After a long time of calming down, Dayo was able to sleep, but as usual, Dayo woke up before his alarm.

He lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, letting the silence wash over him. The Nationals were behind him, but the Olympic Trials were creeping closer every day. His body felt tired, but his mind was sharper than ever. He reached for his phone, ready to check messages—

DING!

A familiar blue screen flashed in front of his eyes.

[New Mission Unlocked — Olympic Trials]

Objective: Reach the Final Round of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Bonus Objective: Set a new personal best under 21.30 seconds.

Reward: Unknown

Penalty: None

Dayo blinked.

"What? The system is giving me missions again?"

"It's been a while I received."

He sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. It had been so long since the system gave him a real mission. The last few upgrades came from evaluations, not tasks. The last set of missions he received were from the Global Competition Days, so seeing the task gave him more motivation to push harder — and more so, this was the first time he was seeing that the reward is unknown. This added a bit of mystery.

And excitement.

"About time," he muttered with a smile.

This was the kind of push he loved — the kind that made him feel alive.

---

AT THE TRAINING GRIND

Coach Richard didn't waste time.

From the moment they returned home after Nationals, Richard had booked a special training lane for Dayo. This wasn't regular training — it was Olympic-level preparation.

Drills. Sprints. Starts. Breathing cycles. Video analysis. Strength training. Recovery sessions.

Anything that involved training, Dayo was doing it. While all of this was happening, a quick thought came to his head.

Why don't I test the Talent Vision on Coach?

[Talent Vision Activated]

Target Acquired…

---

[STATUS — RICHARD MILLAR]

Age: 46

Former Career: Competitive Swimmer

Past Swimming Talent: A+

Past Swimming Peak Achieved: Yes

Former Strengths:

• Sprint Freestyle – A

• Endurance – B+

• Turns – A

Current Career: Professional Coach

Coaching Talent: S–

Coaching Potential: SS+

Current Evaluation:

• Technique Analysis – A

• Athlete Management – A–

• Training Strategy – S–

• Long-Term Athlete Development – S–

• Growth Ceiling: Very High

Overall Rating: S–

Potential Rating: SS+

Note: "Coach has massive room to grow. Peak nowhere near reached."

Dayo looked at Richard's status and couldn't help but nod in appreciation. He had a potential of A+ in swimming when he was swimming back then and now had a talent for coaching of SS+ and had just realized only S- — meaning there was room to grow in coaching. This brought joy to Dayo's face.

After all, having a coach with S coaching him and a potential for SS+, and he was just in his mid-forties, which was still young when it came to coaching.

Dayo smiled; his respect for Richard increased by another fold and listened to everything that he said without complaints.

Every day was a loop of pain and progress.

But Dayo still balanced it with content creation. He needed it to keep the system's engagement level up. So between training sessions, Dayo and Timon would shoot quick challenges, funny clips, charity scenes, and vlog-style updates.

His days off were used for content creation, and he had fallen in love with it. The joy that it brought to the faces of the winners was something that genuinely brought a smile to Dayo's face, so any time he was not training he was shooting content with Timon.

And of course people would talk, and online started complaining:

"Why is he shooting content? Aren't Olympic Trials next week?"

"PR stunt. He's not taking this seriously."

"How is he training full-time AND posting videos??"

"Bro is doing everything except preparing."

"This is BS, how can you have time to shoot content?"

"This increases my theory when I say this guy is using."

"Yup, I agree. How else is he able to take time to swim and shoot content?"

But the truth was simple—

He was preparing. He was just built differently.

He knew his body and build better than anybody. What someone would take months to achieve, he could achieve in weeks. So he knew one thing: people would talk, and there was nothing he could do about them. So as much as he wanted to win, he needed to portion his time.

And resting was part of winning.

When he wasn't in the water, he needed his mind on something else. Content helped him breathe, relax, and reset.

So to Dayo, the noise didn't matter. Not now.

---

Each day passed faster than the last.

Athletes around him were sharpening their form. The swimming world was heating up. Interviews, predictions, analysts… all building hype.

Dayo felt the tension.

Every morning, when he stepped into the training center, the energy in the air felt heavier, as if everyone understood how close they were to the biggest moment of their lives.

But he kept going.

One dive at a time. One turn at a time. One stroke at a time.

---

MEANWHILE —

Alex stood in front of a mirror, breathing heavily after another sprint session.

Coach Martin stood behind him, arms crossed.

"How do you feel?" Martin asked.

Alex wiped sweat from his forehead. "Stronger. Faster. But, coach… are you sure they won't detect anything? I mean — this is the Olympics."

Martin didn't look worried at all.

"Calm down," he said. "USADA doesn't test for this particular enhancer. The formula came from a private lab. They're not affiliated. You'll be fine."

Alex swallowed hard. "Coach… this feels risky."

"You said you wanted the spotlight, didn't you?" Martin replied. "You said you were willing to do anything. Now focus. You want to beat JD, prove you're the real number one? Then stop doubting yourself."

Alex closed his eyes briefly.

"…I trust you, coach."

"Good," Martin said with a cold smirk. "Now let's test your new time."

Alex stepped away and prepared for another sprint. His heart was pounding — not from the training, but from everything he was risking.

And he felt the risk was worth it as he broke his time limit again. This brought a grin on his face.

"Dayo better watch your back. I am coming for you harder than you can imagine," Alex muttered as he gazed at the sky-blue water.

***

Back in his hotel room the night before the Trials, Dayo finished stretching and dropped onto his bed. His muscles ached, but the good kind of ache — the type that comes from pushing your limits.

He opened the system one more time.

The mission glowed softly.

[New Mission Unlocked — Olympic Trials]

Objective: Reach the Final Round of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Bonus Objective: Set a new personal best under 21.30 seconds.

Reward: Unknown

Penalty: None

He didn't feel scared. Just determined to win whatever the case may be, and he was ready for the Olympics.

He'd come too far to back down now.

Dayo stood, went to the mirror, and took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow," he whispered to himself, "I become an Olympic athlete."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.