These were the first words Eric heard after coming back to life again. He was in his previous life a homeless in the streets of London, and his life was one which could be described in a single word -- Disastrous.

He died after being hit by an over speeding truck. He instinctively knew that this was going to be his last moments but unlike most others while facing death, his thoughts were

[At last! I can escape this h.e.l.l!]

Immediately after that, his soul got separated from his body and all of a sudden, he was in front of a human silhouette which was glowing as bright as the sun.

That's it. That was all he could remember before this scene. Many people came rus.h.i.+ng inside and all were in a joyous mood. Suddenly, everyone around him who were talking became silent. Eric was confused as to why they did so and so he looked towards them only to receive yet another ma.s.sive shock. Yes, it looked as if the room was in a "Pause Mode" and to make matters worse a notification window popped up.

"h.e.l.lo Eric. This is G.o.d!! (Yes.. I am indeed the Almighty himself). You could say that your previous life was indeed hopeless and you could be considered as the person who lived the most hopeless, pitiful and disgusting life one could have ever lived. But I was indeed astonished to see that you did not get self destructed and become another one of those psychopaths and so hmm....(cough)(cough)

Even though I am G.o.d, even I do have some sort of self consciousness inside me, so here is what we will do. (Oh! I am so excited!). You'll have your memories intact and I indeed have reversed the time back to 1998, the year of your birth. But unfortunately, you cannot go back to being Eric Williams as it is not possible for even me to do that. So you could say that this is an alternate timeline where there is no trace of the Williams family itself. Considering the fact that you've suffered a lot because of my little game in your previous life, the starting point of your life will be a good one when compared to your previous life, which you are going to learn by yourself. You will be gifted a real time Virtual Reality a.s.sistant i.e. you'll be knowing your basic stats as in a virtual reality game you have seen in your previous life. The basic stats that are going to be a.s.signed to you are going will be decided based on your choice of career (Which you have to choose right now!!)"

He was in a complete pandemonium. Taking some time to digest all the shocks he received, he then moved his hands to respond to the next notification window that popped up.

"Please choose your choice of career"

Being the football maniac he was in his previous life, without any hesitation he chose - Professional Football Player.

"Choice of career confirmed. The Virtual Reality a.s.sistant will be on any moment now. Thank you for registering"

"So this is where we part off Eric. Please do enjoy this life of yours to the fullest extent!"

After that last notification the flow of time resumed and everyone around him were busy chatting. Almost ten people were standing beside him and a lady who was his mother. Then, a mechanical sound was projected in his mind --

"I am your Virtual Reality a.s.sistant. My codename is Eric. In order to gain my access, you have to telepathically call me and to do so please wait until your vocal cords are developed as user's current voice is necessary for that. Please note that my uses are only limited to checking your stats and giving suggestions relating to your stats, recording movements & replaying skills and movements whenever asked. As for you, these are your current stats"

NAME : -- (User not yet named)

AGE : -- Newborn baby (Not even one day has pa.s.sed since your birth)

NATIONALITY : -- Indian

BASIC STATS ----

HEALTH : -- 100 (Perfectly Healthy)

PACE : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

SHOOTING : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

Pa.s.sING : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

DRIBBLING : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

PHYSICAL : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

DEFENCE : -- Not Applicable (Gets unlocked after the user learns how to walk)

This coincidentally took place when the old lady who was standing beside him lifted him up from his cradle. Eric was not able to pay attention to him getting lifted up as he was dumbfounded by looking at the Stats option started laughing wildly. This action of his to the others in the hospital was an exceedingly "KAWAAI" moment and the old lady who was giving him back to his mother was delighted to the extreme.

Eric who was still in his own world because of the events that took place, did not notice anything that happened now and this was the start of a legend, one which would be stored in the golden pages of footballing history.