God Of football - Chapter 1029
Chapter 1029: Dopamine!
“That was exhilarating.”
These words just slipped out before he’d even decided to say them.
Izan slipped his hands into his hair and took the clip that was holding his hair together, letting it fall all over his face.
The thrum of the fans up above the underground pathway went low and low as he made his way deeper towards the locker room.
“I really enjoyed the performance!”
“That was a good game!”
“Your goal was wonderful!”
The staff who had found Izan to be easygoing said these sentences towards him as he walked forward, and to that, Izan responded in kind, not leaving a single one hanging!
As he inched closer towards the locker room, his system materialised in vision, while sounding in the back of his mind like a thought.
[I detect a rise in the levels of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin. I guess youenjoyed that more than usual.]
“Insightful,” Izan said with a little smile.
[More than the Cape Verde game and more than the last few months at Arsenal, if we’re being precise.]
Izan shook his head, not bothering to answer as he came to the locker room and pushed through the room door.
When he did, the room came at him immediately.
All conversations sought to drag him in while one of the players pointed at him and shouted something about the second goal while someone else demanded to know why he was constitutionally incapable of scoring a normal one.
At that, he laughed and went around the room palm to palm.
After that, he took a towel from the rack, pulled his shirt off and tossed it toward the kit bin without looking at it.
“See, he doesn’t even have to look at the target again,” Lamine joked as Izan waved him off.
After that, he turned and began walking towards the showers.
Once he found himself alone, the system came back, ringing in his head.
The water came on hot as steam started filling the space.
For a while, neither of them did anything until the system broke the silence.
[Do you remember what football felt like before everyone expected you to win it?]
The question sat in the steam.
“Well, that was a long time ago,” he said as he scoffed despite himself.
It was long, but with how it’d been recently, it was almost beginning to feel like he’d been playing for more than 15 years instead of the almost 4 years he’d been playing for.
When he was done sitting with the thought, the system continued.
[Your whole career you’ve had something to prove.
You’ve been termed, too young, too small, not ready and even after dominating for a bit, you were still called not the best yet.
Every stage gave you something that needed conquering.
A player. A league. A record. A trophy.
There was always something ahead of you that hadn’t been beaten.]
Izan leaned against the tiled wall as the water ran over his shoulders.
[It’s a feeling you’ve gone without feeling for quite some time because the excitement just hasn’t been there.
Tonight Saudi Arabia scored, and for a few minutes the game had a question in it.
I could say you’ve come up against situations like that this season, but none was like this when the Saudi players and fans genuinely believed that they could cause an upset]
[I know you, Izan], the system suddenly said.
[You don’t love winning.
Winning is just the ending.
What you love is the moment before someone else’s belief dies.
The moment when they still think they have something.
When the crowd still thinks they’re watching an upset.
When the defender still thinks he can stop you.
You love taking that moment away from them. That is what used to fuel you. When you faced off against Real Madrid, and the players as well as the fans thought they were winning, only for you to flip the script.
When you went against PSG and for a moment, they thought they had a chance only for you to snatch the cheers right from their throats.
That is what you used to live for. That chaos and the spectacle! That is who you are, Izan.]
Izan stared at the wall, his mind running amok a bit as he listened to the words sounding in the back of his head.
“That’s a genuinely terrible thing to say about a person,” he suddenly said after a while.
By Taboolaby TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored LinksPromoted LinksPromoted LinksIndians over 65 are switching from hearing aids to this new device.Recommended by audiologistHearing LossUndoShooter Action MMOCheck out the new Crossout 2.0 for free. Discover PvP and PvE in our upgraded Action MMO. Countless unique Vehicles, PvE and PvP, Trading. Are you ready? Destroy vehicles your opponent took hours to craft and enjoy. Join now for FreeCrossoutUndoThe cost of hearing aids in Nashik might surprise youRecommended by audiologistHearing LossUndo
[Well, I am a reflection of your internal state. So???]
He laughed at the comment, as he set the small shampoo he’d brought with him down.
[What you do is the next thing that hadn’t been done yet. The next impossibility.
You chased what hasn’t been done yet.
You asked me that you were scared of things not being fun anymore, but no one can make you truly happy unless you yourself.
There are always things worth beating, so stop being afraid.]
The silence that followed reigned for some time as the interface faded at the edge of his vision, but just before it went completely, one last line appeared.
[That feeling isn’t gone. You just have to keep finding it. Which, at a World Cup, shouldn’t be difficult.]
Then it was gone.
Izan stood in the quiet of the shower and looked at the wall and thought about the specific pleasure of taking hope away from people who’d let themselves have it.
“I really am a sadist,” he said as he thought about himself feeling happy whenever he thought of killing hope.
He turned off the shower after that, and he reached for his towel before going back out.
“Finally,” Lamine, who stood in a fresh set of tracksuits, groaned.
“We thought you’d died in there or something!”
“Well, that’d make you glad, wouldn’t it?” Izan questioned as he also began changing into the tracksuit that had been set in front of the locker he’d used.
“Is that what you think of me?” Lamine feigned shock before settling down.
“I’d be sad, but I would mind taking the number 10,” he said as the players around began shaking their heads.
“That’s bad, Lamine.”
“Izan, you might have to start watching your back now,” Nico Williams said as Izan tossed on the top of the tracksuit.
“Don’t worry, I still have a World Cup to win, so I won’t be dying just yet,” he said as “ohhs” rang through the room, mainly at the confidence he’d just said that with.
I have really neglected you guys for far too long. I am really sorry about that. Have this one and see you soon, and hopefully that means in some hours this time. Thank you for reading!