"At the End of the NEO EGOIST LEAGUE... Excluding the overseas players, we'll use the salary ranking to determine the top 23 players in blue lock who'll automatically join the team in the U20 world cup."
"For Blue Lock players, this is a place to hone your skills. And for foreigners, this is a place to showcase themselves to club owners all over the world. This is a market for the world to unearth new talents. In this environment that mixes up Blue Lock players with the world newcomers. All Players are 'products', and teams are the 'stores'. That's how the professional sports works."
"They want to see what the popular players are capable of. But now the 'PRODUCT' named Hayashi Murano has shown what he's worth and we've got a price tag on him,"
Calling them products made a couple of them mad.
"Products?" Hiiragi was shocked. "That's what you think of us?"
"You're going to far, Ego," Reo added in disbelief.
Ego smiled at the reaction. "Loving the faces, guys. That sells like hotcakes." Ego smiled and then explained, "But to begin with, have none of you thought that it's strange that this country of underdeveloped football managed to get world superstars and top clubs to take part in a project like this?"
"Huh?"
"What does that..."
"It's a reality show. This is a live video of fourth match which also just ended."
"The amount of people subscribed to this content already surpasses 100 million."
"This is our super entertainment... BLUE LOCK TV"
"Huh?"
"We actually just raised the monthly fee from 500 yen to 1000 yen"
*1000 yen is about $6
"Subscribe if you can. Surely you get it now. You guys are fighting your lives here and it's all a reality being streamed to the whole world."
"Every football fan in the whole world wants to witness the birth of a new hero, it seems."
"Rejoice Diamonds in the Rough. There is no doubt left that blue lock is the most critical place in the current world of Football."
"And that's the whole story..."
"You're free to try surviving however you want. But if you can't get into matches, you won't get to show off, won't get any offers, and all paths will stay closed to you. You may keep aiming for striker positions as you have until now or you can try escaping to another position to steal the place of another regular."
---
"No matter what you have to do... You must prove your own worth. Your next match shall be in 10 days... Manshine vs. PXG."
Murano was called in to a room for an interview, since he got the Man of the Match(MOM) Award.
He sat down with the Monthly Soccer Magazine journalist, Nihei Syusaku.
"Okay, next question."
"After being awarded MOM in the Bastard München vs. Manshine City match, and receiving an offer of 180 million yen from several clubs. You're considered by many to be the eye of the storm in this new generation of footballers. So how does it feel to garner such praise and attention, Hayashi Murano?"
Murano took a moment before answering.
"It's flattering, honestly. But I try not to let it sit with me for too long." He smiled. "Attention like that can either boost your morale or distract you. I'd rather look forward to the next challenge than dwell in the past. There's still a long way to go before I've actually proven anything worth talking about long-term."
"That's an interesting way to look at it, given the performance you just put in." Nihei responded.
Murano knew more than anyone that one match doesn't define a career, He has seen players get carried away by a single big goal or highlight reel and lose themselves in it.
'At least he knows that much.' Nihei nodded, writing something down. "Let's talk about the Rabona, then. All Bastard Munchen needed to win at that point was a single goal yet you still attempted that."
Nihei continued "Some players wouldn't have had the nerve to attempt it in that position. Some critics have already called that decision reckless, given the stakes. How do you respond to that?"
Murano responded, "Sure people often write me off as childish or a ball hog, or someone who'd rather show off than close out a game." He continued. "But when I have the ball, I don't second-guess myself in moments like that... I just think of the most beautiful play rather than best play."
"What a straight forward answer," Nihei was stunned.
"And the salary reveal, 180 million yen, ahead of Barou and several more. That's roughly what a mid-level sales manager makes annually."
Murano responded. "I know I'm worth more than that so I need to keep showing that."
Nihei flipped to his last card. "Final question, what's your target for the rest of the Neo Egoist League?"
"For starters, I want to remain as the number one," he said. "Score more goals and put my name out there."
"An egoist mentality, huh? Thank you for your time. This was an amazing interview! I can't wait to see what kind of player you become!"
Murano smiled as he stood to leave.
----
When he opened the door, he saw Nagi, Chigiri, and Nishioka sitting by the door seemingly eavesdropping.
"That was super cool, Murano," Chigiri was the first to speak.
"'Preciate it princess," Murano shot back.
"Almost shed a tear, you've grown too much Murano. It feels like yesterday that we faced each other in the prefecture semi-finals." Nishioka jokingly said.
"Oh, drop it. You guys really were eavesdropping!" Murano said.
"Can you blame us? Blue Lock's blowing up all over social media! You and Barou are trending like Crazy!" Nishioka said excitedly.
"Sure... is nice being the number one..." Nagi sighed.
Reo came to the scene.
"Sup, Reo!" Nagi called out.
Reo looked at Murano saying, "Oh. If it isn't Mr. "180 Million Yen" himself."
"Bruh, not you too..." Murano groaned, as if suffering from his own success.
"Oh, you love it," Reo teased.
----
Meanwhile on Twitter #BlueLockTV...
@TruthOnlyReader
watched the highlights again and half of what Murano does is just showing off when a simple pass would do. flashy ≠ good. hope PXG actually punishes them
@MaximumPache
180 million yen for ONE good match is insane.
@Indo_Dembelle
everyone's talking about the rabona and the volley but I want the boring stuff too. show me 90 minutes of his buildup play. that's when you actually know what a player is.