Chapter 1 Barcelona

After the tour of the training ground, the young players arrived at the locker room. Finally, the highlight of this trip to Barcelona was about to begin—a match against the Barcelona u17 team of the La Masia football school!

The boys put away their relaxed mood from the tour, and their faces became serious.

Although head coach Hao Dong was still outside being interviewed by the official Barcelona website, the locker room naturally fell silent.

Before the game, head coach Hao Dong would announce the starting lineup.

Although everyone pretty much knew who would play and who wouldn't, they still held onto a glimmer of hope—what if the head coach liked them better this time and let them start?

Guo Nu sat in his seat, waiting anxiously.

He was one of those who harbored that hope.

A camera crew was in the locker room, filming the players preparing. At this moment, no one cared about the cameras; they were too preoccupied to worry about it.

Soon, the locker room door opened, and Hao Dong entered with his coaching staff.

All eyes turned to him, even Zhou Yi, who thought he definitely wouldn't start.

"Alright, put away your worshipful attitudes. In just over ten minutes, our first game of this European trip will begin, right on the training ground outside. There are no stands, no spectators, but behind you is the Camp Nou. La Masia is strong, I don't need to say much about that... In fact, none of the teams we'll face on this trip are weak; they're all stronger than us. But the strength of our opponents is no reason for us to give up trying to win. In every game, I will demand that you go all out in pursuit of victory. I want you to remember that more important than winning or losing is having a champion's heart that always strives for victory! With that heart, even if you temporarily encounter setbacks and failures, victory will ultimately belong to you!"

Hao Dong's words were highly煽动性 (shāndòngxìng, inflammatory), immediately making the young players' blood boil. They couldn't wait to get on the field and compete with La Masia.

However, Zhou Yi's reaction was different from theirs, because he had already played against this team countless times in the virtual system fifAoL3. These past few nights, he had basically been clashing with their upcoming opponents while sleeping. He could even recognize every player on the team.

He knew that there was absolutely no chance of winning this game.

That was why he was so interested in Hao Dong's last sentence. He wondered if the head coach was also aware of this, so he ended by saying "even if you temporarily encounter setbacks and failures." Was this a preemptive shot in the arm?

Zhou Yi was thinking a bit too much and too far ahead, but he couldn't help it; his brain was just too active.

The young players' enthusiasm cooled down slightly when Hao Dong announced the starting lineup. Guo Nu had been quite excited, but when he heard that he wasn't on the list, it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him, quickly cooling him down.

Zhou Yi's friends Sun Pan and Yang Muge both got the chance to start, and of course, his roommate He Ying was also in the starting lineup.

When everyone left the locker room and re-entered the field, they found that the previously deserted La Masia training ground was now surrounded by more people. In addition to the Chinese faces of the film crew, there were also some unfamiliar faces.

Zhou Yi and the others didn't know who these people were. They were actually La Masia youth training camp staff members, curious about this special game and came to watch—they also wanted to see the strength of the Chinese football teenagers.

The starting players went straight onto the field, while the substitutes followed the coaches to the benches on the sidelines. A long bench with no backrest. Truly a "bench."

Zhou Yi and Guo Nu sat down next to each other—actually, Guo Nu didn't want to sit with Zhou Yi, but besides Zhou Yi, it seemed like no one else wanted to sit with him...

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Although it was just a closed-door friendly match, both sides were intentionally making it very formal. For example, before the game, there was a ceremony for the captains to exchange small gifts, a coin toss, and a team photo.

He Ying, as the captain, wore the captain's armband and exchanged team flags with the opposing captain.

Zhou Yi knew the Barcelona captain—not that he was familiar with him, but he had faced him countless times in the world of fifAoL3, knew his name and abilities. Other than that, Zhou Yi actually knew nothing about him.

After all, not all fans pay attention to a club's youth team, unless they are die-hard fans of the team. But unfortunately, Zhou Yi was not a Barcelona fan.

Marc Bartra, the captain of Barcelona's u17 Youth B team, a defender, with outstanding strength.

Seeing Bartra shake hands with He Ying, the scene that flashed in Zhou Yi's mind was Bartra successfully defending He Ying time and time again in the world of fifAoL3.

He wondered if He Ying would perform better in reality...

At least... score a goal, maybe?

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The game started quickly. In the early stages of the game, because the La Masia Youth B team didn't know enough about the Chinese teenagers, or perhaps because they didn't take their opponents seriously, the Chinese team actually managed a threatening attack.

In the end, He Ying got a shot off just before Bartra, and the ball went just wide of the goal.

Zhou Yi's teammates were very excited, jumping up and cheering for He Ying, cheering for their team.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, regretted that He Ying had missed such a scoring opportunity, because he, who was familiar with the La Masia Youth B team, knew that this might be He Ying's last scoring opportunity of the game...

Zhou Yi guessed correctly. He Ying's shot boosted the morale of the Chinese team, but it also greatly stimulated the players of the La Masia Youth B team.

They hadn't taken this game to heart at first, but now they were taking it seriously.

Xu Tao, the director of the reality show, was very happy after seeing He Ying's wonderful performance. With such a wonderful performance from the Chinese team, why worry about the reality show's ratings?

But his smile soon disappeared.

After the La Masia Youth B team started to go all out, the Chinese team quickly felt the pressure.

Just five minutes after He Ying's shot went wide, the La Masia Youth B team scored.

The scorer was also familiar to Zhou Yi—Gai Assulin, a small winger with fast speed and sharp dribbling skills.

This goal was scored after he used his speed to break through the Chinese team's defense, broke into the penalty area, and scored.

Facing his shot, Sun Pan made a save, but he was still a little slow.

The goal that Sun Pan conceded made him very frustrated, and he punched the turf hard.

Zhou Yi's teammates also sighed, while Zhou Yi still had a calm expression on his face.

It wasn't that he didn't regret the team conceding a goal, but because he was already used to it... In the fifAoL3 system, he had seen this kind of goal countless times. The virtual Assulin also scored like this, relying on speed to shake off his opponent, break into the penalty area, and then face the goalkeeper directly.

Sun Pan attacked, and then Assulin made a curler, the ball bypassed Sun Pan's hand and flew into the goal behind him...

La Masia scored, China conceded.

Even Sun Pan's performance after conceding the goal in reality was the same as in the virtual system, frustrated and unwilling.

Zhou Yi was also frustrated and unwilling at first, but when you have lost dozens of games and witnessed more than a hundred conceded goals, no one will show their frustration and unwillingness anymore.

Zhou Yi knew that this conceded goal was just the beginning...

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Zhou Yi "guessed" right again.

After Assulin scored, the La Masia Youth B team didn't intend to stop. They seemed to have been completely enraged by the Chinese team's opening attack and wanted to let the Chinese team know the consequences of angering them.

So then, goals came one after another.

In the first half alone, the La Masia Youth B team had already scored eight goals!

The number 8 on the scoreboard representing the La Masia Youth B team's score was red, almost like smeared blood, the undried blood was still sliding down, drawing streaks of blood... making people dizzy.

And the number 0 on the Chinese team's side represented the black of death.

The Chinese team's bench had completely fallen silent. When they conceded the first goal, they were still wailing, then only sighs were left, and now, even the sighs were gone, a deathly silence.

No, it can't be said to be deathly silence.

At least near Zhou Yi, there were still some subtle sounds coming out.

Zhou Yi heard a low growl, similar to that of a beast from the depths of its throat, coming from Guo Nu's position next to him.

He turned his head to look and found Guo Nu clenching his teeth, his hands clenched into fists, staring intently at the field, looking furious.

"Hey, Lao Guo."

He called out softly.

But Guo Nu ignored him.

But Zhou Yi always had a way to move people.

"Do you like losing?" he asked.

Hearing this question, Guo Nu suddenly turned his head and glared at him, his eyes as if he wanted to kill Zhou Yi.

"You, li-like?" He stared at Zhou Yi, enunciating each word with gritted teeth. This time he didn't stutter, otherwise it would ruin the atmosphere too much.

"I don't like losing either." Zhou Yi shook his head and said, "But look, Lao Guo."

He pointed to the field.

"Whether you like it or not, whether you're willing or not, this is the gap between us and them. It's as far as from China to Barcelona. Not wanting to lose is easy to say. But doing it is difficult, it requires the right method."

Guo Nu said sarcastically: "Then do you have it?"

"I'm looking for it." Zhou Yi said.

Guo Nu snorted, taking these words as Zhou Yi's shameless bragging, and decided not to communicate with the mentally abnormal Zhou Yi anymore.

Everyone on this bench was feeling frustrated and painful because of the score and the situation, but he looked like nothing had happened, as if he didn't care about the team's win or loss at all.

He was wronging Zhou Yi.

How could Zhou Yi not care?

He wanted to win more than anyone else, otherwise, why would he only play against the La Masia Youth B team from beginning to end?

He was indeed looking for a way, finding the weaknesses of each person in the repeated matches with this team, and testing his ideas. If only one out of a hundred ideas was correct, then find the right path through ninety-nine failures.

This method sounded stupid, but it was the only way.

When you face a large swamp, you don't know if a step will sink you into the mire, and you also know how to get out of this swamp. The only way is to try, step by step. If you fail, you will turn into white bones in the swamp, reminding later comers—this place is not to be walked, please detour.

In this way, the lives of countless people eventually carve out a path in the swamp, a path of life that allows later comers to escape the land of death.

For Zhou Yi and his teammates, La Masia was like a vast swamp, so vast that they couldn't see the end, couldn't go around it, lying across their westward journey. If they couldn't get through, they would die here.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi had a system that could be tested countless times. He was wading through the swamp in the system, without paying the price of his life, because even if he missed a step, he could be resurrected on the spot with full health and status, and then start again.