Although the purpose of the Blue Lock project was to cultivate the world's best striker, Kira Ryosuke was not influenced by it.
No matter what position he played, as long as he kept striving to win, that was enough.
"Taking the defender position unlocked a series of achievements. I wonder if the other positions work the same way."
Kira Ryosuke pondered this.
"Goalkeeper, midfielder... Perhaps different positions can unlock different achievements and grant new rewards."
The rewards granted by the system had given Kira Ryosuke some new ideas. Perhaps he could try playing other positions on the field more often in the future.
Just like the skills he had unlocked, Kira Ryosuke could further develop them and make them more effective on the field.
Team V's locker room.
They had just defeated Team W with ease.
Everyone else on Team V was drenched in sweat. Only Nagi Seishiro remained completely dry. He sat in a chair, pulled out his phone, and started playing a game.
To him, the match had offered nothing of value. He had only needed to score a few goals to widen the gap, after which he could slack off on the field.
Victory had been inevitable. Unlike his delighted teammates, Nagi Seishiro felt nothing at all.
"Raw gems, the fourth match between Team Z and Team Y has also concluded."
The big screen lit up, and Ego Jinpachi's face was projected onto it.
"Reo, is Team Y the team we beat 8–0?"
Nagi Seishiro looked lazily at Mikage Reo beside him.
"That's right. But your memory is seriously awful, Nagi. Still, it's not like they were worth remembering."
Mikage Reo merely shrugged. To him, Team Y had been nothing more than a pitifully weak opponent.
But Team Y and every other player were no different.
Mikage Reo believed the other four teams had no chance of defeating them.
Not merely because they had him, with his outstanding overall abilities, or Tsurugi Zantetsu, with his incredibly explosive speed.
The most important thing was that their team had the genius Nagi Seishiro.
Mikage Reo turned his head toward Nagi Seishiro, who had already returned his attention to his phone game, and smiled.
Chapter Forty-One: Ten Goals? Just a Small Goal!
"Team Z defeated Team Y by a score of 9–0."
Ego Jinpachi spoke slowly from the screen while observing the reactions of everyone on Team V.
"Nine goals?"
Tsurugi Zantetsu of Team V pushed up his glasses.
"Nine is greater than eight, so Team Z scored one more goal than we did?"
"I can't believe even an idiot like Zantetsu can figure out that nine is greater than eight. Impressive."
Nagi Seishiro continued playing his game while mocking him absentmindedly.
"Looks like Team Z can't be underestimated. We should study the footage of their team carefully. I heard they have someone named Kira Ryosuke who's very skilled, right?"
Tsurugi Zantetsu spoke with utmost seriousness.
"No matter what, they still can't beat Nagi. There's a huge gap between geniuses and ordinary people."
Mikage Reo smiled as he spoke.
"But even so, we still have to watch the footage together. This is everyone's activity, after all."
"Do we really have to go?"
"Yeah."
"Can I play my game while watching the footage?"
"...Suit yourself..."
Nearly two hours later, everyone on Team V had changed clothes and finished eating. Then they went together to the screening room to watch the match between Team Y and Team Z.
Everyone else watched the footage with rapt attention. Only Nagi Seishiro continued playing his game.
"Is Kira Ryosuke playing defender this time? What a strange tactic."
"...Hey, hey, he actually stopped that ball?"
"This guy... Is he ridiculously strong? He feels even stronger than in the first match."
The members of Team V discussed the footage animatedly.
Even Mikage Reo's expression grew somewhat serious.
He knew very well that Kira Ryosuke was terrifyingly strong. Even from the defender position, he had still dominated the match with ease.
That was absolutely not something an ordinary player could do.
A sense of danger arose in his heart at that moment.
But when he glanced at Nagi Seishiro from the corner of his eye, that feeling of danger quickly vanished.
Still, he definitely can't beat us.
Mikage Reo thought this to himself.
At the same time, the members of Team Z had eaten their fill and finished celebrating that day's victory.
The others went off to do as they pleased. Some went to rest, while others headed to the designated screening room to watch the day's match footage.
As usual, Kira Ryosuke went to the field to train. Before long, he had obtained the ten Combat Points for the day.
After finishing his training, he prepared to rest for a while. He took out his phone and sent Aida Reiko a message, telling her that they had won again.
Not long after he sent it, his phone rang again. It was a call from Aida Reiko.
"Hello, Reiko."
"Ryosuke! Did you win this match too?!"
Aida Reiko's voice rose noticeably. She was extremely happy about Kira Ryosuke's victory.
"Yeah. Overall, everything went smoothly."
Kira Ryosuke nodded.
"That's great. Then... how did you perform this match?"
"I scored five goals this time. With one left over from the previous match, I now have six points. I should be able to save up ten points in the next match. Then I can come out."
"Really?"
Aida Reiko sounded excited, and her voice rose another octave. But she seemed to realize that she had overreacted and quickly cleared her throat. After pausing for several seconds, she continued.
"Um... when will the next match be?"
"I'm not sure, but judging by the current pace of the matches, it should be in three days."
"In three days? That's not the weekend... I might be home a little late then. I'll have to train the members of our basketball club at school during the day."
Although Aida Reiko was only a first-year high school student, she had already become the captain and coach of her high school basketball club.
However, Seirin High School had only just been established. Tetsuya Kuroko and Taiga Kagami had not yet arrived at the school, and middle school basketball was still dominated by the Generation of Miracles.
By the time Kuroko and the others entered high school, that would be a matter for later.
Even with such a lineup, Aida Reiko had still led the team to a fairly good result, which was enough to demonstrate her ability.
"No problem. I'll come to your school and go home with you then."
Kira Ryosuke said with a smile.
"Ah, come to our school...? Sure! I'll introduce you to the basketball club I personally cultivated!"
Aida Reiko replied, a hint of pride in her voice.
"Sounds good."
Kira Ryosuke nodded.
Seirin High School's basketball club.
Although it was already night, the members of the basketball club were still doing extra training.
The Seirin basketball club had only recently been established, but they needed to fight their way through the preliminaries and earn the right to participate in the IH round-robin tournament. So even though it was already late, they were still training extremely hard.
Aida Reiko had just hung up the phone, a smile still on her face.
Only then did Aida Reiko realize that she was surrounded by people.
When she had been on the phone, all her attention had been focused on Kira Ryosuke. She had completely failed to notice that the players had finished the training she assigned and gathered around her.
"Who was Reiko talking to just now?"
One of the basketball club members, Izuki Shun, asked doubtfully.
"I don't know. It's rare to see such a gentle smile on Reiko's face."
Kiyoshi Teppei said with a smile. He was the ace of the team and had once been known as one of the Five Crownsless Generals.
What had kept him from the championship was the group hailed as the strongest—the Generation of Miracles.
"I heard about it from Mr. Aida."
At that moment, Hyuga Junpei raised his hand and made a meaningful expression.
He and Aida Reiko had been middle school classmates. He even went to her family's gym to work out, so he knew her father as well.
"What, what?"
The others asked curiously.
"I heard Reiko and Kira Ryosuke are very close! They've even reached the point where 'when necessary, she has to kill Kira Ryosuke.'"
"Seriously?"
"Who's Kira Ryosuke? That name sounds familiar."
"I think he plays soccer around here. He's somewhat famous, and I heard he has quite a few fans."
Everyone began discussing it noisily, while Aida Reiko's face had already flushed bright red, as if she were about to explode.
Chapter Forty-Two: Time Passes, Strength Continues to Rise!
"So that Kira Ryosuke is Reiko's boyfriend?!"
Everyone reached the same conclusion in unison.
"Y-you, you, you guys! W-what are you talking about?! Ryosuke and I just, just... He only, only came to talk to me about physical training!"
Although Aida Reiko's face was flushed, she still tried her best to explain.
Unfortunately, her stammering words were not very convincing.
"Really? You two didn't mention anything about training just now!"
"Exactly! It sounded like you were waiting for Kira to come back so you could go on a date!"
"Is he coming to the school to find you? I can't wait!"
Faced with the team's incessant chatter, Aida Reiko finally reached the limit of her patience. She clenched her fists and shouted:
"All of you, add three more kilometers to your training!"
"Hey, seriously?!"
Before you continue