Chapter 422: Chapter 28: The Munich Pull II
Nothing that flashed, but the passing stack was real and it was the thing Bayern would test most.
「SILVER PACK SELECTED」
「200 TP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 373 SP | 28 MP」
「Vision +1 · Composure +1 · Heading Accuracy +2 · Inverted Threat (shard) · Disguised Square Ball (shard)」
That closed the training points. Fifty-nine left, not enough for anything more there.
He paused before the next tier, because this was the real decision.
「REMAINING BALANCE」
「59 TP | 373 SP | 28 MP」
The Diamond Run
"Diamond Pack."
The room dimmed before the panel even formed, the way it only did for the premium tier.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 323 SP | 28 MP」
The lever came back heavier this time, and the cards fanned wider, the air around them charged. They flipped slower, and when the main card turned a hard white flash filled the room for half a second before the name resolved.
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Fabio Cannavaro — Wall」
It landed in him like a door opening on a part of his game he’d half-ignored. Bayern weren’t only flair and pace — they punished weak defensive reading as hard as anything, and Cannavaro answered exactly that, the aerial command and the timing in the tackle settling into his frame as his heading and defensive awareness surged.
The rest of the pack filled in around it.
「Long Passing · Short Passing · Ball Control · Heading Accuracy · Free-Kick Whip (shard) · Big Match Temperament (shard) · Tempo Drop (shard) · Gianluigi Buffon (legendary shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 88」
He exhaled once, slowly, and pulled again.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 273 SP | 28 MP」
The flash came twice.
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Marcel Desailly — The Rock」
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Michael Owen — Boy Wonder」
Two in one pack. He went still, because the system had never handed him a double before, and the pairing reshaped both ends of him at once — Desailly’s physical command to hold midfield contact and sit in front of a back four, Owen’s burst and finishing edge to threaten in behind a line.
「Short Passing +8 · Long Passing +4 · Interceptions +8 · Vision +7 · Acceleration +7 · Confidence Anchor (shard) · First-Phase Outlet (shard) · Curve Run Timing (shard) · Elastico Burst (shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 89」
First-Phase Outlet caught his eye on the way past, because Bayern’s press would demand exactly that — someone United could trust as the first pass out of pressure, every time.
The third diamond mattered most for Munich, and he knew it before he pulled.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 223 SP | 28 MP」
The flash, then the name.
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Toni Kroos — Metronome」
He sat back.
Bayern’s whole game was forcing rushed choices, and Kroos was the answer to rushed — control, weight, rhythm, the ball arriving where it should at the tempo a team could think in. This wasn’t a boost. This was the kind of skill that made the players around him breathe, because the ball would stop coming back at them in a hurry.
「Acceleration +8 · Positioning +5 · Positioning +7 · Vision +6 · Positioning +5 · Press Resistant (shard) · Clutch Finisher (shard) · Quick Free-Kick (shard) · Cesc Fàbregas (legendary shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 90」
The fourth answered the other half of it.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 173 SP | 28 MP」
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Luka Modrić — Outside-of-Boot Laser」
If Kroos gave him the rhythm, Modrić gave him the disguise — the driven outside-of-boot switch, the line-breaking pass nobody read, the balance to carry under pressure and come out the other side. For the first time since the clips, the Bayern match felt like something he could affect rather than only survive.
「Standing Tackle +7 · Reactions +8 · Composure +5 · Heading Accuracy +7 · Dribbling +6 · Stamina Regeneration (shard) · Late Bloomer (shard) · Nílton Santos (legendary shard) · Sweeping Long Diagonal (shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 91」
The fifth was flair, and he knew it carried a warning with it.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 123 SP | 28 MP」
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Jay-Jay Okocha — So Good Twice」
The tight-space dribbling, the agility, the trickery in a phone box — powerful, and dangerous in the wrong hands. He registered it with a flat kind of respect rather than excitement, because against Bayern, a loose flick that didn’t come off wouldn’t be a missed trick. It would be a Bayern counter and a United back four exposed. A weapon to use sparingly, not to lean on.
「Ball Control +7 · Aggression +4 · Reactions +7 · Balance +6 · Short Passing +5 · Loose Ball Magnet (shard) · Recovery Boost (shard) · Threaded Reverse Volley (shard) · Drag-and-Drive (shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 92」
The sixth changed how he could hurt them.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 73 SP | 28 MP」
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Thierry Henry — Va-Va-Voom」
The glide infield from the left, the curling finish into the far corner, the composure in the forward third — another route to goal that didn’t turn him into a pure striker but gave him an edge in the box he hadn’t carried before.
「Short Passing +9 · Stamina +7 · Ball Control +9 · Positioning +4 · Ball Control +6 · Playmaker (shard) · Wall-Pass Partner (shard) · Threaded Ground Pass (shard) · Manuel Neuer (legendary shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 92」
The number held, but the jump underneath it was obvious — ball control, short passing, stamina, and a finishing threat all stacking at once.
The seventh was the last of the diamonds, and the most violent.
「DIAMOND PACK SELECTED」
「50 SP CONSUMED」
「REMAINING BALANCE: 59 TP | 23 SP | 28 MP」
The flash came hardest of all, and the name settled in the quiet.
「LEGENDARY PLAYER SKILL — Gareth Bale — Galáctico Surge」
「Sprint Speed +15 · Shot Power +10」
This was the one Bayern couldn’t plan around. The pace capped out, a transition weapon that turned one won ball into forty yards of open grass, and the strike to finish it.
「Acceleration +6 · Penalties +8 · Short Passing +4 · Balance +9 · Short Passing +7 · Half-Turn Specialist (shard) · Agent Negotiation Perk (shard) · No-Look Slide Pass (shard) · Settle Touch (shard)」
「OVERALL RATING: 93」
He didn’t react to that one at all. He read the number and sat with it, because ninety-three wasn’t survival anymore. He’d pulled himself into a tier where he could decide things at the Allianz rather than just hold on.
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