How It Works

"Where's my blue?" "Where did all my blue go?!" Du An kept a calm exterior, but turmoil raged in his heart. Although he didn't know why the blue bead had turned transparent again, he could clearly feel every tactical detail he had just simulated. Those few minutes of tactical simulation had felt so vivid that he almost thought they had actually happened in reality. This had clearly been his first time ever attending a tactical lecture, yet the moment he closed his eyes, the entire system felt completely familiar—as if he had drilled it a thousand times, etched deeply into his mind. He quickly became certain: this had to be the work of the blue bead! The blue energy accumulated from his daily training had somehow been triggered during the tactical breakdown, pulling him into a state of hyper-focused flow. It transformed abstract tactical concepts into a full-fledged pitch simulation, allowing Du An to immerse himself within it, enabling him to thoroughly master everything in the shortest possible time. This wasn't rote memorization; it was actual experiential learning. Du An instantly understood how the blue bead worked, but even more questions immediately welled up. If the blue bead corresponded to tactical comprehension and football IQ, then what about the red bead? Did it correspond to physical attributes—talents like strength, speed, and athleticism? If accumulated to a certain point, could it also trigger a state like the blue bead's, massively boosting his physical capabilities in a short burst? And that transparent bead that had remained completely inert—what was its purpose? Regardless, having discovered how the blue bead worked brought Du An a sense of reassurance. At the very least, he no longer had to worry that starting with zero foundation would keep him from keeping up with tactical ideas. As things stood, as long as he accumulated enough blue energy, he could rapidly digest even the most intricate systems. The pressing priority was simply to train harder and accumulate as much blue bead energy as possible. At the same time, he needed to pinpoint the exact trigger for that flow state: did it require a coach's verbal explanation, or could he enter it on his own while studying tactical match footage? That would dictate how he could access the flow state in the future. With his mind completely consumed by the beads' mechanics, Du An barely registered the additional details Heighway went over afterward. He simply stared blankly at the formation diagrams on the whiteboard, lost in thought. Replaying the simulated scenes in his mind over and over, he tried to actively summon that overhead, bird's-eye perspective of the pitch, but got no response. Sure enough, it required blue energy. Fortunately, the tactical lecture was drawing to a close. Before he could reach any conclusions, Heighway set down his marker. "That's all for today. We start at one-thirty this afternoon with targeted drills, followed by an intrasquad practice match to put what we discussed today into practice on the pitch." His gaze swept across the young faces in the room, and he suddenly dropped a piece of news. "I imagine you've all heard by now: for the first time in history, England U17 has qualified for the main tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Championship." "Who England U17 head coach John Peacock ultimately selects for the squad isn't up to me." "However, who gets called up to Liverpool U18 to play in the Academy League, and who makes the squad for the FA Youth Cup—that decision is mine." "I trust you all understand what that means." "If you want to move up, if you want to get into the national team, if you want to earn a professional contract, then show me what you're truly capable of. The World Championship is a massive stage. If you make a name for yourself there, opportunities in top-flight football will be right in front of you. Whether you seize them or not is entirely up to you." The moment his words landed, the meeting room buzzed with excitement. The U16 players below all had bright, longing eyes. The U-17 World Championship—that was the pinnacle stage every youth player dreamed of, the World Cup for U17s! As long as you could make an appearance and perform well, let alone a professional contract from Liverpool, offers from other Premier League clubs would come pouring in. The distant path of professional football suddenly seemed pulled right in front of them, within arm's reach. Sitting among the group, Du An wasn't as swept up in excitement as the others. The U-17 World Championship was too far off for him; he was still young, only turning fourteen come Christmas at the end of the year. In truth, he didn't even know his real birthday. It was only because Mrs. Mason had found him on Christmas Day that Christmas had become his birthday. Du An's immediate goal was clear: establish a firm foothold in the U16 squad first, and use the three beads to comprehensively elevate his abilities. After the tactical session was dismissed, the players broke into small groups and headed to the academy canteen for lunch. Standard youth academy meals—bland, but filling. Du An's thoughts were still turning over the blue bead's trigger mechanism, so he didn't converse much with the others. During the ninety-minute midday break, most players returned to the dorms to catch up on sleep. Leaning against a bench in the changing room with his eyes closed, he tried several more times to actively enter the flow state and simulate tactics, but there was still no response. He decided to put it out of his mind for now, conserving his energy for the afternoon session. At one-thirty in the afternoon, the entire U16 squad assembled punctually on the training pitch. Coach Aslett arranged a specialized small-group passing drill: four players to a group, circulating the ball with one-touch passes inside designated grids, focusing heavily on the triangular support and lateral stretching covered that morning. The drill was tedious, but the intensity was high. The players trained diligently, occasionally trading banter in good spirits. Du An completed the drills steadily alongside them. At two-thirty, the specialized training concluded, and the intrasquad practice match officially began. The players were split into red and blue teams, with no glaring disparity in strength between them. Du An, Connor, and Flanagan were assigned to the red team, though Du An was named among the substitutes and began by watching from the sideline. Once the match kicked off, the tempo wasn't particularly fast. The individual fundamentals on both sides were solid enough; their dribbling and first touches looked respectable. However, overall team coordination was far from fluid. Attacks relied almost entirely on the opposition's mistakes. Yet even when an opponent made an error, the attacking side struggled to combine; off-the-ball runs and passing timings fell out of sync, and several promising opportunities to slice open the backline vanished simply because the execution was half a step too slow. A short distance away on the touchline, Heighway and U18 academy coach Ben Hughes stood side by side, their eyes on the pitch, both wearing grim expressions. "Just look at this level," Heighway murmured with a touch of self-deprecation, shaking his head. "If word gets back to Melwood, they'll laugh at Kirkby again for having nobody of note." Ben Hughes sighed, looking helpless. "The overall talent in this crop is just mediocre. Very few standouts. If we really want results, I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few more age groups down." He paused to think, then added, "Personally, I feel our scouting net could be cast wider. We shouldn't just fixate on local white kids. There are great prospects from immigrant families too. That Trent kid in the U10s—black lad—his talent on the ball is fantastic, and his awareness is top-notch." Heighway didn't respond, keeping his eyes on the pitch. A U10 kid was still far too distant; water from afar couldn't quench immediate thirst. He might not even stay around long enough to see that day. Before then, he might already be gone from Kirkby. After thirty minutes of play, the score remained 0–0. Both sides made continuous errors, offering very little aesthetic appeal. Coach Aslett blew the whistle to halt play and began making substitutions, swapping five players on each side in an extensive rotation to assess the squad. "Du An." Aslett waved toward the sideline. Du An immediately stood up and jogged over. "You're going on as a defensive midfielder," Aslett instructed, pointing to the position on the pitch. "Your primary task is defending: hold your ground, track your man. Don't push forward recklessly in attack. When the ball comes to your feet, sort out your options before distributing it. Don't go charging around blindly." Du An nodded and ran to take his position on the pitch.