Wang Shuo's consciousness entered a very strange space.
The soft turf under his feet felt incredibly real.
The surrounding stands were blurred, but he could still feel an imposing presence.
This was definitely a magnificent, massive, modern stadium.
Before him, a massive football three meters in diameter floated in mid-air at eye level.
If Newton saw this, he'd probably be rolling in his grave.
To the side was the Personal Attribute Panel, displaying the personal attributes he had just seen.
The thing that caught his attention the most was the Passive Value.
He had a very strong feeling that this was an extremely important stat.
But what it was for or how to obtain it, he didn't know yet.
On this giant football, every pentagonal panel was dim, making it impossible to see what was on them.
Each corner was connected to the adjacent pentagons by a faint, almost invisible thread, forming the sphere.
When Wang Shuo selected "Yes," the giant football began to rotate slowly.
It spun faster and faster.
Wang Shuo found it amazing.
'This must be the random draw.'
'What will I get?'
After the football reached its maximum speed, it began to slow down again.
Slower and slower.
Finally, it stopped.
The pentagon facing Wang Shuo instantly lit up, bursting with a dazzling light.
A system message immediately appeared in Wang Shuo's mind.
"Congratulations, Wang Shuo. By using the Passive Skill Card, you have drawn the Professional Level Passive Skill: [Breathing]."
"[Breathing]: Improves stamina and endurance by regulating breathing."
Holy crap!
Wang Shuo was ecstatic.
'It's that awesome?'
This Passive Skill called [Breathing] could actually improve his stamina and endurance?
Didn't that mean he could run more and for longer during training and matches?
Back when he was in youth training in China, the Huairun Football School had the most advanced philosophy, placing great emphasis on footwork.
But Gao Huairen, having played in Germany for many years, also knew very well that on the football field, physical fitness was everything.
This was especially true after seeing the success of Hiddink's South Korean national team in 2002.
Therefore, at the Huairun Football School, in addition to drilling their technique, every student had another important task: building their physical fitness.
As one of the top players in the school's youth academy, Wang Shuo's fitness was among the best.
And now, he could improve his fitness even further.
At 17, Wang Shuo was mostly done growing. Standing at 1.8 meters tall, his speed and explosive power were his sharpest weapons.
On the football field, the most dangerous applications of speed and explosive power were high-speed sprints and shuttle runs.
But these were also the most draining.
With the [Breathing] Passive Skill improving his stamina and endurance, wouldn't he be able to leverage his advantages in speed and explosive power more frequently?
When Wang Shuo focused his attention on [Breathing] under the Passive Skills section of his Personal Attribute Panel, more information instantly appeared.
"[Breathing], Current Level: Professional Level. Next Level: Regional Level."
"Upgrade requires 50 Passive Value. Current Passive Value: 0."
This meant the Passive Skill could be upgraded further, becoming stronger and stronger.
'If I upgrade this Passive Skill to the highest level, wouldn't I become a tireless bull?'
'Sprinting all over the field for a full 90 minutes, repeatedly charging without a care for stamina... that's just insane!'
Wang Shuo was in a state of disbelief.
But he quickly calmed himself down.
Because he hadn't yet found a way to acquire Passive Value.
50 points might not seem like much, but they were surely difficult to obtain.
After exiting the Personal Attribute Panel, Wang Shuo once again looked at the enormous football floating in mid-air.
Of the many pentagons, only one was lit.
'Does this mean that every panel holds a Passive Skill?'
'What would it look like if they were all lit up?'
And the faint threads connecting the corners of each pentagon also seemed to represent some kind of connection.
This system still had so many amazing functions waiting to be discovered.
At this thought, Wang Shuo was fired up!
He clearly realized that the Five Major European Leagues might not be so far out of reach after all.
...
The next morning, when Thomas Essien came to call Wang Shuo for breakfast, a sweat-drenched Wang Shuo had just returned from practicing outside.
This had been Wang Shuo's habit for years.
He always trained the hardest and with the most effort of anyone.
Thomas Essien also felt he deserved better.
The kid was clearly talented, willing to work hard, and had good skills.
So why wasn't any team willing to give him a chance to prove himself?
If he were a Brazilian—no, any South American player—he probably would have been signed long ago.
But he just had to be from China.
After breakfast, Thomas Essien drove Wang Shuo to Mainz.
On the way, he explained the current situation at Mainz while driving.
"Among the 36 teams in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga, Mainz has always been the most looked-down-upon. They have a nickname: Arsch."
"Arsch?" Wang Shuo's German was decent, but he still didn't understand the word.
Thomas Essien, who was driving, turned his head and chuckled. "It's German slang. It means 'ass.' To put it crudely, 'idiot' or 'trash.'"
Wang Shuo learned something new.
It seemed this team had always been a target of contempt.