[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the system quest! Defeated Juventus and advanced to the Coppa Italia final!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on earning 500 System Points!]
The system notification chimed in Leon's mind.
'Not bad!'
Including the 113 System Points earned from this match, Leon now had a total of 650 System Points.
'Go straight to attribute exchange!'
Leon did not hesitate this time and went directly to the attribute exchange.
The two most important goals for this season were winning the Coppa Italia and securing a European competition spot for next season.
Of course, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League would be the ideal outcome.
However, with Serie A's decline, only the top two sides in the league table could qualify directly for the Champions League.
Even third place had to go through the playoff rounds.
Thinking back to when Serie A was called the "Little World Cup," who could have imagined it would fall this far?
Truly, times had changed.
Leon's style of goalkeeping was destined to be the kind that kept you on the edge of your seat.
It genuinely required a bit of luck.
Even with the One-on-One Save talent, not every shot in a match would be a one-on-one.
If you walk along the riverbank long enough, your shoes will eventually get wet.
Continuously improving his own hard stats was the only real path forward for Leon.
[Throw Distribution]: 13 -> 15!
[Defensive Positioning]: 7 -> 13!
The 650 System Points were spent in full once again.
Nevertheless, Leon's ability had improved by a meaningful margin.
His current plan was to bring all attributes up to 15.
As for anything above 15, that was where progress became considerably more difficult.
Each point from 16 to 20 cost 500 System Points.
Far too expensive.
Even though Leon knew that becoming one of the best goalkeepers in the world would require pushing every attribute to its absolute peak, he felt that was not something to worry about right now.
After defeating Juventus and reaching the final, AC Milan's next match came around quickly.
On Sunday, they would host Cagliari at home.
This week was a rare double-matchweek for AC Milan, placing a certain demand on the squad's fitness.
That said, Leon had no such concerns.
His [Stamina] attribute had long since been maxed out at 20.
And since he played as a goalkeeper, worrying about fitness was even less of an issue.
In the match against Cagliari, Leon again started with the black mask on.
His increasingly composed goalkeeping left Cagliari with nothing to show for their visit to San Siro.
3-0!
AC Milan claimed a convincing home victory and continued to apply pressure on the top four in the league table.
The match brought Leon another 67 System Points.
His clean sheet run had now reached 810 minutes.
Only 119 minutes remained between him and the all-time Serie A clean sheet record.
In the 1993-94 season, Sebastiano Rossi, also playing for AC Milan, had set a record of 929 consecutive minutes without conceding.
The record was quickly dug up by supporters.
A sharp intake of breath rippled through the older Serie A faithful.
Two more matches without conceding and Leon would break a record that had stood for 20 years.
That this clean sheet record had gone unbeaten for two decades was proof enough of how remarkable it was.
And Leon was only 18 years old this season.
Nobody questioned it any longer: on the goalkeeper position, Leon was the most dazzling superstar prospect around.
While it was true that goalkeeping placed a premium on experience, certain players were simply born with exceptional talent.
Take Buffon, for example: at just 18, he had already cemented himself as the first-choice goalkeeper at Lazio.
Leon was exactly the same.
Because Leon had worn the black mask in two consecutive matches, fans back in the East had given him an affectionate nickname: "The Black Knight"!
Many fans from the East even hoped Leon would keep wearing the mask throughout his career and become the most striking sight on any pitch.
Leon did not take them up on the suggestion.
The black mask was not particularly comfortable to wear.
It did affect his sightlines, however slightly.
The [Iron Mask] from the system was the face covering Leon intended to keep on indefinitely.
It was just that fans from the East would never get to see it.
Truth be told, the [Iron Mask] looked incredibly cool.
With the buff from the [Iron Mask] active, the injury to Leon's nose bridge had healed completely.
So after the Cagliari match concluded, Leon discarded the black mask.
The two matches ahead were critically important, both for AC Milan and for Leon personally.
On 4th April, AC Milan would travel away to face Roma.
On 13th April, AC Milan would host Lazio at San Siro.
Roma currently sat second in the Serie A table.
Lazio sat third.
AC Milan trailed Roma by 7 points and Lazio by 6.
Catching up by the end of the season was well within reach.
If both of these tough fixtures were won, breaking into the Champions League places was no longer a distant dream for AC Milan.
And as far as Leon was concerned, if he kept a clean sheet in both matches, he would shatter the all-time Serie A clean sheet record.
A performance of that calibre could even put Leon in contention for the [Serie A Best Goalkeeper] award at the end of the season.
Do not underestimate the [Serie A Best Goalkeeper] award.
If Leon were to win it, he would have the chance to unlock new talents in the system's Talent module.
The only way to unlock new talents was by winning various awards across the top five leagues.
The Golden Boy Award!
The Ballon d'Or!
The FIFA Best!
The higher the prestige of the award Leon earned, the greater the quality of the talent it would unlock.
The power of talents needed no further elaboration.
Just look at the opening talent, One-on-One Save, and that said it all.
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