Blue Lock: Natural Selection

Chapter 19: Change of Heart

As Team Z cheered and celebrated, (Y/N) walked into the room, slamming a water bottle into a locker. Should he be this mad? As Kunigami said, the team won, so why was he so mad? (Y/N) took the wrapping off his ankle, took a quick shower, and walked to an empty field. He had missed two games that lost him the chance to score goals. And when he finally had the chance, Reo easily blocked it. He felt like drooling...like someone held a string with a goal tied to the end of it. Was this how all strikers felt? Bloodthirsty for a goal? (Y/N) kicked soccer balls all night until the sun came up. He would make sure nobody, no goalie, no defender, and certainly no forward, would ever block his goal again.

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(Y/N) walked into Team Z's Sleeping Chamber to see Raichi yelling at Ego. Something just never changed. "What?! The Second Selection doesn't start right away?!"

"Oh, shut up. In the time it takes the second selection to begin, I'll have you people undergo physical training. You are not allowed to kick a ball for the duration of this training. Anyone who violates this or can't keep up will be expelled."

"Fuck you! Why do we have to bother waiting for the results of the other strata?" Raichi yelled back while putting his middle finger up.

Iemon and Igaguri asked how long it would take. Ego answered bluntly. "Wing 5 is the bottom of the pile, so don't get cocky over surviving that tournament. You'll train until I say stop, you pieces of garbage. Those in the top buildings were exempt from the first selection and did state-of-the-art training instead. So you have to wait until they've finished up. If you still don't understand, let me explain better." Ego gave a scary stare. "I'm giving you guys precious time to train and catch up. And I'm also letting you realize you are still at the bottom.

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Day 1

Start of Hell Week (Or until Ego said stop)

The team woke up at 9:00 am with two sets of 2-hour endurance training.

2:00 pm ab training

4:00 pm weight training

4:00 sprinting meant 100 laps around the field.

8:00 would finally be dinner

However, the team usually was too tired to eat. Finally, they would do their night routine and sleep. This continued for ten days straight, and during that whole time, (Y/N) didn't talk to anyone. He made sure to show the team something. The idea that he was willing to go farther. Despite his previous injury, he did one more rep, one more set, one more lap, anything to get a leg up. But make no mistake...(Y/N) felt like killing himself too.

The team woke up to the tv blasting. "The first selection is now complete. Those who have passed, put on your training gear and come to the central basement area of your building immediately."

The team had complaints and cheers as they suited up. They walked down a hall into a pentagon-shaped room, where many other players were just as tired. Isagi quickly noticed something was off. Everyone's numbers were in the 200s, with only Team V to Z.

Ego then appeared on his screen, waving. "Hello there, diamonds in the rough. Good work on your physical conditioning. 25 people from each stratum have gathered here, meaning 125 people managed to pass the first selection. If you're astute, you might have already noticed. There are no players from Wing 1, 2, 3, or 4 in here. That's because only Wing 5 exists in Blue Lock. You all believed you were the very bottom of the pile, and battled through the first selection filled with stupid desperation."

Multiple players complained. "A Seriously?! Screw you." "You put us through all that crazy training! You tryin' to kill us?!" "You lied to us?"

Ego responded like he always did, with no care or emotion. "Yup, that's right. It was all a ruse I set up to destroy your half-baked confidence, and give you the hunger to become the best in the world."

Of course, that was followed by complaints such as "What the hell, man?!" "Don't insult us! "We're not your toys!"

"Idiots," Ego responded. " I'm calling those sentiments half-baked. Listen. Let's take Noel Noa as an example. He's currently considered the best striker in the world, but he grew up in a slum in France. Surrounded by crime and poverty, the only way to change his fate was with a ball. Soccer was literally his only option. There are countless strikers with similar stories all around the world. Their hunger for goals is immeasurable. Since you were all born and raised in Japan, where losing doesn't affect your life, you will never know the level of hunger for goals these players have. Blue Lock exists to give that to you. In fact, you all came here wanting to kick the butts of those ranked above you, believing you could win. Am I right? That hunger will become the ego that changes the world." 

"We will begin Blue Lock's second selection. The first selection was about finding what it means to be a striker, and turning zero into one. From here on, it'll be a battle of multiplying that one into one hundred on this cutting-edge training field. The second selection consists of five stages. Only those who clear a stage get to move on to the next one. And those who pass the second selection will participate in a training camp with the world's top players that I have handpicked. That's all I have for you. When you are ready, go through the gate one at a time."

"One at a time?" Isagi questioned.

"Not together?" Bachira asked.

"Naturally, the difficulty spike from the last selection to this one is huge. If you survived the last round because you got lucky with teammates, prepare yourself. In the second selection, the trash will be sifted out first. Only the true egoists will remain. Best of luck to you."

Players were pointing at each other to go first. Everyone argued as one player stepped up. He was taller with dark green hair and teal-colored eyes. He placed two balls down, lobbing one in the air. He kicked the second one much lower in tragedy, but curved like flowing water and hit the first ball.

Everyone watched in shock as he stepped toward the door. "Open it. I'm done warming up." The doors opened, and his name popped up. Itoshi Rin. How interesting...the brother of Itoshi Sae was in Blue Lock. (Y/N) laughed to himself. This was sure to be fun. 

Team Z circled up as they called to (Y/N). The boy looked at them before coldly walking away.

"What's his problem? He was so nice just before the end of the first selection," Igaguri whispered.

Isagi looked as (Y/N) stretched and entered the doors. 

"Forget about him, "Kunigami said. "We just need to focus on us."

"We're all crazy! Let's meet again at the end of Blue Lock!! Yeah!!!!!" The team screamed before walking through one by one.