The bus ride had been long and suffocating.
Soon, when the doors finally hissed open, the air that greeted them was sterile and cold.
Renzo stepped off the bus, his boots clicking against the concrete floor of a massive underground docking bay. The sheer scale of the place was staggering. It wasn't just a building; it was an industrial complex built on top of a hill, a concrete leviathan designed to swallow dreams and spit out a single god of the game.
Beside him, Hyoma Chigiri looked around, his red eyes wide as he took in the endless rows of piping, the high-tech security gates, and the oppressive grey walls that seemed to stretch on forever.
"This place…" Hyoma murmured, his voice echoing slightly in the vast space. "It's like a prison."
"Or a laboratory," Renzo corrected, adjusting the collar of the tracksuit he had been forced to change into. "And we're the rats."
They walked together toward the main processing area, where a woman with glasses — Anri Teieri — was directing the flow of traffic. She was handing out bodysuits, each labeled with a letter and a ranking number.
"Hey, look at this," Hyoma said, holding up his sleeve. "292. Team Z. That's… pretty low, isn't it?"
Renzo glanced at Hyoma's arm. The letter 'Z' was emblazoned clearly. In the alphabet of rankings, Z was the bottom of the barrel.
"Don't let it get to you, Princess," Renzo said, his tone light. "It's just a starting point. Ego said his criteria were 'biased and arbitrary,' remember?"
"Yeah, but still…" Hyoma frowned, then looked at Renzo. "What did you get? You were the first one through the gate. You have to be higher, right?"
Renzo smirked, but did not answer.
Renzo didn't answer immediately. He just gave a small smile. "Let's just say it's not the same as you."
He began to walk away, following the painted lines on the floor that led to the 'V' wing of the facility. His stride was relaxed, almost eager, a stark contrast to the nervous shuffling of the other boys around them.
"Hey! Wait!" Hyoma yelled, taking a step forward before being jostled by a group of Team W players. "At least tell me what group you're in, you bastard! Are we going to see each other?"
Renzo didn't turn back. He just raised a hand, waving lazily over his shoulder without breaking his stride.
"See you soon, Princess. Try not to get locked off before I crush you."
Hyoma watched him go, a mixture of annoyance and determination on his face. "Cocky jerk," he muttered, but he couldn't help but smile. He gripped his bag tighter and turned toward the hall marked 'Z'.
Team V Locker Room.
The room was sleek, modern, and utterly devoid of personality. Twelve lockers lined the walls, and the center of the room was a large monitor.
Seishiro Nagi slumped onto one of the benches, his entire body radiating an aura of lethargy. He looked like a liquid that had been poured into a human-shaped mold.
"Reo…" Nagi whined, staring at his empty hands. "They took my phone. I was in the middle of a dungeon raid. My guild is going to kick me out. This sucks. I want to go home."
Reo Mikage, sitting next to him, laughed. The purple-haired heir to the Mikage Corporation was buzzing with energy, his eyes scanning the room with the excitement of a kid in a candy store.
"Forget about that game, Nagi! Look at this place!" Reo gestured grandly around the room. "This is Blue Lock! We're going to be the best in the world. Think about it, no school, no boring business meetings, just football. This is going to be sooo fun."
Nagi sighed, sliding further down the bench until he was practically horizontal. "It's a hassle. Moving is a hassle. Living is a hassle."
"You say that, but you're the genius who's going to win the World Cup with me," Reo grinned, slapping Nagi on the knee.
"I am Zantetsu Tsurugi," a voice announced from the corner.
Reo and Nagi looked up. A tall boy with glasses and a serious expression was adjusting his spectacles.
"I am looking forward to playing with you," Zantetsu added.
"Nice to meet you, Zantetsu," Reo said, turning on his charm. He stood up and looked around at the other players who had gathered in the room. There were ten of them so far. "Okay, let's see… one, two, three… ten.. eleven, but there are 12 lockers. We're missing one. Right now, it makes eleven of us total. I guess that means we're a full squad? Maybe we'll play against other teams."
"That is a sound hypothesis," Zantetsu nodded sagely. "It would be illogical to have eleven strikers in one room otherwise."
The atmosphere in the room was light, filled with the awkward but hopeful energy of strangers trying to become teammates. Reo, a natural leader, was already thinking about formations, about how to utilize Nagi's talent, about how they would dominate this facility.
Then, the pneumatic hiss of the automatic door sliding open cut through the chatter.
Swish.
Every head in the room turned.
A figure stepped into the room.
He wasn't particularly huge, but he carried himself with a predatory grace that made him seem larger than he was. He had wild, jagged light blue hair and teal eyes.
On his shoulder, the number 241 stood out against the dark bodysuit.
Zantetsu, ever the polite one, stepped forward to perform the standard greeting. "Greetings. I am Zantetsu Tsurugi. You must be the final member of — "
He stopped.
He noticed something strange. The room had gone dead silent.
Zantetsu turned his head to look at Reo and Nagi.
Reo Mikage was frozen. His face had drained of all color, leaving him pale and waxen. His eyes were wide, with pure terror. Sweat was already beading on his forehead.
Beside him, Nagi was up. The lethargy was gone, replaced by a rigid tension. He looked like a cat that had just spotted a wolf.
Zantetsu blinked, confused. Do they know each other?
Inside Reo's mind, a siren was screaming.
What is this demon doing here?!!
The memory hit him. Around a year ago, a practice match in Tokyo against a no-name team. Reo had dragged Nagi along, confident they would crush everyone as usual.
Then they met him.
Renzo Takamine.
It hadn't been a match. It had been a massacre. Renzo hadn't just beaten them; he had dismantled them. He had torn apart their strategies, predicted their moves before they even made them, and crushed their spirits with a smile on his face.
Reo remembered looking at Nagi during that game. For the first time ever, Nagi had looked… helpless. The genius who could control any ball had stopped running. He had looked at Reo and whispered, "Reo… it's pointless. We can't win."
That day, Reo had felt true despair. He had almost quit football right then and there. The only reason they continued was because Renzo had disappeared after the game. They thought the nightmare was over. They thought they could go back to being the kings of their own world.
But here he was. Standing ten feet away.
Renzo's teal eyes locked onto them, recognizing them in an instant.
A smile spread across Renzo's face. It wasn't a friendly smile. It was the smile of a predator finding its favorite meal again.
"Well, would you look at that," Renzo drawled, his voice smooth and terrifyingly calm. "You both are together here, too? If I didn't know better, I would have thought you two were a couple."
He let out a short laugh.
Reo snapped. The shock broke, replaced by a surge of anger. He stood up, his fists clenching at his sides.
"The fuck did you say to me, you blue-headed bastard?!" Reo shouted, his voice cracking slightly.
"I said," Renzo took a step closer, "it's nice to see my favorite toys haven't broken yet."
The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. The other players backed away, sensing that this was a conflict way above their pay grade.
Just as Reo was about to lunge forward, a loud static noise filled the room.
BZZZZT.
The large monitor in the center of the wall flickered to life. The image of Jinpachi Ego appeared, his bug-eyed face looming over them.
"Diamond in the roughs," Ego's voice rasped through the speakers. "Put on your uniforms and stop measuring your dicks. We don't have time for your little reunions."
Reo froze, glaring at Renzo, but slowly lowered his fists. Renzo just chuckled and turned his attention to the screen, looking bored.
"Welcome to your room," Ego continued. "You twelve are now roommates and teammates. You are Team V. In Blue Lock, your team is your lifeline. But don't get comfortable."
Ego adjusted his glasses.
"Right now, I will evaluate your current ability. Look around you. The person standing next to you is your enemy. Only the top players will survive this hell."
On the screen, a timer appeared. 136 Seconds.
"We will now play a game of Tag. Or as I like to call it… Onigokko."
The room murmured. Tag?
"The rules are simple," Ego explained. "The person holding the ball is the 'Oni'. You can kick the ball to hit someone else. If the ball hits you, you become the 'Oni.'"
Ego grinned.
"You cannot use your hands. Handballs are prohibited. But everything else? Everything else is fair game."
Renzo's eyes narrowed. 136 seconds.
"When the timer hits zero," Ego's voice became dead serious. "The person who is the 'Oni'… will have their soccer life ended immediately. They will be expelled from Blue Lock and banned from the national team forever."
Gasps filled the room.
"Expelled?"
"Forever?"
"Just for losing a game of tag?!"
"Winning is everything," Ego sneered. "The one who survives is the one with the ego to crush the others. Now…"
A hatch in the ceiling opened, and a soccer ball dropped down, bouncing once in the center of the room.
It rolled and came to a stop right at the feet of the lowest-ranked player in the room.
The ball rolled to the feet of the lowest-ranked player here.
Renzo glanced at his shoulder. Rank 241.
He looked at Reo. Rank 222. He looked at Nagi. Rank 221. He looked at Zantetsu. Rank 223.
The ball rolled to a trembling boy in the corner. Rank 272.
"Game start," Ego whispered.
The boy panicked. He looked around wildly, saw the demon with blue hair standing closest to him, and kicked the ball blindly.
Renzo didn't even flinch. He trapped the ball with his chest, letting it drop to his foot.
The timer ticked down. 135… 134…
Renzo smiled, looking straight at Reo and Nagi.
"So," Renzo said. "Who wants to go home first?"