Almighty Coach

In the boxing ring, Taylor lifted the championship belt high above his head. His face was wet. It wasn’t clear whether it was sweat or tears, or a combination of both.

"Kevin is crying," Ayres said.

"He is too excited. When he beat Hopkins, he didn’t act like this," Dai Li said, slightly absent-mindedly.

"The WBA championship belt is really meaningful for Taylor. Thirteen years ago, when he was twenty years old, the first heavyweight championship belt he won was the WBA belt. From then until he went to prison, he never lost his title as the WBA champion. During those years, the WBA championship belt represented the name Kevin Taylor." Ayres kept looking at the championship belt, and said, "After he got out of prison, the first championship belt Taylor won was also the WBA belt. I believe you are able to feel his determination to keep the WBA belt. To him, this WBA belt doesn’t only represent his skill in boxing, but also his honor, and the memories of his youth. It is a witness to his entire career, the thing that kept him going."

Ayres turned around to look at Dai Li. He noticed that Dai Li seemed slightly absent-minded, so Ayres asked in a slightly annoyed tone, "Li, are you listening to me?"

"Yes. Of course, I am listening." Dai Li laughed. The reason he was absent-minded was because he just received a notification from the system. The system had upgraded him from a famous coach to a celebrated coach.

The top boxing league, the top boxer, and the top boxing championship match. I’ve gained a large amount of experience. And then there’s also the team pyramid that has helped me gain a lot of experience. But now that I’ve been upgraded, the team pyramid will also be upgraded.

Dai Li examined the team pyramid, and as expected, it was also upgraded. Before, the team pyramid could only hold two top-level coaches, four second-rate coaches, and eight third-rate coaches. Now, it could contain two famous coaches, four top-level coaches, eight second-rate coaches, and 16 third-rate coaches. The number of spaces had doubled, and there were two additional positions for famous coaches. This meant that two of the coaches working under him would enjoy the bonus effects of a famous coach.

It was only 14 people before, and now it is 30. I need to start recruiting again. But my training center can’t accommodate thirty coaches. Maybe I should open another center and expand. It’s better for me to leave this issue to Blake!

Dai Li did some calculations, and the amount he made from Taylor would be enough for him to purchase a larger venue. If he continued renting, opening up several branches wouldn’t be a problem.

"It’s better to wait and see the rewards for leveling up this time. I was upgraded from being a famous coach to a celebrated coach. The bonus shouldn’t be too bad, right?" Dai Li shouted at the system to bring him his upgrade bonus.

Two upgrade awards appeared in the system. On the left was a golden, engraved stick, with a gem mounted to its top. The one on the right was a silver scale, its two trays also engraved with many patterns.

"A golden stick and a silver scale? They look quite impressive, but what are they?" Dai Li asked the system.

"That is not a stick, it is a scepter. This item is called the Scepter of Authority!" the system replied immediately.

"What is it used for?" Dai Li asked.

"Now that you are well-known, a lot of top athletes will seek you out. You will not only have to possess ability, but authority as well. Authority is absolutely necessary for a celebrated coach. This Scepter of Authority will improve your attributes in this area," the system explained.

Dai Li nodded that he understood. In the coaching business, the higher the level of the athlete, the more authority the coach required.

If it were an ordinary athlete with average skills, then an average coach would be enough to handle it. But if it were a well-known athlete or even a world-class athlete, there was no way an average coach would be able to coach them. Even if the coach was good, and was able to set up a good training routine, the athletes might not listen to them, and the effectiveness of the training would be greatly reduced.

It would be like when Dai Li had just entered the provincial team, and the coach then was Jiang Aiguo. At that time, Dai Li was more like an assistant trainer, not a formal coach. Later, when Dai Li entered the national team to learn, the situation was similar. Even when Dai Li was right, the national team athletes would not follow Dai Li’s instructions.

When Dai Li later returned to the provincial team and led the national team, the situation was completely different. Dai Li was known as the coach who won a gold medal in the Asian Games, so he was the absolute authority in the provincial track and field team. Both athletes and coaches listened to Dai Li’s instructions. Even for the few who were not satisfied with him, they could only talk bad about him behind his back.

He had trained Phillip, and now Taylor. Dai Li’s training center had become famous on the west coast. But Dai Li’s biggest weakness was the fact that he was Chinese. Americans stereotyped Chinese as not being good at sports. Therefore, Dai Li still needed to continue accumulating fame and increasing his authority. At the very least, when faced with world-class athletes, he should be able to get them to listen to him.

"Now that I have the Scepter of Authority, does this mean that in the future, people will follow all of my training programs? They will become more compliant? Am I understanding this correctly?" Dai Li asked.

"Not only the training programs. Your on-the-spot commands, your tactical arrangements, your comments on the athletes, and even your pre-match predictions. People will find them to be much more believable and reasonable. This is the ability of the Scepter of Authority," the system continued to explain.

"If that is the case, I don’t even need to continue being a coach. I can just earn a living being a commentator," Li Dai said jokingly. As he had not used the scepter before, he wasn’t able to evaluate its usefulness. He didn’t know if it was an amazing magical reward, or just a useless piece of junk.

"What does the silver scale do?" Dai Li asked.

"This is called the State Scale. It can be used to adjust the competitive state of the athlete," the system replied.

"Does this mean that it can improve an athlete’s state or worsen it?" Dai Li asked.

"Completely wrong," the system rebutted quickly. "The State Scale can’t improve or worsen an athlete’s state. It is used to stabilize the athlete’s state. The more the scale moves to the left, the more stabilized the athlete is, and the more it moves to the right, the more the athlete’s state will fluctuate."

"Of course it would better if it were stabilized! Why would anyone choose to move it to the right?" Dai Li said without hesitation.

"Is that really the case?" the system replied in a taunting way. "I’m talking about the fluctuation of the athlete’s state. This, of course, includes a poor state, but it also includes a sudden burst of brilliance."

"You mean it can be good, or it can be bad?" Dai Li slowly started to understand what the system meant.

The system continued to explain, "I’ll give you an example. A basketball player might have a free throw accuracy of 70%. If his condition is stable, he might score seven out of ten shots, and 70 out of 100. But if his condition was allowed to fluctuate, he might score ten out of ten shots, but he also might only get three or four. That is what happens when you move the scale to the right or to the left."

"You can also see it as the attack stats in a video game. A 15-15 attack means that every attack would be 15; however, for a 0-30 attack, it means that there is a chance for getting an attack that does 30 damage, as well as an attack with zero damage." The system gave a vivid metaphor.

Dai Li frowned. According to the system’s explanation, the State Scale was akin to a video game where you choose to either have a stable output of damage or go for a critical hit, a choice that was a double-edged sword. It wasn’t an easy task.

If placed in the context of a competition, if the athlete’s standard were good enough, it would make sense to choose stability. But one also had to consider that if the opponent was in great form, then overly relying on stability might make one lose the match.

If the two competitors were both evenly matched, then the choice would be even more difficult. If they were both evenly matched, the person who was in a better condition would win. But the State Scale was not able to improve someone’s state, it only allowed it to fluctuate. If it fluctuated upwards, then good, but if fluctuated downwards, then the match would be lost.

"If that is the case, then the less stable side might be good to use when the opponent is obviously stronger. It would be a difficult match to win anyway. Tipping the scale to the right to maximize the fluctuation of the athlete’s state, if we are lucky, might give a boost and provide a chance for victory. Looks like this is a tool for those who are weak. Only when a person is outmatched would this item maximize the return benefits."

Dai Li figured out the correct way to use the State Scale within a short few seconds.