CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62 – LEVEL TERMS

The ball spun into the São Paulo night from the corner flag, catching the floodlights and curving down like a comet. Thiago launched himself toward the near post, body twisting mid-air, but the defender beat him to it—barely.

The clearance was scrappy. Palmeiras recovered. Reset.

The roar of the home crowd surged behind him as the rhythm pulsed back into motion.

He didn’t walk. He hunted.

Eneas stood at the edge of the technical area, barking out instructions, but Thiago didn’t need to hear them. He already understood.

This was the window.

Rafael floated wide to pull pressure, baiting Santos’ full-back. Thiago drifted into the half-space, hand raised, unseen by the backline now preoccupied with Nando pushing high on the opposite flank.

The ball zipped in—Rafael’s signature disguised pass—inside the seam between the right-back and center-back.

Thiago didn’t trap it.

He let it roll.

A touch might have slowed it. A touch might have invited the challenge. But he trusted the angle, trusted his pace. The ball skimmed the grass, just brushing the white paint of the 18-yard box.

The center-back turned too late.

Thiago struck it first-time.

Inside of the right boot. A tight hip rotation. He kept the shot low, precise—aimed for the far post, where the keeper was already shifting his weight.

The net bulged.

Goal.

The stadium detonated.

Not just in noise—but in movement. A rolling, swelling eruption of green and white. Fans leapt. Drums thumped. Flags burst into motion like sails catching wind.

Thiago didn’t celebrate with theatrics. He simply raised both fists and stood still, chest heaving, as his teammates mobbed him.

Rafael was first to reach him, arms around his shoulders. "You see the window?"

"I saw the space," Thiago replied, breath ragged.

"You took

it."

1–1. Game back on.

But there was no luxury of basking. Not against Santos. Not with Neymar.

On the restart, Santos shifted shape—Neymar tucked in tighter now, drifting central, looking to isolate Thiago and Rafael’s channels.

Eneas responded with a silent gesture. The midfield line dropped slightly, and the wide men compressed the press.

Palmeiras went into mid-block. Discipline.

Neymar tested it.

A half-turn, three quick steps, and a switch pass to the right. Santos recycled through the backline, baiting Palmeiras to overcommit. Thiago didn’t fall for it. He tracked, slowed, watched Neymar’s body language.

Palmeiras countered.

Rafael triggered the press. Intercepted at the edge of the center circle. Thiago took off immediately, angling wide to open the lane. The pass came—but too soft. The Santos left-back slid in and killed the break.

Frustration flared, but only briefly.

Thiago turned and clapped his hands. "Again!"

The crowd echoed him. Again!

74’ Free kick, Palmeiras.

Thiago stood over it, thirty yards out, left side of the field. Not shooting range—not for him—but perfect for a bending delivery.

He breathed once. Twice.

Then struck it.

The ball curled high, dipping late, headed toward Nando’s run—

Just punched clear by the keeper.

But the pressure stayed on.

Palmeiras dominated possession. Thiago moved like water—never still, always pulling markers, always resetting angles. His touches weren’t always direct threats, but they shaped the rhythm. Kept Santos off balance.

Neymar barely saw the ball.

It was Thiago’s half now.

81’ Substitution for Santos. Fresh legs. A fast, lean winger to challenge tired defenders.

Eneas gestured to the bench, readying a response.

But Thiago stayed on.

A loose ball came flying toward midfield. Thiago leapt to contest it—shoulder to shoulder with a taller defender. He didn’t win cleanly, but he disrupted. Enough for Rafael to mop up.

85’ Another Palmeiras chance—cut-back from Nando. Thiago dummied, letting it run to Rafael.

Rafael stepped into the ball cleanly—right foot primed, defenders converging.

He curled it low toward the bottom left corner.

The keeper dropped like a stone.

Fingertips.

The ball clipped the outside of the post and spun out for a goal kick.

Groans rippled through the stands, hands to heads, fists clenched. Another almost. Another chance that slipped away by inches.

Thiago didn’t yell. He didn’t sulk.

He sprinted back into shape.

86’. Santos slowed the game down. Purposefully. Their midfielders took longer on throws, on free kicks. Neymar dropped deeper, pulling fouls. They were managing time, not chasing victory.

But Palmeiras didn’t lose discipline.

Thiago compressed his runs, shadowed the channels, cut off the lanes Neymar used to build rhythm. If Neymar was gravity, Thiago was friction.

At 87’, Thiago tracked a looping ball to the flank and chested it down smoothly, before pivoting between two closing defenders. Instead of pushing forward, he reversed the pass to Rafael, resetting tempo once more.

"Control," Eneas barked from the sideline, holding a palm low to the grass. "Keep it low. Keep it clean."

Santos began conceding territory without engaging, their shape compressing around the penalty box.

Thiago adjusted. He didn’t force the issue. Instead, he dipped into the half-space, drawing the right center-back higher. That shift created a sliver of light for Rafael to drop into—but the final pass was intercepted by a clever backheel clearance.

89’. Time was thinning.

The ball spent more time at midfield now—long switches, cautious touches. It was chess in cleats. One wrong move, and either side could lose everything.

90’. The fourth official raised the board.

+3.

The crowd inhaled.

Eneas made a late switch—fresh legs on the left, tactical. But Thiago stayed on. No one questioned it.

90+1’. Palmeiras pressed high off a Santos throw-in. Thiago ghosted forward as the first line collapsed in. He intercepted a loose header, poked it into space—

And was fouled.

Hard.

A clip from behind. Nothing malicious—just tactical.

Free kick. Wide angle.

He didn’t take it himself. Rafael stepped up, curled it toward the penalty spot.

Cleared.

90+2’. Santos tried one last counter. Neymar sprinted through the middle—but Palmeiras had learned. They funneled him wide, slowed his step, doubled him at the touchline. He flicked the ball to the overlapping runner—

Offside.

Cheers erupted.

90+3’

Thiago received from Rafael and pivoted, this time charging forward with three defenders shadowing his steps. He didn’t have space to shoot—but he danced between two sliding tackles, delaying just enough to slip it wide to Nando.

Cross came in.

Cleared again.

The referee lifted the whistle.

Full time.

Palmeiras 1 – 1 Santos.

Not victory. But not defeat.

Thiago stood in the middle of the pitch, hands on hips, shirt stuck to his back with sweat. He looked toward the away end—Santos fans cheering Neymar as he walked off with arms raised. A camera followed him the whole way.

But Thiago didn’t feel second-best.

He walked off to chants of his own name.

In the tunnel, Rafael gave him a short nod. "We go again next week."

Thiago nodded. "And we finish it."

SYSTEM UPDATE

Chain Reaction Quest Progress: 4 / 6

EXP: 177 / 600

Skill Points Available: 10