My Goalkeeping System

\'This is a pretty tough quest.\'

<Yeah, that\'s why you\'re getting an attribute point>

He stared at the goalpost on the other side for a while before he quickly closed up on the first ball in line and sent it flying toward the goalpost, toward the crossbar to be precise.

He was able to send it flying toward the right which wasn\'t difficult with all the things he could, the question now was if he was going to get it on the target.

Looking at the ball from the view of its target, it looked like it was heading straight toward there, but just as it got closer things became clearer.

He succeeded in putting the ball on the right path, but the elevation should have been a bit lower because the ball ended up flying just over the bar.

"Shit." He cursed before kicking the floor.

\'Who knows if I\'ll be able to come that close again.\'

<Well, you still have fourteen tries, why don\'t you try and see if you\'ll come that close again?>

\'I\'m on it.\' He replied before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.

This could have been his first hit but he ended up missing the target by just a few inches as the ball hit the crossbar before flying over.

There could be arguments on whether that hit the target or not because it was really close, but the system had already made up its mind.

[ Successful hits: 0/7 ]

\'Well, that\'s a bummer.\' He said subconsciously as he slowly took three steps backward. \'Thirteen tries left.\'

He quickly lowered his gaze to the next ball before he closed up on it and sent it flying straight toward the target.

Well, not straight because the ball looked like it was going to float over with the way it was moving.

However, as it got closer to the goalpost it began to slowly slop down, and just as it got close enough to the crossbar, it took one final slope to bang straight on the target.

"Yes!" The goalkeeper roared before quickly raising both of his hands.

<That\'s one down with twelve tries left>

\'Yeah, twelve tries left, I can do this.\'

This time he decided to take not three but two steps backward and there was no pause as he immediately closed up on the ball and sent it flying straight toward the target.

He seemed to have placed his elevation quite too low on this one because the ball ended up flying straight into the goalpost without making any contact with the crossbar.

\'Well, that one was the worst.\'

<You wouldn\'t call that the worst in a match but anyway, you\'re down to eleven balls>

"Eleven balls and I just have to hit it six more times now." He sighed before slowly taking three steps backward.

<Just try not to rush it like you did with that last one>

\'Yeah, I know that now.\'

Just after responding to her, he quickly closed up on the next ball and lifted it neatly with his right foot.

This one went off with the swerve but he managed to get it to hit right on the spot before falling into the goalpost.

"Now just five more hits with ten balls left."

<You have second chances in case you mess up>

\'I\'ll try not to mess up.\'

He sent the next ball flying with a lob, and when it looked like it was about to fly over the bar, it ended up falling straight on the target.

\'I honestly have no idea how that hit there, I thought I overhit that lob.\'

<Wow, you\'re taking this way less seriously than I thought>

\'You know that can\'t be true when there\'s an attribute point on the line.\'

He ditched the lob for the next shot and ended up missing it, the ball just went flying straight over the bar with no form of contact.

The one after that was the worst because he seemed to have messed up his placing when kicking the ball so instead of sending it toward the right, he sent it flying down the middle but it still ended up hitting the crossbar.

<Seven left with four more successful hits to complete>

\'If I miss four more shots now, it\'s over.\'

<Well, then don\'t miss>

\'I\'m not planning to.\'

For these last seven shots, he had to be really careful because his success or failure was getting close now.

He took a deep breath before slowly taking three steps backward with his gaze on the next ball.

There was no pause as he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the target.

At some point, it looked like the ball was just going to zoom over the bar, but then it managed to make contact with the edge of the crossbar causing it to fly up.

The force of gravity immediately pushed it down and under the influence of the wind, it was pushed a little closer to the goalpost and ended up hitting the marked spot straight on.

\'Umm….does that count?\'

<Why don\'t you check what the system has to say?>

[ Successful hits: 5/10 ]

\'Looks like it\'s just two hits left.\' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a smile on his face.

<You have six balls left, looks like the odd just got better for you>

\'Yeah.\'

It didn\'t take long before the odds went back to the way it was because he ended up missing the next two shots but they were both really close.

\'Well, Catherine, looks like I\'m back to the second chance situation.\'

<Yeah, I can see>

\'No matter what, this attribute point won\'t pass me by!\' He screamed subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.

He seemed to have placed that shot a little too far toward the right side as it ended up hitting the angle between the crossbar and the post before falling into the goalpost.

<And then they were three>

"This just got dire." The goalkeeper muttered with a worried look on his face.

<Yeah, miss two more and it\'s over>

\'I will not miss this attribute point!\' He screamed subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.

This was one of those times when the ball flew straight toward the target and ended up hitting it.

<Nice, one more hit two balls left>

"Yeah." He muttered before looking down at the last two balls.

\'If I miss this one then it\'ll be down to just one, I hate this type of situation.\'

He struck the next ball with more technique than shot which was the exact opposite of what he did with the one before that, it seemed like he wanted to lob it but not really.

The ball flew slowly toward the target and ended up banging straight on it, something the goalkeeper wasn\'t really expecting to see.

"Yes!"

He had a bright smile on his face now as he quickly sent the last ball flying.

[ Quest completed ]

The quest rewards were just about to pop up when his phone which was sitting a little to his right near the line began to ring.

"That should be Clark." He muttered before quickly heading over to it.