The referee had already called two fouls against the opposition on Wang Shuo. Both happened after he tracked back to defend, won the ball, and was then fouled as the opponent tried to press him.
So that makes four times now.
’So does that mean the so-called Passive Value is the number of times I get fouled by an opponent in an official match?’
’One Passive Value point for every time I’m fouled?’
As Wang Shuo considered this, his mind couldn’t help but drift toward certain masochistic tendencies.
’System, oh System, isn’t this some kind of unhealthy encouragement?’
’I’m still just a kid!’
But Wang Shuo immediately realized something else—youth team matches counted too.
That would make it much easier to rack up points.
Of course, that also brought the risk of injury.
It was a matter of finding the right balance.
’I wonder if the system has any Passive Skills that reduce injuries?’
’If it does, that would be an absolute game-changer, a real nuke!’
After figuring out the Passive Value, Wang Shuo discovered a new feature in the system.
Flanking the giant soccer ball used for drawing Passive Skills, one panel was his Personal Attribute Panel. Now, another panel had appeared on the opposite side, listing a series of Wang Shuo’s individual techniques.
For example: Passing, Breakthrough, Ball Control, Shooting, Heading, and so on.
Even though he was a forward, goalkeeping was also on the list.
However, his goalkeeping was only at the [Amateur] level.
The vast majority of his other skills were at the [Semi-professional] level.
This clearly reflected Wang Shuo’s current abilities.
Only his Movement had reached the [Professional Level].
Just as Wang Shuo had guessed, Passive Value was indeed crucial.
Acquiring more Passive Value would allow him to raise the level of his Passive Skills.
Upgrading Passive Skills not only improved his own abilities but also raised the potential cap for his Active Skills.
Take his Movement, for example.
Only two Passive Skills influenced this Active Skill: [Breathing] and [Insight].
When both of these Passive Skills reached the Professional Level, the potential cap for his Movement was also upgraded to Professional Level.
All Wang Shuo had to do was train hard, and he could reach that level.
But another Active Skill, Passing, didn’t meet the requirements yet.
While more movement and an excellent ability to read the game were certainly important for passing, they clearly weren’t the only factors.
Wang Shuo would have to wait until he acquired more Passive Skills to figure out all the interconnections.
For now, he simply had too little information to work with.
But he understood one thing clearly: the more complex and crucial a technique was, the more Passive Skills it involved.
It was just like the giant soccer ball in the center of the interface.
It was covered in 12 pentagons, each connected to the others by thin threads.
Passive Skills were the core foundation, determining the strength of the Active Skills.
They complemented each other, collectively forming the shape of a soccer ball.
Having figured all this out, Wang Shuo’s understanding of the system deepened.
’I have to work hard and become a Pentagonal Warrior!’
...
"Scoring a goal on your debut, Wang! I knew you could do it!"
After returning to Mainz, the team was dismissed for the day.
When his agent, Thomas Essien, came to pick him up, he had already heard the news from Kramny. He excitedly grabbed Wang Shuo and wouldn’t stop praising him.
"My God, Kramny told me that even though you only played for a little over half an hour, you were the best player on the pitch."
"Bar none!"
"I hear that even Andre Schürrle, the most talented player on the Mainz youth team, is completely won over by you."
Wang Shuo just shook his head humbly.
He certainly wasn’t going to reveal anything about the system to explain his progress.
He simply said that he had been improving steadily since arriving in Germany.
He just hadn’t had a chance to show it in a match before.
Now that he was at Mainz, under Kramny’s guidance and surrounded by excellent teammates like Schürrle, his progress had accelerated, which naturally led to a better performance on the pitch.
"Well said! I’ll be sure to repeat that to Kramny verbatim," Thomas Essien said with a chuckle.
With Wang Shuo performing well, his own relationship with Kramny would also improve.
"Come on, we need to find you an apartment. It’s not convenient to keep living in a hotel."
Since arriving in Germany, Wang Shuo had basically been living out of a suitcase.
Now that he was finally settling down in Mainz, he naturally wanted to rent a place near the stadium.
Mainz provided a monthly housing allowance, and it would be a waste not to use it.
Wang Shuo had only one requirement for the apartment: it had to be close to Bruch Road Stadium so he could easily walk or jog there and back each day.
As for everything else, he left it in Thomas Essien’s hands.
That evening, Wang Shuo returned to the training ground.
Schürrle, Medinitz, and Hoffenheim were already waiting for him.
Tonight, Bruch Road Stadium was hosting a 2nd Bundesliga match for round 25: Mainz versus Hoffenheim.
The club usually distributed tickets to its players for matches like this.
While the youth team players didn’t normally get them, homegrown talents like Schürrle and Hoffenheim were able to.
This time, Schürrle and Hoffenheim had specifically invited Wang Shuo to join them.
The group headed to Bruch Road Stadium and found their spots in the standing-room-only section, home to Mainz’s most die-hard fans.
Bruch Road Stadium had a mere 13,500 seats, but by removing over 3,000 of them, it could accommodate 10,000 standing spectators.
Even though Mainz was a small club, the 20,000-person capacity was packed, and the atmosphere was pretty good.
"Did you know? Back when Klopp decided to become Mainz’s head coach, he actually had the support of Hoffenheim’s current manager, Rangnick," Carl Hoffenheim explained to Wang Shuo with a grin.
The guy was always a fountain of information.
"We originally wanted to hire Rangnick?" Wang Shuo asked, surprised.
"Of course not. Klopp and Rangnick are very close friends. Back then, Klopp was still a player and had no coaching experience. It was Rangnick who gave him a lot of help and advice, which gave him the confidence to take the manager’s job at Mainz."
"That’s why a lot of the media are calling this a showdown between master and apprentice."
It dawned on Wang Shuo.
But he felt the attention on this match probably had more to do with the two teams currently sitting in 2nd and 3rd place in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Right behind them, teams like Fuerth, Cologne, and Freiburg were hot on their heels.
Neither side wanted to lose.
This was especially true for Mainz, who were playing at home.
This was a crucial match, and Mainz desperately needed a decisive result to halt their recent slump and restore morale.
Hoffenheim dominated the match right from the start.
After a hard-fought battle, in the 70th minute, a long shot from outside the box by a Mainz player led to an own goal by Hoffenheim’s midfielder, Spirasek.
Mainz took the lead.
But in the 83rd minute, an assist from Bosnia and Herzegovina international Salihovic found Senegalese striker Demba Ba, who held off Mainz center-back Subotic in the box and leveled the score.
In the end, the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw.
Although it was a draw, anyone could see that Mainz was in a more precarious position.
In the same round, Cologne defeated Wein Wiesbaden 2-1 at home.
Fuerth lost 1-0 away to Jena.
Freiburg drew 2-2 away against Oer.
With these results, both Mainz and Cologne were on 42 points, trailing Hoffenheim’s 44 and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 48.
Fuerth and Freiburg both sat at 40 points.
The race for promotion to the Bundesliga had become even more intense.