A round-robin, point-based selection match.
3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss.
A five-team round-robin meant a total of 4 matches had to be played.
Without any more words, since it was a life-or-death battle, the guys in different colored jerseys were the enemy. With the sound of a whistle, the match began immediately.
Before this match, there was a short preparation time. To forge a group of complete strangers into an effective fighting force, Team Z held a simple internal meeting. The general idea was that players would take turns leading the team's attack from the front, while the others would need to handle organization and defense.
Isagi Yoichi was lucky; he drew the first slot. For the opening period of the game, Team Z would completely revolve around him leading the attack, doing their best to help him score.
Bachira kicked off, and Isagi immediately advanced with the ball. The players from Team X saw this and immediately swarmed him. Isagi, seeing this, began to think about how to orchestrate this attack as he usually would.
Who would have known that in the next second, before the enemy could even make a move, his teammate Raichi Jingo had stolen the ball from his feet.
"What are you doing, Raichi? This isn't what we agreed on!"
"Who wants to play by the rules with you guys? The rule is that the person with the most goals gets to stay, isn't it?"
Raichi Jingo flashed his signature shark-like teeth. Just like Kuon Wataru, he didn't believe that Team Z could stand out. To stay, he had to become the team's top scorer, scoring the most goals!
"You see things very clearly, Raichi!"
But before his words could fade, Kunigami Rensuke came over and stole the ball.
In an instant, Team Z's attack completely fell apart before it could even begin. The midfield became a chaotic mess of players scrambling for the ball. Basically, everyone except the goalkeeper was fighting for the ball, wanting to be the one to score.
Of course, Team X was much the same. When they stole the ball from Team Z, they fell into the same disarray in the next second, with teammates fighting each other for the ball, completely unable to form an effective fighting force.
What Ego Jinpachi said about returning to the origin point had come true. In the beginning, football was just a group of people chasing after a single ball. In that era, football had no positions, no tactics. It was football's most "savage" time.
"What kind of soccer is this? These guys are only thinking about themselves, not considering the bigger picture at all."
Isagi stared blankly at this scene; it was completely different from the football he knew. He thought back to what Ego Jinpachi had said an hour ago. "Could this be what he meant by 'creating football from zero'?"
What should I do?
Should I join in?
Isagi didn't approve of this savage football; this was not the right way to play.
It was at this moment that a strong figure burst out from the crowd. In a daze, Isagi could even hear the roar of a fierce beast.
It was Barou Shouei.
His Majesty, the King, crashed through everyone with a tyrannical posture, snatching the ball from the crowd and breaking through the encirclement.
"Get out of my way!"
"Do you want me to kill you?"
Hearing this, Isagi was terrified, but he still mustered the courage to meet him, only to see Barou cleverly flick the ball up and then use his heel to send it flying into the air. The ball went over both their heads from behind him, and in the next moment, Barou was past Isagi.
A Rainbow Flick! (The author notes that there's no function for animated gifs, but interested readers can look it up.)
"A 187cm center forward is passing people like this?" Isagi was stunned. He possessed neither this kind of physical talent nor this level of skill.
However, Barou Shouei's performance wasn't over yet. After getting past Isagi, he then nutmegged two more players with a cut, and then, from a distance of 28 meters from the goal, he unleashed a furious shot.
SWISH!
A spray of white rippled through the net.
"GOAL!"
The large letters appeared on the screen on the wall.
1:0!
Team X scores first.
"Listen up, you soccer trash. To me, the ball is not a friend."
"It is merely a spherical servant that exists to make me shine."
After scoring, Barou spread his arms, his "I alone am the honored one" posture on full display.
"On this field, I am the King!"
He was incredibly domineering, a player who didn't even give a damn about the national team players. In Barou's mind, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed those useless national team players; the only difference between them was age. In time, he would lead the Japanese team to reign over the World Cup.
'You're walking a narrow path, kid!' 'Tsubasa Ozora: The ball is my friend!' 'Barou Shouei: The ball is not my friend!' 'Tsubasa Ozora: Barou, you have chosen death!' 'A spherical servant? Are all the lines in this show so damn slick?'
The bullet comments began to go wild with memes, with no sense of tension at all. After all, the main characters' team was Team Z. If they were eliminated, what would be left to broadcast?
"You're supposed to be defending the goal properly!"
"I've never been a goalkeeper before! I'm an amateur..."
"Alright, alright, it's just one goal. Let's get our minds right."
"Yeah, as long as everyone plays their position well, passes the ball properly..."
Isagi felt that the most important thing to do right now was to stabilize their formation.
Raichi Jingo didn't think so.
"Huh? If we play like that, won't you, the forward, be the one scoring?"
"You guys just have to pass the ball to me!"
The shark-toothed player wouldn't listen; he was determined to score himself.
Kira Ryosuke, on the side, also fell into thought. Then, he walked up to a few of the players who had just suggested everyone calm down, intending to link them together.
"Individual goals are indeed important, but as long as we get into the top two in points, we can all advance. So, winning is more important than scoring individual goals."
The people he found were the monk, Igarashi Gurimu, and Isagi Yoichi. He planned to first form a small group with a few people, create an effective threat, and then slowly absorb the others. This way, the entire team would gradually fall under his control, with him as the core.
Kira Ryosuke had this confidence. After all, he was the genius scouted by the U-18 national youth team coach, the jewel of Japanese football.
Isagi and the others didn't have any better ideas. It was just that if they did this, he would have to give up his position as the "starting forward."
Sure enough, when Team Z kicked off again, Kira Ryosuke actively ran from the backfield to his preferred right wing, raising his hand for the ball.
"Isagi, here!"
Isagi saw him, hesitated for a moment, but still passed the ball. Kira, with his skillful dribbling, got past one person and then looked for a combination play. In that instant, Isagi found that familiar feeling of playing soccer.
Little did he know, after the first goal, the mindset of Team X had already changed. Barou's powerful individual ability had shown them a better way to advance.
"Hey, let's team up to stop them, then give the ball to Barou."
"Ah, as long as we can advance, I don't care. Let's just play around Barou."
Two players from Team X looked at each other and simultaneously charged towards Kira Ryosuke.
"It's about time."
Tendou had been watching the bullet comments' reactions and now began to act.
...
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