As soon as he mentally allowed, information that was not there before appeared in his head.
No, it was not just information, it was the understanding of how the system works.
Despite all the fantasy elements involved with the system, its functionality was simple. It provided him a platform to track his progress. It will show him how much he improved each day, each training session, and how much more it will take him to reach the next milestone.
It also provided him with advanced level mentoring, corrections for his every action on and off the field, related to football. It also provided him with accelerated learning capabilities.
But that's it.
It doesn't it doesn't give him points to add; it doesn't achieve instant power ups. It doesn't provide him with those cards or potions he read about in every novel.
The missions it provides him also doesn't come with penalties or rewards. It just guides him silently. It helps him improve if he wishes to improve.
It doesn't make him the GOAT; it doesn't make him the football god.
It is just a clutch for a talentless player to overcome the talented. It is just tool for the professional to progress down the right path.
Even though it sounds simple, or may be lacklustre, it is also a very powerful tool if he uses it the right way.
The progress tracker will measure his progress. It will motivate him to always improve, to be always better than his self of the previous day. The mentorship helps him to correct mistakes from the beginning—not to make bad habits, to achieve efficiency, to solve problems that even coaches may not understand.
For every thing else, he has to rely on himself. He has to decide on which direction he wants improve, he can decide what type of player he wants to become.
He has to fight for every victory and every point. So, he doesn't have to be ashamed that his victories, not face the reality that greatness was given to him.
He closed his eyes and thought about the system—that blue screen. As if responding to his intention, it flickered to life in his vision:
----------------------------
FOOTBALL MASTERY SYSTEM
=== HOST STATUS ===
Name: Marco ReusAge: 15 years, 7 months
Current Date: August 2004
Location: Borussia Dortmund Youth Academy
=== OVERALL RATING ===
58/100 (Below Average Youth Player)
Warning: At current trajectory, release from academy likely within 8 months.
----------------------------
*Below average. * He'd known that, technically—Dortmund had released the real Reus in 2005. But seeing it spelled out like a video game stat screen made it brutally clear.
He focused his attention on the screen, and it shifted, expanding:
----------------------------
=== TECHNICAL SKILLS ===
DRIBBLING (Overall: 68/100)
[ Close Control]
│ ├─ Ball Rolls: 6.8/10
│ ├─ La Croqueta: 4.2/10
│ ├─ Body Feints: 7.1/10
│ └─ Drag Backs: 6.5/10
[Speed Dribbling]
│ ├─ Controlled Sprint: 7.3/10
│ ├─ Touch Spacing: 6.9/10
│ └─ Direction Changes: 7.0/10
[Beat Defender]
├─ Step Over: 5.8/10
├─ Double Touch: 6.2/10
├─ Elastico: 3.5/10
└─ Simple Cut Inside: 7.5/10★
SHOOTING (Overall: 62/100)
[Finishing]
│ ├─ Placed Shot (Inside Foot): 6.8/10 ★
│ ├─ Power Shot (Laces): 6.0/10
│ ├─ Chip Shot: 5.5/10
│ └─ First-Time Finish: 6.3/10
[Long Shots]
│ ├─ Curled Shot: 6.5/10 ★
│ ├─ Dipping/Knuckleball: 4.8/10
│ └─ Low Driven Shot: 6.2/10 ★
[Set Pieces]
├─ Dipping Shot Freekick: 5.2/10
├─ Curled Freekick: 5.0/10
└─ Penalty: 6.0/10
...
.....
-----------------------------
The list continued—passing, first touch, physical attributes, mental skills, tactical understanding. Everything broken down into granular detail, each skill and sub-skill rated on a scale from 0 to 10.
Marco stared at the numbers, his analytical mind from his previous life recognizing patterns immediately. The stars marked natural talents—the cut inside move at 7.5, placed shots, through balls. These were the foundations to build on.
But what caught his attention most was a separate notification flashing at the bottom:
-----------------------------
BODY OPTIMIZATION: COMPLETE
Previous Status: Injury-Prone Physiology
- Weak ligament structure
- Muscle fiber susceptibility to tears
- Poor recovery capacity
- Estimated career: 60% availability due to injuries
Current Status: Optimized Athletic Foundation
- Enhanced ligament elasticity: +200%
- Muscle fiber resilience: +180%
- Recovery capacity: +250%
- Estimated career: 95%+ availability
Note: This is a permanent, one-time enhancement. Maintain through proper training and injury prevention protocols.
-------------------------------
Marco let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. *So that's what that pain was. The system... fixed him. Fixed the injuries before they could happen.
The implications were staggering. The real Marco Reus had been plagued by injuries throughout his career—pulled hamstrings, torn ligaments, ankle problems that kept him out for months at a time.
The 2014 World Cup. The 2016 Euros. Countless crucial matches missed.
All because of a body that broke too easily. And now... now that was gone.
"Okay," Marco said aloud to the empty room.
"Okay. So, I won't get injured. That's... that's huge. But I still need to be good enough to stay here."
He focused on the system again, and a new screen appeared:
----------------------------
TRAINING GUIDANCE AVAILABLE
Current Focus Recommendations:
1. Cut Inside Move (7.5/10 → Target: 8.0/10)
- Natural talent detected
- High-value skill for left winger
- Estimated training time: 40-50 quality repetitions
2. Through Balls (6.8/10 → Target: 7.5/10)
- Tactical intelligence advantage detected
- Critical for playmaker role
- Estimated training time: 30-40 quality repetitions
3. Placed Shot Finishing (6.8/10 → Target: 7.5/10)
- Natural accuracy detected
- Essential for goal-scoring
- Estimated training time: 50-60 quality repetitions
Injury Prevention Protocol: Daily yoga and flexibility routine loaded. Duration: 30 minutes.
----------------------------
Marco felt a rush of... something. Not quite excitement. Not quite fear. Something in between. This was real. The system was real. And it was giving him a roadmap.
He stood, wincing slightly—not from injury, but from the fatigue of the optimisation the system has provided him. His new fifteen-year-old body was fit but not conditioned. That would take time.
Time I have- eight months. Maybe less.
He walked to the mirror and really looked at himself for the first time. Marco Reus at fifteen was lean, almost skinny. Not the polished athlete he'd become, but the raw material was there. Good facial structure. Athletic build. And those eyes—intense blue eyes that looked too old for the young face.
Because they are, Marco thought. Because I'm twenty-eight years old in here.
The absurdity of it threatened to overwhelm him again. Yesterday—was it yesterday? Time was meaningless now—he'd been Mark the warehouse worker, living a small, forgettable life. Now he was Marco Reus, fifteen years old, at a professional football academy, with a video game-style system in his head and the memories of watching this exact person's entire career.
"I know everything," he whispered to his reflection. "I know you almost get released. I know you go to Rot Weiss Ahlen. I know you come back to Dortmund in 2012. I know you win titles, win the Ballon d'Or in 2013... no, wait."
He froze. In the original timeline, Reus had never won the Ballon d'Or. Had never even come close, despite the talent. Injuries had derailed him. Missed tournaments had cost him international glory. Loyalty to Dortmund—admirable but arguably foolish—had kept him from the super clubs where Ballon d'Or winners were forged.
But what if none of that happens now? The thought sent electricity through his veins. What if I can change it? Not just survive, but thrive? What if I can make him—make me—into what he should have been?
The system screen flickered:
-----------------------------
Tutorial Complete: Understanding Acquired
Mission Updated:
Prevent Release from Academy
- Current Skill Level: Insufficient
- Time Remaining: 8 months
- Required Progress: Overall rating 65/100 minimum
Recommendation: Begin training as soon as possible.
Next training session: 6:00 AM tomorrow
Suggestion: Rest. Teenage body requires 8-9 hours sleep for optimal performance.
------------------------------
Marco laughed—a short, slightly hysterical sound. The system was right, of course. His body—this young, fragile, newly-optimized body—was exhausted. The cellular reconstruction had taken a toll he was only now feeling. Every muscle ached. His eyes felt heavy.
But his mind was racing. How could he sleep knowing all this? Knowing he was living in the body of one of his childhood heroes, with the power to change history?
Still, the system was probably right. He needed rest. Needed to be sharp tomorrow.
I was born in 1989, he thought wonderingly. I'm fifteen years old. I have my whole life ahead of me. A second chance.
Then he came to decision- He wouldn't just survive this. He wouldn't just avoid the injuries and the mistakes.
He would become a legend.
Not the "what if" story that had haunted football fans in his previous life. But the real thing. The player Marco Reus should have been.
"Let's see," he murmured to himself, "No injuries. Seventeen years of tactical knowledge. A system that can guide my training. And I know exactly what not to do."
He smiled—the first real smile since waking up in this impossible situation.
"Yeah. I can work with this."