Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid.Champions League Group Stage - Matchday 1.Real Madrid vs Bologna.Minute 0.
The anthem ended. The roar began.
Eighty-five thousand fans screaming Hala Madrid created a wall of sound that vibrated in Rio's chest. This wasn't just a stadium. It was a colosseum designed to swallow opponents whole. The roof was closed, trapping the noise inside, amplifying it until it felt like physical pressure pressing against his eardrums.
Rio looked at the center circle. Noah Lami stood over the ball. The nineteen-year-old prodigy didn't look nervous. He looked like he was waiting for a bus. His heart rate, visible on Rio's scanner, was a resting 45 bpm.
[System Notification][Match Start Cost: 5 Days Deducted.][Remaining Lifespan: 605 Days.]
Rio gritted his teeth. Five days for one night. Make it count.
The referee blew the whistle.
Minute 3.The Speed of Light.
The game didn't start slowly. There was no "feeling out" process. Real Madrid flipped a switch instantly. Federico Valverde received the ball and sprinted.
In Serie A, Rio was used to a tactical, methodical pace. Here, it was Heavy Metal.
The ball moved from Valverde to Jude Bellingham to Vinicius Jr. in three seconds. Bologna's defenders were spinning. "Close them down!" Tyler Stone's expensive French midfielder screamed, but he was chasing ghosts.
Vinicius cut inside and saw Noah Lami making a run. It was a simple run. A straight line between the two center-backs, Sam Beukema and Jhon Lucumi. Beukema saw it. He had a two-meter head start. He turned to sprint.
But then, physics seemed to break.
Noah Lami accelerated. It wasn't a gradual buildup. It was instantaneous torque. One moment he was behind Beukema, the next he was three meters in front. A System Warning flashed red: [Opponent Speed > 36 km/h].
Vinicius played the through ball. Noah didn't even take a touch to control it. He hit it first time. A sweeping shot into the bottom corner. Lukasz Skorupski, the Bologna keeper, hadn't even moved before the net rippled behind him.
GOAL.Real Madrid 1 - 0 Bologna.
The stadium erupted. Rio stared at the jumbotron. The clock read 02:48. Less than three minutes.
Noah didn't celebrate wildly. He just high-fived Vinicius and walked back to the center circle, adjusting his socks. It was terrifyingly efficient.
"He didn't even sweat," Rio whispered.
Minute 15.The Pressing Machine.
Bologna was drowning. Every time they got the ball, a white shirt was there. Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni were physical monsters in the midfield. They ate Bologna's new midfielders alive.
Rio was isolated. He dropped deep to the halfway line, waving his arms. "Give me the ball!"
Skorupski had the ball at his feet. He was being pressured by Noah. Panicked, Skorupski smashed a long, high clearance toward the sideline.
It was a terrible pass. A "Garbage Ball". It was spinning violently, dropping from a height of twenty meters, right near the touchline. Two Real Madrid players—Valverde and Carvajal—were sprinting toward the landing spot to crush whoever tried to control it.
Rio ran toward the landing zone.
"He can't control that," Adrian whispered from the stands. "If he touches it, it will bounce away, and Madrid will counter."
Rio looked at the spinning ball. He didn't think about mechanics. He let the System take over.
[Skill Active: The Omniscient Trap (Passive)]
Rio didn't lift his foot to cushion it. He simply placed the outside of his boot on the grass, creating a wedge. The ball hit his foot. Physics dictated it should bounce wildly due to the spin. But the ball... died.
Thump.
It hit his foot and stopped dead instantly, killing all rotation. Furthermore, the Passive effect calculated the "Pressure Radius". Valverde was coming from the left. Carvajal from the right. The ball didn't just stop; it rolled three inches to the Back, exactly into the only safe pocket of space available.
Valverde and Carvajal collided with each other, missing Rio completely. The Bernabéu crowd, usually loud, let out a collective gasp. Oooh. To stop a ball dropping from the sky like that wasn't skill. It was witchcraft.
Minute 16.The Glitch.
Rio turned. He had space. For the first time in fifteen minutes, Bologna had the ball in the Madrid half.
Rio drove forward. Antonio Rüdiger came out to meet him. The German defender was crazy and fast. Rio didn't try to dribble Rüdiger. He knew Rüdiger was faster.
Rio used [The Omniscient Trap] again—this time to manipulate the tempo. He touched the ball slightly heavier than usual.
Rüdiger thought: A heavy touch. A mistake. Rüdiger lunged.
But it wasn't a mistake. It was bait. Rio waited for Rüdiger to commit his weight. Then, Rio used his [Elastic Hips] to shift direction instantly, passing the ball to Riccardo Orsolini on the wing. Orsolini was open. He crossed. Santiago Castro headered. Thibaut Courtois saved it effortlessly.
It wasn't a goal. But the silence in the stadium proved something. Bologna could bite back.
Minute 30.The Reality Check.
The game settled into a rhythm. Madrid attacked eighty percent of the time. Bologna survived and looked for Rio. Rio was playing a perfect game individually. His first touch was magnetic. He never lost possession. But football is eleven versus eleven.
Noah Lami received the ball on the edge of the box. Rio had tracked back to help defend. Rio stood in front of Noah. Artificial Talent versus Natural Perfection.
Noah looked at Rio. "Nice trap earlier," Noah said. His voice was calm, almost robotic. "You killed the spin at 4000 rpm. Statistically impressive."
Rio narrowed his eyes. "You talk too much."
Noah dropped his shoulder. Rio reacted. Left.
But Noah didn't go left. He didn't go right. He just... exploded forward. He pushed the ball past Rio and ran straight through him. Shoulder to shoulder.
[Strength Check: FAILED][Noah Strength: 99][Rio Strength: C+]
Rio was flung aside like a ragdoll. He hit the grass hard. Noah didn't even wobble. He took one step, wound up his leg, and smashed the ball.
BOOM.
Top corner. Unstoppable.
GOAL.Real Madrid 2 - 0 Bologna.
Noah stood over Rio, who was gasping for air on the ground.
"Your software is good, Glitch," Noah said, looking down. "But your hardware is obsolete." Noah turned his back. "You can't code muscle."
Halftime.Real Madrid 2 - 0 Bologna.
The locker room was silent. The Bologna players looked shell-shocked. They were Serie A pros, but they looked like schoolboys here.
"He's too fast," Beukema said, staring at the floor. "I can't catch him. He's not human."
Rio sat in the corner, holding an ice pack to his shoulder. Noah was right. Rio had the skills. The Omniscient Trap worked. Elastic Hips worked. But physically? He was a Ferrari engine inside a Fiat chassis. Noah Lami was a Ferrari engine inside a Tank.
Adrian's voice came through the tablet. "Rio. You can't beat him physically. Don't try to wrestle him."
"I know," Rio snapped. "So what do I do?"
"You have 2 Days worth of Active Skill charge for the Trap," Adrian reminded him. "The Magnet. Use it."
"Use it for what? To stop the ball?"
"No," Adrian's eyes gleamed on the screen. "Use it to break their ankles." "In the second half, Madrid will relax. They think the game is over. That is your only window." "One goal," Adrian said. "If we get one goal, the momentum changes. Even the Bernabéu gets nervous if the score is 2-1."
Rio stood up. He looked at his teammates. They were defeated.
"Get up," Rio said.
They looked at him.
"We paid a lot to be here," Rio said, pointing at the door. "I paid five days of my life for this game. I am not leaving with a 2-0 loss."
He walked out. The Number 10 on his back was heavy. But he carried it.