"You will not be able to become the greatest striker in the world," Ego spoke with a tantalizing grin, "Unless you have the ego to match it."
While this sentence played in Isagi's head, he wasn't sure of what to make of it. Like a puzzle piece that couldn't fit, Isagi couldn't imagine himself being the best in the world.
All he had wanted was to make it to the nationals... he had never thought so far ahead.
When the player finally arrived at blue lock, their wallets and phones were confiscated from them. After they were stripped from their items, each player was assigned a uniform based on their skills.
Isagi choked on his spit when he received his.
'It's skin-tight," Isagi thought. "I could see every muscle with this on."
While musing over his uniform, he stumbles into the changing room. Inside, Kira greets him with a smile.
Isagi smiles halfheartedly back, unsure of how to feel about this. A small part of him wanted to face Kira again, not be on his team.
"You're here too." Isagi stated while looking around the room.
"Is this Isagi a friend of yours too," A friendly voice exclaimed beside Kira. "My names Gurimu Igarashi!" He stated in a cheerful tone.
Isagi scanned him before easily dismissing him, this guy didn't seem to be on the level of Kira.
Soon after their interaction, Ego popped up on the screen that sat far above the lockers that were glued to the wall.
"Greetings, diamonds in the rough!" He spoke, startling Igarashi. "These players you see next to you are not only your future roommates, but your rivals."
He then started again, "We have estimated your potential and have drafted up a ranking system to gauge your position." As soon as he finished his statement, his face was replaced by the rankings of everyone in the room.
Two hundred ninety-nine,' Isagi pondered. 'That's nearly last place....'
"Your ranking can change based on several factors," Isagi noticed he liked to speak with his hands when talking. "For example, going up or down based on your training or the results of your games."
"And unconditionally," His loud voice had now startled Isagi this time as he motioned even wider with his hands. "The top five player will be selected strikers for Japan's U-20 national team playing at the world cup!"
This statement made everyone in the room tense up.
Could Isagi really improve to THAT level in six months? Isagi ignored the rest of Ego's important layout of the instructions and introduction of the blue lock system. 'It will be a lot of work, but I'm sure I can manage to make it to the top five of all these people.'
A loud whistle breaks Isagi out of his stupor, and he quickly notices Igarashi with the ball.
"Sorry Isagi!" He exclaims before shooting it at him.
Isagi quickly traps the ball, and freezes, unsure of what to do next. "Now what?" He asks himself, but mainly to the other people in the room.
"Baka," A voice Isagi didn't recognize pulled up from his sleeping position on the floor. "It's a game of tag, you're not supposed to have the ball."
Despite his words of advice to Isagi, he quickly swooped in and stole the ball, his yellow highlights being the thing that stuck out most to Isagi.
The screen that had previously possessed the rankings of the players, now held the name Meguru Bachira.
He dribbled the ball precisely, having some fun and doing tricks, before he broke out into a smile and started running towards a group of players standing around.
"Now I'm warmed up!" He shouted while rushing towards the closest player to him. A brown-haired boy with wide eyes snuck behind him just barely and ran off to another "crowd". Isagi marveled at the sight.
Ignoring the other guy now that he had left, he continued towards more players and stopped just short of a fallen Igarashi.
"Wait," He stuttered. "My ankle... I think I twisted it." But Bachira paid him no mind, flicking the ball over his fallen body and leaping over him as if he were just a mere obstacle.
"If I were to aim for the lowest ranked here, what kind of striker would I be?" He exclaimed, his eyes locking on the highest ranked player.
Kira began to run while Bachira made chase, slightly slower due to having to dribble the ball. Isagi wondered why he didn't just pick the ball up, but figured that there must've been a rule or two stated while he while he was zoned out.
Isagi quickly zoned out again thinking about all the imaginary rules he could make up in his head, not noticing the chaos approaching him.
Bachira had soon caught up with Kira, and was even sooner trying to physically harm him with a kick to his face, following by a light volley meant to tag him.
Kira sprinted away one again, and Bachira kicked the ball with great force, sending it too high and over Kira's head by a large margin.
Kira couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Huh?" Isagi said as the ball flew towards him.
Now focused once more, he trapped the ball in his right leg, and with 5 seconds to go, set up the shot and launched the ball forward.
Even though he had never played soccer in this room before, it felt so natural.
"Guh!" Kira could only release a flurry of spit and the ball struck his face at high speeds.
"I...isagi?" Kira questioned the betrayal with teary eyes.
3...
2...
1...
"Get the fuck out!" Ego, who had now reappeared on the screen, yelled.
Chapter 3 Preview:
"Even though your stats are so high," Bachira started. "I see now why you're ranked so low..." Bachira stated solemnly.
Isagi stared at him blankly while Bachira continued his bout of passion.
"Where's your ego at?" He exclaimed, pointing at Isagi. "The only time your stats get time to shine is when I force it out of you!"
Isagi stared at him even more confused... what did he mean by stats?