LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 9: Ballers Get No Diffed
"Are they at it again?"
"More like Tsunzaki's at it again."
"That guy has to stop challenging Haiji so much. He just keep getting his ass beat."
"Honestly, I still can't believe what a monster Haiji is."
"You and me both."
I drowned out the conversations the other players were having in the training room. I just finished the running test on the treadmill. The guy on the next treadmill, Taiga Tsunzaki, was panting on the floor. His chest heaving for air.
Ever since the start of the endurance test three days ago, Tsunzaki has been challenging me for every test. Originally because he wanted to see how well the strongest player in the room can perform physically. After I beat him in every test, he declared me as his rival, saying he'll come back from every defeat stronger. Heck, he even challenged me outside of training times, too.
I won't admit it to him, but his challenges are fun. He's like Kirishima with how energetic and optimistic he is. He seems like the kind of guy to yell 'MANLY' at the top of his lungs too.
"Haha, you beat me again, Haiji. But mark my words, you'll taste defeat by my hands one day." Tsunzaki declared for the umpteenth time.
"Sure Tsunzaki, keep trying." I said to him.
Throughout the three days here, I got to know some of the other players in my team. Granted, for the life of me, I still can't remember their names. Always have been bad with names. Unfortunately, the system was designed to help with football only, not with other things. Or maybe I just hadn't unlocked the skill for that yet.
At the cafeteria, I was enjoying my meal. The food here actually tastes great. Don't know who they got cooking back there, but my hats off to them.
I surveyed the cafeteria if there's anyone I would recognize and wouldn't you know it; I saw Yukimiya Kenyu. The teen model is in the same strata as me. There was also Nanase. And there's also that tall dude. What's his name... Yugio? No, that doesn't sound right. Oh well, yeah, he's here too.
As I was looking around, Tsunzaki sat in front of me. "What are you looking at? Scoping around the competition?"
"Nah, just wondering if there's anyone I know here." I answered his inquiry.
"Well, I'll give you this warning ahead of time. No one in this cafeteria is worthy of beating you, because I'll be the one to do it!" he declared.
I looked at him straight in the eyes. "You going to start yelling 'YOUTH' and 'MANLY' next?"
He laughed it off. "I'm just stating the obvious. Only your rival has the privilege of beating you. And that rival is me!"
I finished my meal and stood up to leave, but not before leaving with parting words. "If it's in a challenge or on the field, I alone stand supreme."
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An announcement from the speakers woke the team in their room, informing them of their new rankings.
My new rank was 221. Tsunzaki got 222, which seemed to light a fire under him. Declaring, he'll surpass me in no time. I like this guy's energy.
"Hey, Ego mentioned how there's other stratums that are significantly stronger than us, right?" I caught one of my teammates whispering to Ryu Kendo. The only other guy whose name I remembered.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, don't you think it's weird that they haven't promoted Haiji yet?"
"Now that you mentioned it. It is weird." Put a hand on his chin. "Do you think it's because everyone else is like super strong?"
From there, their conversations devolved into conspiracies on what kind of players are in the upper stratums. I even heard something about aliens trying to recreate the next Messi. They promptly smacked that guy in the head.
Although, someone did theorize that the whole ranking system was a sham, simply because Ego seemed like the kind of shifty person to do that. Tsunzaki yelled at them for making assumptions about people.
Before the conversation devolved more into a conspiracy theory podcast, Ego appeared on the screen. "Hello, and nicely done, you unpolished gems. Are you enjoying your lives here at Blue Lock?"
Silence greeted him. They all looked at him with suspicion. Even Tsunzaki was silent. Maybe that theory rattled him more than he let on.
Ego continued, ignoring the awkward atmosphere. "We will now begin the first selection."
Ego went on to explain how the first selection will work. It's set in a round robin of five teams. The point system is the same in regular football. The top two teams and only the top scorers of the bottom three teams will pass on to the next selection.
"Wait a minute, how are we supposed to play if all of us are forwards?"
"Does that mean one of us has to be the goalie?"
"Then who's going to be the... nah, forget I asked."
Everyone in the room turned to Haiji. He showed dominance in the game of 'tag' and in the endurance test. He said it himself, 'Only the strong get's to decide'.
Obviously, he's going to declare himself as the center forward.
"Just now, Team X vs. Team Z just kicked off their match. In just a few moments, Team V will face Team Y."
"'My own goals' or 'The team's victory'? The first selection will determine your fates as strikers. This is a battle about... To rebuild your soccer from zero."
With that, Ego's transmission cut off. The team was quiet for a few moments before Haiji spoke up.
"You guys decide who among you will be the keeper. Me and Tsunzaki will be the strikers."
This surprised the other players. Not Haiji declaring himself as the striker. That was a given, but also having Tsunzaki up top as well?
"He's the only guy that has his shit together. You guys seem like you can't tell from your feet to the ball. So, sorry if I don't exactly trust you guys to go up top."
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Team V walked onto the field. They decided the goalkeeper on a game of rock-paper-scissors. Don't ask me how that worked, at least they chose one.
I was rocking the number 9 bib and Tsunzaki wore the number 11. Team Y strode onto the pitch. They had Yukimiya, Nanase and Tokimitsu on their team. Decent line-up, but I'll crush them all the same.
KICK OFF!!
Tsunzaki passed the ball to me for the kickoff. Just as I expected, players from Team Y were all rushing me.
One of them came in with a slide tackle. I simply feigned to the right. Another came for the ball and I passed him as well. More and more players from Team Y came rushing in and I evaded all their tackles.
Then came Tokimitsu in all his shivering glory. "Oh man, he evaded all of them. He's so strong. Aahh...! This is bad. If I don't stop him, no one's going to like me... Oh man, I'm sorry, but I have to do this!"
I did a roulette turn to bypass his imposing physicality. "No worries, man, all part of the game." I said to him.
Then came Nanase, "Dang, you're crazy strong."
He lunged for the ball, but I was faster and passed him by doing the Hocus Pocus. I've always wanted to try that skill since I saw it in EAFC24.
Yukimiya appeared to my side, "Neat skills you got there, but I'm afraid this is as far as you go."
"Nah, I don't think so." I feigned my body to the left, to the right, but he seems to read it just fine. I turned my back to him to shield the ball before performing a sombrero flick on him.
Now I was free 1-on-1 with the keeper. I unleashed a shot that went to the top left corner of the goal. The keeper had no chance as the ball hit the back of the net.
GOAL!!
Team V - 1
Team Y - 0
Everyone was left speechless at my goal. I went up against an entire team all by myself, after all. For Team V, this solidifies my status as the strongest player on the team. As for Team Y, they were scrambling to understand how I got through all of them so easily.
I went back to my team's half of the pitch. Throughout the entire ordeal, they just watched as I practically walked past their opponents.
They were whispering to each other. The theory that the ranking system was a sham seemed to be gaining more traction amongst my team.
"HAHA!! That was amazing! Just what I expected from my rival!" Tsunzaki bellowed.
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(POV Change: 3rd Person)
Yukimiya Kenyu was still reeling from that first goal that confetti-haired guy just scored. It was like one of those times when you wanted to try a new skill move on FIFA, so you set the opponent's level on amateur.
He can't claim to do that. He has confidence in his street style football, sure, but what he saw was like seeing a pro stepping onto the pitch to humor a bunch of kids.
It especially stung him that he passed without a breaking a sweat. He even bypassed Tokimitsu so easily.
Team Y had the kickoff, and immediately his ball was stolen by his own teammate. "Hey wait, what are you doing? We're on the same team?"
"Like hell! As long as I'm the top scorer on this team, I'll pass this selection easily."
"Not if I get it first!" another player came to try to steal the ball.
Yukimiya's eyes were wide. His own teammates were fighting each other for the ball. He saw Tokimitsu was to the side trembling, likely debating whether to join the scrimmage or not.
Just then, when Team Y was busy fighting for the ball, Haiji struck. With a clean tackle, he gained possession and started dribbling towards Team Y's goal again.
Yukimiya sprinted towards him. "Stop him! Double team him!"
Tokimitsu and Nanase arrived to stop his momentum. Out of nowhere, like it was straight out of an anime, Haiji seemed to just blur past the both of them. His speed took the both of them off-guard.
Yukimiya was also caught off-guard. Haiji's blistering speed left all the other players in the dust. He made it to their goal without issue and unleashed a shot that was stronger than the one previous.
GOAL!!
Team V - 2
Team Y - 0
Yukimiya's mind was racing. How do you stop a player like this? Top-notch skills, blistering speed and powerful shooting. Another thing on his mind was, where did this guy come from? How come he's never of him? Has he been playing overseas this entire time?
Yukimiya turned his gaze over to Team V. They were relaxed, having not needed to lift a single finger throughout the whole 15 minutes of this match.
He turned to his team. They were frustrated, that much was obvious. Yukimiya's mind tried to formulate a plan to at least have a fighting chance. It seemed to Yukimiya that Team V was banking on riding number 9's coattails. It's a sound strategy given what he has showcased.
It was like a lightbulb when up in his head. Yukimiya jogged over to Tokimitsu and Nanase. Ready to share his plan with them.
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(POV Change: Haiji's POV)
I stretched my body a bit to feel a few joints cracking. Scoring two in the first 15 felt great. Although I could have definitely done it faster.
[One For All skill time remaining: 3:45]
I mean, I still have a few minutes remaining on the skill. Why not just go for a hat-trick?
I turned over to my team. They seem to be having a grand ol' time. I did all the heavy lifting, after all. The only person that doesn't seem content was Tsunzaki. He probably wants to get on the score sheet too.
This is why I like the guy. He wants to be the best, and he doesn't want to rely heavily on other people to help him. He always strives to be the best he can be.
Team Y restarted the game and immediately I noticed a shift in the dynamics. Yukimiya, Tokimitsu and Nanase seem to be passing to each other, forming a trio while ignoring the rest of their team. That's interesting. I might just do nothing to see where this goes.
Nanase had the ball and passed it to Yukimiya, who was on the left flank. A teammate attempted to stop Yukimiya, but he easily evaded him using an elastico. Yukimiya sent a pass over to Tokimitsu. Tsunzaki confronted Tokimitsu.
"I've been watching you! You look like you have strong body! Face me!"
"Eeek... He's such a straightforward guy! I can't handle guys like him!"
Tokimitsu's body met Tsunzaki's—Not like that—and a battle of strength began. A battle that seemed like a stalemate. Not having other options, Tokimitsu attempted a pass to Nanase.
Key word here is; attempted. Because before the ball could reach him, I had intercepted the pass.
[One For All skill time remaining: 1:56]
With some time left in the tank, I decided to finally do something. With this energy coursing through me, I speed blitzed my way past the center circle. Once again, they tried to gang up on me. But I simply bypassed like the wind. Once again I was free at the goal and the outcome to that is predictable.
GOAL!!
Team V - 3
Team Y - 0
There you go, not even twenty minutes and I've already got my hat-trick. I think I can just relax at this point. Maybe provide an assist or two.
I look over at Yukimiya and the dude looked like he swallowed a lemon. He is not having a good time. Oh well, not my fault. Tee hee~
Why the hell did I just do that?
At the 40th minute mark, the trio seem to be giving it another go. Nanase passed the ball over to Yukimiya, who nutmegged the guy that was guarding him. Sending a lofted ball over to Tokimitsu, who was in the box.
Our defenders couldn't keep up his imposing physicality and he headed the ball into the net.
GOAL!!
Team V - 3
Team Y - 1
I sighed, having expected that outcome. It was great teamwork from the trio, but it's still disappointing. I didn't do anything 'cause I had a smidgen of hope that they could stop it, but alas, my hopes were dashed.
And that was all she wrote for the first half. Team Y was trailing behind three to one.
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{Author's notes}
Here you go people. The newest chapter. It took some time to get any motivation to release this chapter but here it is. I tried something different in this chapter with POV change. Tell me if you guys like it. Anyways, it's 2 AM in my country at the time of writing and my sleep schedule is already fucked as is. Once again, if you have any recommendations for my story leave a comment. Don't forget to leave a review. Goodnight ciao~