May 10th, the team officially went on vacation.
Most of the players and coaching staff left Sheffield City and began their wonderful summer break.
With a rare break, Maël and Gilbert stayed in their cottage on Cherry Street, packing their things and preparing to move to London.
"Is it necessary?"
Gilbert watched Maël buy dozens of boxes, wrapping all the trophies carefully, with a layer of foam on the outside, and said sourly, "The materials are very hard, they won't break if they fall."
Maël didn't look up at him, wrapped the last Golden Boot award, and put it in the box, "It's very necessary."
Counting it up, last season he won a Season Best, a Mid-Season Best, the Golden Boot, the Assists Leader, five Monthly Bests, nineteen Single-Game Bests, two Hat-trick balls, and a Boxing Day Battle ball.
It was definitely a fruitful harvest! "Personally, I think these referees are not always fair when awarding prizes."
Maël pushed the box to the corner and put it down, and saw Gilbert next to him curiously turning his head, complaining a little, "If a player wins too many awards, will they compensate others with some awards?
"In theory, I should have won at least six or seven EFL Championship Monthly Bests, and twenty-five Single-Game Bests."
Gilbert: "..."
He was really fed up.
He didn't get a Monthly Best this season, but he did get 2 Single-Game Bests, and even then, he was affected by Maël's indiscriminate attacks.
"Okay."
Maël smiled, not teasing him anymore, "I'm going to study the theory questions, I'll take the driving test tomorrow."
This matter that had been put on hold for a long time should also be put on the agenda. After the season, his pockets became richer again, and his desire to buy a sports car became stronger.
After investing £1.66 million in Kevin Systrom's ins in March, he had about £140,000 left in his bank account.
The after-tax salary he received from then until now should be £240,000, the Promotion to the Super League bonus he received from the team was £660,000 after tax, and there were also some miscellaneous bonuses for appearances and goals, adding up to about £50,000.
It can be said that after a sharp decline in wealth in March, he quickly returned to the ranks of millionaires.
With this amount of money, it is impossible to buy a luxury villa in London, but it is definitely easy to rent a luxury villa and buy a sports car!
Get a driver's license within two days!
After returning to London, go straight to the local Ferrari dealership, get the most popular F430 of the season, and drive to and from training in the future.
This sports car, which sells for more than £100,000, and a top-of-the-line model for just over £200,000, is undoubtedly the most suitable for his age, status, net worth, and wealth growth Speed right now.
Rolls-Royces and other sedans are not suitable for his age, and Bugattis are a bit too expensive, he would dare to consider them when he is richer.
At noon on May 12, Maël finished his last road test and went to check the results with some trepidation.
"Nice!"
After receiving the answer that he had passed, he excitedly clenched his fist and asked, "When can I get my driver's license?"
"Within a week."
The person in charge recognized Maël and said with a smile, "We will mail it to your home at that time, please pay attention to check it."
"Okay." Maël was not in a hurry. He had told Wenger that he would return to the team for joint training after completing his driving test in Sheffield, and rest for about ten days.
It was considered a few days off for himself, and it was also to practice the skills in the proficiency panel, and increase the Speed to lv4, so that he would completely have the characteristics of a fast horse on the wing!
After returning home, he called Mendes and asked him to find a house for him in London.
"It needs to be at least two floors, with many rooms, and it would be even better if it has a gym."
He clearly stated his needs, explaining, "I will have to live with two therapists at that time. It is best for them to live on the first floor, and usually complete the physiotherapy massage and nutritional meal preparation on the first floor.
"I live on the second floor myself, to ensure a certain degree of privacy and quality of life."
"Okay." Mendes' voice was smiling, and he joked, "Are you planning to date a girlfriend? You've mentioned privacy and quality of life, you have ideas."
"No."
Maël shook his head slightly, didn't talk to him about this, and changed the subject with a smile, "Try to find a bigger one, the rent is not a problem.
"As long as you don't find the most expensive ones in London, I think I can afford it, and I'm willing to pay."
It wasn't that he was extravagant, trying to look impressive, but mainly because in the future, as the number of team members increased and the physiotherapy became more professional, he had to prepare in advance for the construction of various physiotherapy rooms.
Hard space requirements are best met in one go; other equipment can be bought slowly.
"I understand. When are you moving?"
"As soon as possible. I only have ten days of vacation. If I don't rent a place, I'll have to stay in a hotel."
"Okay, I'll send you suitable options within three days. You can choose for yourself then."
Hanging up the phone, Maël returned to his room, took out his phone, and opened the social media app.
After Sheffield United won the championship, with many major honors falling on him, his social media followers surged during this period.
His Facebook fans exceeded 1.5 million+, and are growing by 150,000+ every day, with a strong trend of reaching 2 million. His Twitter followers have also increased significantly, approaching 1.5 million+.
He's been too busy these past few days and hasn't had time to manage these accounts, not even posting a single update.
"Right, ins."
After seeing everyone's messages urging him to update, Maël suddenly realized this was an opportunity—a good opportunity to drive traffic to ins.
He had been doing this for a while, and the results were pretty good.
According to Kevin Systrom's data, among the newly added users, 260,000 came specifically for him.
This is already a significant number, very important for a startup social media app!
But if Maël now posted a message on Facebook and Twitter, saying that he would post some behind-the-scenes footage of the championship win and player perspectives of the parade on ins...
Taking advantage of this huge wave of popularity, it would surely have unexpected results! He did what he said he would, simply editing the videos in his album, posting them on ins, and then immediately opening Facebook and Twitter to upload the promotional message.
This company is also his company, after all. A 10% stake in an internet company is definitely considered a major shareholder.
If they plan to raise more funds in the future and Maël has spare money, he can invest some more.
He doesn't seek to expand his shares much further, only hoping that his shares won't be diluted too much in round after round of financing.
If he can maintain a double-digit stake, he could have hundreds of millions of dollars in income when ins is acquired by Facebook in the future! After finishing this, he basically had nothing else to do. Everything was progressing in an orderly manner, and he just needed to wait patiently for the results.
Next, he would train hard and quickly get his Speed to lv4! May 15th, inside the gym.
Maël completed more than a dozen sets of leg muscle contraction force training. Through the mirror on the wall, he could notice that his buttocks had become slightly moreupturned during this period, and his figure had become more sexually appealing.
Of course, sexually appealing to girls, not to boys.
Although this description was a bit strange, he understood that this was a physical characteristic of his sprinting explosiveness slowly increasing!
Look at those fast-running stars and athletes; they basically all haveupturned butts.
Was that just aupturned butt? No, it was becoming stronger!
That night, Maël trained until after eight o'clock. His legs were as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and sometimes, if he relaxed even slightly, he would collapse to the ground.
But he was still persevering, still gritting his teeth and doing a new set of training.
His Speed was on the verge of breaking through. He could feel a completely different sensation erupting from his body, as if he was approaching the level of humanlimit sports, initially touching the boundary.
Finally, just as the time passed nine o'clock, multiple parts of his legs and buttocks suddenly cramped simultaneously, and the pain struck his heart.
"Hiss!" He lay on the ground, straightening his legs, and couldn't help but gasp. This feeling of muscle tearing was really hard to bear.
Fortunately, he was the only one in the gym at the bottom of their apartment building at this time, otherwise it would have been really embarrassing.
[Skill: Sprint lv4]
[Proficiency: (1/5000)]
[Effect: Your muscle reaction speed and contraction speed are already close to the humanlimit level. Your running posture and various techniques have basically reached the best level. You are only one step away from the strongest human level!]
*Sprint!*
*lv4!*
The moment he saw the panel appear, although Maël was still resisting the soreness of the leg cramps, his heart was filled with the strongest excitement and satisfaction since he had the proficiency panel.
The world before him seemed to have changed. The smell of sweat and rust in the gym no longer existed. Everything became fresh, and all that entered his nose was fresh air. All the turbid air in his body was exhaled! Body lv4 ability!
This was definitely comparable to a skill-type lv5 ability, and even better than some skills at lv5!
When the soreness disappeared, Maël supported himself to stand up, took a deep breath, took two steps, and then did two high leg lifts.
All movements became lighter, as if terrifying energy was contained within his muscles, about to penetrate his skin and be released. His body urged him to sprint! "I'll find a place to test it tomorrow."
Maël wasn't in a hurry. His body had already reached its limit, so he should quickly go home and have Harry give him a physiotherapy massage.
After the last upgrade, his 100-meter Speed was around 11 seconds. He was extremely excited to see what his peak Speed would be after this upgrade.
...
Late at night, San Francisco.
In an office building, Kevin Systrom and Mike and their team arrived, weary from their journey, and adjusted the servers and management consoles to check the latest data.
They had just returned from Manhattan, New York City, where they had finalized a financing plan for the remaining 15% of their shares with a venture capital firm. Now, they were just waiting for the signing and payment.
Everyone attached great importance to this round of financing, and all the core members of the company were dispatched.
"Yes."
Kevin Systrom was still on the phone with the other party, a smile on his face. "We don't need to recruit too many people. This core team is enough. That's my entrepreneurial philosophy."
"Definitely... Thank you very much for your trust. This cooperation will definitely be a win-win."
He had a polite smile on his face, and inadvertently turned his head to look at Mike, who was already sitting in front of the computer. He noticed that the other's expression was obviously dazed, his neck was stretched towards the computer, and his mouth was muttering something.
After hanging up the phone, he went to Mike's side. "What's wrong?"
Mike didn't reply. Kevin Systrom leaned on the back of the chair with both hands and looked at the computer in front of him, seeing the "New European Users This Week" column.
Music was playing in the office, and he had been shaking his head to the beat, but now he suddenly froze in place, his breathing becoming rapid.
[+594,400!]
[10th +31,500, 11th +21,900, 12th +84,100, 13th +165,100, 14th +143,900, 15th +112,500!]
The two then looked at each other, their eyes dull, seeing a very expressive feeling on each other's faces.
What happened?! "What's going on?"
"Is there a problem?"
Noticing this, other people in the company also came over, thinking that there was a problem somewhere, and mentally prepared themselves to work overtime tonight to fix the program.
"No."
Kevin Systrom turned his head, smiling with a look of shock as he explained, "Traffic has suddenly surged. The European region has seen a sudden increase of nearly 600,000 users in the past week."
"Really?"
"God...!"
Everyone was shocked, and their expressions became wonderful. They quickly returned to their workstations under Mike's instructions and began to analyze the data.
But... when they noticed 'Maël's' account, they suddenly realized that all the analysis seemed unnecessary.
The number of followers on this account had crossed the 700,000 mark, and the latest post had over 300,000 likes. He had almost single-handedly consumed all the traffic from the 12th to the 15th!
"Him?"
After discovering this, Mike was in a state of panic, afraid that he had seen it wrong, and kept blinking his eyes. "Did he move all his Facebook and Twitter followers over here?"
His hands didn't stop, and he searched online for Maël's recent situation.
Everyone gathered around, and they immediately saw the phenomenon of Sheffield United winning the championship, Maël sweeping the three major awards, and being praised by the media.
They also saw that Maël's posts on Facebook and Twitter, saying that he would be posting footage of the championship record on ins, were reposted by major media outlets, fueling the hype.
"So that's how it is!"
"Haha...!"
Their minds worked quickly, and they quickly figured out the reason for the surge in traffic. They sat back in their chairs, laughed with their heads raised, and clapped their hands from time to time.
This feeling of being hit by a surprise was a rare emotion for rational and rigorous Silicon Valley men.
"Thank you, Maël."
Kevin Systrom was completely convinced. Now it seemed that the decision he made at the beginning was so correct. "And thank you, Mike. If you hadn't kept recommending him, I wouldn't have gone to him."
"It's good that it worked."
Mike was beaming, tapped the table a few times, and couldn't help but stand up and high-five the company members to express his joy.
After celebrating for a while, everyone felt like something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
Kevin Systrom was the first to react. His expression changed, and then he laughed, "This means the number of registered users in Europe has exceeded one million. The activity they generate will create a positive cycle, bringing in even more registered users."
"The company's value has increased! We can't continue financing at the original price; we need to raise it!"
"Yes!" Everyone slammed the table, agreeing. The contract hadn't been signed yet, and they weren't about to turn down money.
Kevin Systrom dialed the phone number of the investment firm from earlier. His tone and attitude were still good, but his words now had a newfound confidence: "Please forgive me, but the data on registered users and activity that I gave you earlier was outdated."
"Now, we need to renegotiate the price of the financing."
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 130+ full translations or to request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the Random Translator Community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------