Chapter 50: Individual Battle
The second selection was finally about to begin.
The members of Team Z, dressed in their training gear, all looked excited. Surprisingly, no one seemed afraid of the unknown challenge ahead.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of their footsteps echoed through the corridor. The group marched out from the Building 5 area.
When they exited Building 5 and arrived at the main hall downstairs, they found many people were already there.
[Detected attribute that can be absorbed!]
[Vision +30 (Continuous decay)]
[Dribbling +20 (Continuous decay)]
[Shooting +20 (Continuous decay)]
[Speed +20 (Continuous decay)]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
[Retention Time: 24 hours]
[Absorb?]
[Detected attribute that can be absorbed!]
[Vision +15 (Continuous decay)]
[Strength +30 (Continuous decay)]
[Speed +30 (Continuous decay)]
[Shooting +20 (Continuous decay)]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
[Retention Time: 24 hours]
[Absorb?]
[Detected attribute that can be absorbed!]
[...]
Just like when he first arrived at Blue Lock, a stream of messages popped up in Kira's mind. Kira observed his surroundings; Itoshi Rin and Shidou Ryusei were already present. Kira wisely chose to absorb the attributes of those two individuals first.
"Are those people the members from the other buildings?" Isagi asked after looking around. The rest of Team Z also began sizing up the players from the so-called higher-ranked buildings.
"Hey, wait a minute, their rankings!" Igaguri, sharp-eyed, noticed that the rank badges on these people's arms were also in the 200s. Weren't they supposed to be from the lowest-ranked building? Team Z was completely confused.
Kira had long anticipated this situation. Having 'read the manga', he clearly knew this was just Ego's doing.
"Hello, my little Diamonds in the rough! You've all worked hard on your physical conditioning!" Everyone in the hall looked towards the screen, where the bespectacled guy had appeared again.
"The players present are all qualifiers from the first selection, 25 from each building, 125 in total here. I'm sure the sharp ones among you have noticed..."
"There are no players from Building One, Building Two, or others here... because those buildings don't exist. All buildings in Blue Lock are Building Five!"
"All of you, firmly believing you were at the bottom in Teams V through Z, fought desperately in the first selection!"
Kira inwardly raised his hand. 'Ego-san, I knew you were lying from the start, I just didn't expose you.'
"Ahhh, what?"
"We were lied to? You're treating us like toys?!" The hall instantly erupted. Everyone was furious, feeling tricked by Ego.
"Correct. It was all a lie I concocted. The purpose was to destroy your childish self-confidence and build the desire to become the world's best striker!"
"Listen well. Taking Noel Noa as an example, he grew up in the slums of France, always surrounded by violence and crime."
"For him, football was the way to change his fate; it was his only hope."
"There are quite a few star football players with similar backgrounds. Their [Hunger] for goals is something you can never imagine..."
"Living in Japan, where you can live a stable life even if you lose a match, you will never experience that feeling!"
"But Blue Lock will make you acquire the [Hunger] to become the top striker. At this point, you're here because you wanted to defeat someone stronger than you, right?"
In the crowd, Isagi and Niko instinctively glanced at Kira.
Ego Jinpachi paused, then continued: "That Hunger will transform into an [Ego] that can change the world!"
'Interesting,' Kira thought, hearing Ego's words for real this time. He unconsciously looked towards Itoshi Rin.
'I really want to try... to see if I can beat him!'
"Alright, let's proceed with the second selection!" On the screen, Ego Jinpachi slowly raised his finger, forming a '1'.
"The first selection you fought through was about learning, as a striker, how to turn [0] into [1]..."
"But from now on, the battle is about going from [1] to [100]!"
"The second selection consists of five stages. It employs a system where only those who pass can proceed to the next stage!"
"First, complete the task of the first stage. That is your goal."
"Then, complete the remaining stages in order, thus reaching the fifth stage. Those who stand out from the second selection will have the chance to participate in an intensive training camp with world-class players I have selected."
"That is all I have to say. Warm up on your own..."
"Those who are mentally prepared, go through that door alone..."
"The first stage is an [Individual Battle]. Once you enter, you cannot turn back!"
Having said that, Ego's figure disappeared from the screen.
"Alone? Not all together?" Bachira looked at Kira in surprise. Kira shrugged, as if to say he had no idea.
"Alone? Then what should I do?" Igaguri let out a shriek; he was clearly the one who most hated the idea of fighting alone.
"It's fine, Igaguri. Weren't you quite impressive in the matches too? It'll be okay," Kira said, trying to comfort him.
Igaguri instantly replayed his performance in several matches in his mind. Aside from that one beautiful headed save, had he done anything notable?
"Kira, after hearing your comfort, I feel even more hopeless..." Igaguri burst into tears.
"Ah, is that so? Sorry..." Kira apologized awkwardly, rubbing his head. 'Oops, the comfort had the opposite effect.' He hadn't done it on purpose.
"It seems we'll be separated for a while, Kira. I thought we could keep fighting side by side!" Bachira said, clearly disappointed.
"It's fine. We'll meet again soon, believe me!" Kira reassured him.
Isagi was also thinking about the challenges ahead and what to do if he was alone.
"Hey, look at that guy..." Someone in the crowd exclaimed.
They saw a figure step out from the crowd, holding two footballs. He placed one at his right foot.
Then, he swung his right leg high back.
Boom.
One ball flew high into the air in a perfect arc.
Immediately after-
Another kick.
Boom.
The second ball seemed to accelerate, quickly following almost the same trajectory and catching up to the first ball.
Boom!
The two balls collided in mid-air, to everyone's astonishment.
"No way? This guy..."
"Amazing ball control..."
Everyone in the hall was stunned by these two kicks.
'You really showed off, Itoshi Rin,' Kira thought.
But Kira also clearly knew in his heart that he might be able to do those two kicks, but not as fluidly. Moreover, his first and second kicks were clearly different; the inexplicable acceleration on the second kick was truly exquisite.
"Open the door. Warm-up is over."
Having said that, Itoshi Rin shoved his hands in his pockets and walked in coolly.
'This guy is so cool, he really pulled off a grand display,' Kira sighed inwardly. He had been busy chatting with his Team Z buddies and had almost forgotten Rin's highlight show-off moment.
At that moment, the entire hall fell silent.
"Huh? Kira?" Just as everyone was still in shock, Bachira noticed Kira starting to move.
Kira slowly walked up to the door, turned back, and smiled at the Team Z members.
"Follow me, everyone."
Kira then stepped through the door.
Bachira immediately followed suit.
Isagi, Chigiri, Kunigami, and Raichi closely followed.
The members of Team Z swarmed forward and entered one after another.
"What's with this team? So united?"
"Was the one who just went in their captain..."
"They all entered one after another like that?"
Isagi heard the discussions from the others in the hall and smiled slightly. 'How can we stop? We're chasing after Kira's footsteps.'
Team Z sets off.
Goal: The Second Selection.
Individual Battle
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