Blue lock: the true egoist

[Jude's POV]

The holographic goalkeeper was far above average.

It was surprisingly good. But it has failed to block a single one of my shots so far. 

I quickly glanced towards the sudden change in the writings above the crossbar.

It indicates a change in difficulty.

LV.2

I scored 30 goals and the clock indicated a little less than 80 minutes left. 

The change in difficulty manifested itself as an increase in the amount of holograms. This time some took up spaces which would otherwise have been occupied by defenders. 

The passes being thrown from random parts of the wall were also more difficult to trap, becoming way less accurate. 

"Although this is far from being a problem." 

I twisted my body to intercept the ball coming from behind me, it was similar to the passes I would usually receive from my teammates in high school — clumsy. Yet, this was far from being a problem. Especially now that I've improved so much. 

My eyes were able to easily follow the path of the ball, and my instincts wrapped up everything else. 

After trapping the ball, I didn't change anything. I simply smashed it into the net. 

"The change in difficulty won't be much of a problem." I sighed. 

That's when I understood just how far ahead of my past self I currently was. Even the stats which were previously slightly behind the others improved so much that they've become part of my strength. 

A nostalgic smile surfaced on my face. 

This reminded me of my first time playing football. I once believed that I would never be able to play any sports. And yet, here I am. 

"This gift of mine won't go to waste. Just wait, Lavinho."

.. 

.. 

//////////////

(40 goals later.) 

The difficulty finally went up again. 

It took me a little over 20 minutes this time. With 56 minutes left I hoped the final level would entertain me a little more.

The holograms began to move. 

I was almost mesmerized by the sight, but once again I had to come back to reality as another ball was sent my way. But this time it was different.

I tried trapping it as usual, by simply twisting up my body and lifting my leg to match the ball. Yet it curved in an unpredictable way and bounced off my foot. 

"That's the kind of excitement I was talking about!" I yelled out before jumping up to the loose ball and smashing it towards the goal. The only difference was that this time I failed. The ball hit the goalpost and bounced back. It was a few centimeters off.

And yet it was enough to change the outcome. 

[Flow State]

Now it was time to see how much I truly improved since the first selection. 

I could sense the familiar feeling of my previous special weapon, [excitement], but this time my heartbeat didn't drastically go up. Instead, it felt as if I had reached some kind of enlightened state. A higher state of focus.

My mind was working faster than ever, and my body followed almost instantly. Even all my base stats were slightly improved. 

I could even feel my personality shifting. All distracting thoughts were gone. My usually playful personality was nowhere to be seen as my entire being was now focusing on the incoming ball.

The next ball coming towards me was met with a simple chest trap. But this time I redirected the strength of the impact upwards, sending the ball flying exactly where I wanted it to be by restricting the number of variables and unpredictability. 

As soon as I saw the ball fly up, I took one last look at the moving holograms, predicting their position in the next few seconds as I jumped up and twisted my body to hit a full power bicycle kick. 

The ball flew in between the holograms and right by the keeper. 

..

Only 39 more to go.

..

Each time I attempted a new move, trying out different kinds of shots. And soon, time ran out. 

[Flow State] was a special weapon which only lasted for a very limited amount of time. And now the 10 minutes were up. 

In those 10 minutes I scored 20 more goals.

In half of the time given to me, 45 minutes, I had already scored 81 out of the 100 goals. But now that my special weapon's effects disappeared, scoring became much more difficult. 

I could feel myself immediately losing focus, it was a weird feeling. As if I suddenly woke up from a dream.

..

It took me an additional 15 minutes to score the remaining goals. 

[Congratulations on completing the main quest, "score a 100 goals!"]

[You have obtained 10 random pro points!]

[You have obtained 5 pro points!]

And so with 25 minutes left, I completed my quest and reached the second stage of the second selection. 

I was pretty excited to get to see the top players I will be facing. 

"I wonder how many people will be here-" 

I had my answer — there wasn't a single person present.

I could read the indications telling us to form a team of three people, indicating that I was at the right place. Yet the room was empty.

Not a single sign of life. 

"What a disappointment."

I laid down on the wall facing the entrance to the second stage. For some reason once the excitement died down, drowsiness rained down on me.

I almost fell asleep, if not for the door finally opening. 

I was expecting Rin. He was the first to clear the 1st stage in the original story and I could hardly imagine anyone else coming out before him. 

'Short. Pink hair. Pink eyes. A single braid hangs on the left side of his face. Yep, that certainly doesn't sound like Rin.' I thought to myself as I observed the newcomer. 

Kurona?

So I wasn't the first, but instead found myself alone because the three before me already formed a team and moved to the next stage.

What a bummer. 

I was fourth.

I laid down again, this time closing my eyes for good.

I already had a good idea of who I wanted on my team. So until then I'll just wait.

.. 

.. 

[IMAGE] 

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