't been in vain.
It could be called a full harvest.
Now, Suk even wondered: Aside from his shortcomings, where was his real limit?
When he returned from the hill, most of the players were already gone.
Only Modrić was still silently juggling the ball in the middle of the field.
"Where is everyone?" Suk asked curiously.
Modrić: "They went to a party."
Suk nodded, then asked, "Help me measure 50 meters."
"Now?" Modrić asked in surprise, stepping on the ball. "I don't have a timer!"
"Just get a feel for it. Don't you have sprinters in your team? See how I compare."
In football, speed wasn't measured with a 100-meter dash — usually 30 to 50 meters were tested.
That's where explosive power and initial speed mattered.
Rarely did players sprint across the entire field.
Suk stood ready at the starting line.
"Ready! Go!" Modrić shouted.
With the command, Suk exploded off the line, like an arrow released from a bow.
Suk's explosiveness was already good, but what was more shocking was his sustained top speed.
Da da da da da da da!!
His footwork was astonishingly fast; Modrić's eyes could barely follow him.
In just a moment, Suk crossed the 50-meter finish line.
"How was it?" Suk asked, running back.
Modrić blurted out, "So fast!"
"Right?" Suk said, clearly pleased.
But Modrić was still stunned.
He had previously suggested Suk play midfield — but now, with this kind of speed, Suk would be perfect on the wing.
"Let's see your ball control now."
Suk picked up the ball and returned to the start line, this time preparing to dribble while sprinting.
Da da da da da da da!!
Suk ran with glee — the feeling of flying across the ground was fantastic.
The increase in speed didn't make him uncomfortable; he adapted quickly.
After crossing the line, Suk turned back to Modrić, smiling widely.
But Modrić frowned and said, "You're running too fast."
"Really?" Suk asked, still smiling.
Modrić shook his head: "I'm not praising you."
"You're running too fast."
Suk looked confused.
Modrić explained, "Speed helps in dribbling, but the key isn't pure speed — it's rhythm."
He patiently said, "You ran at full speed just now, with no reserve. If you meet a defender, you'll crash into him head-on."
Suk thought about it — and it did make sense.
"Use about 70% to 80% of your maximum speed while dribbling," Modrić said.
"When you meet a defender, you can cut back or change direction to beat him. Once you pass him, that's when you go full speed to shake him off completely. That's called rhythm."
"So, 80% for dribbling, right?" Suk confirmed.
Modrić nodded: "Exactly."
"I'll try again!"
But as Suk was about to start, Modrić quickly stopped him:
"Rest a bit first! Aren't you tired?"
Only then did Suk realize his legs were feeling a bit weak — he had just played a full match after all.
"I'll rest a little."
Suk sat down by the field.
Taking the opportunity, he used a Status Recovery Card.
Anyway, he had three now, and based on his luck with draws, he'd likely get more in the future. It wasn't a waste.
A cool sensation flowed from his head downward, washing away fatigue.
Soon, his stamina was fully restored.
Suk jumped to his feet, full of energy.
"Shall we start?"
Modrić: "???"
You just sat down!
---
That afternoon, the two continued training.
Throughout it, Modrić kept glancing at Suk strangely — like looking at a monster.
Suk's stamina was insane.
While Modrić had excellent stamina himself, Suk acted like he didn't know what fatigue even was.
For Suk, much of what Modrić taught was practical —
Not things that could be learned through regular youth training, but real, match-tested experience.
At that moment, Suk began yearning for higher-level matches, and for that goal, he seized every opportunity to improve.
---
As the season ended, Suk entered his daily work routine.
Unlike football stars vacationing on exotic islands, young players like Suk needed part-time jobs to survive.
Luckily, he found a job at Bakic's tavern, earning 2 marks per hour — enough to get through the holiday, since the team didn't pay during the break.
---
May arrived.
The world began to stir.
All eyes turned to East Asia — South Korea and Japan, hosts of the 2002 World Cup.
Even though Bosnia and Herzegovina hadn't qualified, neighboring Croatia had.
Led by the veteran Davor Šuker, Croatia once again stepped onto the world stage.
In the 1998 World Cup, Croatia had finished fourth —
This time, people hoped they would go even further.
However, some players were getting old and their form declining — unstable factors that worried many.
Even so, the Croatians in Mostar town excitedly gathered in the tavern, waiting for the World Cup .