Chapter 11: The Phantom Playground
The nights inside the shelter were always the hardest.
There was no soft mattress to fall into, no warm glow of a nightlight to ease the creeping darkness. Instead, Isagi lay on a stiff, uneven cot, his body aching from another long day of struggle. The scent of damp wood and stale air clung to his clothes, a constant reminder of the world he was trapped in.
And the hunger. Always the hunger.
It gnawed at his insides, a relentless beast that refused to be tamed. He had learned to ignore it, to push through the dizziness, the weakness, the fatigue. Survival wasn't about comfort...it was about endurance.
But when the world became too heavy, when the pain of reality threatened to suffocate him, he escaped.
Not in the way others did. Not through drugs, alcohol, or reckless abandon.
No, Isagi Yoichi escaped into football.
Not in the real world, because out there, he had no place in the game.
He couldn't afford cleats, couldn't pay for training, couldn't even spare the time. Out there, football was a luxury. A dream he had no right to chase.
But inside his mind?
Inside his mind, he was free.
It always started the same way.
A vast, sprawling stadium rose before him, the floodlights illuminating a pristine green pitch. Towering stands stretched into the sky, filled with a crowd that roared his name. The air buzzed with energy, with the weight of anticipation, with the thrill of the game.
And there, standing across from him-
The World's Best XI.
Eleven players. Each one a legend. Each one a monster in their own right.
They weren't real. Not in the way people would define reality.
But to Isagi?
They were more real than anything else.
He had crafted them from scraps of knowledge, stolen glimpses of football matches through the glass of electronics stores, tattered magazine pages he found in the trash, whispered conversations he overheard in public parks.
With every night that passed, with every imaginary match he played, they became more defined.
Stronger. Faster. Smarter.
And they never went easy on him.
They stood before him, the ultimate challenge.
Each one had a face, a name, a unique style of play that made them a nightmare to deal with.
1. Alexander "The Wall" Hayes (Goalkeeper - USA)
A colossus between the posts. Standing at 6'5", his arms seemed endless, his reflexes supernatural. He had an icy composure, never rattled, never shaken. Shots that should've been goals became mere footnotes in his highlight reel.
Isagi had tried hundreds of ways to score past him.
Only two had worked.
2. Dietrich Eisen (Right Back - Germany)
A machine. A defender with the efficiency of a soldier. Zero wasted movement, zero hesitation. Eisen didn't just stop attacks; he crushed them.
If Isagi tried to dribble past him, he wouldn't just take the ball. He'd take his dignity too.
3. Cedric Beaumont (Center Back - France)
Where Eisen was mechanical, Beaumont was artistic.
His tackles were like surgical strikes, precise and calculated. He knew exactly when to commit, when to bait an attacker, when to step up.
Facing him felt like playing chess at double speed.
4. Kael Baines (Center Back - South Africa)
A blur of movement. His defensive approach wasn't based on sheer power. It was based on chaos.
Baines was everywhere at once, always closing down space before Isagi even realized it was a weakness.
He was like a storm, unpredictable and suffocating.
5. Reece Calloway (Left Back - England)
If there was one word to describe Calloway, it was fearless.
Unlike most fullbacks, who focused on defending, Calloway was a relentless attacker.
He would charge forward, overlapping the wingers, sending in pinpoint crosses.
Isagi quickly learned that ignoring him was a mistake.
6. Enzo Moretti (Defensive Midfielder - Italy)
The heart of the team. The conductor.
Moretti dictated the rhythm of the match, slowing it down when needed, speeding it up when the opponent least expected it.
He wasn't the most physically imposing player, but his mind?
His mind was a fortress.
7. Arthur Quinn (Central Midfielder - U.K)
A freight train in human form.
Quinn was pure, unfiltered aggression.
He didn't care for finesse, for tricks, for delicate touches. He would bulldoze through opponents, carve open defenses with sheer force.
A nightmare for any midfielder who had to go head-to-head with him.
8. Hideki Tanaka (Attacking Midfielder - Japan)
Tanaka wasn't just a footballer. He was an illusionist.
His dribbling was pure sorcery, his movements hypnotic.
He could twist defenders inside out, leave them grasping at air, make them doubt their own instincts.
Isagi had lost count of how many times Tanaka had humiliated him.
9. Rafael Nascimento (Right Winger - Brazil)
Nascimento's style was unpredictability itself.
One moment he was dancing past defenders, the next he was cutting inside for a curling shot, the next he was sending a pinpoint cross into the box.
Stopping him felt impossible.
10. Santiago "El Matador" Varela (Striker - Argentina)
The ultimate predator.
Varela didn't need space. He didn't need time. He only needed a second.
A single touch. A flick of his boot. And the ball was in the net.
11. Marco de la Cruz (Left Winger - Philippines)
Speed. Pure, terrifying speed.
Marco could explode down the wing in the blink of an eye, leaving defenders gasping for breath.
Isagi had tried marking him once.
It didn't end well.
Every night, Isagi challenged them.
Every night, he lost.
But with every loss, he learned.
He saw patterns, weaknesses, tendencies.
He learned how to exploit even the tiniest mistakes.
And one night, after countless failures
He scored.
A goal against the World's Best XI.
A dream goal, in a dream world.
But to him, it was real.
More real than the cold. More real than the hunger.
Because in this world, he wasn't weak.
But that was the problem.
These matches were all in his mind.
His understanding of football had grown in ways that surpassed others his age. His way of seeing the game, analyzing movements, thinking like a predator.
But he had never tested it on the real battlefield.
And now, in Blue Lock.....
He was finally going to find out if he was truly worthy of standing among the greats.
Or if he was just another kid chasing a fantasy.
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Hello Guys. Wow....just Wow. I have over 120 collections right now. I can't believe you guys supported this work even when I have been absent for about a week. But yeah....my exams are finally over. It took me a day to get over it, and now I am back to writing. So, stay tuned for upcoming exciting chapters.