Prince | Blue Lock

made a meal outta me (and come back for more)

As the door slides open, a quiet hissing sound fills the room, indicating the sensor has detected [Name] and Meguru's presence. They step inside and Meguru avoids meeting [Name]'s gaze, his face still flushed from their earlier encounter on the practice field. [Name] hums, feeling a faint tingle on their left shoulder where the ranking badge is located, signifying a change in their position.

"Look, Isagi! My rank went up! I used to be in the 300th rank and now I am now 275th!" Igarashi exclaims, grinning from ear to ear and eagerly sharing his news with anyone who will listen.

"Okay." [Name] responds, not particularly interested in Igarashi's boasting. They glance at their own ranking and see that they are now 274th, which isn't surprising given that 25 players were eliminated in the recent TAG game. This means that there are now 25 teams remaining in Blue Lock, and [Name] knows that the competition will only continue to be challenging from here on out.

As soon as Ego's face appeared on the TV screen, the attention of everyone in the room was drawn towards him. His smug demeanor and the sound of his voice grated on [Name]'s nerves. "Isn't it nice to see each other again, unpolished gems? Hope you are enjoying your stay here"

Raichi was the first to react, his anger boiling over at Ego's words. With a scowl on his face, he shouted at the man behind the screen, expressing the frustration and resentment that everyone else was feeling. "How the hell are we supposed to feel better when we're living in this fucking place?!"

The others in the room agreed with Raichi, looking angry and frustrated. They were tired of feeling like they were being used and pushed around, tired of the tough training and always being watched and judged. Meanwhile, [Name] did not care in the slightest bit as they were used to training for various amount of time during their basketball years. Due to their parents training them. The worse so far is the food in everyone's opinion, which Naruhaya expressed, "yeah, what he said. I want better food. No offense but the food here is shit." Gagamaru next to him nods in agreement. However, Ego doesn't seem to be bothered by the complaints.

"The environment is shit because your skills are shit, get it? If you don't you guys must be completely bigger idiots than I thought."

"What the hell you say?!" Raichi roars in anger as [Name] sighs at the stupidity radiating from the male as Meguru lets out a small giggle under his breath. However, Ego didn't bother to say anything else and changed the subject.

"Now, let us talk a little bit about Blue Lock."

Ego cleared his throat and started explaining how the ranking system in Blue Lock works. He talked about how the first day's eliminations affected the rankings, the strengths and weaknesses of each team, and why each player's performance is crucial. As he spoke, the expressions on the faces of the Blue Lock participants changed from curiosity to concern. When Ego described Team Z as the worst team out of the 25, everyone's faces showed disappointment.

[Name] paid close attention to Ego's words, absorbing every detail. They had expected Team Z to be at the bottom of the rankings, given its name. After all, "Z" comes last in the alphabet, so it made sense. This meant that their team had to work "together" to prove Ego and everyone else wrong about their ranking. And now, they had the chance to do just that with the first match coming very soon.

"Now onto Blue Lock's first selection, starting next week. The first selection between you, the fifty-five players of the fifth stratum, consisting of a round-robin of the five teams within it. Only the top two teams will move on to the second selection. This means it's all or nothing."

As [Name] imagined fighting against fifty-five different opponents, their heart raced with excitement. They could feel the thrill of the upcoming matches, eager to crush their opponents and prove themselves as the best. In addition, it meant that they could find the right ones for their other goal too. There must be eleven people who are better than the rest in this program. They just have to seek them out.