Chapter 26: Let's Set a Small Goal—Score Ten Goals First
Riko Aida immediately noticed that Ryosuke Kira's physique looked more developed, his muscle lines sharper and more defined than before. Yet he had only been inside Blue Lock for a few days—was this just her imagination?
Not only that, but his overall physical condition seemed improved as well. The change wasn't huge, but it was unmistakably progress that normally took consistent training time.
Most people wouldn't notice such subtle differences, especially since Kira usually wore clothing that hid his figure. No one else would have seen it.
It must be the phone's beauty filter, Riko quickly rationalized to herself.
Still, she nodded seriously and said,
"Your physique is holding up pretty well. Barely passable."
"Barely? I've been sticking to intense training every day, you know."
Kira protested.
"As you should! Honestly, the plan I made for you earlier was way too gentle. I should've just thrown you into the mountains for wilderness survival training."
"Have mercy on me…"
"Anyway, when will you even be allowed out of there?"
"Technically, you can't leave Blue Lock unless you're eliminated. Personally, I think I'll be here for quite a while…"
Kira looked at Riko through the screen and added,
"But apparently if you score ten goals, you can exchange them for one day of outside access. So that's an option."
"Ten goals just for one day outside? Can you exchange anything else?"
"Steak, for one… but I'm not that interested. Ten goals should take me two or three matches. Just about by the end of this selection round."
"And what are you planning to do once you get out?"
"Obviously come see you. You live near here anyway. Plus, the food in this cafeteria is… passable. But it's nowhere near as good as yours. I have to come back and eat your cooking."
Kira said with a laugh.
"Ah, uh…"
Riko slightly clenched her fist, lowered her head shyly, nibbled at her lip, then finally lifted her face with a soft smile, her gaze locking back onto the screen.
"Okay! I'll wait for you. You have to score ten goals!"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."
"And one more thing!"
Riko suddenly leaned closer to the screen, expression turning serious. She extended her finger and lightly tapped her side of the camera, as though touching Kira's forehead.
"You must win all the way to the end. Prove that arrogant man wrong."
"Mm. It's a promise."
Kira nodded firmly.
"You probably still have training later, right? Then I won't hold you up! Message me if anything happens! And tell me roughly when you're coming back! I'll make tons of delicious food for you!"
...
After ending the call with Riko, Kira headed toward Team Z's private training field. Immediately, everyone's gazes snapped toward him.
He could clearly sense the envy in their eyes.
"Uh, Riko isn't my—"
He didn't even get halfway through his denial before Yudai Imamura stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder.
[TL: Clap? Ahem*]
"I get it. Since you're basically a rising star already, the media would cause a huge mess if they found out. Don't worry, Kira bro—I'll keep your secret."
He even gave Kira a thumbs-up, the picture of absolute trustworthiness.
"..."
Kira sighed. Explaining at this point would only make things worse.
"Anyway, everyone's tired today. No need for intense drills. Let's focus on basic coordination and tactics. Tomorrow we'll go to the monitor room to review today's match—see where we can improve. We also need to check footage of Team Y versus Team V. Even though the score was one-sided, both of those teams will be our future opponents. We can't get complacent."
According to the original storyline, Team Z's next match was against Team Y.
Even though Team Y had just been crushed 8–0 by Team V, that didn't mean they were weak.
Two players in particular were notable:
Hibiki Ōkawa, with strong scoring ability,
and Ikki Niko, whose tactical importance surpassed Ōkawa's entirely.
Niko was the true brain of Team Y—organizing the team, constructing counterattacks, reading the field.
On the other side, Team V was the strongest team among the five.
In the original story, their three stars scored a combined total of eighteen goals in the first four matches:
Reo Mikage, master of coordinated play and ball distribution.
Tabito Karasu, with explosive acceleration.
And the prodigy Seishirō Nagi
Nagi possessed overwhelming natural talent—an absurd, almost unfair ability to trap the ball, with impossible control from any angle, in any position.
Most incredible of all, Nagi had only been playing soccer for about half a year, yet was already at a level most players could never dream of.
Their match against Team V would likely be a war.
But since Team Z would face Team V last, Kira knew he had to focus on the opponents immediately in front of him—and he still needed to improve significantly in the days ahead.
...
Team Y locker room.
The atmosphere had sunk to freezing cold.
Despite Ikki Niko's leadership, which had helped form a solid tactical structure far more stable than Team X's chaos, all of it was meaningless in the face of absolute talent.
Team V's trio had torn their defense apart with ease.
The most demoralizing part was that the strongest among them—Seishirō Nagi—hadn't even broken a sweat.
It was as if soccer was nothing more than a part-time job to him: score easily, then go stand somewhere and rest.
Yet even so, Team Y did not manage a single goal.
Everyone in the room burned with frustration.
"Well… we've already lost. Nothing we can do now."
Niko clapped his hands to draw attention, his heavy bangs covering his eyes.
He wanted to ease the icy atmosphere, but also had to motivate the team and prepare them for what was next.
They had lost one match already.
Out of the five teams, only two would advance.
They were standing at the edge of a cliff—another loss meant elimination.
"We need to review our mistakes from this match and shift our focus to the upcoming games. Team X and Team Z have also finished their match. We're definitely going to face both of them later. Let's head to the monitoring room and review today's footage so we can understand our future opponents early."
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〔TL〕
Every 100 powerstones = 2 bonus ch.
Every 2 review after 100 ps = 1 bonus ch.