Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

Chapter 11: The Rapidly Improving Defensive Grind King

Li Ang spent some time browsing the system's shop, expecting a massive, glittering inventory of items—what he got instead was a sad little display of just ten.

At first, he assumed it was only the first page, but after searching thoroughly…

Nope. That was it.

The entire store.

There was a 500-point "Five-Language Fluency Capsule."

A 400-point set of "Heavy-Duty Shin Guards."

An 800-point pair of "Batistuta Power Boots," with a 3% boost to shooting power.

…

To be fair, they were all decent items.

But Li Ang couldn't afford any of them, nor did he really need most of them right now.

What he was hoping for was something cost-effective—something that could boost his injury resistance.

But judging from this store, that kind of thing was rare here too.

At least, he wasn't getting it cheap.

Slightly disappointed, he switched over to the item draw module.

The draw pool tiers were the same as the Talent Fragment system: Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond.

The cost per draw was also the same across the board.

Li Ang glanced at the top-right of the interface, noting the pitifully small number of points he had left—barely over twenty.

Silently, he exited the draw screen.

The only thing he could feel happy about now was the free A-tier League First Victory Gift Pack the system had just given him.

Eyes still closed, Li Ang quietly played the cursed recording Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema had made for him:

"Ou-huang activate! Misfortune, get out!"

The broken Chinese voices in his headphones made him let out a helpless chuckle.

Then he took a deep breath and tapped to open the golden, glowing gift pack in his system inventory.

A flash of golden light.

Li Ang focused his gaze:

"Damaged Heavy-Duty Shin Guards ×1, Damaged Lucky Wristband ×1, Silver-tier Talent Fragment Card ×1."

The three items hovered briefly before sliding into his system vault.

System message: Surprise! A free gift pack, three usable items. Don't say I'm stingy.

Li Ang (saluting): Bro, this is what you call a surprise!?

Sitting on the team bus, he couldn't jump up or laugh out loud.

He was nineteen now—had to act mature, like an adult.

But still, the corners of his mouth betrayed him, stretching to their widest.

This felt good.

Even if they were "damaged" versions, the heavy-duty shin guards and lucky wristband were exactly the kind of things he needed right now.

And that silver-tier fragment? That alone was worth 300 points to draw.

All Li Ang could say was—those six years hadn't been in vain.

After surviving the toughest part of his development, the system had finally leveled up and started showing him some "kindness."

Perhaps this was the system's first real test for him.

The golden fragment had been given upfront—if he worked hard and proved himself, he could unlock the doors of professional football.

And now that he had entered La Liga, the system wasn't being stingy with rewards.

But if he had slacked off in these years, ended up in the lower leagues, or returned to Asia to enjoy an easier life, then the system would never have acknowledged him.

He wouldn't have gotten these freebies.

With that in mind, Li Ang wasted no time and tapped to open the silver fragment card.

He earned this.

He wanted to see what kind of surprise the system had in store.

A flash of silvery light.

Then—an image appeared: a Black player wearing a white Real Madrid jersey.

"Essien 2012–13 'Strength' Talent Fragment

Talent Rating: 87 (Max: 100)

Current Host Strength Stat: 80"

No bonus insights this time. Li Ang wasn't surprised.

Silver-tier cards only gave stat cap boosts.

If you wanted the drawn player's mental insights, you'd have to get a gold or diamond card.

But he was still satisfied with the Essien fragment.

Even past his prime and coming off serious injury, "The Bison" still had an 87 strength rating?

Beast.

A +7 potential boost was enough to fuel a season or two of hard grinding.

For a holding midfielder, a strength stat above 85 was already more than enough. What mattered more was stamina and durability.

Those two dictated how much ground a DM could cover and how often they could stay fit and available.

Even if Li Ang ended up being stronger than Pepe, his place in the rotation wouldn't shift too much.

But if his stamina and durability increased to the next tier?

Even when Diarra came back, Li Ang wouldn't be behind in the pecking order.

Satisfied with his haul, he opened his eyes and immediately sought out Alonso to discuss his next training sessions.

With stamina potions to support him, and with no guarantee he'd start the next game, he planned to head to Valdebebas tomorrow and do some recovery training in the afternoon.

Most of the other players would probably use Mourinho's 1–2 day break to rest and spend time with family.

Which meant Li Ang would likely be training alone—or doing short pass drills with whoever stayed behind.

He needed Alonso's training advice. Following the same path his mentor had taken would at least help him avoid wasting time.

So while most of the team chatted about where they'd relax tonight or tomorrow after returning to Madrid, Li Ang and Alonso were already quietly discussing drills.

Sitting in the row behind them, Cristiano Ronaldo arched a brow.

He appeared to be admiring the scenery outside the bus window—but his ears subtly tilted toward Li Ang and Alonso.

When their conversation ended, he leaned back in his seat as if nothing had happened.

Not long after, Mourinho and Casillas boarded the bus together.

When Mourinho announced the players had two days off, the team erupted in cheers and applause.

The Real Madrid bus rumbled to life, headed back toward their hotel on Mallorca Island.

—

By the next day, around noon, most of the squad had finally crawled out of bed after twelve hours of glorious sleep.

Around 2:00 p.m., Li Ang and his teammates returned to the Valdebebas training facility.

One by one, the players completed routine physical checks and then drove off to enjoy the rest of their break.

Li Ang stayed behind.

He had a pre-training meal, rested until 3:30, then hit the pitch—accompanied by a few youth players Karanka had found to help.

His short-pass drills were extremely repetitive.

After a half-hour warm-up, he practiced threading accurate passes through a maze of cones to youth players constantly shifting positions.

At the same time, a fitness coach simulated pressure by bumping him with pads and adding resistance, mimicking match conditions.

The intensity was no joke.

Li Ang's energy kept draining—but there wasn't a hint of pain on his face.

He enjoyed the pain.

And he wasn't alone.

Out of sight, a certain someone had returned after leaving earlier.

Now fully changed into training gear, Cristiano Ronaldo stood at the edge of the pitch, looking on in surprise.

A casual fan might not notice much difference in Li Ang.

But Ronaldo—who had trained with him long enough—immediately picked up on his progress.

This kid, who used to focus solely on defense, now looked like a real midfielder, practicing short-passing drills designed to break pressing lines.

Cristiano's eyes lit up.

He was intrigued.

Today, he was going to find out what else this rapidly improving "Defensive Grind King" had to offer.

And if it came down to who trained harder?

Please.

With Ronaldo around, no one at Valdebebas better dream about taking the Training Monster crown from him.

He'd prove it to Li Ang himself.

Classic proud Ronaldo.

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