Welcome to the next chapter, enjoy :D
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A few seconds after our protagonist headed for the shiny door, he spent several minutes walking around the Blue Lock facilities in his uniform.
"I think Anri-san said this was the way to the preliminary test," Kaiser thought as he walked around, looking at a door near him with the symbol Z on it.
"I hope it's here," he muttered, then entered.
Seconds later, in a room with a diameter very similar to that of a penalty area, could see a select group of 10 people distributed evenly around the field with strange and somewhat tense expressions.
Among those people were the white-haired man from earlier who had argued with Ego, the short black-haired woman with blue eyes and an uncomfortable look, the black-haired woman with yellow eyes who was sleeping on the floor, and a red-haired woman with a tense look calmly observing her surroundings.
The sound of the door opening caught the players' attention, just as the screen in front of them changed from "10" to "11."
Once Kaiser entered the room, his presence immediately caught the attention of those present due to his peculiar hair and appearance.
"It's him."
"It's that weirdo from before."
"That tattoo looks cool. I wonder who he is."
"I've never seen him before. Who could he be?" murmured the blue-eyed black-haired girl in her mind, watching our protagonist's presence closely. "He's tall and certainly attractive," she thought for a brief moment.
Once Kaiser entered the room, he remained silent about it and walked to a secluded corner of the room, where a small boy with black hair that covered his eyes was standing near him.
*Tssz* *Tssz*
A series of sounds coming from the television in the room caught the attention of the participants, diverting their gaze to Kaiser.
"Now let's see what this is all about," Kaiser thought with a concentrated yet relaxed expression.
The visible image of Ego appeared on the television with a calm look, watching the participants closely, before noticing Kaiser's presence, smiling, and then speaking.
"Testing, 1, 2, 3. Sorry for the delay, diamonds in the rough. I will proceed to explain. Well, you have already noticed the numbers distributed evenly around your shoulders, right?"
Those present nodded, except for the black-haired, yellow-eyed girl who was asleep and not paying attention.
"That is your current ranking at the Blue Lock facility. You are currently mere scum, located in the fifth building, the worst of all, and as such, you could be considered the weakest players in the project. Keep this firmly in mind. You are currently at a pitiful level and lack the proficiency to compete against those of higher rank," Ego explained with a smile that exuded an unattainable madness.
Most of those present gritted their teeth in frustration at his words, except for the boy with exaggerated hair (Ikki), the blue-eyed girl (Isami = Isagi fem), the redhead (Chigiri), and the sleeping black-haired girl (Bachira fem).
They simply listened to his words.
"Ego-san, your tactics are actually quite amusing," thought Kaiser with a mischievous smile, looking at his shoulder, which bore the number "234."
"Certainly, this ranking is false. It's very difficult for me to imagine a talent that is currently better than my current self at this early stage of Blue Lock. For now, I don't have any more details about it, but he certainly wants to make them angry and motivate them to move in a specific direction," Kaiser monologued, listening to Ego's explanation.
"Next, I will explain the Blue Lock preliminary test. Think of it as a classic game of kill. I will give one of you the opportunity to eliminate someone from the group. Whoever is hit or touched by the soccer ball will have a set time of 360 seconds to hit someone else. After that time has passed, anyone who has not managed to get rid of the mark will be eliminated from Blue Lock, and the rest will move on to the next test. Oh, and you will never have the opportunity to participate in the Japanese national team selection again. That's all. Good luck." Ego finished his explanation and then left the room, leaving behind a stopwatch with a name that was counting down.
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Seconds later, everyone was tense, watching intently as the random player held the ball.
Seconds and seconds passed, and the ball was only passed to those who appeared weak at first glance.
Kaiser, along with Ikki and the girls, with the exception of Bachira, who was still asleep, watched the battle between the players.
"It's like watching rats fight each other," Kaiser thought with a bored expression, detaching himself from the wall and walking towards the area where the others were.
"Excuse me," someone said to Kaiser.
Kaiser immediately stopped, staring impassively at the boy with his hair covered.
"This guy has an intriguing presence, maybe he'll be interesting," Kaiser thought.
"Yes, of course, what is it?"
"My name is Ikki Niko. You give off a strong presence even though you try to go unnoticed. What is your name?" exclaimed the renowned Ikki with curiosity, along with the curious expressions of the redhead, the white-haired boy, and the blue-eyed girl.
"Now that I notice it, it's true. Even though I tried to hide it, I feel that this guy is not simple," Chigiri thought to himself as he watched the exchange between Kaiser and Ikki.
"Who is he?" Isami thought with a curious expression as he also watched the exchange.
"This guy has decent perception. Even though I tried to suppress my ego, he could still tell that I'm not an ordinary person. Well, my appearance certainly doesn't help the case. Extravagance makes me easy to spot," Kaiser thought disinterestedly before responding.
"My name is Michael Kaiser."
"Michael Kaiser? That name sounds familiar," Ikki thought, regretting the confiscation of his phone to check his suspicion.
"Nice to meet you, Kaiser-san," Ikki said, nodding his head.
Kaiser simply did the same and then looked away with the others, noticing the tough battle the other randoms were fighting.
"How pathetic, it's been over 120 seconds and they're still ignoring us, weaklings," Kaiser said, watching the contest bored.
"Now that you mention it, it's true. I was expecting something different when Ego-san explained this," Ikki replied to Kaiser's comment.
"You expected too much from these idiots. People who don't take risks and play it safe by going after weaker people only cause their ambition to improve to stagnate," Kaiser replied, crossing his arms and watching.
"Well, you certainly have a point, Kaiser-san. I guess we'll just have to wait until this is over," Ikki replied, nodding his head.
The exchange was seen by the white hair boy and the two girls, who remained silent.
"Now that you mention it, it's true. Honestly, this test was easier than I expected," thought Chigiri, discreetly observing the conversation between Kaiser and Ikki.
"Hey, Isami-kun, it seems like you got nervous for nothing in the end, although I don't like the idea of eliminating someone here," said the White-Haired Guy (Kira) to the Blue-Eyed Girl.
"Yeah, maybe it wasn't such a big deal," replied the blue-eyed girl with a somewhat nervous smile.
Kaiser, listening to everything, became even more convinced of the idiocy of that white-haired guy, and began to find his philosophy of camaraderie irritating.
"I'm just going to do my job. My presence is to stimulate these idiots," thought Kaiser, and then he began to walk toward the place of the contest, while at the same time the black-haired yellow-eyed girl began to wake up from her boredom when she saw that no one was falling into her trap.
(Author's note: Igaguri was not admitted to Blue Lock and did not fall into Bachira's trap).
As Kaiser walked towards the contest area with a confident expression under the surprised gaze of the others, one of the random players holding the ball threw it towards Kaiser's chest, which had a wide range of touch.
Kaiser watched impassively as the ball approached him, deflecting it effortlessly while trapping the ball with his left leg in a harmonious manner, redirecting it towards the ground.
The moment Kaiser gained control of the ball, everyone present felt a tense sense of danger, as if a predator were watching them.
"Hahaha, what a monster," Bachira said for the first time, regaining his senses as he watched Kaiser.
Kira, Ikki, Chigiri, and Isami nodded their heads, feeling a small drop of sweat fall from their bodies as Kaiser's gaze swept across the room.
"I'm going to end this stupidity and break this stalemate, especially with that White Hair over there who's already irritating me," thought Kaiser, watching as the number on the screen now dropped to "45 seconds."
Immediately, Kaiser began to move openly toward Kira, who was standing next to Isami, with everyone present nervously watching the contest.
Kira, noticing Kaiser's attention on him, began to run nervously around the room, trying to avoid being hit by the ball, a tense expression on his face.
"Hey, get away from me!" Kira shouted in fear, trying to get away from Kaiser's approaching presence.
"It's useless, no one here can avoid this impact," thought Kaiser, positioning himself to shoot as the screen showed 20 seconds remaining.
Everyone present felt the pressure mounting as Kaiser prepared to kick the ball.
"What is this feeling? That way of shooting looks so normal, but why does it convey such dread?" Ikki thought with a tense and serious expression on his face.
"What a monster, he's definitely someone formidable," Bachira thought to himself, watching Kaiser with a mischievous smile, albeit with a touch of sweat on his temple.
"There's incredible pressure from that shot, what a lunatic," Chigiri muttered under his breath as he watched the match.
"Who is this guy? Compared to the others, he exuded a different level of presence, like lightning about to strike someone," Isami thought, looking at Kaiser.
Everyone's eyes widened when Kaiser uttered his last words.
"Kaiser Impact…" That was all those present heard.
Instantly, Kaiser shot with monstrous force toward Kira, calculating the trajectory of his movements, which was not particularly difficult due to the irregular way he moved out of nervousness.
*Boom*
After being hit, Kaiser's ball traveled at an absurd speed, frightening those present in the room, as if a torpedo had been launched.
Immediately, the ball hit a nervous and frightened Kira in the stomach.
"AGHHHHHH" was all those present heard from Kira's mouth as he knelt on the floor with a pained expression, the ball lying beside him.
*20 seconds...*
"Aghh, what the hell was that?!" Kira shouted indignantly at Kaiser with an expression of both anger and fear.
"I was already fed up with your sense of camaraderie. I am disgusted by your way of thinking and what it represents. Do me a favor and get out of here. I can't stand ideals like that from people like you," Kaiser replied impassively to those present.
"Y...You, DAMN YOU!!!" Kira exclaimed angrily, starting to run towards Kaiser in revenge.
*17 seconds...*
Everyone present passively watched the encounter between Kira and Kaiser.
For the next few seconds, Kira devoted himself to chasing Kaiser with the ball, desperately throwing balls at Kaiser, who ran impassively with a mischievous smile, narrowly evading Kira's shots while laughing.
*10 seconds...*
*9...*
*8...*
As the countdown continued, everyone watched with pity as Kira gradually succumbed to despair, unable to close the distance between himself and a smiling Kaiser.
*7...*
*6...*
"NOOOO!!" Kira thought desperately, trying with all his might to hit a ball at Kaiser.
*3...*
*2...*
*1...*
"Teasing the weak is certainly fun in all situations," Kaiser thought with a smile, closing his eyes.
Once the countdown marked the end of the game, Kira knelt on the ground with a desperate expression before the calm figure of Kaiser, who devoted himself solely to watching the screen where Ego's figure appeared again.
"Ryosuke Kira, you are eliminated from Blue Lock. Pack your things and leave," said Ego's disinterested voice.
"NOOOO, I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS RESULT. I HAVE MORE POTENTIAL THAN OTHERS. THIS TEST IS UNFAIR!"
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO IMPASSIVE AFTER ERASING THE FUTURE OF A TALENTED PLAYER LIKE ME? I AM JAPAN'S NATIONAL TREASURE, EH!? WHY DON'T YOU JUST ELIMINATE THE OTHER IDIOTS WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING!?" Kira exclaimed with all his might under Kaiser's amused gaze and Ego's impassive one.
"What an amusing and pitiful sight," Kaiser thought with a smile, further irritating Kira, who watched him.
"WHAT DO YOU FIND SO FUNNY, YOU IDIOT!? YOU WERE THE MAIN PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, BECAUSE YOU HIT ME INSTEAD OF THE OTHERS!" Kira shouted indignantly, pointing at an amused Kaiser.
Kaiser simply looked away from Kira and stared at Ego with a smile, gazing at him with a confident expression that conveyed an underlying message.
"In Blue Lock, everything you do is related to soccer. Take a look around you, you talented slacker. The area here is exactly the size of a penalty area. This is the classic domain and territory of a striker. Here, the skills of a striker are everything. If you still managed to lose and couldn't survive, then it proves your lack of talent as a striker."
"THAT PROVES NOTHING!! THIS CATCHING GAME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SOCCER!"
"It has everything to do with it, you idiot," Kaiser interrupts Ego's explanation, drawing the attention of everyone present.
"The core of this test was to find a good position for the one who was running away. Don't be surprised that it was super easy for me to dodge your predictable attacks. As a striker, you left a lot to be desired in both your positioning when I attacked you and your dribbling and precision when chasing me. If this had been transferred to a real game, you would have missed the shot, something unthinkable in an elite striker." Kaiser explained in a bored tone, extending his arm.
Under the surprised gaze of everyone present, Ego nodded and then finished his explanation on the matter.
"The only one who 'has it' or, rather, the one who has the ball, had the decision in his hands to win or lose. striker carries all the responsibility in key moments. A true striker is someone who, even in the last second, manages to attack."
"Michael Kaiser designated you as his target, considering you one of the strongest and most problematic in the room. You, on the other hand, tried to pursue Kaiser as the strongest player. While your courage was at least acceptable, you can only blame your mediocrity and lack of skill. That's why you lost, Ryosuke Kira. You lack the selfishness necessary to thrive here at Blue Lock."
Kaiser and those present remained silent on the matter, although Kaiser stood with a calm smile, analyzing Ikki's expressions of surprise, the serious look that chigiri gave him, and a variety of other emotions.
Relief, fear, acceptance, admiration, among others, flooded the room, flowing toward the figure of Kaiser, who passively observed everything around him.
"I didn't feel anything exciting about eliminating that fly, although it seems that I gave them the excitement they needed. They... want to eliminate me." Kaiser smiled at the rest of the gazes that watched him with fear but anticipation.
"That was exciting to watch, Kaiser-kun," said a voice.
Kaiser watched impassively as the yellow-eyed girl walked mischievously toward him with an excited smile.
"And you are?" said the redhead with interest as Kira left the room listlessly and habitually.
"My name is Meguri Bachira, you can call me Bachira. It's a pleasure to meet you formally," Bachira said, extending his hand with a smile.
Kaiser intertwined her hand in response to the greeting.
"My pleasure," said Kaiser, then looked at the screen where Ego was silent for a brief moment. The blue-eyed man looked at the screen and tilted his head toward the rest of the room and winked one of his eyes.
Ego remained silent for a moment, then resumed his explanation.
"Well, rough diamonds, how does it feel to survive? Are you scared by the situation? Shocked to see the talent of others? This is just a small sample of what you will see in Blue Lock. You understand that in your minds, right? The soccer you have followed and played all your lives up to this point was nothing more than mediocre and fake soccer that only the weak would play! Does the fact that you survived give you chills? That is the feeling of victory over the unfortunate. Learn that in your brains and start taking the initiative to want to crush your opponents and claim victory. The rest doesn't matter, only winning matters. Every time you win and rejoice in your victory, it means that your "ego" will grow. You will need that to rise to the top and become the best striker in the world.
"Congratulations to everyone here. You have passed the Blue Lock preliminary test. Your room was designed for no more than 11 people, so from now on, you will live together with your destined companions."
"Perhaps you will cooperate with others or betray each other. That is something you will decide."
Each and every one of those present looked at each other with tense expressions, and an uncomfortable atmosphere filled the room, except for two people: Bachira, who looked at Kaiser with a smile, and Kaiser, who smiled back at her.
"From now on, you are Blue Lock's Team Z," Ego concluded his explanation.
"She's interesting, she has something appealing and talent as a forward," Kaiser thought, staring at Bachira.
"He's strong, I'm going to beat him no matter what it takes," Bachira thought with a mischievous smile, staring at Kaiser.
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