CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55 – WIDEN THE FRAME

Chapter 55 – Widen the Frame

The Palmeiras dressing room buzzed after the final whistle—not with chaos, but with the tempered rhythm of a job well done. Another clean result, another three points secured. But even amid the professional calm, Thiago felt it: the subtle shift in how eyes met his. Not awe. Not celebration.

Respect.

He had started the match and held his ground. Not flashy, not overwhelming—but present. Contributing. Trusted.

Still in his kit, he sat on the end of the bench as Rafael offered him half a protein bar. "You did your job," the midfielder said, no flare in the compliment. "Again."

Thiago nodded. "Thanks."

"Just don’t start getting bored now that you’re used to it."

He cracked a tired grin. "Not yet."

Later that evening, he walked back alone through the quiet halls of the training center. It was after 10 PM, the halls dim except for the hallway lights flickering above the weight room. His legs dragged slightly, not from fatigue, but from the slow comedown of a full 90 minutes played.

He summoned the System with a blink.

SYSTEM UPDATE

Level: 15

EXP: 18/ 600

Attributes:

Pace – 70

Dribbling – 71

Shooting – 67

Passing – 69

Physicality – 66

Mentality – 64

Sub-Attributes:

Ball Control – 71

Trick Execution – 63

Stamina – 64

Skill Points Available: 10

Active Quest: Chain Reaction

(Contribute to 6 more goals before the end of the Campeonato Paulista)

Progress: 1 / 6

The numbers flickered before his eyes like a reminder of the distance still left to run. He’d made ground. But there were miles ahead.

He dismissed the System and entered the dorm quietly. The halls were mostly empty. Only one or two other players remained downstairs, and even they looked half-asleep, headphones on, eyes distant. Thiago showered quickly and laid back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The applause from the stands was already fading in his mind.

His phone buzzed once. A voice message from Camila.

"You looked different today. Like you’d already been there before. Like... you weren’t proving something—you were just doing it."

He listened again. Then again. She always had a way of saying things that struck past the chest and landed somewhere deeper.

Another buzz followed—João.

"Bro, I swear if you start getting used to being in the starting eleven, I’m gonna start calling you Mr. Consistency."

Thiago replied with a laughing emoji and a clip of João’s disastrous first touch from a year ago during U-17s. João sent back a string of curse words and a laughing voice note. Thiago smiled.

But the laughter didn’t last long. A sharp knock broke through the dorm quiet.

Thiago sat up.

It was a staff runner—same one who sometimes carried post-match physio reports or last-minute messages from the coaching office. Tonight, though, he had no folder. Just a short nod.

"Coach wants you in early tomorrow. No details."

Thiago’s heart didn’t leap—but it did tighten. "Okay. Got it."

He closed the door, stood there for a second, then walked to his desk. A slip of paper lay tucked beneath his old cleats—Clara’s drawing, mailed from home a week ago. It showed a tiny, cartoon Thiago with two giant boots and stars circling his head. She’d drawn "GOOOOL" in three colors.

He picked it up and held it there in the quiet, remembering her wide smile. The one that didn’t care if the stadium was full or empty—only that her brother was still playing.

The next morning arrived early, the São Paulo sky still dim with dawn. Thiago dressed fast, scarfed a banana and black coffee, and jogged to the office side of the training ground. Inside, the lights were already on. Tactical diagrams glowed faintly on the meeting room screen.

Eneas didn’t greet him. Just pointed to a seat and clicked the remote.

On screen: a freeze frame from the last match.

Thiago. Receiving deep. Pivoting just as a midfielder closed space.

"Tell me what you saw here," Eneas said, folding his arms.

Thiago studied it. "The winger was marking tight. I had Rafael overlapping. I wanted to draw his marker in."

"You played it clean," Eneas said. "But clean won’t always be enough. You’re reading the field well. But I want you to start predicting two passes ahead. Not one."

He clicked again. Another clip—this time, a late-phase counter where Thiago had pushed into space, but hesitated before releasing the final ball.

"You’re not lacking creativity. You’re rationing it. That’s fear of error, not tactical discipline."

Thiago bit the inside of his cheek.

Eneas continued. "I’m not saying be reckless. I’m saying widen your frame. The game’s not just what you do—it’s what you allow to happen. Start thinking like a lever, not a gear."

The meeting lasted fifteen minutes.

It felt like three.

When Thiago left, he didn’t feel criticized.

He felt lit—like the wick of something sharp and slow-burning had just been struck.

At training later that day, he began testing what Eneas said. Not wild flicks or selfish carries, but subtle risk. A disguised through-ball between zones. A dummy that let Rafael run into third-man space. A looping switch when the coaches expected a simple recycle.

Some of it failed. One ball skipped too far. Another pass was intercepted.

But some of it landed.

And those who were watching noticed.

Nando, playing on the right, jogged past him after one sequence and muttered, "Didn’t know you had that pass in you."

Thiago shrugged. "Didn’t know I did either."

Rafael chuckled.

The coach didn’t stop training to praise him.

But when Eneas called the group in, his eyes lingered a second longer on Thiago than they did on the rest.

That night, Thiago checked the System again—not for stat upgrades, but to confirm what he felt.

SYSTEM UPDATE

Level: 15

EXP: 38 / 600

Attributes:

Pace – 70

Dribbling – 71

Shooting – 67

Passing – 69

Physicality – 66

Mentality – 64

Sub-Attributes:

Ball Control – 71

Trick Execution – 63

Stamina – 64

Skill Points Available: 10

Active Quest: Chain Reaction

Progress: 1 / 6

No upgrades. No flashy rewards.

But the numbers weren’t what he needed tonight.

The match footage from Bragantino had been posted online. Not just Palmeiras’ channel—clips of his hat-trick were spreading again. Twitter accounts were threading Thiago’s stats beside Neymar’s early rise. Some commenters scoffed. Others stoked the fire.

One caption stood out:

"Thiago da Silva: The shadow in Neymar’s spotlight—or the shape behind it?"

Thiago didn’t react. He scrolled past. Then he pulled up a video—Neymar’s solo goal from earlier in the week. It was fluid, effortless, and infuriatingly complete.

Thiago watched it twice.

Then went back downstairs. Into the empty gym.

He trained without music.

Just him, the mirror, the footwork ladder, the cones. Tight cuts. Sprint resets. One-touch turns. Half-volleys off the wall.

He wasn’t chasing Neymar anymore.

He was chasing the version of himself that could.

By midnight, he returned to the dorm, drenched and breathing slow.

Clara had sent a new message while he trained: a voice memo of her reading out one of her poems from school. It was clumsy, sweet, and barely rhymed.

He listened with his eyes closed.

That night, the System stayed silent.

And Thiago was okay with that.

Because some nights, no upgrade was better than the wrong one.

Some nights, growth wasn’t something you saw.

It was something you felt.