Chapter 3: Come on, a System
On a torrential monsoon night in Mumbai, specifically near the Shivaji Park maidan, the rhythmic sound of splashing mud and heavy breathing could be heard on a pitch nearby.
There, a boy who seemed completely out of breath was still running between the wickets, dragging his bat through the sludge, looking like he could faint any minute.
He seemed to be in a daze, seemingly trying to forget something painful but couldn't.
He was snapped out of his trance by a thunderclap that occurred nearby.
Finally stopping at the striker's end, Aryan realised that if he didn't take a break, he might pass out or, worse, pull a muscle, which was a nightmare for any cricketer, especially when he was so young.
The boy sat down on the wet pitch with tears welling in his eyes. Now that the rain had washed away the sweat and mud a bit, one could see a somewhat sharp North Indian face with really refined features that could easily pass for a Bollywood child actor.
The distinctive feature about Aryan was his hazel-green eyes, which were really rare for a person of his descent.
Although he was trying to look somewhat composed, regret and disappointment were written all over his face.
He had just been told by his club, the prestigious Mumbai Youth Cricket Academy, that they would be cutting him from the roster at the end of the month because he was not showing any promise.
This usually happened only when one was getting to the age of 18 and was not showing promise, but now, barely touching 15 years, Aryan was being laid off because he was physically weak and technically flawed.
In contrast to his peers who were improving, he was getting worse. Aryan underperformed in the Harris Shield tournaments and was by far one of the worst batsmen in the league.
The club could still wait for Aryan to mature, but because of a recent budget cut in the youth program and the high competition in Mumbai cricket, players who were not showing progress had to be laid off, and Aryan was caught in this net.
He sat there contemplating on the wet pitch and concluded that there was still time since the season had just started.
As Aryan stood up to pack his kit bag, he felt the hair on his head rise in an erect position. Aryan then remembered watching a video on YouTube telling him how when you are in the rain and your hair stands on end, it means you are in danger of being struck by lightning.
Just as he was about to move toward the pavilion, something flashed through him, causing him to go unconscious.
Aryan lay there in the mud and recovered after a while but couldn't stand.
['Host secured']. "Huh?"
Aryan looked around the dark maidan but didn't see anyone in the vicinity. "Okay, that was weird," Aryan whispered.
As Aryan was about to ignore the sound and grab his bat, it came again.
A neutral, mechanical voice spoke inside his head. ["Sequence started" programme starting in 3, 2, 1...].
Then it went silent for a while. Aryan thought he was going crazy, if not for the voice coming back again.
[System initiated].
[System welcomes host to the Legend Sequence].
"WHAT THE F***!!" Aryan exclaimed.
Aryan looked around frantically before looking at the translucent blue screen hovering in the air in front of him. Aryan looked at the screen as he saw it resembled the interface of a popular cricket video game.
Aryan saw a shining object in the shape of a cricket kit bag icon, labeled 'Gift Box', and tried to press it, but his finger just passed through the hologram.
[Does the host want to open the starter gift pack?] The system spoke.
"Uh—yeah," Aryan replied, still not believing what was happening.
The system opened the pack, and soon words were displayed on the screen:
[BEGINNER STARTER PACK]
* +10 stat point to selected attribute
* +5 stat point to any 3 selected attributes
* +1 star Weak Zone Proficiency
* +1 star Shot Creativity
"Oh, this is just like Cricket 22," Aryan exclaimed.
Before Aryan could explore any further, a car pulled over by the side of the maidan road.
"Aryan!" a feminine voice called.
Aryan looked to see his mother in their old hatchback. Aryan quickly grabbed his kit bag and the bat before sprinting towards the car. He got there and threw his heavy bag in the backseat before sitting in the front seat.
"How was practice, Aryan?" Priya, Aryan's mom, asked.
"It was good, Mom," Aryan said to his mum in Hindi, without telling her what had happened today because he felt it would only add to her worries.
Priya had moved to Mumbai when she was 24 years old. She married Aryan's father at 27 before giving birth to Aryan a year later. It had lasted a while before Aryan's father died five years after Aryan was born. He was a responsible person and had left behind insurance which could be used to take care of Aryan and his then 3-year-old sister, Riya.
As a single mom, Priya did whatever she could to make the kids happy and had done a good job so far, juggling a corporate job and the kids.
Aryan smiled at her wearily as they drove home through the traffic. Aryan woke up as the car curved into the apartment complex driveway. Eager to try out the system, he quickly picked up some of the groceries his mom had bought along with his kit bag before heading inside.
He placed the groceries on the dining table before heading to his room.
Just as he was about to take the last turn to his room, he met his sister, who called him out, telling him about the meeting between him and his class teacher, Mrs. Iyer.
He nodded before quickly entering his room.
Riya, Aryan's sister, stood there a bit surprised. "What is wrong with him?" she muttered.
"Why?" Priya, their mother, asked after hearing Riya speak.
"Well, most of the time after training, he feels somewhat dejected, but today he seems eager or lively".
Priya stared at the closed door for a while before asking Riya to help her with dinner.
Aryan shut the door behind him. He first entered the bathroom and washed the mud off his legs and face. After he finished, he sat on his bed with his legs crossed before he whispered, "System".
[Yes host], the system replied after a short while.
"Can I see my stats?" Aryan said.
The system replied by showing his stats in a game-like screen with his information attached.
[PLAYER INFO]
* NAME: ARYAN SHARMA
* AGE: 14 (6 MONTHS TO 15)
* PROFESSION: CRICKETER
* STATUS: ACADEMY PLAYER (PENDING RELEASE)
* SYSTEM EVALUATION: NO VALUE
* PLAYER RATING: 53/100
* POTENTIAL: 77
[STATS]
* [Hand-Eye Coordination]: 65
* [Running Speed]: 69
* [Agility]: 58
* [Balance]: 56
* [Reflexes]: 49
* [Reaction]: 49
* [Stamina]: 65
* [Wrist Strength]: 57
* [Footwork]: 50
* [Vision]: 57
* [Ball Control (Fielding)]: 55
* [Bowling Accuracy]: 55
* [Timing]: 55
* [Power Hitting]: 50
* [Defensive Technique]: 55
* [Shot Selection]: 45
* [WEAK ZONE PROFICIENCY]: 2 stars
* [SHOT CREATIVITY]: 3 stars
[SKILLS POSSESSED]
* Cover Drive: 40% Completion
"Wow," Aryan exclaimed. "Apart from speed and stamina, which are somewhat good for my age, and a few attributes that are decent, the rest are absolute garbage to the point that I can't even imagine how I wanted to be a pro player".
Aryan saw his Wrist Strength stat and started to wonder if being a Middle-order batsman was a good position for him. Although he knew there were batsmen not good at power hitting, they could at least time the ball, but he didn't have anything going for him.
Aryan decided to distribute his stat points. For the +10 stat point, he decided to use it on Timing, which raised it from a 55 to a 65.
He also had to select 3 attributes. He selected: Vision, Bowling Accuracy, and Footwork, which increased to 62, 60, and 55 (system boosted footwork +5).
After this, he used the +1 star Weak Zone Proficiency and Shot Creativity, which also increased to 3/5 star Weak Zone and 4/5 star Shot Creativity.
After this, Aryan's attributes were looking a bit better.
The system changed his player info:
[PLAYER INFO]
* NAME: ARYAN SHARMA
* AGE: 14 (6 MONTHS TO 15)
* HEIGHT: 175CM (5'9)
* PROFESSION: CRICKETER
* STATUS: ACADEMY PLAYER
* SYSTEM EVALUATION: A somewhat decent youth player
* PLAYER POSITION: All-Rounder (Batting Focus)
* POTENTIAL: 80
[STATS]
* [Hand-Eye Coordination]: 65
* [Running Speed]: 69
* [Agility]: 58
* [Balance]: 56
* [Reflexes]: 49
* [Reaction]: 49
* [Stamina]: 65
* [Wrist Strength]: 60
* [Footwork]: 55
* [Vision]: 62
* [Ball Control (Fielding)]: 55
* [Bowling Accuracy]: 60
* [Timing]: 65
* [Power Hitting]: 50
* [Defensive Technique]: 55
* [Shot Selection]: 45
* Weak Zone Proficiency: 3 stars
* Shot Creativity: 4 stars
[SKILLS POSSESSED]
* Cover Drive: 40% Completion
Aryan saw that his player rating had gone from 53 to 57. Aryan was elated.
Aryan saw that new information had come under his player info, which was the Potential category, describing the ability a player can reach.
"System, can you elaborate on the potential category?" Aryan said.
[POTENTIAL]
* This describes the cricketing ability a player can reach.
* 70-74 potential = Mediocre players (Club level)
* 75-80 potential = Decent players (Ranji/State level)
* 81-85 potential = Good players (IPL/League regulars)
* 86-89 potential = Great players (International regulars)
* 90-92 potential = World Class players
* 93-96 potential = Legendary players
* 97-99 potential = Alien / God of Cricket
The system laid out all the information.
Aryan smirked and said, "So I have the potential to be a decent player. No, that won't cut it; with the system, I'm going to become an Alien".
"Aryan, come down for dinner," Priya said, bringing Aryan back from his monologue.
"OK Mum," Aryan replied before going down to eat.