Blue Lock – Special Conference Room
"Giving each of those world-class players 100 million yen, plus another one million yen for every goal scored, how much money do you intend to waste before you're satisfied with these reckless plans?"
"That's right. Explain properly what the meaning of all this is. And sit properly while you're at it."
Inside the conference room, two officials from the football association were harshly scolding Ego for his wanton spending of money.
Ego, however, looked completely unconcerned. One leg was crossed over the other as he sat casually in his chair.
"If you truly love children, you should allow them to step out and see the world. At this restless, impulsive age, they need to experience its stimulation firsthand."
"You adults who have long since given up I never expected you to still have the ability to embrace dreams anyway. So just shut up obediently and stop talking."
"So rude!"
The man sitting in the front row slammed the table and stood up immediately, clearly enraged.
At that moment, the Japan Football Association's president, Buratsuta Hirotoshi, finally spoke.
"Alright, alright, Ego, that's enough. The Blue Lock project should end here."
The moment she heard that Blue Lock was about to be terminated, Anri panicked.
"Why so suddenly?!"
"The parents of the participants have been complaining nonstop. Up until now, the contents of the project have remained undisclosed and opaque. Most importantly there have been no results whatsoever so far."
"This farce might as well end sooner rather than later."
Hearing Buratsuta's words, Ego adjusted his glasses and let out a scoffing laugh.
"What do you mean by that? Ego, do you have some dissatisfaction with me? I know this is cruel for you, but you should try to understand my difficulties too. After all "
Before Buratsuta could finish speaking, Ego interrupted him.
"Anri, show them that match."
Anri froze for a split second, then immediately understood what Ego meant and began operating her tablet.
Seeing Ego cut him off mid-sentence, Buratsuta didn't get angry. Instead, he continued persuading him with a tone of righteousness.
"Ego, this matter has already gone beyond what we can control. The public pressure outside is bearing down on the association. We really have no choice."
Ignoring Buratsuta entirely, Ego interlaced his fingers and placed them in front of his nose, a mysterious smile appearing on his face.
"Ego-san, the video has been connected to the projector."
"Hey, Ego, what exactly are you making us watch?"
At that moment, another man slammed the table and stood up, angrily shouting at Ego.
"Shut up and watch the video."
Ego stared straight at him with those sharp eyes of his and said calmly.
Being stared at like that made the man's scalp tingle. He looked toward Buratsuta, who nodded slightly, signaling him to sit down.
Once everyone finally quieted down, the lights in the conference room were completely turned off. Immediately after, the projector cast a video onto the screen behind Ego.
"What is this? A match video? Mr. Buratsuta's time is extremely valuable how can it be wasted on watching match replays?"
Ego said nothing. He simply raised one finger and placed it in front of his lips, signaling for silence.
Seeing that no one else spoke up, the man could only sit down resentfully and watch the screen in silence.
The video Ego had Anri play was the replay of Ryan's match against the World Star Team.
In less than an hour, the video ended.
The conference room was terrifyingly silent.
So silent that even the sound of a pin dropping on the floor would have been clearly audible.
"Well then, everyone, anything you'd like to say?"
At that moment, it was as if time itself began to move again.
Hearing Ego speak, everyone finally snapped out of their shock. They glanced at one another, and it was obvious that every single person had been shaken by what they had just seen.
Buratsuta was the first to recover after all, there was a reason he had climbed to his current position.
Yet, from his uncontrollably trembling hands and quivering lips, it was clear that he still hadn't fully recovered from the shock of the video. It wouldn't even be surprising if someone said he was having a Parkinson's episode.
"E-Ego… this v-video… is it r-real?"
Buratsuta stammered as he asked.
"Of course it's real. This match was played just yesterday."
Ego answered calmly, as if he had anticipated this reaction all along.
Buratsuta's mind was in complete chaos.
What had he just witnessed?
A Japanese domestic player still a minor standing on equal footing with world-class players.
Not only scoring against them, but defeating them.
Despite having held high office for many years, Buratsuta could clearly tell that the player who dominated the entire match in the video Ryan had not even used his full strength.
What kind of concept was this?
That meant this player's current level, before even becoming an adult, could already be called Japan's number one.
Realizing this, Buratsuta's heart began to race wildly.
Wasn't this… a gigantic money-making machine?
He could already imagine the headlines:
"The Strongest Footballer in the History of Japanese Football."
Ego then projected Ryan's status panel onto the screen.
Displayed on it were Ryan's large portrait and a six-dimensional radar chart.
The moment everyone saw it, gasps echoed throughout the room.
What shocked them wasn't Ryan's almost inhumanly handsome face
but that nearly fully filled six-dimensional chart.
Speed, physical ability, shooting, and more every score was practically at the maximum.
Just a tiny margin away. Perhaps only a fraction, maybe zero-point-something short.
Even Ego couldn't help but sigh in amazement as he looked at the chart.
Ryan really is a monster.
In truth, there were many more attributes that hadn't been subdivided things like agility, flexibility, and so on.
He hadn't included them simply because it was too much trouble.
Not that it mattered.
Those values were all nearly maxed out as well.
So in the end, he had only selected a few of the most important stats.
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