A Much Deserved Break
[Jude's POV]
I stared blankly at the holographic screen in front of me.
[Congratulations on scoring the most goals in the 3vs3!]
[Congratulations on clearing the side quest!]
[Congratulations on receiving 5 pro points!]
It was quite the lackluster reward.
It felt bland.
Is it because the difficulty wasn't high enough?
After thinking about it for a little more, I think I came to an understanding, or at least a theory. If the quests being generated are tied to my [Greed] special weapon, and thus my ego. Then perhaps my greed was simply not stimulated enough.
It made sense.
I've already beaten every single one of them in the past. Both Karasu and Hiori in the last match, and even Miyata during Team X's training.
I didn't feel any particular deep emotion or drive to destroy them again.
That quest didn't even appear at the start of the game, but instead only much later, once I realized how much they improved which ignited that spark within me.
So maybe that's the key to reaching the next level.
I need to find an opponent that ignites that spark. Although it might be bad if I end up failing the quest like I did in the past with Karasu.
It always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Unfortunately, that's a risk I need to take.
Having only played football for less than 2 years, it's almost impossible for me to catch up to the best players of Blue lock unless I do that much.
After all, I'm probably one of the people who played football the least amount of time — that's if we don't include that one lazy genius.
He played for only a few months and yet reached a level above mine.
I can understand how frustrated Isagi felt.
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[3rd POV]
(4th stage 4-man room)
"So how long will we be stuck here?" Yukimiya asked.
He was laying down on his bed and turned his head to face Jude and Otoya who just came back from the medical check up. Right after settling down, Jude forced Otoya to go check on his ankle before anything else.
"It should be only a few days at most." Otoya replied before laying face first onto the mattress of his which was right next to Hiori and opposite to Yukimiya.
He was the one who wanted to rest the most. The medical check up felt like an unnecessary bother, but no matter how much he pleaded, Jude forced him to go.
"He just needs to rest. It's nothing serious, but it would be safer to wait." Jude added before joining them and going into his own bed, which was next to Yukimiya and in front of Hiori.
"This includes training. Don't push yourself too far." Jude added sternly.
"So we'll have to chill here for a few days, huh," Yukimiya mused over what he will do in that spare time.
"We'll still be training regularly, it's just that we can't participate in any match until Otoya is fully recovered." Jude spoke before closing his eyes.
"Also, you'll have to come with me tomorrow Hiori, I need your help with something." Jude added with a sneaky smile.
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(The next day)
"So what is it you needed my help with?" Hiori asked softly before taking another bite of the nicely cooked steak from the 4th stage canteen.
"The food here is so much better than the first selection." Jude devoured his own plate. He sat side by side with Hiori, it felt natural, like meeting with an old friend and catching up.
It made sense, Jude reminded Hiori of Karasu. They were both extremely similar. As for Jude, whenever he saw Hiori he couldn't help remembering his childhood friend for some reason.
Nathan. One of his ex teammates back in Spain.
He always wondered how he was doing.
After gulping down one more mouthful. Jude spoke:
"This place is awfully empty right now, and yet I doubt that we're the only team here. How about going to get a look at our future rivals?"
"So this was your idea..." Hiori's eyes widened, before flashing a small smile of resignation. "I knew you were similar to Karasu, but this much is frightening."
They both shared a knowing look before bursting out laughing.
"So it's set. Let's go immediately." Jude stood up from his chair and put down the fork next to the now empty plate.
Hiori soon followed without complaining.
"It's time to say hi to the neighbors."
..
Meanwhile, at Blue Lock's man system training room, Otoya and Yukimiya were facing each other in a one on one, with the Blue Lock holographic keeper standing in the cages.
"Where do you think they went?" Otoya asked in between heavy breaths.
"Probably just fooling around." Yukimiya replied, his breath steady as he dribbled past Otoya once again and scored. "That bastard is the same as the shitty crow when it comes to being hard to read. It's hard to tell what he's thinking."
"Worthy of being the king of one on ones." Otoya praised him. He once again failed to stop Yukimiya.
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"Shit, where are they!?" Jude cursed as he closed the door of yet another empty training room.
"I didn't think this place was so big." Hiori commented.
It was the 7th door they opened and Jude was still frantically looking around.
Each time they were either empty, or people Jude didn't have much interest in. After all, he already had a very good idea of who would be able to pick his interest and generate a quest.
After owning a system for a little while, you learn how to master it.
Being able to provoke the appearance of quests was a necessary skill Jude had to learn.
"So who are we looking for?" Hiori questioned. Similar to Karasu, Jude seemed to already have a very good idea on who he was searching for.
'Is that the natural instinct of bullies?' Hiori thought.
"You'll find out very soon." Jude replied as he went through yet another gate, this time finding himself faced with the image of two very recognizable egoists playing against one another.
"They're here."
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Author: I had a problem while writing and lost 400 words, so I lowkey got annoyed and didn't write for 3 days since. Thus explaining the lack of chapters even though I planned to drop way more.
Though all I can say is that the next few chapters are going to be really interesting.