044 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Roll over here. This is the reward for your interesting struggle."

"Don't think about arguing back. The loser shuts up and accepts the winner's arrangements. You have no right to refuse."

...

"Damn it!" Recalling the condescending look Shinichi had when he said those words, Itoshi Rin angrily slammed his fist against the wall. The shadows in the corridor concealed his expression, but one could still vaguely see a pair of eyes filled with rage, locked firmly onto the back walking ahead.

"This won't end like this. Sooner or later, I'll make you pay back every bit of this!"

Itoshi Rin was like a wounded beast that had lost a territorial battle, hiding alone in the darkness to lick his wounds, yet his eyes stayed fixed on his target, waiting for the next chance to strike a fatal blow.

...

"That's what you say, but isn't the wait way too long already?!"

After the first match ended, Shinichi complained irritably after waiting a full day without seeing a single team advance to a four-person squad.

"There's nothing we can do about that. After all, you said you couldn't be bothered dealing with the Football Association, so I returned quite a few official subsidies." On the screen, Ego Jinpachi kept slurping cup noodles, completely ignoring the anger of his biggest sponsor.

"Do you have any idea how much it costs to build a venue that can support projecting the Blue Lock goalkeeper? Aside from the match venue for you guys, we only built five separate training rooms in total. And isn't it normal that those who don't act early fall behind? I'm very busy too, so don't bother me with trivial stuff like this anymore."

The screen went dark. Shinichi collapsed weakly onto the table. No wonder, in the original timeline, after Isagi Yoichi lost the first match, a full day passed before Barou played a match, and then in the extras it looked like another night passed before they fought Chigiri's group. Only after dragging on for so long did they find Rin's squad for the second round.

In the end, after wasting so much time, Rin and Isagi Yoichi's team were still the first to clear the stage. When Shinichi watched it back then, he had been very puzzled. Clearly, it only took two wins to be done, so why couldn't any team finish quickly?

So this was where the problem lay! A total of 125 people passed the trial and entered the second stage. With a 90-minute time limit per person for the first checkpoint, even if the time each person took were halved to 45 minutes, and even if it continued nonstop through the night, it would still take more than ten hours for everyone to clear it. Not to mention reality wasn't that fast. That meant when Isagi Yoichi's group finished losing one round and played their second match, there were probably still people stuck at the first checkpoint. No wonder it was slow.

On top of that, forming teams also took a lot of time. Many people had already developed some tacit understanding with their teammates in the first stage. Under the pressure that losing meant elimination, more people chose to wait for familiar teammates. As for the lone wolves who survived as top scorers, they were even more cautious—after all, they weren't familiar with anyone and could only keep observing.

As a result, even now there were only a handful of three-person teams in the venue. And choosing opponents was another headache. They didn't dare challenge the strong, but picking the weak meant they'd drag the team down in four-on-four matches.

Plus, with everyone unfamiliar with their opponents, many probably decided they wouldn't rashly start a fight at all before the 24-hour time limit.

"Ugh… so boring…" Shinichi lay limply on the floor. He didn't know if it was because the settlement rewards from the first round had drained all his luck, but lately he hadn't gotten anything good even while training at night in the camp. Haizaki Shogo had already been fully cleared by him and had no value left, leaving Shinichi staring every day at that guy who took pleasure in abusing him—to the point he was sick of the sight.

As if heaven had heard Shinichi's call, the door opened at that moment. A lazy-looking white-haired figure walked out of the corridor.

"Ah, Reo, someone's already here."

"I thought we were pretty fast already. But I guess that makes sense—no wonder I couldn't find any of the top-ranked guys anywhere." A purple-haired boy with a small braid followed right behind.

"Looks like we've found our next opponents."

The figures emerging from the corridor were none other than Mikage Reo and Nagi Seishiro. Watching the two chat as if no one else existed, Shinichi's troublemaker radar instantly detected a top-tier source of entertainment, and a faintly malicious smile crept onto his lips.

"That's the first-ranked team. No matter what, you should discuss it with us, right?"

"Mm… that's right. You should respect our right to self-evaporation… did I say that correctly?"

The next one to walk in was an exceptionally tall guy, the tallest football player among high schoolers. Ishikari Yukio complained calmly, while Tsurugi Zantetsu pushed up his firmly secured sports glasses with one hand and nodded in profound agreement.

"It's 'right to speak,' idiot Zantetsu." Mikage Reo shook his head helplessly, then looked at Ishikari Yukio.

"Didn't we come here to become the world's number one striker? If we're going to fight, of course we should look for the strongest guys."

Ishikari Yukio nodded calmly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Seeing this, Tsurugi Zantetsu didn't know what to say either and could only imitate him by nodding in silence.

"What about you, Nagi? Any other ideas?" Mikage Reo turned to Nagi Seishiro. Nagi yawned and shook his head indifferently.

"Emmmm, such a hassle. I originally wanted to play against Isagi Yoichi, but since they're not here yet, this works too."

"Alright, then it's decided." Mikage Reo nodded, then looked at Shinichi, who was propping his head up with one hand and watching them with interest. "All things considered, let's have a match."

"I refuse."

"Okay… huh? What?" Mikage Reo nodded instinctively, then reacted, staring at Shinichi in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

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"I said, I refuse."

"Wh—why? Are you scared? Aren't you NO.1?" Faced with this sudden turn of events, Mikage Reo didn't know how to respond and could only try to provoke Shinichi with a clumsy taunt. Shinichi merely shook his head calmly.

"Why? Because you're weak. You have no value at all. Why should I play against you?" Shinichi raised his hand and pointed at Mikage Reo, Tsurugi Zantetsu, and Ishikari Yukio in turn. "Not a single one of you has anything that makes my eyes light up."

"Except for that white-haired guy, the rest of you are all insignificant. I have zero interest in crossing hands with you."

"As for that white-haired guy… hmm, let me think. If he trained day and night without sleep for another hundred years, maybe he'd pique my interest a little."

"What did you say?!" The belittling of Nagi Seishiro instantly ignited Mikage Reo's anger. He clenched his fist and charged at the lazy Shinichi. However, Shinichi merely tilted his head slightly to dodge the straight punch, then raised his hand like lightning and grabbed Mikage Reo by the neck.

That iron-clamp-like hand locked down hard. With terrifying strength, Shinichi lifted Mikage Reo up by the neck with one hand. In just a short moment, blood rushed to Mikage Reo's head as suffocation and the fear of death slowly eroded his mind…

Shinichi suddenly released his grip and followed up with a straight kick, sending the purple-haired boy flying backward. Mikage Reo, sent back the way he came, was caught in a sorry state by Nagi Seishiro, who rushed in to save him. Ishikari Yukio and Tsurugi Zantetsu guarded the two with wary expressions.

"That's why small fry are like this—no patience at all. You don't even understand the gap in strength between us, yet you dare bark at the strong." Shinichi stood up, his emotionless black eyes sweeping over the glaring Nagi Seishiro and Mikage Reo, who was clutching his throat and coughing repeatedly.

Clearly outnumbered one to four, Shinichi's presence still completely crushed and enveloped the four in front of him. The terrifying pressure made cold sweat pour from Mikage Reo's group, soaking their backs, and even their breathing unconsciously slowed…

"Oh right, I just thought of a good idea." Suddenly, Shinichi put on a fake look of delight and clapped his hands theatrically. The oppressive atmosphere shattered instantly, giving the four a brief chance to gulp down air. Then they heard Shinichi speak.

"I recently picked up a guard hound. Since you want a match so badly, score one point under my little hound's watch. If you can do that, I'll reluctantly step onto the field myself and pass judgment on your disrespect."

"What do you say, Rin?" Shinichi turned his head toward Itoshi Rin, who had just finished training and was walking in with a towel over his head. Rin merely shot him a cold glare.

"Then it's settled." Shinichi completely ignored Itoshi Rin's retort and looked back at the four, who were still on full alert.

"So the contract is established. Four versus three. As long as you score one point, I'll enter the match."

"Come on—let me see what kind of fun your struggle can bring me!"