The celebrations didn''t just stop in the stadium. Individual prizes still had to be announced by the organizerster that evening.
So, the squad celebrated for only a few minutes before taking the bus back to their hotel. They changed into their formal wear before heading to the conference room for the post-tournament dinner party.
Zachary walked with his teammates as they followed Coach Johansen through the too-clean brightly-lit corridors of the Monika Centrum Hotel. Everyone was still in a jubnt mood. They chattered loudly about the match highlights without giving a damn about what those around them thought.
Zachary could feel a strong kinship and camaraderie with his teammates. He feltpletely at home with them, having yed alongside them throughout the tournament.
They walked quickly, and in no time, made it to the great hall—the designated venue for the dinner party. They were greeted with hundreds of loud conversations, allpeting with the soft ssical music ying in the background. The crowd consisted of yers from teams that had taken part in the tournament, for the most part.
Zachary could feel most of the eyes in the crowd glued on him as he walked in with his teammates. However, he didn''t panic but shed them a polite smile as he continued to the massive table with the buffet on one side of the room.
All the yers served themselves tefuls of all sorts of Latvian delicacies and headed to their allocated tables. They focused on dining, only asionally making low indistinct chatter among themselves. They had finally calmed down to some extent after spending more than two hours celebrating their victory.
"I wish we didn''t have to leave tomorrow," Paul Ottersonined from beside Zachary. "I could get used to this," he said, cutting a piece of fried salmon with his knife. He then stuffed it into his mouth and sipped on his juice.
"Don''t forget we have to return to school on Monday," Kendrickmented from across the table, sighing.
"Who cares about school right now," Kasongo chipped in, frowning at Kendrick. "Don''t sour our mood. We''re still celebrating our victory. Thinking about books right now… Eew."
Paul Ottersonughed. "I can''t believe we''re the champions. It''s so surreal. It seems like it''s the first time NF Academy has won an international cup. I wonder whether we''ll get more rewards from the academy once we get back home. Maybe, some of us will get to join the Rosenborg under-19s when we return to Trondheim."
"Guys," Kendrick whispered, leaning forward. "Did any of you get offers from some of the teams here?"
Zachary frowned, wondering where Kendrick was going with the topic. The NF Academy had an active partnership with Rosenborg to develop talents. Talk of transferring to other teams was strongly prohibited among yers on schrships. Yet, Kendrick was openly asking a rted question on a table very close to the one upied by the coaches. Zachary was perplexed.
"The coaches are just right there," Kasongo whispered back, saving Zachary from doing the same. "Can we discuss thister?"
Kendrick nodded before returning his attention to his food. They continued making small talk as they ate—until the Riga Cup tournament president arrived on the stage.
"Good evening,dies and gentlemen," said Raimonds Laizāns, his voice amplified by the loudspeakers. "Wee once again to the closing dinner party for the Riga Cup tournament. Thank you foring." The president smiled.
"First of all, let me start by congratting the NF Academy on winning this year''s under-18 Riga Cup," he continued. "Please, let''s give them a round of apuse for their extraordinary performance. They have outdone themselves in this tournament."
Zachary''s teammates once again grinned from ear to ear as the entire hall burst into thunderous apuse.
Raimonds cleared his throat as the pping died down. "I don''t want to waste much time," he said. "Our fellow sportsmen from the NF Academy and VfB Stuttgart are already tired since they''ve just concluded that spectacr final. So, I''ll begin announcing the individual des right away."
"The winners, pleasee forward to receive your prize when I announce your name," he added, smiling.
"I''ll start with the best goalkeeper. The award goes to Kendrick Otterson from NF Academy Norway. Throughout the tournament, he put up an extraordinary performance in goal to keep his team from conceding. Kendrick Otterson, pleasee forward to receive your prize."
"Congs, man," Zachary high-fived Kendrick as he got up from his seat to receive his prize. The rest of the NF Academy yers followed suit, hugging him, in turn, to congratte him on winning the de. Kendrick marched triumphantly towards the stage and received a shiny metallic sculpture of a glove. He didn''t forget to pose for a few photographs with the president before returning to his seat.
After that, the president continued reading out the other best performers in the tournament.
The best defender award went to a yer from VfB Stuttgart named Timo Baumgartl.
The best defensive-midfielder award went to Joshua Kimmich.
The best attacking-midfielder award went to Zachary Bemba.
The best forward award went to Timo Werner. He was still the striker with the most goals in the tournament even though he had missed a penalty in the finals. His tally was only one goal short of Zachary''s.
The best coach award went to Boyd Johansen. He had led his team to victory in the tournament against stronger teams like VfB Stuttgart and Zenit.
The Golden Boot award went to Zachary Bemba. He was the top scorer with 13 goals, just one ahead of Timo Werner.
And finally, the president announced Zachary Bemba as the MVP of the tournament. Everyone in the conference hall rose to give him a standing ovation—as he marched onto the tform to receive the golden ball and a 10,000 Euro check from the president.
Once again, he felt how blissful it was to win—to be a champion. At that moment, he prayed he would never be anything other than a victor throughout his career. He resolved to work harder than ever to continue winning.
**** ****
Zachary left the dinner party early with his prizes in hand and headed back to his hotel room. Primarily, he intended to get some sleep. Coach Johansen had already informed them they would be on an early morning flight back to Trondheim the following day.
Secondly, the system notification had rung in his head once more at the moment when he received the Golden Ball from the tournament president. Zachary couldn''t resist the temptation to head back to his hotel room and check out the system rewards.
"Hope there''ll be a lot of bonuses this time around," he mumbled to himself as he sat on his bed in the silent hotel room. He calmed his mind before opening the system interface.
****
"DING"
#2 new messages
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->You have yed most of the matches in a highlypetitive tournament with prize money at stake. The system has collected enough in-game data to grade your X-factor ordingly. Please click on the notification for more details.
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CONGRATULATIONS
->You havepleted the system mission (Riga Cup Serial Challenge) sessfully. Please click on the notification for more details.
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****
Zachary smiled as he looked at the two notifications. He couldn''t contain his delight since he was about to receive rewards from the system after doing his best in the tournament. He didn''t dawdle and instantly selected the X-Factor notification.
****
"DING"
#1 new message
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X-Factor attribute unlocked
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USER STATS
->X-Factor (Av. Rating: B+)
Consistency Factor: A-
Luck Factor: A-
Supernormal Factor: D-
Match Winning Factor: A+
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NB: Please note that the X-Factor stats are constantly varying ording to your condition and match performance. But, remember that you''ll never be a G.O.A.T without a high X-Factor.
****
Zachary was confused once more.
He could somewhat understand the consistency factor. It seemed to be something rted to maintaining his ying form over a long period. However, the supernormal factor and the luck-factor were attributes he had never heard about in sports. [Did some yers possess more luck than the rest? Was there a way to increase the luck factor?] He couldn''t help but wonder.
Nheless, he first pushed his thoughts about the X-Factor to the back of his mind before opening the other system notification. He could ponder on the X-Factor more after upgrading the system.
****
"DING"
#5 new messages
CONGRATULATIONS
->You havepleted the system mission (Riga Cup Serial Challenge) sessfully.
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->Mission Rewards
1) 2000 Juju-points
2) B-grade Agility Enhancing Elixir
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->Mission Summary
*Milestone 1: Help your team qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. (Completed sessfully; Rating A)
*Milestone 2: Help your team win the semifinals of the tournament. (Completed sessfully; Rating S)
*Milestone 3: Help your teammates win the finals and be the champions of the tournament. (Completed sessfully; Rating S)
*Milestone 4: Be the top scorer in the tournament. (Completed sessfully; Rating S)
*Milestone 5: Be the M.V.P of the tournament. (Completed sessfully; Rating S)
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Overall Mission Rating: S
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Bonus Rewards
You have earned 400 Bonus Juju-points.
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****