My Goalkeeping System

The goalkeeper could see the distance he had covered and for how long he had been running on the screen like a system and since he was on the treadmill which was on, it was impossible for him to stop moving.

"The sky, the birds, it all feels so real." The goalkeeper said as he ran down the street.

Clark was watching him from the real world, and after watching him for a while, he turned his gaze to the screen at the back to see four kilometers displayed on it.

'Four kilometers already?'

"Alright, Dave, that's enough." He said before taking off the headset.

"Hey, come on, I wanted to do twenty kilometers."

"And what was I supposed to do while you did that? Sit down and watch you?" Clark said. "You'll get a lot of time to do twenty kilometers, especially when you crank up the speed of the treadmill, but tell me what you think of it first, I can see that you like it, but I want to hear what you have to say."

"I love it, I never expected it to feel real to this extent, this is awesome, Clark."

"Hmph, I'm glad you like it," Clark said with a smile on his face.

After removing the elastic arms attached to his body, the two made their way out of the garage as Dave had already seen what he wanted to see.

"So, are you going to be using this for your morning runs now?" Clark asked as they stepped out of the garage.

Just before Dave could answer that question, a strong flow of wind suddenly blew past them, and just as he inhaled the air, something clicked in his mind.

"You know there was one thing that I wasn't able to do in that virtual world." He said.

"And what was that?" Clark asked.

"I could feel the air on my skin, I could feel the tingling effects of the sun on my skin but I don't think I was able to get that feeling of inhaling the air." He expressed. "It feels good in there but I think feeling all those things in the real world is still better."

"So, what are you saying?" Clark asked.

"I'll keep doing my morning runs outside but I'll use the setup on days that I don't feel like going out or whenever I feel like running at night."

"You get the feeling to go for a run at night?"

"Yeah, but there's another way to expend that energy, you know."

"Yeah," Clark said with an awkward expression on his face.

"You're a very good friend, Clark." The goalkeeper said before putting his arms around him.

"Thanks, you're a good friend too."

"Maybe, but you're the one always doing things for me." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to his friend's wrist to see that he had a golden watch on it. "I didn't notice at first but is that a new watch?"

"Yeah, Emilia got it as a gift for me last week."

"That's nice, but the only thing you've bought for her is that shampoo that turned her hair black."

"I see you still have that in mind, I didn't know it was a hair-darkening shampoo, that was my bad," Clark said before folding his lips.

"I know, let's just go inside and have a few drinks before Emma comes back and starts nagging me."

"Okay."

______ _______

Supreme United were still at the top of the table with twenty-one points from seven matches and Dynamo FC were still behind them with nineteen points from seven matches.

Unique FC were still sitting in third place with fifteen points from six matches and behind them was Ballena United with thirteen points from seven matches, they could say it was easier for them to overtake Unique FC now, but they had a match in hand and the result of that match was going to decide if they were going to stay in their position for long or get pushed down by Ballena United soon.

The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM and with the time by 1:30 PM now, the players were already in the team's plane and on their way to Spree City's Telonia stadium.

"We haven't beaten Spree City in four straight games, three losses, and one draw," Dave said. He seemed to be discussing something with Mateo.

"Yeah, but that's in the past, we weren't good back then but we're now, I'm positive we're going to beat them today, and to make things easier for us they're aren't in that much of a good form, that's why they're sitting in fifth place with a chance of going down to seventh place in the next fixtures if they lose to us." Mateo expressed.

"Yeah, but Felix has been scoring a lot of goals still, he's right behind you in the golden boot race with a goalless," Dave said.

"Well, we'll see how many he'll score against our fortress and stronghold."

"Fortress and stronghold?"

"Yeah, the defense is the fortress and you're the stronghold." The winger explained.

"Oh, I see."

"You haven't conceded any goals this season and it's not going to happen today, if you're going to concede a goal then it might as well be against Supreme United."

"Another clean sheet would be nice," Dave muttered.

"If you want it then do your best out there just like you have been doing and we'll do our best too," Mateo said.

"I will."

<He sure gets hyped up for every single match>

'Yeah, passion is the reason why he performs the way he does but outside football matches, he's just a carefree dude who wants nothing but to have fun.' The goalkeeper expressed subconsciously.

After a couple of minutes in the air, the airplane finally got to the airport at Spree City.

They stepped down from the aircraft and waited at the airport for a while before a bus showed up to take them to the Telonia stadium.

The ride there didn't take long, and once they were there, they picked up their bags and made their way inside.

They were welcomed by the staff there and because this current squad had been here a couple of times, there was no need to show them to their locker room as they already knew where to find it.

Dave was heading down the hallway alongside Mateo when Felix suddenly closed up on them from behind startling them in the process.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, you don't sneak on people like that," Dave said.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't think that would scare you." He said with a smile.

'That smile again, he's smiling but he has something else in mind.'

"Anyway, you guys are welcome."

"Thank you," Mateo said but there was no response from Dave.

"I see you guys are doing quite well and you're looking to extend that good form today." The striker said.

"Yeah, we're both looking for the same thing."

"Yeah, you're scoring quite a lot of goals, six-match scoring streak for you, if you score today you'll break Roland's record," Felix said.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Mateo said.

"Nice, but I should warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

"Our newly signed right back from Ajax, Danilo Allen, he's a tough defender, and because of him, Lesica United's Jonathan is out injured for two weeks.

"I've already heard about that."

"Okay, I'm just telling you so that you'll be careful with him."

At this point, Dave's anger had reached the boiling point and he was about to say something before Mateo who understood what he was about to do turned to him and slightly shook his head.

"Fine, I've heard you, I'll be careful around him."

"Good choice, it's for your own good after all." The striker said before turning to leave. "And Dave, you should consider allowing me to be the first player to score against you this season in all competitions, it would truly be an honor."

Mateo waited for him to be out of earshot before he turned his gaze to Dave.

"He's trying to play with our minds and make us feel what we don't want to feel during the match, don't let him get to you." The winger said.

"I know, but he is very annoying."

"Just ignore him." The winger said before he continued his walk to the locker room.

<It has been debatable until now but I can finally say it>

'Say what?'

<Mateo acts way more mature compared to you>

'Hey, keep quiet.'

<I know, right, the truth hurts>

****

Mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.