In the office, after a brief silence, came the cheers of the young people.
Mata and Negredo seemed to have expected this scene all along. Inside, though there was jealousy and envy, there was also happiness for a friend and a tinge of discomfort.
It's another classic case of fearing your friend is living poorly yet dreading they might drive a Range Rover.
Lopetegi watched the three celebrating on the side, smiling kindly. He too came from the Real Madrid youth academy but never had the chance to become a Real Madrid player, instead playing for Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano.
Back then, he thought Castilla would never become Castilla again, but unexpectedly, that terrible "clause" was canceled, and the team restored the name Castilla in 2005.
As Real Madrid's B team, Castilla always prided itself on providing fresh blood for the first team. However, since the introduction of the "superstar policy," it's been a while since any standout Castilla players could contribute to the team.
"Alright!" Lopetegi knocked on the table and said, "Don't get too excited yet. Although the new head coach named you to attend the new round of training and ordered your promotion to the first team, along with signing a professional contract, whether you can stay in the first team or not still depends on your ability and effort."
"If you don't work hard yourself and end up being sent back to Castilla, even if I become the head coach of Real Madrid, I won't use you again."
Lopetegi's words elicited laughter from the three. Chen Zhong looked at Lopetegi and said, "Mr. Hulun, people should indeed have dreams, but I think if you are confident enough to become the head coach of Real Madrid, then staying in the first team won't be a problem for me."
"Coach Hulun! If you become the head coach later, can you buy Negredo and me back?"
Looking at Mata and Negredo, Lopetegi couldn't help but smile too. He didn't formally answer the two, but it was just a joke, wasn't it?
In a sense, as their "senior," their "predecessor," he could understand the pain of not getting a contract from the club and having to leave, especially when one's friend is promoted to the first team, that inner torment.
At the same time, the fact that Chen Zhong signed a professional contract at 16, the minimum age, and with Real Madrid, was astonishing.
That's Real Madrid!
After chatting for a while, the three parted ways. Mata and Negredo were only there to say goodbye, and they also needed to prepare for the new season. As for Chen Zhong, he returned to his dormitory after having a meal with Lopetegi.
The [Badge] interface was still inactive, but there were changes to the panel function.
Laying on the bed, Chen Zhong opened the system interface and selected [Panel]. The first things that caught his eyes were two pop-ups, both gray, with text saying [Sign a professional contract, become a Real Madrid player to earn 6 free attribute points.]
[Represent Real Madrid in official matches, earn 2 free attribute points for starting appearances, 1 point for substitute appearances.]
"So, grey means I haven't signed the contract yet, so I haven't completed it, huh," Chen Zhong mumbled to himself before opening his player attribute panel.
The panel popped up, first showing a handsome photo of Chen Zhong, followed by some basic personal information.
[Name: Chen Zhong]
[Nationality: China]
[Date of Birth: November 21, 1991]
[Height: 190CM]
[Weight: 85KG]
[Preferred Foot: Right Foot]
[Weak Foot: 3 Stars]
[Flair: 3 Stars]
Gazing at his personal information, Chen Zhong focused on the weak foot and flair. When he first got the system, his weak foot was 1 star. It improved to 2 stars over a year and then to 3 stars by 2006. But no matter what, he couldn't seem to boost it by that remaining star. It looked like he had to find a solution within the system.
The flair attributes started similarly. Initially 2 stars, then raised to 3 stars, but couldn't be pushed further, which had something to do with Chen Zhong focusing more on defense. It might also relate to modern football training's emphasis on faster ball-handling efficiency and rhythm.
Of course, Chen Zhong himself didn't like being flashy on the field, preferring the most simple and direct, the most "European" way of handling the ball.
But then, who wouldn't be delighted to become a 5-star flair and weak foot player?
I may not like using it, but I can't be without it.
This is Chen Zhong.
Turning the page, the personal attributes of the player appeared. With the system for some years, Chen Zhong somewhat understood some of the classifications of the data.
A comprehensive ability of 40 allows playing in some lower leagues, essentially the ceiling for ordinary people, entering the professional threshold.
A comprehensive ability of 55 provides a chance to enter some lower-tier teams in the Eredivisie, and is also the bottleneck phase for most youth training.
A comprehensive ability of 60 is the minimum standard for youth training in major clubs. After selection at various levels, players below this standard are nearly eliminated, and rarely is it below 60.
A skill value exceeding 65 would attract youth training attention, possibly becoming a regular player in Premier League relegation teams. A comprehensive ability of 70, with several attributes over 80, would be seen as a genius player or someone with a particular specialty.
Chen Zhong's comprehensive score reached as high as 74, with certain positions having even higher rankings.
There are seven classifications for player attributes: Speed, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defense, Physicality, and a special category for goalkeepers.
[Speed 72: Acceleration 68, Pace 77]
[Shooting 73: Positioning: 72, Finishing: 70, Shot Power: 82, Long Shots: 77, Volleys: 74, Penalties: 62]
[Passing 66: Vision: 81, Crossing: 62, Free Kick Accuracy: 59, Short Passing: 67, Long Passing: 73, Arc: 54]
[Dribbling 71: Agility 65, Balance 87, Reactions 85, Ball Control 70, Dribbling 69, Composure 93]
[Defense 83: Interception 75, Heading 86, Defensive Awareness 87, Tackling 77, Sliding Tackle 90]
[Physical 78: Jumping 71, Stamina 72, Strength 88]
Chen Zhong didn't click into the special category for goalkeepers because he didn't think he'd end up as a goalkeeper, nor did he want to be one.
Examining all the data, what stood out for Chen Zhong seemed to be balance, reactions, composure, heading, defensive awareness, sliding tackle, and strength.
Balance made him more tenacious during physical confrontations, reactions let him move more swiftly, composure kept him calm in various situations, heading ensured a certain accuracy in aerial battles, defensive awareness allowed him to effectively block opponents' positions, sliding tackle made his tackles even more decisive and precise, and strength gave him more power during physical duels.
Combined with the [Butcher] aura, all these enabled him to dominate in the youth team, and in La Liga, with his physique and data, playing as a main defender in a lower-tier team should be no problem, playing as an all-powerful midfielder is viable, but a pivot striker might be subpar.
For a 16-year-old to possess such data, plus the extraordinary dominance and composure shown in youth leagues, it wasn't surprising to be labeled as a "monster."
"So, this is the peak I was originally capable of reaching?" Chen Zhong thought somewhat wistfully. It's been some time since he last improved in his data, with even small metrics fluctuating, such as strength which peaked at 90 points but had now fallen to 88.
That was a compromise to maintain his agility and speed.
After finishing up washing early, Chen Zhong lay on his bed. As a professional player, having good sleeping habits is indispensable.
Tomorrow, I'll report to the first team!
With expectations and concerns, Chen Zhong drifted into dreamland.
Meanwhile, outside, the news that Real Madrid promoted a 16-year-old was spreading rapidly. It wasn't any insider leaking, but rather something every Real employee experiences.
Here, everyone is a focal point. Everything they do is under a magnifying glass, simply because they are players of Real Madrid.