𝓑𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝓟𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐊 𐬹 𝓫𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝓵𝐨𝐜𝐤

𝓒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝓢𝐈𝐗 ★ 𝓽𝐚𝐠 𝔂𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝓲𝐭

Ego's face appeared on the jumbotron before them "The guys you're sharing your rooms with are both your roommates and rivals who will help you improve." his words set the mood as the air felt, tense and competitive. As they all turned to eye up their opponents while focusing on what else he had to say.

"your abilities have been quantified and ranked by me according to my arbitrary and biased decision-making that's what the numbers on your uniforms represent." Looking down to his shoulder Akira's eyes widened at his number, 240 which was rather low by his standards.

"huh. It's kind of low. The highest-ranked player in this room is...Akira." Nagi complained ranked 251 overall while Reo had just been one above him at 250.

"Your rank can change based on the results of your training or matches, and the top five players will unconditionally get to play in the tournament being held six months from now. They'll be registered as forwards for the U-20 World Cup." Ego explained further.

"Are you serious?" Reo muttered under his breath, eyes gleaming at the thought of playing for Japan. One step closer to his dream, of winning the World Cup and the thought of doing it with Akira and Nagi made it all the more enticing. 

"Additionally, anyone who loses at Blue Lock...will never get to play for Japan." The harsh slap of reality finally kicked into those in room V, their careers were at stake. They had to win, it was a non-negotiable. Akira silently wondered if Ego enjoyed this, crushing people's dreams though he doubted he would ever find the guts to ask him.

"What you need to gain here is ego, I'll be testing you now to measure that. So it's time to play tag." With that, the ceiling opened to release a ball, the whole room stood stiff with anticipation as they tried to predict the next twist.

"You have 136 seconds, whoever's struck by the ball is 'it' whoever's 'it' the moment time runs out will be locked off. Also, no using your hands." With that Ego dissipated from the screen making way for an emoticon of Nameoka Ryo rank 252, he was it.

As the time began to tick down Nameoka stood with the ball at his feet, "I'm 'it'?" he mumbled looking around the room as the rest of the room distanced themselves from him. "This is awesome" Reo mused as he tied his hair up "If you make it to the last five, you're in the U-20 squad? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance" He was right this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but Akira recognised that to get it they were going to have to fight tooth and nail to get it. Something everyone in the room seemed to be painfully aware of.

"Oh, my. Spoken like the main character." Nagi joked flatly as he waited for Nameoka to play the ball "Idiots, you three are gonna lose and go straight home! Ah, damn it!" the teen fired directly at the trio who expertly dodged the shot with ease, Nameoka Ryo had made his intentions clear.