Lucas felt his body shudder briefly.
"P-powers? What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.
Nishida laughed softly, even though his ankle was still hurting. "There's no need to pretend, Lucas. I know. I know about everything."
Lucas stopped walking for a mont, holding on tightly to his friend's arm. The noise from the stadium seed to have died down in the background, as if at that mont only the two of them existed.
"How do you know?"
Nishida sighed and then let out sothing that made Lucas lose his breath: "Because I went back in ti, too."
Lucas blinked, unable to process it right away. "What?"
"Yes. I'm a regressor too," Nishida said, with a bitter tone in his voice. "In the afterlife... I lived through it all. I rember the day you died."
Lucas felt a tightness in his chest.
"You died a hero, you know? You saved that woman, but you paid the price. When I got the news, I..." Nishida clenched his fists, his expression changing to sothing grim. "I felt terrible. You were my childhood best friend, Lucas. And I couldn't believe it when they said you were gone. I felt like I'd abandoned you in Japan, that I'd been a terrible friend."
Lucas didn't know what to say. He had never stopped to think about the impact of his death on those who knew him in his past life.
"My career wasn't great either. I went to Europe, played for average teams, and was never a big na. In Japan, I was sotis called up to the national team, but I was just another generic striker, a na on the list. In the end, years later, I also died... in a car accident. Kind of ironic, isn't it?" Nishida laughed humorlessly.
Lucas swallowed. "And then you went back to that ti? To that ga where we decided the starters for the championship?"
Nishida nodded. "So we went back to exactly the sa ti. At first, I thought it was just a strange dream or an illusion. But then I noticed little details... things that had happened before, in exactly the sa way. Only, over the next few days, when I saw you playing... playing so differently... I knew for sure. You were back too."
Lucas was silent for a mont. It was all too much information to process at once.
"So you have a system too?" he asked.
"Yes, but I don't have skills like you. I an... I gain skills, I improve, but I've never gotten a healing skill like you." Nishida looked at Lucas with a glint of expectation in his eyes. "Can you help ?"
Lucas laughed, breaking the tension. "It's not a healing skill."
Nishida blinked. "What?"
"It's not a healing skill," Lucas repeated, still laughing. "It's an item."
Silence hung between them for a few seconds before Nishida finally reacted. "Item? Like the kind you get in lootboxes?"
"That's right. Well, it's hard to get healing items in the lootboxes, so I usually buy them when I need them."
Nishida's face contorted in pure confusion. "Buy?! What do you an buy?!"
"At the store." Lucas answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I use the credits I earn from missions to buy what I need."
Nishida's eyes widened. "We have a store?!"
Lucas gave a half-smile. "At least I do."
Nishida stood there, dumbfounded, trying to understand what he had just heard. "YOU HAVE A STORE AND USE CREDITS TO BUY ITEMS?!"
Lucas nodded, holding back his laughter as he saw his friend's reaction.
"I never knew what credits were for!" Nishida exclaid, exasperated. "My God! I've wasted so much ti!"
Lucas really laughed this ti. "That's what cos of not reading novels and manhwa."
Nishida closed his eyes for a mont and took a deep breath. "Okay, okay. It doesn't matter. Now that I know that, I can solve this problem myself." He opened his system and rummaged through the nus. "Got it! The store! So I really have one too..." He spent a few seconds looking at the options before muttering. "Wow, I've got a lot of credits built up..."
Lucas patted him on the shoulder. "Then buy the healing item and apply it. I need to get back to the ga."
Nishida nodded, still with the expression of soone who had just discovered a new world. "Go on. But get ready, because I'm going to win this ga. I will not make it easy just because you were a hero in your past life."
Lucas smiled, satisfied. "I'm counting on it."
With that, Lucas turned and walked back onto the pitch, ready to face the last minutes of the match. Sothing inside him was relieved. He no longer had to be the only returner.
Lucas took a deep breath as he returned to the field, his heart racing.
Just then, the fourth official lifted the board, and the glowing numbers showed extra ti: 10.
Coach Eddie shouted so instructions from the side of the pitch, encouraging the team. Brighton needed a goal.
If no one scored, the ga would go to extra ti, sothing no player wanted after an intense and exhausting match.
The opposition restarted the ga with a long throw, trying to surprise Brighton.
Lucas positioned himself strategically to cut out the move. His ca into play, allowing him to calculate the trajectory of the ball with precision. He took a few steps back and, at just the right mont, intercepted the pass with a subtle touch to the chest, controlling the ball before his opponent could react.
With a quick turn, he escaped the pressure and sped up through the middle. Nishida appeared in front of him, looking determined.
Now that Lucas knew that his friend also had a system, facing him took on an extra dinsion.
Nishida tried to expect his move, but Lucas used his ability to deceive his opponent.
With a light touch to the right, Tanaka pretended to go that way, but quickly pulled to the left, leaving Nishida behind.
Now with space, Lucas raised his head and saw Miguel shooting in from the right. He made a deep pass, and the winger sped up to reach the ball before his marker.
This ga would not be over in 10 minutes. This ga was going to end now. It had to end. Otherwise, there would only be the two players with systems left on the pitch, because they would be the only ones left with any breath left.
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