The Mission’s Difficulty

The ball advanced steadily, providing room for the defenders to defend against any possibility to score the goal.

Kaga even went back to defend with an ugly expression, having a difficult time calming himself.

Now, each of the twenty-two players was almost on the other side of the field, either defending or trying to score the goal.

With how crowded the space had become, even Aoi could feel he was being stared at by five players from the enemy side, at least.

He ignored them, however, concentrating on grasping his teammates' intention as to why they were passing the ball, seemingly looking for the chance to advance it.

If they could not see it before they were being restrained by the opponent, they would pass the ball to their teammates.

At this point, Aoi could discern it would be difficult to pass through the defenses of Kaga's team.

'They were completely defensive.' Aoi thought, glancing at Oka, appearing to be standing on his position, going further on the right side while he was on the left side.

He seemed to be observing the game, too.

Aoi focused on the ball again, now being held by the third-year midfielder, who tried to steal the ball from the bald player earlier.

Suddenly, as Aoi was gazing at him, he met his stare, and he was startled.

The third-year midfielder, who assumed the position of the right midfielder earlier, was now in the center of the football field.

He suddenly realized he had become a central midfielder, and now… he has control over the ball…

Or should he say, the game?

'What is happening?' Aoi frowned, befuddled by the central midfielder's intention, as well as the seemingly deliberate movements of his team.

It appeared they knew what to do and how they should proceed.

From what he knew, this was the first time the first year played football with the club members, so they should not have come up with tactics before the match… as Nakahara randomly formed a team.

'There could only be one reason…' Aoi thought. 'This is a tactic that everyone should know, that I don't.'

Aoi was supposed to believe he did not know what tactics this was, but then, he began to feel familiar with the tactics.

'T-This is…' Aoi blinked his eyes, observing his teammates maintaining control of the ball through short, quick passes. 'Isn't this the tactics the Spain's national team performed during their dominant period?'

Aoi was familiar with the tactics, seeing it in clips once on the internet, and was awestruck by the patience of the players and the succession of the tactics.

If he recalled correctly, it would take almost ten minutes before they managed to wear out the enemy, eventually forcing a breakthrough in their enemy's defense and scoring a goal.

Aoi could, at most, spend seven minutes to score the second goal and the rest eight minutes to achieve the hat trick.

He slowly and finally realized the difficulty behind the mission initiated by the system.

"Fuckening…" Aoi cursed under his breath.

"What?" Kaga asked in irritation.

He was guarding Aoi now, not his job, but he only wanted to restrict his movements to avoid making any more impression on Izumi.

Just recalling Izumi's amazed expression, gluing her eyes to Aoi, feeling like her heart was watching Aoi instead, made him feel suffocated.

His heart bled, but he was not thinking of giving up anytime soon.

He believed in the words dropped by his father, "As long as you want it and you don't give up, you will get it," becoming his greatest motivation for every dream he wanted to achieve.

Including Izumi.

Staring at Aoi, keeping his cool and aloof expression, seeing the pink hair tie of Izumi, obviously, he was familiar with, on his long hair… he gritted his teeth.

He went closer with Aoi, even putting his hand on his body while observing the field.

His expression was grim, knowing the enemies' attempt.

The tactic had not been initiated earlier, not even Oka, but when he appeared, it was gradually set into motion.

All players were familiar with the tactics, so all they needed was someone to commence it.

Kaga was familiar with the third-year midfielder.

His main position last year was a right midfielder, for he focused on defense, but due to his ability to influence other players and wise decision-making, he switched to central midfielder.

Midfielders control the game's tempo, defend, and attack.

Normally, it was Oka's main position, but the third-year player was also suitable for the position.

Knowing how precarious the tactic was on them, Kaga must have to fight against it somehow.

Now, he had realized he not only had to defend against Aoi but also the latter's entire team.

He could only grit his teeth, having no choice but to observe the flow of the game.

That was then… the puzzle he was forming inside his head was broken by the sudden disappearance of Aoi on his hand.

He quickly turned his head and saw Aoi running deeper on the left side, almost arriving on the shooting range.

But he stopped just before he entered the rectangle field.

He observed the field again, even stopping his gaze at Kaga, who was running towards him.

Aoi thought, 'This should do.'

He had chosen the position for him to create a space he needed while observing the entire field without so much obstruction: the body of the players and their distractive movements.

All he had to do now was read the game and look for the chance to score.

Of course, he was also running out of time, so if he was left with no choice, then he had to create a chance.

He gazed at Kaga, who was now guarding him like before, and his eyes flashed with ambiguous light.

Then, he observed the football field, noting each player who might play a key role on the battlefield.

He only had to conquer them all.

He had to…