Chapter 642 - 613: Lifelike Online Competition

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the urban youth soccer U14 online tournament!"

"Today’s match will feature the Silver Warriors Team from Mexico and the Pampas Warriors from Argentina."

"The event is sponsored by Biotechnology, Moore Technology, and the Jing Yuan-Jianli Group, using machines that comply with NMSCDS’s latest standards, bringing you an online virtual match that is infinitely close to reality—

Of course, when you see the blood-pumping, brutal images online, please remember this is an online match, and no athletes will be harmed on the field.

Now just click on your shopping website, purchase the same prosthetics and stimulants at the nearest company outlet, and bring yourself a super physique comparable to that of an athlete!"

Hum—

The background noise of Cyberspace flashed through the human brain.

NMSCDS standards, the position acquisition precision is up to 0.1 millimeters; the accuracy of the acceleration sensors is within 0.01g; electromechanical sensors can capture muscle movement at a sampling rate of 2700Hz and a signal-to-noise ratio above 90dB; the precision of the brainwave sensors is even more impressive at 1µV, able to record brain electrical activities at a sampling rate of 5000Hz.

Such vast and minute data volumes require advanced brain-machine interfaces and large computational servers for data processing, achieved through cross-domain cables for data exchange—

Nowadays, the operational costs of these cables are astronomical: rogue AIs lurking in the seas, wilderness, and skies all pose threats. Nowadays, not many venture into unknown domains without the help of network surveillance, and these AIs won’t obediently stay in their old nets. Instead, they probe human society every second with their devices.

This indirectly proves that sports still hold immense commercial value today, capable of supporting such expensive infrastructure services.

The virtual reality construction software is completely based on the Jing Yuan-Brage Protocol. However, athletes will never see the real appearance of Cyberspace. Instead, with the help of a server, the cyberspace signals are instantly packaged and encrypted, presenting before them a sports stadium—

A soccer field that is almost indistinguishable from reality.

Matt was stunned by everything before him: a brightly lit stadium, a stadium filled with roaring crowds, a stadium that could make his career successful.

But... the stadium had cheers with no seats for spectators.

[Fiona: Matt, your body is responding very well. Now get your body moving.]

Matt heard the voice and jumped on the spot.

In the control room, Fiona was extremely pleased: firstly, almost any current of neural activity could trigger a collective response, severe cases could induce inflammation and immune reactions, therefore negatively affecting data collection, prosthetics, and physical performance, including but not limited to data errors, decreased athletic performance, and even chronic damage.

However, Matt’s body, with Chlorobilin-secreted lizard cell prosthetics, significantly suppresses immune responses, reducing the occurrence of inflammation. Moreover, these prosthetics under normal conditions don’t rely on excessive electrical currents for activation, so their current endurance far exceeds that of other athletes at the same level...

And although Matt is only ten years old, he is measured against exceptional 14-year-old athletes, who have access to much more technology.

[Fiona: Good, get ready to start the match—remember every single word I say from now on because it concerns your performance in the match.]

[Fiona: This may be a youth competition to the outside world, but in fact, youth competitions are selection competitions. You must play tough and smart.]

[Fiona: I see from your resume that you have some schooling experience in the company’s school, but you’re not a sports-specialized student, so your understanding of a sport like soccer might not be complete:

This is a sport that must follow rules, but where the rules aren’t seen, you must also learn to push beyond the limits.]

[Fiona: First, be sensitive to the opponent’s offensive intentions: I’m not talking about the ball, but the attacking movements, like the armed assault your older brothers commit.]

"Now, let’s welcome the players from both teams to enter the field!"

Matt was a bit bewildered:

[Matt: Principal, shouldn’t we be focusing on soccer?]

[Fiona: Soccer is incidental; sure, the U14 level isn’t very high, but you’re aiming to go professional, and you must learn to be sensitive to attacking intentions.]

[Fiona: You need to learn how to use skill to humiliate your opponents, and then when they reveal their attack intentions, counter-attack cleanly and decisively.]

[Fiona: In summary, just one sentence: never be the one who gets annoyed and strikes first, be the one who delivers a fatal blow.]

The simulated roar from both sides of the virtual arena came wave after wave, and Matt’s head buzzed:

Wasn’t he here to play soccer?

Back at school...

[Fiona: School only taught you the first half, now you have to learn the second half. I’ve observed your joints; your bone density and muscle strength exceed those of normal prosthetics, and they’re even better than the lightweight ones used by all the athletes on the market.]

[Fiona: Remember, as soon as someone shows you an intention to attack, hit them in the head with your elbow, aiming for the temple if possible.]

[Matt: Huh?]

[Fiona: No "huh." Bring out the ruthlessness you had in the basement.]

[Fiona: Remember, sports are indeed the only way out for a pauper and wanderer like you, but they’re not much better than carrying a gun in the streets and killing a bunch of brainless idiots.]

[Fiona: Now, focus!]

Matt’s somewhat confused brain was jolted awake by Fiona’s voice—

In the outside world, Fiona had just injected him with a stimulant!

The atmosphere of the arena suddenly brought his thoughts back to the game, the captain finished the coin toss to choose sides, and all 22 players on the field entered a competitive state. Matt came to his senses and looked toward the opposition, shaking a bit:

As a forward, he stood at the center circle waiting for his team captain to kick off.

But why was the opposing forward not watching the ball and staring him down instead?!

Whoosh—

A long whistle echoed throughout the arena, and Matt, still in a daze, instinctively received the soccer ball, only to see the opposing center forward, who was over one meter eighty, charge at him full speed like a rugby player...

This was a charge aimed directly at him!

If he didn’t retaliate, the collision could misalign his spine—

Although this was just a virtual game, to replicate real matches as much as possible, the feedback current and motion feedback mechanisms could absolutely cause disability!

[Fiona: Either choose to be disabled or I’ll pull the plug and help you choose to forfeit, decide for yourself!]

With the soccer ball at his feet, Matt gritted his teeth and passed the ball back to the midfielder—

However, he used a little trick in this pass, or rather, he paused for a second to adjust his posture, ensuring that he could quickly adopt a decent stance to deal with the tall player after the pass...

The tall player revealed a ferocious smile, ready to pour his entire body weight onto Matt at full speed—

He could tell at a glance that this little sprout was a rookie playing his first match!

So he wanted to destroy the rookie’s career in the most brutal, eye-catching way to draw the scouts’ attention...

Bang!

The sound of physical collision was simulated 100%.

But something felt off to him with the contact...

And then he lost consciousness.