Almighty Coach

Dai Li was excited. Not only had Shawn Ford just won the gold medal of the men’s 200-meter, but he had also been promoted again.

It took a while for Dai Li to make it from where he started to being a mid-level famous coach, but this process was much faster than he expected. Dai Li would have had to wait a long time to be promoted if it weren’t for the Olympics.

So far, the US team had won 18 gold medals in track and field. This brought him a wealth of experience that helped him get promoted faster.

Before the awards ceremony for the men’s 200-meter, Dai Li logged into the system and to see the rewards he got this time.

I hope this time I will get something useful.

Two rewards appeared in front of Dai Li. On his left was a cylinder with a lot of what looked like bamboo sticks inside. On his right was a golden badge with words on it.

Dai Li was familiar with the badge, it was a title prop. Dai Li had gotten the title of “concatenate” before, which enhanced the tacit understanding between players. Dai Li won the relay race of Asian Games with this title.

However, this time the badge was golden, so it looked more advanced than the one he had won before.

Dai Li picked up the badge and found several words on it: evenly matched.

“Evenly matched? Is this a new title? What’s the function?” Dai Li asked.

“The so-called “evenly matched” tile puts your athletes on par with their opponents. It creates a close game.” The system went on to explain. “For example, if your athletes are playing a table tennis game, when you wear this badge, it will be a close game. At the end of the game, a clear winner or loser cannot be distinguished.”

“A close game? A match must have a result, who will be the winner or who will be the loser?” Dai Li asked questioningly.

“It depends on luck. The victory belongs to the lucky,” the system answered without hesitation.

“In other words, it is possible to lose. Why would there be such a weird badge? The point of playing is to win. If I use this badge, it would be difficult for me to predict the result of the game. The badge is useless!” Dai Li complained.

“Of course it works. If your athlete is much weaker than his opponent, then at least he can compete with him. Even if he loses, it won’t be too embarrassing. If he is lucky enough, he will win,” the system said. “The title is different from the title you won before. ‘Close game’ acts on the whole game. When you use it, the other props and skills that are part of the game lose their effect until the end of the game.”

“So, as long as I use it, then such things as status scale and morale booster will be useless the game is over until the end of the game, right?” Dai Li asked immediately.

“You are right, but athletes’ patches and age-reduction cards stay effective because they do not directly effect on the game,” the system added. “The second limitation is that this title can only be used in one-on-one sports. For example, it can be used for tennis, badminton, fencing, boxing, judo, wrestling. This title is not allowed in such sports as track and field, shooting, diving, gymnastics, and swimming.”

“That is to say it can only be used in those sports where two athletes face off against each other, right?” Dai Li asked.

“It can also be used in team sports, such as basketball, football, and volleyball. In those sports, there can still be confrontations on two sides, so the ‘evenly matched’ can be useful,” the system answered.

Li nodded, but he didn’t know how to make use of this title now. If he used it to make the weaker lose respectably, just as the System had told him, it would not be that helpful.

Dai Li put the new title aside, pointed to the cylinder and asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s a prophecy box for drawing lots,” the system answered.

Hearing the word “prophecy”, Dai Li could not help but feel refreshed. He immediately thought of predicting the future.

The system went on to explain. “The prophecy box can predict the results of the decisions you make. It can tell you if the decision will result in the luckiest draw, a lucky draw, a general draw, a bad draw, or the worst draw. The luckiest draw is the best decision, while the worst draw is the worst decision.

“For example. If you are the head coach of a football team and your team isn’t score, you need to substitute a player. You have to draw lots. If you get the luckiest draw and it reads replace player B with player A, then that is the best decision you can make at the time.

“If you get a general draw, and it reads replace player B with player A, then it means it is a neutral decision. If you get the worst draw, and it reads replace player B with player A, then that is the worst decision you can make.”

Dai Li nodded, “I get it, it means the cylinder is useful. As long as I draw lots several times, I’m sure I will get the luckiest draw, which means I will always make the best decision.”

“That’s impossible. If you go to the temple to draw lots, it is impossible for you to draw lots until you get the luckiest draw. You have only one chance. Take the example I gave earlier; if you decide to change a player you’ve only got one draw,” said the system.

Dai Li shook his head disappointedly. “As you have said, it will be useful if I get a lucky draw or the luckiest draw, but it will be useless if I get a bad draw or the worst draw. I’m not going to make a terrible change based on the worst draw.

“But if you get the worst draw, you can avoid a terrible choice,” the system added. “If you already know a choice is terrible, you can avoid a wrong decision.”

“You’ve got a point there. Just as you said, this is a useful prop.” Dai Li thought of those TV quiz shows, where there was always an option to “get rid of one wrong answer.” For a multiple-choice question with four alternative answers, getting rid of one wrong answer was very helpful.

In fact, in a formal game, coaches had limited options. Being able to get rid of the worst decision meant the chances of making the right decision drastically increased.