CHAPTER 83: INJURY MODE (GT CHAPTER)

Back in Lukas’s hospital room, Anne and Javi had just seen out the coaches and Marco, who came to visit Lukas. He had been informed of the scope of his injury and his rehabilitation process.

The injury was still in its acute phase, so the goal was to reduce pain and swelling. He was asked to avoid activities that stress the ankle, like jumping or running, apply ice for 15 minutes every 3 hours to reduce inflammation, and always keep the ankle above heart level when resting.

After the room was finally empty, "Finally! Enter LTC," Lukas said, and immediately, the blinding white light shone, and he was in the LTC.

When he opened his eyes, he was lying down on a bigger bed, in a bigger room, but still wearing the striped hospital gown.

Or rather, a similar one.

His ankle, firmly wrapped, was suspended in the air. Not by an object or a rope—it was like the air around his left foot became denser than the foot, causing it to float.

"TT, what is this?" Lukas asked as he looked around, bewildered.

[*What does it look like? This is the LTC hospital.*]

"You have a hospital? I haven’t seen a real-life gym with a hospital, though."

[*Where do you think they take someone who accidentally drops a dumbbell on their legs?*]

"They kick them out of the gym...? Get it? Leg? Kick?"

[*Haha... Funny guy. I didn’t know the tackle affected your brain too.*]

"Seriously, though, what’s the need for this? Am I just supposed to stay wrapped up like this all day?"

[*This is the LTC Injury Mode. All training is paused until you get full recovery both physically and mentally.*]

"So, wait—if I stay here for four LTC days, and go back to the real world, the injury will look like it’s already been four days? So if I come here three to four times, I can completely recover?"

[*Well technically, yes. But that’s gonna be kinda suspicious.*]

"True. The doctor has already assessed three to four weeks. It would be weird if I’m completely healed in less than a week. Even if I’m very young, it’s still suspicious."

[*At least your brain isn’t completely damaged.*]

"So what’s the plan? How does it work?"

[*You can export the recovery progress whenever you want to.*]

"Export the recovery progress? Like I can be recovering here and keep the injury the same in the real world. Then when I think it won’t be too suspicious, I can transfer the progress to my real body?"

[*Precisely.*]

"Ugh... I feel like a computer with this import and export language."

[*I’m sorry you feel that way. Want me to rub your shoulders and comfort you?*]

"Eww... What’s that voice? That’s cringe. Stop it!" Lukas said as he shuddered even while lying down. "But on a more serious note, though, this is gonna be so boring. I can’t just lie down for four days. And I don’t think I will even recover well if I just lie down."

[LTC Injury Mode.

Objective: Recover from Overstretched Anterior Talofibular Ligament Injury.

Duration: 312 hours

Phase 1: Acute Phase

Goal: Pain and Swelling Relief

Duration: Hours 0 to 60

Phase 2: Early Mobilization Phase

Goal: Prevent Stiffness and Restore Mobility

Duration: Hours 60 to 120

Phase 3: Strengthening Phase

Goal: Restore Ankle Stability and Strength

Duration: Hours 120 to 200

Phase 4: Functional/Football-Specific Phase

Goal: Prepare for Sport-Specific Demands

Duration: Hours 200 to 312

ONGOING: Phase 1

Time Elapsed: 000:24:32 ]

Lukas watched the screen as the count increased, one second at a time.

"I’m supposed to lie in bed for 60 hours straight? You want me to die of boredom?"

[*I see you’re not that injured. If boredom is your biggest worry, fall asleep or something.*]

"I can’t sleep in here. Like I literally can’t. I have tried. Multiple times. Can you just switch the location to the match analysis theater? I wanna rewatch the Roma match."

[*Fine.*]

Immediately the scene switched. The windows disappeared as the room turned pitch black. Lukas could still feel the bed he was lying on and his leg hanging in the air. Occasionally, the temperature of the air wrapped around his ankle dropped to freezing levels, acting like ice to reduce inflammation.

The now pitch-black room suddenly turned green, and Lukas had the same technical-area view he normally had when reviewing footage of the match. As usual, it felt like he was on the pitch as he could hear all the instructions from Toppmöller and the assistants.

"Switch to wide-angle view," he said, and his point of view switched instantly. It was now like he was lying on a bed made of clouds as he watched the game unfold below. He could see the possible run paths, passing lanes, shooting opportunities — everything he had missed during the match was clear as day to him.

"Well, I guess it won’t be so boring after all," he thought as he focused on the match replaying in front of him.

* * *

After tens of hours of match analysis, lounging around, counting the fans in the stadium, and doing it all over again, Lukas got a system notification.

[Phase 1: Acute Phase Completed]

"Thank God! Finally! Take me back to the hospital location."

The scene changed immediately as he was back at the LTC hospital.

[Offensive Awareness +2

Defensive Awareness +1]

"Well, at least I got something out of it. I still have 36 hours to spend in the LTC today. Do I have to start phase 2 now?"

[*Yes, you do.*]

"Argh... Fine... What’s the task?"

[Phase 2: Early Mobilization Phase.

Tasks:

Ankle Circles

Alphabet Exercises

Pain-free Stretching ]

"Fine... Let’s do this!" Lukas said as he sat up from his bed and placed his foot on the ground to start the task.

* * *

"Well, that wasn’t so difficult," Lukas muttered under his breath as he opened his eyes.

He was back at the ProfiCamp hospital, lying on the bed with the pillow elevating his leg.

"What wasn’t difficult?" Javi asked as he stepped into the room.

"Oh, nothing. I just tried to wiggle my toes to see if it would hurt. It didn’t."

"That’s good. I just spoke with Marco and the doctor. Everything is under control. You should be able to go home later today. As long as you don’t apply too much pressure on the joint, it should be alright."

"That’s great."

"I’m gonna be staying with you for the next week. At least until you are able to start walking without the crutches again."

"Thanks, dad. By the way, where were you last night? Where did you watch the match from?"

"Oh, I was at the Gimenez’s. We all watched it together. Carlos and Sofia send their greetings. I’m sure you’ve spoken to their kids. João was really worried. He will be coming here tomorrow. He wanted to come with me today, but he had to go to school."

"What about Joana?"

"Hmm... She didn’t say anything... After the tackle, I left the living room to go call you and Marco. When I went back in, she was gone. They said she went to bed. You can send her a message, right?"

"Yeah. She sent me a few messages. I replied when I saw them, but she hasn’t responded yet."

"She would be in class now. I’m sure she’ll contact you later. I already informed Carlos about the update of your injury, so she might already be aware that it’s not that serious."

Just then, Lukas’s phone started ringing.

He answered it immediately, looked at Javi, and looked at the door. It was like he just screamed "GET OUT!" but only with his eyes.

A/N: A long overdue GT Chapter. I owe you guys a lot. Can’t imagine the kind of support this book has gotten. I will release all GT Chapters before the end of the moment... I hope...

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I love you all

Stay safe

-Writ