Ethan was about to bring up the new tactical plans he had been working on, a more sophisticated version of his beloved 4-3-3 designed for a higher level of competition, when a priority notification, a cool, clinical blue, flashed in his vision.

It was from the System Administrator.

A hush fell over the room as the players saw the serious look on their manager's face.

"Gaffer? Everything okay?" Kenny McLean asked, his voice laced with concern.

"It's... an announcement," Ethan said, his eyes scanning the text.

"For all managers."

He read the message, his heart starting to pound a slow, heavy, and very, very excited rhythm. He looked up at his players, a slow, brilliant, and utterly game-changing smile spreading across his face.

"Lads," he said, his voice a low, reverent whisper. "I think our budget problems are over."

He projected the notification onto the main holographic screen for the whole team to see.

[AETHERIA DYNAMICS PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE INAUGURAL 'AETHERIA ASCENSION TOURNAMENT']

[To celebrate the global success of the FCG platform, a special, one-off, single-elimination tournament will be held during the pre-season. All active managers are eligible to enter.]

[The tournament will be played on a neutral server. The stakes are simple. The winner... takes all.!

He scrolled down to the final, jaw-dropping line item.

[GRAND PRIZE: £10,000,000 in-game transfer and facility budget.]

The room was silent for a full ten seconds. Then, it exploded.

"TEN MILLION?!" Jonathan Rowe screamed, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Gaffer, do you know how many 'Elite' training facilities we could buy with that?!"

"Forget the facilities!" David Kerrigan roared, his eyes gleaming with a manic, beautiful light. "We could buy a whole new team! We could buy GridironGuru's team and make them our water boys!"

The implications were staggering. Ten million pounds. It wasn't just a prize. It was a kingdom. It was a shortcut to the very top of the footballing world.

Ethan let them celebrate, his own mind a whirlwind of possibilities.

With that money, he could sign 'The Octopus'. He could sign a world-class center-back to partner with Hanley. He could build a team that could compete not just in the Championship, but in the Premier League.

He logged off a few hours later, his brain buzzing with a million different tactical plans and transfer targets.

He emerged from the pod feeling like a king, a man on the verge of a virtual empire. He went downstairs, half-expecting a parade in his honor.

Instead, the house was quiet. Too quiet.

A single lamp was on in the living room, casting a warm, soft glow. He could hear the low murmur of voices, of laughter.

A familiar, happy sound, but with an unfamiliar note mixed in. A deep, male voice he didn't recognize.

He peered around the corner.

And the world, for the third time in his young, chaotic life, tilted on its axis.

His sister, Sarah, was sitting on the sofa. But she wasn't alone.

Sitting next to her, his arm resting casually along the back of the sofa behind her, was a young man. He was handsome, with kind eyes and an easy, confident smile.

And he was looking at Sarah with a look of such pure, unadulterated adoration that it made Ethan's own heart ache with a strange, protective, and profoundly happy pang.

Sarah, his brilliant, sarcastic, and fiercely independent sister, the woman who had carried their family on her shoulders, who had never had time for anything but work and responsibility, was laughing, a sound of such light, free, and genuine happiness that he had never heard it before.

She looked up and saw him standing there, a frozen, bewildered statue in the hallway.

Her smile widened, a faint, happy blush rising on her cheeks.

"Oh," she said, her voice a song.

"Ethan. You're home. Come and say hello. This is my boyfriend, Daniel."

"....."

Ethan sat on one side of the living room sofa, his 'protective younger brother' face on.

Daniel, who had the unfortunate luck of being handsome, charming, and clearly a very nice person, sat on the other, a teacup rattling slightly in his hand under the combined, intense scrutiny of Ethan and his dad.

"So, Daniel," Ethan began, his tone a perfect imitation of a grizzled, old-school football scout. "What are your intentions with our star player?"

"My... intentions?" Daniel stammered, looking at Sarah for help, who was just trying, and failing, to hide her laughter behind a cushion.

"He means," their dad chimed in, leaning forward in his armchair with the gravitas of a Supreme Court judge, "what's your five-year plan? Do you have a solid tactical foundation? A good work ethic?"

"I... I'm a history teacher," Daniel said, looking completely bewildered. "At the local secondary school."

"A teacher!" their mom said, beaming as she came in with a plate of biscuits. "Oh, that's wonderful! A fine, respectable profession. You must be very patient."

"It has its moments," Daniel said, a grateful smile on his face as he took a biscuit.

The tension broke, and the room filled with easy, happy laughter. Daniel, as it turned out, was a great guy. He was funny, he was smart, and he clearly adored Sarah. He even watched Ethan's streams.

"Sarah showed me the nine-man miracle against Plymouth," Daniel said to Ethan, a look of genuine admiration in his eyes.

"That was one of the most insane, brilliant things I have ever seen. You're a proper gaffer, you know that?"

Ethan, who was prepared to dislike this man on principle, found it impossible. He was just too nice.

The evening was a wonderful, happy blur. They all sat and talked, a complete, happy, and now slightly bigger, family.

The next day, Ethan woke up, his heart full, his mind clear. He had his family. He had his team. He had his impossible, brilliant, and now slightly expanded life. And he had a tournament to win.

He logged into the pod, the date of the first round of the 'Aetheria Ascension Tournament' burning in his mind. It was today.

He appeared in the pre-match briefing room, a grand, neutral space reserved for the tournament. His players were there, a nervous, excited energy buzzing between them.

"Right, lads," he began, his voice ringing with a powerful, unshakeable conviction. "You all know what's at stake. Ten million pounds. The future of this club. The future of our families. This isn't just a cup. This is everything."

He looked around at the fiery, determined faces of his team.

"Our opponents are a team called 'The Immortals'. They're a top-half Championship side. On paper, they are better than us in every single position. Every one of their players is rated 80 or above."

A low, nervous murmur went through the room.

"But," he continued, a slow, predatory grin spreading across his face, "they don't have what we have. They don't have our heart. They don't have our chaos. And they don't have him."

He swiped on the tactical display, and a new formation appeared. It was a daring, aggressive 4-2-3-1. And on the right wing, wearing the number 99 shirt, was the name: Liam Taylor.

"Our new secret weapon is making his debut," Ethan announced. "Let's go show them what a real miracle looks like."

They walked out into The Colosseum, the silent, holographic logos their only witnesses.

"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TO THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA!" a voice exploded from the heavens. It was Tactics Tim, and he sounded like he had just drunk a gallon of coffee.

"THE AETHERIA ASCENSION TOURNAMENT IS HERE! A BATTLE FOR A VIRTUAL KINGDOM! AND OUR FIRST MATCH IS A DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH CLASH OF EPIC PROPORTIONS! It's the grizzled veterans, 'The Immortals', against the fairytale story, the champions of League One, APEX UNITED! CAN THE MIRACLE CONTINUE?! WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT!"

The whistle blew. The biggest match of their lives had just begun.

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