The match was tied. 1 to 1, and Isagi Yoichi had the ball at his feet. He sprinted forward, chased by two defenders from the opposing team.
"Get back here! You're not getting far!" yelled one of the defenders, attempting a sliding tackle. But he missed and was left behind.
Because of that, the other defender had to chase Isagi alone, giving the striker enough room to widen the gap between them. Now he had entered the penalty area.
It was just him, the goalkeeper, and a teammate on the other side, who raised his hand, asking for the ball.
If he passed the ball now, the chances of scoring would definitely increase. That was the decision he was going to make, after all, he wasn't that selfish. Besides, he had already scored a goal earlier in the match.
"I'm open!" shouted his teammate, who was near the goalkeeper — who now wore an expression of fear, as two attackers were in a dangerous area of the field.
Before he could make the pass, a high-pitched sound rang in his head, and time seemed to freeze in that very instant.
[Be selfish!]
[Score and secure your team's victory.]
[Reward: ???]
A confused expression appeared on his face as he stared at the floating screen in front of him. "What is this?"
Without much time to think, time resumed, and the ball was still at his feet. Before, he was sure he would pass it to his teammate — but after reading those words, his decision instantly changed.
"I'm not missing this shot!" he thought with determination, positioning his foot on the lower left part of the ball and launching a powerful shot that flew toward the goal at incredible speed.
The goalkeeper was shocked to see the ball heading for the goal. He had expected Isagi to pass it — that would've been the obvious move. But that wasn't what happened.
The last thing he heard before the final whistle was the announcer's voice echoing from the stadium microphones:
"GOOOOOOAL!" the commentator shouted, along with the entire crowd.
Isagi's teammates quickly rushed toward him and swarmed him in a team hug, celebrating the boy's game-winning goal.
A warm feeling surged through Isagi's body, and a faint blue aura began to swirl around him — unnoticed by everyone.
Everyone… except a nerdy-looking man in the crowd, who watched the scene with a small smirk before quietly leaving the stadium.
---
"So what do you think about the title you've just won today?" asked a reporter, then pointed the mic toward Isagi.
"It's definitely a great feeling! Now we're heading to Nationals, and if we win there, we'll have a chance to go even further!" said the boy, emotional as he imagined his team rising to greater heights.
"Haha, I hope you can reach your goals! Well folks, that was our interview with the man of the match, and we now return to—" the man continued on with his news report that no one really paid attention to.
Seeing the interview was over, Isagi left the interview booth and headed toward a car waiting for him outside.
---
Isagi was now home, lying on his bed staring at the ceiling… or so it seemed. In reality, a blue screen filled with rectangles and text hovered before him.
It looked just like the menu from an RPG game.
"System?" Isagi asked, reading the title at the top of all the rectangles.
Suddenly, a message popped up in front of him, answering his question.
[Welcome to the Egoist System! It will enhance all your player attributes and help you become the best striker in the world.]
Isagi was startled by a robotic voice from nowhere — but once he heard what it said, he became excited.
"Become the best striker?!"
[Mission completed: Be selfish!]
[Reward: 5 attribute points.]
"Huh?" he muttered, confused. "What do I do with that?"
[By opening the stats menu, the user can upgrade the attributes they choose.]
"Stats."
[Stats]
Shooting: 40
Technique: 50
Speed: 45
Physical: 45
Vision: 60
Points to distribute: 5
"My shooting is that bad...? Could that goal I scored today have just been pure luck?!" Isagi wondered, surprised by his physical stats.
"So if I say: put X points into Y, I'll improve instantly?"
[That's exactly how it works.]
"In that case… put the 5 points I earned into 'Shooting'," Isagi said.
Moments later, a tingling sensation ran through his leg as a blue glow circled around it.
Shooting: 40 ⮕ 45
---
"Do these missions always appear so suddenly?" Isagi asked. He had already lost count of how many questions he'd asked the system. But who could blame him?
A floating screen had appeared in front of him overnight — he had to investigate what else it could do.
"That depends entirely on your actions. In other words, missions will constantly appear based on what you're doing. The chances increase when it's something related to soccer."
For the past two hours, since he'd gotten home, he'd been asking questions about the system's functions.
After so many questions, Isagi decided to rest so he could start the next day full of energy and investigate this thing more deeply.
But before he could lie down in bed, a shout from another room grabbed his attention.
"Son! Come here! It's something important!" yelled a female voice coming from the living room.
Concerned that it might be something urgent, Isagi ran from his room straight to the kitchen.
When he got there, he saw his parents sitting on the couch and his mother holding an envelope.
"What happened?!" Isagi asked, both curious and worried.
"This letter just arrived from the Japan Football Association, and it has your name on it!" his mother said with a smile on her face.
Isagi was surprised. He didn't expect to receive a letter related to soccer — let alone from the Japan Football Association.
His mother then handed him the envelope.
Without thinking twice, Isagi grabbed it and quickly opened it, beginning to read its contents.
"Congratulations. You have been selected to participate in a new project by the Japan Football Association. Report to the location below on the indicated date and time."
"What?!" Isagi said in shock.
---
"So this is the place…"
In front of him stood a massive blue building with the name Blue Lock written in bold, flashy font. I thought it would be a little more hidden.
Without waiting any longer, Isagi began heading inside. He hoped this would be something useful — otherwise, he'd have wasted an entire morning of his precious weekend.
He opened a large gate, and on the other side saw hundreds of other boys who looked about his age. He recognized a few familiar faces.
Among them was his last rival: Kira. Since his team's defeat, Kira hadn't shown any expression besides anguish. Isagi was relieved he wasn't in that boy's shoes.
He hoped Kira wouldn't notice him. That would definitely make things awkward, so he decided to distance himself a bit from the middle of the crowd.
It didn't take long for everyone's attention to turn to a massive screen that suddenly lit up. Everything about this place was ridiculously large… What could it all mean?
A blinding light flashed on the screen, and then a tall, slim man with a sharp expression and rectangular glasses appeared. His appearance intrigued many of the young players, and the room fell silent.
The man began to speak.
"My name is Ego Jinpachi," he said coldly, without a trace of emotion. "I was appointed by the Japan Football Union to create the number one striker in the world. And for that… you are here."
Murmurs spread throughout the room. Some widened their eyes, others furrowed their brows.
"The number one striker in the world?" That sounded absurd.
Ego gave a slight, arrogant smile.
"Japanese soccer is doomed to fail because its players care too much about the team — about the collective. But tell me… when the world bows to a player, is it to someone who passes the ball?"
He paused.
"No. It's to the one who scores goals. The one who decides matches. A true striker… is a selfish one!"
Silence fell over the room.
"That's why I created Blue Lock: a battlefield where only one striker will survive. The rest… will be eliminated from professional soccer forever."
The impact was immediate. The boys' eyes burned with fear, anger, and ambition. Ego saw them as pieces, as numbers — but also as potential weapons.
"If you want to be the best in the world, forget teamwork. From now on… think only about beating everyone around you. Only then will you be worthy of wearing Japan's number 9 jersey."
Before the players could even start debating what had just happened, a new command echoed through the room.
"You will now be taken to the Blue Lock dormitory. I hope you're ready for the first test," Ego declared.
---
The boys were split up and taken to different facilities — each one numbered like cells in a modern prison.
Isagi ended up in the hall labeled "Z."
Once again, the screen appeared, showing Ego smiling.
"You have 136 seconds. This game is called 'Tag.' The player with the lowest ranking is 'it.' He must hit another player with the ball before time runs out. Whoever gets hit becomes the new 'it.'"
Isagi was shocked by the challenge proposed. He never imagined that a children's game would be used as a test to become a professional soccer player.
He took a quick look at his uniform and saw a number on it. He quickly deduced it was his ranking — and when he saw it, he was stunned.
"297... I'm one of the worst!"