Chapter 19: A Flash of Thunder — A Powerful Shot That Shocked the Entire Stadium!
"Don't even think about scoring!"
The goalkeeper lunged forward—when a one-on-one chance forms, a keeper has to charge.
No hesitation, no delay. You can't give a striker the space or comfort to line up a perfect shot.
From this angle, he can't shoot directly. He'll have to take a few more steps forward—
That was the keeper's judgment—
But at that very moment, Ryousuke Kira suddenly raised his right leg high behind him—
and his breathing… changed.
He drew in the air greedily, each inhale sharp and deep, as if he were about to strip the oxygen from the very sky.
His blood boiled.
Power surged through his veins, rushing violently through every muscle, every fiber, gathering—condensing—at his right leg.
Total Concentration Breathing.
"This angle? You're actually going to shoot from there? You're underestimating me!"
The keeper lowered his stance, eyes narrowing.
Kira stood at a sharp diagonal from the goal—an angle that heavily restricted the shot's arc and range.
It should have been an impossible scoring position.
If anything, this distance favored the goalkeeper.
To curve the ball from there would require inhuman control—and at that speed? No one could possibly strike a clean arc.
He predicted a straight-line shot.
So, the keeper surged forward, arms wide, ready to smother the ball head-on.
Kira knew exactly what he was thinking.
He didn't care.
Thunderclap and Flash!
The power that had been gathering exploded in an instant—his right leg swung through the air like a cannon firing.
The moment his toe met the ball, a thunderclap split the air.
BOOM!
It wasn't just a shot—it was lightning manifest.
The sound was like the sky itself cracking open.
The ball tore forward like a shell from a railgun, compressing under its own impossible speed, the air shrieking as it split.
The keeper had prepared, but his body refused to move.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
The ball streaked past his side before his brain even processed it, and by the time he turned—
it was already behind him.
THUD.
The ball slammed into the back of the net, rebounding once before dropping lifelessly to the turf.
Only then did the keeper's body unlock, collapsing backward, his legs trembling like wet paper.
For a moment—
when that ball passed his ear—
he'd thought he was dead.
The pressure in its wake had felt like a cannon shell grazing his skull.
If he had tried to block it, he realized in horror, he'd have been blasted into the net alongside it.
That shot wasn't human.
It was terrifying.
Speed. Power. Precision.
Every element of it was monstrous.
---
Kira exhaled slowly, rolling his ankle once.
"...As expected, there was some soreness, but it didn't affect his basic movement or dribbling. His right leg, however, could probably only use that ability again in the second half."
Kira could feel the strain in his right leg — after all, practicing alone was completely different from the real match.
"But in the first half, my left foot can still unleash one full-powered Thunderclap and Flash. I'll need to wait for the perfect moment to use it."
He opened his system interface mid-walk.
[System Status]
[Thunder Breathing – Total Concentration: Proficiency +2.1%]
[Thunder Breathing: First Form – Flash Step: Proficiency +5.0%]
New text flickered across the interface:
[Notice]
[Using skills successfully in official matches — such as achieving steals, breakthroughs, or direct/assisted goals — will grant bonus proficiency increases.]
"So actual matches boosts mastery faster, huh?"
A faint grin crossed his lips. "Good. That means I'll just have to play harder."
He closed the window and jogged back toward midfield.
---
The stadium was dead silent.
For several seconds after the strike, not a sound came from anyone—only the faint echo of the ball settling in the net.
Then, chaos.
"Holy crap, that was insane!"
"Kira, you monster!"
"He scored in under a minute! How is that even—what kind of shot was that?!"
Their shouts rose together, a wave of disbelief and excitement.
Even Raishi, who had been glaring at Kira the entire morning, found his fist clenching involuntarily.
When he realized, he awkwardly shoved his hand back into his pocket, pretending it hadn't happened.
The nearest teammates swarmed Kira immediately, cheering, laughing, slapping his back.
"Did you see that lightning-fast shot again?" Bachira grinned, eyes gleaming with admiration. "That's your signature, huh?"
That goal—one minute in—
had ignited the entire team like a spark to dry grass.
In most matches, you'd never see a goal scored that fast.
And these weren't amateurs—everyone in Blue Lock was elite.
But Kira had done the impossible,
and in that instant, Team Z believed.
They could win.
They could actually advance.
---
On the other side of the field, Team X looked like corpses.
"What the hell was that sound just now… that boom—was that really from a kick?"
"Damn it, you were out of position again! How do you fall for a fake that obvious?"
"Oh, shut up! Like you could've stopped that guy! We had three men on him—he split us open like paper!"
"Who is that monster?"
"Kira … they call him a football prodigy. I knew he was good—but not this good…"
Every face on Team X was pale.
Opening minutes. One goal down.
Their rhythm shattered. Their confidence—shaken.
But one man among them stood completely still.
Barou.
Expressionless.
The so-called "King" of the field didn't flinch.
Soon after, play resumed.
Team X's counterattack began—but it immediately devolved into chaos.
The forward who'd received the ball barely took two steps before a defender from his own team rushed up from behind and stole it.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Top scorers advance, idiot! You just got beaten easily—I'm not letting you ruin my shot at survival!"
"Are you kidding me? We're supposed to be teammates!"
"What about tactics? How can we continue playing when things are in such a mess?"
Arguments erupted mid-play, their formation dissolving into a frenzy of selfish charges and reckless tackles.
Right from the start, Team X was in complete chaos, with everyone vying for possession of the ball.
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〔TL〕
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