002 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

The football slammed into the net, kicking up a beautiful white wave, and the huge score on the screen at the side refreshed once again from 4:1 to 5:1.

"Gooooooooal! Shinichi scores again! That's already his fourth goal in this match!"

The commentator on the sidelines couldn't help standing up and shouting wildly:

"Even with the entire defensive line sent out, they still can't stop Shinichi! It's hard to imagine he only started playing football in his first year of high school!"

"What was your name again? Kira?" While waiting for the opponent to kick off, Shinichi walked over to the cream-haired figure he remembered, seemingly marking him but actually talking trash.

"You're that treasure of Japan football, right? That shot of yours was pretty nice—so where's that 'one point'?"

Kira Ryosuke gritted his teeth and ignored Shinichi's words, staring intently at the movement of the football. Then, at a certain moment, he suddenly accelerated into a sprint!

"Here!" Kira raised his hand and shouted as the football was passed over. He stepped forward to control it. At this moment, he was only about 20 meters from the goal. That guy didn't follow—was it because of the score advantage that he'd relaxed? Then scoring this one would make it 4:2. The second half had only just begun; with a two-goal gap, there was still a chance!

"Is that what you're thinking?"

The sudden voice by his ear sent a wave of goosebumps over Kira's body. He turned his head in disbelief, but all he saw was jet-black hair flying up from sheer speed.

The moment Kira had just trapped the ball and lifted his foot, Shinichi hooked the football away. He then slightly turned his body to dodge Kira's counter-press, followed by a left-right feint with both feet. As Kira's center of gravity shifted, Shinichi changed direction and got past him almost without any resistance.

"Dreaming about the next goal before the ball's even settled?" Shinichi glanced back disdainfully at Kira, who had been completely shaken off.

"You can't even focus on the shot in front of you—are you really a forward?"

"Shut up! I can't stop here!" Kira roared through clenched teeth and charged again. Shinichi simply stopped and waited for Kira to block him. "Just talking won't solve anything. If you want to win, then show me your resolve."

"Shinichi has stopped—this is going to be a 1v1! Two star players facing off head-on!"

As the commentator roared, Shinichi took the initiative. He touched the ball first and charged to the left.

'From earlier in the match, I already know this guy is faster than me, so I need to engage him early. I absolutely can't give him the chance to build speed.'

Kira's brain spun at full speed as he locked onto Shinichi's movements and stepped forward to block him.

'The straight-line path is cut off, so next he can only change direction. Observe carefully… which foot? Which foot will he touch the ball with next? Left? Right? Right foot!'

The instant he confirmed his judgment, Kira kicked out—but although Shinichi's right foot swung, it didn't touch the ball at all. It merely passed over it, feinting a full circle.

'As expected, a step-over! For an ordinary player, a quick change of direction would be enough, but at our level, a single move like that isn't very threatening unless it's in open play. He deliberately waited for me to go 1v1—without a sprinting distance, a more deceptive dribble would be his first choice!'

'He started with a right-foot feint. His center of gravity is now on the left. According to the step-over, next he'll either plant his right foot and use his left for a second feint, or just change direction outright!'

'That means before his right foot lands, you've lost control of the ball! As long as I see through the move and strike at this critical moment, I can steal it!' Kira rapidly deduced Shinichi's next action, staring at his body to judge the shift in balance.

"Right here! I've got it!"

But—

'Huh? I didn't… touch the ball? How is that possible? His center of gravity clearly already… Did he change the laws of physics? No, no, that's impossible—then what…'

Shinichi's right foot, which had made the feint, never touched the ground at all. Just as Kira thought his balance had shifted and moved in, Shinichi pulled the ball back with his right foot. Turning smoothly, he used the heel of his other foot to lightly tap it, changing the ball's trajectory a second time. The football fluttered like a dancing butterfly, spinning between Shinichi's legs in perfect sync with his steps.

'You've got to be kidding? And that transition was way too fast! But still!' Completely beaten, Kira gritted his teeth and shouted, "Double-team him!"

'It's not just me! My teammates are closing in. As long as we block his path, I can come in from behind and look for a chance to steal the ball!'

"Football isn't just about 1v1s. With everyone's help, there's me. I may have lost, but my team still has a chance!"

"You're really going to place your hopes on these ordinary bones? If that's your resolve, then that's just…"

"Boring, isn't it?"

"Huh?" The backtracking Kira widened his eyes, and Shinichi had already begun his performance.

"Shinichi cleverly gets past Kira! But the opponents are closing in—will he be surrounded? No! Shinichi repeatedly changes direction, pulling space open! Kira tries to steal from behind, but Shinichi keeps the ball firmly under his control! Shinichi pulls it back—he uses the opponent's cover defense! He turns the opposing player into a human wall, blocking Kira's pursuit!"

"Shinichi is accelerating!! He's still sprinting! Everyone else is chasing with all they've got, but it's useless! Too fast—way too fast! Shinichi has passed everyone! This time he doesn't need any other techniques—absolute speed is his strongest weapon!"

"Shinichi is through on goal! It's just the goalkeeper now! From this position, is Shinichi going to shoot? A feint! Another change of direction! The goalkeeper is completely fooled! No one can stop him now! The shot!"

"Goooooooooooal!!!"

"Matsukaze High's all-in attack was a double-edged sword. When Kira's shooting chance was destroyed, most of their players were powerless to fall back during the sudden transition between attack and defense!"

"6:1—the match can be said to be over! Shinichi is also substituted! Even the 'treasure of Japan football' has bowed before the absolute talent of the 'all-round Genius'! The footsteps of 'genius' Shinichi are marching toward the national stage!"

"I lost? I didn't even make it to nationals, I… that shot, what exactly…" Kira Ryosuke knelt blankly on the green pitch. His teammates' expectations, his own mistake, the exaggerated score gap—all of it slammed into his nerves, crushing him until he could hardly breathe.

"That's it? You're giving up already? As a forward, you despair over a gap like this? Shouldn't you be scoring more goals and turning the game around?" Shinichi said as he left the field and passed by Kira.

"I thought you might excite me a little—what a bore. So this is all that so-called 'treasure' amounts to."

Kira weakly lifted his head, meeting those eyes looking down at him. Sharp yet truthful words kept stabbing into his heart.

"I am… a forward…"

...

"Right after you went off, that guy scored three more points! That was terrifying! We'd already completely stopped attacking and pulled back into our own half. And you really just went back like that—weren't you afraid of a comeback?"

The football club captain chattered on beside Shinichi about what happened after the match. Hearing this, Shinichi put down his phone.

"Evolved under pressure, huh… but either way, if we could still get turned over like that, there'd be no point going to nationals. Is our team really useless without me?"

"Ah… well… I guess that's true…"

Ignoring the slightly awkward captain, Shinichi opened the schedule. The opponent in the next round was Ichinan High—the school of Isagi Yoichi, the protagonist of Blue Lock.

The controller of the pitch, Isagi Yoichi… later on, surpassing vision was practically something everyone had. Anyone who couldn't keep up with the tempo on the field couldn't even participate in the tactical battle. And even with hard training, his attributes over this year had barely changed. Before entering Blue Lock, the system only had one settlement opportunity left.

"So the next match is the last chance I have to improve myself before the story truly begins. I must use this match to completely master the so-called spatial control ability—ideally evolving it into surpassing vision."

"Otherwise, the attribute advantage I gained by awakening the system early will gradually be erased by those absurd late-game abilities. And if my performance is mediocre, I won't get good traits from settlement either. I'll fall further and further behind—there's no way I can completely rely on that function that hasn't been unlocked yet."

"So—Isagi Yoichi, let me take a good look at the talent hidden beneath your rough stone."

"And then, I'll devour it all!"