The hospital room was silent. Too silent.Alex sat up in the bed. His leg was in a cast, but the pain was distant, like a radio playing in another room.He looked at his hands. They were young hands. Smooth. Strong.But the mind behind them felt old. Ancient."Who am I?" Alex whispered.The question hung in the air.He closed his eyes.Life One.He saw Danein Blake. The mud. The rain. The broken dreams. A striker who never quite made it. A man who died with regret in his heart and mud in his mouth.Life Two.He saw Leon Fischer. The ten-year-old boy who woke up with a second chance. The boy who learned to pass, to move, to think. The boy who became the Professor.Life Three.He saw Alex Finch. The Wonderkid. The Ballon d'Or winner. The World Champion. The boy who had everything.But now... the lines were blurring.Was he Danein? Was he Leon? Was he Alex?Or was he just a ghost in a machine?He looked at the window. It was dark outside. London was sleeping."I am tired," Alex said to the darkness. "I am tired of being three people."He remembered the tackle. The Anvil. The crack of the bone.For a second, he had thought he was back in Griffin Park. He had thought it was the end.But he had survived.Why?Why was he still here?"Is this a game?" Alex asked. "Am I just a character in a story?"He looked at the corner of the room. Usually, Mark or Milo or Maya would be there. But tonight, he was alone.Except he wasn't alone.A blue light flickered in the corner of his vision.He blinked.It was still there.A screen. Floating in the air. Like a hologram.It wasn't the usual Player Insight System. It wasn't the stats. It wasn't the potential rating.It was different.It was glowing with a strange, pulsing light.[SYSTEM UPDATE REQUIRED]Alex stared at it."Update?" Alex whispered. "I am not a phone. I am a person."The screen changed.[IDENTITY CRISIS DETECTED. SYNCHRONIZATION RATE: 99%.][USER: DANEIN BLAKE / LEON FISCHER / ALEX FINCH.][MERGE COMPLETE.]Alex felt a shock go through his body. It wasn't painful. It was electric.It felt like puzzle pieces clicking together.The memories of Danein—the grit, the hunger, the failure—merged with the memories of Alex—the success, the logic, the joy.He wasn't three people anymore. He was one.He was the sum of all his parts.He was the failure who became a success. The old man who became young. The student who became the master."I am me," Alex said. His voice was strong.The screen flickered again.[NEW OBJECTIVE UNLOCKED.][THE FINAL LEGACY.][MISSION: BREAK THE CYCLE.][REWARD: ???]"Break the cycle?" Alex asked. "What cycle?"[THE CYCLE OF REGRET. THE CYCLE OF REINCARNATION. THE CYCLE OF THE GAME.][TO BECOME TRULY LEGENDARY, YOU MUST NOT JUST PLAY THE GAME. YOU MUST CHANGE IT.]Alex leaned back on his pillow.Change the game.He thought about football. It was a game of rules. Of lines. Of tactics.He had mastered the rules. He had mastered the tactics.But maybe that wasn't enough.Maybe he had to do something more.He looked at his cast."I can't change anything from a hospital bed," Alex said.The screen flashed.[RECOVERY ACCELERATED. ACTIVATING 'PHOENIX PROTOCOL'.]Alex felt a warmth in his leg. It felt like fire, but it didn't burn. It healed.He looked down. He couldn't see anything under the cast, but he could feel it. The bone knitting together. The muscles strengthening."This is cheating," Alex whispered.[THIS IS NOT CHEATING. THIS IS DESTINY.][WARNING: ACCELERATED RECOVERY CONSUMES 'LUCK'. YOUR FUTURE MATCHES WILL HAVE INCREASED DIFFICULTY.]"Increased difficulty?" Alex laughed. "I play against Manchester City and Real Madrid. How much harder can it get?"[YOU WILL SEE.]The screen faded.The room was dark again.Alex took a deep breath.He felt different. Lighter. Clearer.The ghosts were gone. The confusion was gone.He knew who he was.He was the player who defied logic. The player who defied time. The player who defied death.He was the Professor. And he had a new lesson plan.The door opened.Mark walked in. He was wearing pajamas with little pizzas on them. He was holding a pillow."Alex?" Mark whispered. "Are you awake? I had a nightmare. I dreamt that pasta was illegal."Alex smiled."I am awake, Mark."Mark walked over to the bed. He looked at Alex."You look different," Mark said."Different how?""You look... shiny," Mark said. "Like you just polished your soul.""Maybe I did," Alex said."Did you eat a secret snack?" Mark asked suspiciously."No," Alex laughed. "I just had a chat with an old friend.""Who?""Me," Alex said. "All of me."Mark nodded wisely. "Talking to yourself is good. I talk to myself all the time. Usually about cheese."Alex sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed."Mark," Alex said. "Help me up.""But your leg!" Mark said. "It is broken!""Not anymore," Alex said. "It is healing. Fast."Mark looked confused, but he offered his arm.Alex stood up. He put weight on his leg. It was stiff, but it held."Wow," Mark whispered. "You are a lizard! You grew your leg back!""Something like that," Alex said.He walked to the window. He looked out at the city lights.The Premier League was waiting. The Champions League was waiting.But the game had changed.Increased difficulty. Breaking the cycle. The Final Legacy.It sounded like a video game. But it was his life."Mark," Alex said."Yeah?""We are going to do something crazy.""Crazy like running backwards?" Mark asked."Crazier," Alex said. "We are going to change football.""Cool," Mark said. "Can we change the shape of the ball? I want it to be a cube.""No cubes," Alex said. "But maybe... maybe we change how it is played."He looked at his reflection in the glass.The eyes staring back were not the eyes of a scared kid. They were the eyes of a master.Danein Blake was gone. Leon Fischer was gone.There was only Alex Finch.And he was ready to level up."Go to sleep, Mark," Alex said. "Tomorrow, we start training.""Training?" Mark groaned. "In the hospital?""The world is our gym," Alex said.Mark sighed. He climbed into the spare bed in the corner."Fine," Mark mumbled. "But I am dreaming about the cube ball."Alex watched him sleep.He looked at the empty corner where the blue screen had been."Game on," Alex whispered.He lay back down.But he didn't sleep.He started calculating.New variables. New strategies. New horizons.The Professor was back.And this time, he wasn't just teaching the class.He was rewriting the textbook.End of Chapter.

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