Almighty Coach

Although Phillip had only placed third, Stephen’s reaction was like he had won a championship.

"Third place! A ticket to the world championship, we’ve got a ticket to the world championship!" Stephen shouted in excitement. That was also the reason for his enthusiasm.

Phillip only had a little fame in the US at that moment, but if he could participate in the world championship, he would undoubtedly become a world-famous sports star. Phillip would have an inestimable commercial value by then. For an agent, that meant a lot of moolah.

Dai Li was also feeling happy. He was delighted not only because Phillip had obtained a ticket to the world championship, but also because Dai Li himself had just been upgraded to the senior phase of famous coach.

Dai Li had initially thought that he would be stuck for a long time at the intermediate phase of the famous coach, especially after arriving in the US. Everything had to be started from scratch, and the number of athletes in his hand was also limited, so the speed at which he gained experience was rather slow.

But then Dai Li met Phillip. Phillip successively broke several world records in para-athletics, which brought Dai Li a considerable amount of experience.

Even more important was the third place in the selection of the world championship that day. The amount of experience Dai Li gained that day was greater than the experience he had gained from Phillip breaking those world records.

"A disabled person participating in a competition for normal people, it belongs to a cross-level challenge. The difficulty for achieving results increased substantially, so the experience you receive is several times more than normal," the system explained.

"Does that mean that every cross-level challenge would provide bonus experience?" Dai Li asked immediately.

"Yes. However, the exact amount added depends on the difficulty of the cross-level challenge. For example, in a boxing match, a middleweight challenging a heavyweight, and a light heavyweight challenging a heavyweight; although both are cross-level challenges, the latter is more difficult, so the bonus experience will also be higher," the system answered.

"I understand. Looks like I’ve found a new method of leveling up quickly." Dai Li nodded and looked at the experience required to level up. It used millions as a unit, and his heart wanted to request the song "Liangliang" for himself.

Now that I’m at the senior phase of the famous coach, I should level up to become a celebrated coach next, but with the amount of experience required to level up, who knows when I will be able to achieve that!

Dai Li adjusted his mood and told the system, "Hurry up and let me see the rewards for leveling up! Let’s hope you give me something useful."

The system brought out both of the rewards for leveling up. On the left was a pen and a stack of cards, and on the right was a model of a pyramid.

As soon as he saw the cards, Dai Li couldn’t help but think about the "copy cards." However, the style and pattern of these cards were completely different from the copy cards.

"What are these cards, and they come with a pen, too. Is it used for writing?" Dai Li asked.

"This is an age-reduction card. Used on athletes, it can return the body condition of athletes to when they were young. For example, you could use the age-reduction card on a 35 year old athlete and return his body to its condition at 25," the system stated.

Upon hearing the effects, Dai Li felt a sudden sense of joy in his heart.

Age and injury were the two worst enemies of an athlete. In particular, age was scarier than injury since most injuries could be healed, while age was an irreversible process. After an injury, as long as rehabilitation went well, an athlete could still jump and run around with ease upon returning; however, after aging, even if the body remained healthy, it would still be challenging to remain lively even if the athlete wanted to. Not to mention, as one aged, the probability of getting injured also increased, and the recovery speed also slowed down as well.

"This thing is amazing! It’s the same as a rejuvenation! How do I use this age-reduction card?" Dai Li asked immediately.

"It’s simple. You just have to write down the number of years you want to reduce on the card, and simply use it on the athlete. An example would be if you wanted an athlete to become five years younger, just write a ’5’ on the card, if it’s ten years, then just write down the number ’10,’" the system explained.

Dai Li thought about the athlete’s patch from earlier. Its effective period was a year, and every athlete was limited to only using three cards. So, based on the distinct personality of the system, there would also be restrictions on the use of the age-reduction card. As such, Dai Li asked, "This isn’t a permanent effect, right?"

"Of course it’s not a permanent effect, and the age reduction isn’t without its limitations," the system said. "Regarding its time of effect, there is a formula. Subtract the number you’ve written on the card from 13, then multiply it by 30. That would be the time of effect for an age-reduction card. For example, if you wish to deduct five years off an athlete’s age and let his body return to his condition five years ago, then, to calculate the time of effect of the age-reduction card, you subtract five from 13, which gives you eight. Then you multiply eight by 30, which gives you the final number of 240. So, the time of effect for that card would be the next 240 days. Can you understand?"

Dai Li nodded, and the system continued. "Based on these formulas, the age-reduction card has two usage conditions. Number one, the number you write on the card has to be an integer, and it cannot be a negative number. Number two, the number on the age-reduction card cannot exceed 13."

"The number on the card cannot exceed 13, does that mean that I can write the number 13?" Dai Li asked.

"Of course. If you write 13, the final number will be zero, which means that the effective period of the card is zero days. That means that it will immediately lose its effect. You would have wasted an age-reduction card," the system answered.

Dai Li thought for a moment and continued asking, "The number written on the card must be an integer and cannot be a negative number, does that mean I can write down ’0’? Since, after all, zero is an integer."

"Of course you can. If you write zero, the final number would be 390, which also means that in the next 390 days, the athlete would be able to maintain his current body condition. In these 390 days, the athlete’s body would be impervious to the effects of aging," the system answered.

"I think I’ve got the gist of it," Dai Li began calculating quietly in his heart.

Based on the calculation of the formula, the more years you wanted to reduce, the shorter the effect duration. In contrast, the fewer years reduced, the longer the effect duration. If you reduced the age of the athlete by one, it would last 360 days, almost a year. But if you reduced the age by 12 years, it would only last 30 days. Just a month.

The peak age of athletes in most sports is around 25 years old. Under normal circumstances, the bodily functions of an athlete begin to deteriorate after the age of 30. For athletes below the age of 30, there is almost no need to use the age-reduction cards. The body of athletes in this age range are usually in great condition, and reducing the age from 29 to 25 or 26 would not bring too much change. That means that the ones who would use these age-reduction cards are definitely athletes who are more than 30 years old.

And for older athletes, if they want to return to a better physical condition, they would need to reduce more years. It would be meaningless if a 35 year old athlete only returned to the body of a 33 year old. Returning to the body condition of a 30 year old would be much more effective.

But the higher the number of years reduced, the shorter the effect duration. A five year reduction would last 240 days, which is the equivalent of eight months, around an entire season for a basketball league. If it were a seven or eight year reduction, it wouldn’t even last a season.

At that moment, Dai Li was already aware that the age-reduction card was a tool that had to be used carefully. If too many years were deducted, the effect would be short-lived, and the athlete would return to his original state after only a few matches. If the number of years subtracted were too few, although it would last a long time, its effect would be minimal.

"A reminder. The total number of age-reduction cards is also 200, and each athlete can also only use three cards, the same as the athlete’s patch," the voice of the system interrupted Dai Li’s thoughts.

"I know. Next, tell me about this pyramid." Dai Li pointed towards the pyramid-like model.

"This is a team pyramid. It can help you build your coaching team. You are familiar with the structure of the pyramid, yes?" the system asked.

"Just a little," Dai Li answered.

"It is impossible for world-class coaches to handle everything alone, and it’s also unlikely for them to personally do every single thing; they have a team. They are merely the decision makers and conductors. When it comes to hands-on practical training, it is usually handled by the other team members," the system said slowly.

"I know, I’ve been in Harman’s team before. Although Harman was the head coach, he never handled the minute details of training, it was always his subordinates who handled them," Dai Li said.

"With your current standard of being a famous coach, you are more than qualified to build your own coaching team. As the decision maker and conductor of the team, you will undoubtedly be on top of the pyramid. The different layers below would be the other members of your team. You are currently a famous coach, so the team pyramid can provide you with the titles of two top-level coaches, four second-rate coaches, and eight third-rate coaches," the system explained.

"What is the use of these titles?" Dai Li asked promptly.

"You can give these titles to the coaches in your team, and they will receive additional training effects associated with the title. Like the part-timer that you recently hired, you could give him the title of a second-rate coach. He would then enjoy the bonus effects of a second-rate coach when training athletes. You’ve experienced being a second-rate coach before, so you should understand very well what the bonus effects are. Of course, people who receive the title will only enjoy the improved training effect, they won’t learn of my existence," the system explained.

"Would I be able to retract the titles after handing them out?" Dai Li asked.

"Yes. As long as the person is in your coaching team, you can give them any title, and you can also retract the titles any time you want. Everything will be displayed on the team pyramid. With a title, bonus training effects; no title, no bonus training effects." The system continued, "At the same time, you will gain experience when a coach who has been given a title conducts training as if you were conducting the training yourself."

"It’s similar to me being the boss and them being the workers who help me earn money?" Dai Li asked quickly.

"That description isn’t exactly right, as a boss has to pay wages to his employees. The correct description would be that they are like slaves, and you are a slave master. All the experience they gain through training athletes will belong to you," the system stated.

That means that by having this team pyramid, I’ve gained a group of experience points miners. In this case, I will gain experience faster; looks like those millions of experience points required to level up won’t be that hard to achieve anymore. Dai Li began calculating again in his mind as he thought of that.

Two top-level coaches, four second-rate coaches, eight third-rate coaches. A total of 14 spots. The number of people in coach Harman’s coaching team was probably also around this number. That means that I can form a coaching team for a soccer club. For a physical training center like mine, 14 staff is definitely more than enough. I have only employed two part-time coaches, and now that I have this team pyramid, perhaps I should hire a few more full-time coaches.

The system interrupted him and said, "You should indeed hire more people. You will become a celebrated coach in your next level up, and at that point, the effects of the team pyramid will also increase. You will be able to use the titles of two famous coaches, four top-level coaches, eight second-rate coaches, and 16 third-rate coaches."

...

In the meeting room of the American Track and Field Association, the situation regarding Phillip had ignited an argument.

"He’s disabled, how can you let him represent the United States of America in the World Championship in Athletics? We would become a laughingstock!"

"But he has indeed placed third in the race. According to your rules, the top three from the selection will represent the US in the world championship. It has been like this for decades. The top three represent the US. We should follow the rules."

"But the circumstances are too special this time, I think special circumstances should be treated differently."

"No. Rules should be followed. We cannot use ’a special circumstance’ as an excuse to go against the rules. As soon as a precedent is created, multiple ’special circumstances’ will appear in the future. Would we have to also treat special circumstances differently each time? Once that happens, where would fairness and justice go? In that case, why organize a selection race in the first place? We might as well just choose the participants."

"Are we going to submit the name of that disabled person to the International Association of Athletics Federation?"

"Why not? He got third place, he has earned the right to participate."

"Among the rules and regulations of the World Championship in Athletics, no rule prohibits disabled people from taking part in the competition."

"But that doesn’t mean the International Association of Athletics Federation will recognize Phillip, or that they will let him participate."

"Whether the International Association of Athletics Federation allows Phillip to participate in the championship, that’s their problem. Whether we submit Phillip’s name to the International Association of Athletics Federation, now that’s our problem. We are currently discussing if we should send Phillip to participate in the World Championship in Athletics, and not whether they will allow him to participate. Besides, if the International Association of Athletics Federation decides to deny Phillip the right to participate, it’s still not a reason for us to break the rules. Our rule is that the top three of the selection race will go and represent the US in the world championship."