Rise of a Football God

In a certain apartment in the Netherlands…

"GOALLLLLLLL…!" The commentator screamed.

"MARCUS RASHFORD!"

"MARCUS RASHFORD!!!"

"MARCUS RASHFORD…!!!"

"What a statement display!"

"A hattrick to show Man United fans that he's still got it!"

"They're clamoring for the club to sell him, and this is his reply, a vintage Marcus Rashford performance!"

There was silence in this apartment, only the voice of the commentator could be heard but even that stopped as calmly, Sam muted the television.

With the television muted, silence reigned in this apartment.

"…!" Kayla could feel the tension rising.

For most of this game, Kayla watched this game from the side, idly eating her popcorns even as she pressed her iPhone. When her boyfriend reacted to the game, he would idly look at him before focusing back on her phone.

She could tell that the game was a rollercoaster though she didn't watch it, this was because of the highs and lows of Sam's emotions as he watched the game.

At some point, she thought. 'Don't go and get a BP from watching football!'

But now, even she was tongue-tied as soon as the game came to an end as she could tell that the atmosphere in this living room already changed.

She fidgeted with her box of popcorns, looking at the floor, then at the ceiling before finally gathering the courage to peek at her boyfriend.

The TV was muted but at this moment, Sam still had his eyes fixated on the screen, watching as emotions cascaded on the pitch.

He watched as Marcus Rashford received his match ball and the man of the match award, and he also watched his devastated teammates.

When the camera switched to show Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe's dejected faces, Sam's face twitched a bit but overall, he was still very calm.

And then, with the last result of matchday 23 of the English premier league ready, the premier league table was updated again.

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 23 of 38:)

(Fulham 2-3 Man United)

(Date: 26th January, 2025)

…

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Liverpool GP: 22/ W:17/ D:2/ L:2/ Pts: 57)

(2. Fulham GP: 23/ W:16/ D:4/ L:3/ Pts: 53)

(3. Chelsea GP: 23/ W:15/ D:6/ L:2/ Pts: 51)

(4. Arsenal GP: 23/ W:14/ D:7/ L:2/ Pts: 49)

(5. Nottm Forest GP: 23/ W:10/ D:8/ L:5/ Pts: 38)

(6. Brighton GP: 23/ W:10/ D:7/ L:6/ Pts: 37)

(7. Man City GP: 23/ W:10/ D:6/ L:7/ Pts: 36)

(8. Aston Villa GP: 23/ W:10/ D:6/ L:8/ Pts: 36)

(9. Tottenham GP: 23/ W:11/ D:2/ L:10/ Pts: 35)

(10. Newcastle GP: 23/ W:9/ D:7/ L:7/ Pts: 34)

(11. Bournemouth GP: 23/ W:9/ D:5/ L:9/ Pts: 32) Find more to read at empire

(12. Brentford GP: 23/ W:9/ D:4/ L:10/ Pts: 31)

(13. Man United GP: 23/ W:9/ D:4/ L:10/ Pts: 31)

(14. West Ham GP: 23/ W:7/ D:6/ L:10/ Pts: 26)

(15. Crystal Palace GP: 23/ W:4/ D:9/ L:10/ Pts: 21)

(16. Leicester GP: 23/ W:3/ D:8/ L:12/ Pts: 17)

(17. Everton GP: 22/ W:3/ D:5/ L:14/ Pts: 14)

(18. Ipswich Town GP: 23/ W:2/ D:8/ L:13/ Pts: 14)

(19. Southampton GP: 23/ W:3/ D:2/ L:18/ Pts: 11)

(20. Wolves GP: 23/ W:1/ D:6/ L:16/ Pts: 9)

It was official, Fulham now trailed 4 points behind the English premier league table toppers, Liverpool.

And not just that, they were feeling the pressure from behind them. With just 2 points now separating them, Chelsea was now hot on their heels.

As Sam silently stared at the new English premier league table rankings, his girlfriend secretly stared at him and when he turned to look at her, startled, she almost choked on the popcorn.

"Ah, babe, hey," she chuckled. "How are you doing?"

Sam just looked at her, he forced a smile. "I'm sleeping early today".

Standing up, he started going to the room.

"Hey, you've not eaten!" Kayla called. "Won't you eat?"

"No need, I'm full".

As soon as Sam was out of his girlfriend's sight, his hands clenched into fists even as veins popped all over his body.

A fire lit up in his eyes and then, a familiar chant started in his mind.

'Win!'

Before Sam got to the bedroom, he already managed to kill all the adrenaline and fury currently flowing through him as he forced himself to sleep.

Tomorrow… was going to be a big day for him.

…

The next day, Sam woke up very early, around after 5 in the morning.

~----~

[Congratulations! The effects of ingesting the high-grade physical conditioning elixir have been completed!]

[You have completed your injury recovery time!]

[You have successfully recovered from an ankle injury!]

…

[Sam, welcome to a new day!]

[You have unlocked a new Daily System Quest- Get back in shape!]

[You have unlocked today's daily quest goals!]

[Task 1: 250 push-ups]

…

[Task 2: 250 squats]

…

[Task 3: 250 sit-ups]

…

[Task 4: Run 25 kilometers]

…

[WARNING: If the daily quest is not completed, penalties will be given accordingly.]

[Remark: You're furious? Good, channel that fury into training!]

~----~

Staring at the series of notifications that were displayed by his system, Sam could not help himself as a grin crept up his face.

For the past 1 month, he felt like a superhero that was deprived of his powers while his allies suffered but now, he finally recovered his powers.

It was too early; he didn't want to jog out of the apartment by this time or Kayla would panic when she eventually wakes up. But Sam was not ready to stay idle after waking up.

And so, he decided to start his work out right there at home.

'Even if I can't jog effectively here, I can still engage the push-ups, squats, and sit-ups'. His eyes gleamed. 'There's no time to waste'.

Right there in the bedroom, while his girlfriend still slept, Sam started working out.

Hours later, when Kayla woke up, seeing him all drenched in sweat, she was shocked and alarmed. "Sam! Are you ok?"

Hearing her voice, he grinned. "Oh yeah I'm ok, far ok than I've been since the past 1 month".

Hearing that, she heaved a sigh of relief but once the panic left her mind was when her logical brain came to fore. "Wait…, you're working out? Are you out of your mind?!"

"What of your injury?

Sam kept on grinning. "My injury?" He shrugged. "That's a thing of the past, I'm healed now".

"See ya later, I'm going out to jog".

In his gym clothes, Sam jogged out of this apartment in Netherlands. Of course, he did well to wear a hoodie to cover his face and try to hide his identity.

It didn't mean much though.

As soon as he came out, unknown to Sam, a paparazzi brought out his camera as he took pictures of him including a video.

A few minutes later, while Sam jogged in Netherlands, unknown to him, a storm already started on social media due to a post from an anonymous source.

It was a post on Twitter.

{Twitter:}

{Username: @Stalker007}

(Surprise surprise mother*ckers!)

(Image=)

(Video=)

(He's… BACK!!!)