051 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

Beep—beep!

4:0 → 5:0

"How could this be... Nagi was clearly... clearly the treasure I finally managed to find with so much effort... unique, the only one who couldn't possibly... but..."

"Nagi's... ability was devoured?"

The whistle signaling the end of the match echoed across the field. Mikage Reo collapsed to his knees on the grass, his eyes vacant as he stared up at those indifferent pupils looking down upon all beings. Those pitch-black eyes were like a black hole that swallowed everything, devouring and erasing anything that dared to stand in its way.

This guy... is the real genius... no! A monster! A monster that could so easily devour and destroy even Nagi!

A monster beyond all standards like this... there's no way to win. Then my and Nagi's dream...

What should I do?

...

"That was a pretty miserable loss. I thought that genius, Nagi Seishiro, might at least give Shinichi a bit of trouble."

Inside the monitoring room, the only ongoing 4v4 match naturally drew Anri Teieri's close attention, yet the outcome was completely different from what she had imagined.

"That was obvious, wasn't it? Watching matches for so long and still being unable to make such a basic judgment of strength—then you can only be called a brainless third-rate nobody." Ego Jinpachi spoke indifferently.

"What matters is learning from failure, especially a crushing defeat like this."

"Those who fail are denied by the football field. For those who fight on the field, that is supreme despair. And most mediocre people don't know how to face despair correctly."

"Lacking talent, being weak, making mistakes, having no goal—admitting these things is terrifying, so people unconsciously look for excuses."

"Our lives have only just begun. We still have plenty of time. To avoid letting all our efforts so far go to waste, we create the illusion that as long as we keep going, it'll be fine. I call this the poison of dreams."

"That kind of self-anesthesia—chasing dreams while pretending to be inspiring, yet not even understanding the meaning of their own persistence—those dream-chasing wraiths are nothing more than recyclable trash, just slightly better than garbage. I have no interest in them."

"What's even more terrifying is that when facing an out-of-spec player like Kōken Shinichi, people may end up denying themselves entirely. Losing even the reason to persist, they ultimately become truly non-recyclable trash."

"Dreams must exist to be realized. Only dreams that can be achieved have meaning. Dreams that cannot be realized are nothing more than fools fantasizing about pies falling from the sky."

"Therefore, failure is the most important branching point of dreams. Losers must possess the strong heart to admit their own incompetence—that is, the talent to face despair."

"After confronting despair head-on, some will firmly continue their original dream and grow stronger on that foundation. Others will see a new path after abandoning their original dream, and that will become their brand-new possibility."

"People must continue to fight within despair. Only after that will the power to realize dreams descend upon them."

Ego Jinpachi glanced at Nagi Seishiro and Mikage Reo on the monitor and then lost interest. Normally, he might have spent more effort on these uncut gems, but now he only wanted to focus all his attention on Shinichi.

"And that is also the trial I'm preparing next for Kōken Shinichi."

"Kōken Shinichi, do you have this kind of talent?"

...

"What just... happened?" Standing beside Reo, Nagi Seishiro's pupils widened slightly as he kept rubbing his calf. When he touched the ball just now, a sensation he had never experienced before surfaced in his heart.

It was a sense of powerlessness born from insufficient talent—something the genius Nagi Seishiro had never experienced before. The concept of "can't do it," which he had never truly felt, was now clearly imprinted in his mind.

"So amazing... football can actually be like this?" Nagi Seishiro looked full of curiosity. Even though it was such a troublesome thing, even though his brain had already clearly told him the gap between them, he should have given up cleanly... but what exactly was this surging feeling?

At this moment, Nagi Seishiro seemed to somewhat understand the feeling Isagi Yoichi had when he kept running across the field back then. Perhaps such a foolish thing wasn't entirely meaningless after all.

"It's just like a game... Reo..." Nagi Seishiro's voice sounded by his ear. Mikage Reo, his mind in complete chaos, instinctively looked over. He saw Nagi Seishiro looking at him, excitement impossible to hide in his eyes.

"Football is really interesting."

There were no extra thoughts—only pure interest and fighting spirit toward football. That pure expression pierced deeply into Mikage Reo's heart. Clearly, Nagi should have been the most anxious, the one whose weapon had been learned and taken away, yet in the end, only Reo was shaken.

Perhaps it was a rebellious mindset born from discovering, for the first time in his life, a goal he couldn't easily obtain. Or perhaps he simply wanted to resist his parents' arrangements. In any case, Mikage Reo had to admit that he might not be as obsessed with football as he had imagined. His goal in entering Blue Lock wasn't pure either.

At least at this moment, compared to Nagi Seishiro's fighting spirit ignited in the face of failure, Reo's own despair and wavering made even himself feel ashamed.

I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want to exist only by relying on Nagi. I don't want to be the one who's always awakened by Nagi while being unable to offer him any help in return...

Most importantly... I don't want to keep persisting in this muddled way anymore. What do I actually want? If I don't make that clear, there's no way I can continue surviving in this Blue Lock.

"So then, what does Nagi actually mean to me..." Mikage Reo kept questioning himself. At the same time, Nagi Seishiro stood up and walked toward the man who had brought them this nightmare.

"Kōken Shinichi, will you choose me?"

"What? Nagi!" Mikage Reo couldn't sit still anymore. Although he only realized at that moment—after Nagi Seishiro said those words—that one person from his side was about to be chosen, and that it would most likely be Nagi, Nagi taking the initiative was another matter entirely.

"Nagi... are you... abandoning me?" Even Mikage Reo could hear the tremor in his own voice. He wanted to rush over, grab Nagi Seishiro by the collar, and shout his questions at him, but when he thought of that possible answer, he felt all the strength drain from his body.

In the end, Mikage Reo could only kneel weakly on the ground, tilting his head up to look at Nagi Seishiro.

"Is it... because I'm too weak... so... you don't need me anymore?"

"Reo... you're so annoying."

"I hate meaningless repetition, but since it's you, I'll say it one more time." Nagi Seishiro's expression returned to indifference as he looked down at Mikage Reo from above.

"I want to become the world's number one. Maybe at the very beginning, it was a dream you brought me—but now, it's my own selfish desire, something I absolutely must achieve."

"That's why I've kept running. Even after discovering there are people far stronger than me, even if I might give it my all and still fail to become number one in the world, I've never given up. What about you, Reo?"

"In this match, how many times did you give up running? I already said it before—I don't want to deal with a you who's given up on your dream. It was only because you started trying again midway that I cooperated with you once more."

Black malice gradually seeped out from Nagi, condensing into the head of an evil spirit. Nagi Seishiro's selfish desire was completely laid bare before Mikage Reo.

"Do you think continuing to team up with you would put my mind at ease? Continuing to fantasize about an unreachable dream together? And then making no progress at all?"

"Do you think becoming the world's number one is something that can be obtained that easily? Reo, what exactly do you take football for?"

"Staying with you, I can't see any hope of becoming the world's number one. So I'm going to play football with him. I want to see a higher view."

"It's you—the one who abandoned the dream of becoming number one in the world in your heart—who betrayed our vow, Reo."

After casting one last cold glance at Mikage Reo, who no longer dared to meet his gaze, Nagi Seishiro turned directly toward Shinichi.

"Take me with you."

"Eh~ but I don't want you!"