Before anyone knew it, Blue Lock had already aired its fifth episode.
Tendou's performance was stable, and his popularity was increasing at a decent rate. And with the insertion of his new background story, his popularity saw its first major explosion.
In the latest popularity poll, he was ranked second, just behind Isagi Yoichi.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Tendou carried all the matches, creating 4 goals in each game. Even with his 4 goals and 4 assists combined, he still didn't get as much screen time as Isagi's single goal. More screen time was needed to achieve that. That crazy internal monologue, the sudden explosions from silence, and his non-"Saint Mary" personality all kept his popularity above the other characters.
Unlike a great Samaritan like Kuroko, it was very difficult to snatch the number one popularity spot from a protagonist with a personality like Isagi's! However, after this background story, the votes for Tendou were already very close to Isagi's.
...
Returning to the locker room.
The guys from Team Z had already exchanged all their goals for food and drinks and had started celebrating.
Tendou did not arbitrarily distance himself from the crowd but participated. Then, he suddenly looked at the dazed Gagamaru Gin and said, "Gagamaru, for the next two matches, you'll be the goalkeeper."
"Eh?" Gagamaru asked, chewing on a piece of meat, not understanding. "Why? I'd still rather score goals myself."
That way, I can eat steak every day. This was Gagamaru Gin's truest inner thought.
"Your reflexes are very fast, and your diving speed is first-class. I think you're the best choice to be Team Z's goalkeeper."
"Besides, your position overlaps with mine. You can't compete with me."
Gagamaru Gin was speechless. In Team Z, there was indeed no center forward who could compete with Tendou for the position. Just based on Tendou's output of creating 8 goals in two games, Gagamaru admitted he couldn't do it.
Play on the wing? At 191cm tall, he wasn't suitable for it. He wasn't good at dribbling or breaking through; his goals were mainly headers.
Tendou had his reasons for choosing him. In the future Blue Lock Eleven, Gagamaru Gin was the goalkeeper. His animal-like reflexes once allowed him to save a shot from the genius Itoshi Sae in a match.
"But if I'm the goalkeeper, I can't score goals..." Gagamaru looked at the delicious steak in front of him. For him, who lived in the mountains, this was a rare delicacy.
"My goals, you can use them as you wish. How about it? Want to do it?"
"I'll do it!"
He agreed so quickly!
The members of Team Z were startled by his subconscious, loud reply.
'Hahahaha, so simple!' 'This guy is just a pure foodie, isn't he? He agreed immediately after hearing about food!' 'Their reactions are so funny. It's killing me.'
The plot of Blue Lock is very fast-paced: selection, matches, training, one round after another. This makes the daily life scenes seem very precious, an important moment for the audience to relax. The production team understood this well, so after every ending credit sequence, there was a "stoppage time" segment, broadcasting the funny daily lives of these players.
Just as everyone was celebrating, Ego Jinpachi once again appeared on the screen.
"Yo, you uncut gems of strikers."
The same familiar opening, like a greeting, yet also like a taunt. It really made one want to punch him.
He was here to announce the ranking situation in Building 5 after the new round of matches had ended. There were a total of 5 teams, so after each round of matches, there would always be one team that had played one more or one less game.
The new rankings were as follows:
First place: Team V, 2 wins in 2 matches, 6 points, goal difference +12. The members of Team Z saw this. Team V had scored 8 goals against Team Y in the first round. This meant that in the second round, Team V, just like them, had also achieved a 4-goal difference. For Team Z, this was good news. Because as the difficulty of the matches increased, Team V could no longer score at will. Team V didn't seem so invincible after all.
Second place: Team Z, 2 wins in 2 matches, 6 points, goal difference +6. A 4:2 and a 4:0 victory gave them a 6-goal difference advantage, but it was still only half of Team V's. If Team Z wanted to surpass Team V, they would have to defeat them in a direct confrontation.
Third place: Team W, 3 points, goal difference -1. Fourth place: Team X, 3 points, goal difference 0. Fifth place: Team Y, 0 points, goal difference -12.
"Now, I will update your rankings again based on your results and match performance."
Beep beep beep beep~
A series of electronic sounds rang out, and the players of Team Z all looked at their shoulders. The numbers on them were changing.
Tendou glanced at his and found that his rank had risen to 265, making him the undisputed number one in Team Z.
"Hmph. Still playing such tricks at a time like this?" Tendou looked contemptuously at the four-eyed guy on the screen.
With his current physical and technical attributes, sweeping through Blue Lock wouldn't be too difficult. You have to know, in games, an average attribute of 80 is enough to be a starter in one of the top five major leagues. Although his 80 overall attribute was a bit inflated due to his age, at the high school level, it was first-class. Coupled with his maxed-out physical stats, he was a top-tier player.
A top-tier player on a global scale!
"...Say whatever you want. Just don't interrupt me now."
Ego Jinpachi's expression did not change. The purpose of this ranking was singular: to stir up competition among the players. It didn't matter if his trick was seen through. All he needed was for the little rascals of Team Z to understand that Tendou was stronger than all of them; that was his primary goal. This kind of ranking could stimulate the motivation of the lower-ranked players, making them continuously improve, and then approach and threaten the higher-ranked players, thereby creating a sense of crisis for the higher-ranked players.
To put it simply: involution!
Ego Jinpachi continued, "Finding your own weapon is a necessary condition to become a forward."
"The next step is to polish and strengthen your weapon, to make it stand out."
"For example, the Argentine superstar Messi. His weapons are his unique and delicate high-frequency-touch dribbling, and his quick and terrifying left-footed shot."
"In this aspect, he is the most outstanding player on this planet."
Messi?
Tendou suddenly fell into thought. Messi's step frequency was indeed breathtakingly fast. The number of players in today's football world who can maintain such a fast step frequency while sprinting at such high speeds can be counted on one hand.
How fast is his step frequency?
It reaches 4.4 Hertz. That is, he can complete 4.4 steps per second. This is a terrifying number. What is the advantage of such a step frequency? It can make the defender's retina always lag behind his movements. Science shows that the number 4.4 Hertz happens to coincide with the critical value of the human persistence of vision phenomenon.
"Can my 'Cleave' reach 4.4 Hertz?"
What Tendou was thinking about now was his other ability that he had not yet integrated into football. Once integrated, what level could his step frequency reach?
...
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