Inside the locker room, the sound of laughter and lighthearted banter filled the air. The suffocating tension from earlier had completely evaporated.
A victory was, after all, the finest remedy. In the glow of a win, even the most questionable behavior on the pitch could be forgiven. Of course, many of the players still harbored a lingering, unresolved confusion toward Yoru Ryoshu.
Aki stood under the spray, wiping water droplets from his skin. There was no better feeling than a cold shower after a grueling match; he couldn't help but squint his eyes in satisfaction.
[Congratulations, Host, on completing Main Quest 1 (Progress: 1/1).] [Reward Received: Speed (Substitute Tier).]
In an instant, he felt the muscles in his legs contract and expand—a surging sensation as fibers were rapidly repaired and reinforced. It was an incredibly comfortable feeling, though it passed as quickly as it had arrived.
If I was at a 'Proficient' level across the board before I got here, Aki thought, I finally have one stat that can actually compete with the pros.
He knew better than anyone how terrifying professional-level play was. Even Isagi Yoichi, in the final stages of his evolution, struggled against the monsters of the world stage. That was the gap Aki intended to close.
"Aki, want to grab some food?" Bachira asked, drying his hair as he walked over.
Aki opened his eyes and immediately looked away, grimacing. "Can you at least put some damn clothes on first?"
Bachira gave a playful snicker. "What, it's not like you haven't seen it all before. I don't care, so why do you?"
A sharp thwack followed, accompanied by a melodious yelp from the "Monster."
"I'm coming too... if you don't mind?" Isagi interjected from the side.
Aki shot him a glance. "Come if you want. I'm not a demon... though looking at you guys, you'd think I'd eaten your firstborns."
Aki wasn't blind. He could feel the atmosphere in the locker room. Most of the team had labeled him a "formidable enemy" rather than a teammate. Only a "clueless goose" like Isagi would dare approach him so casually.
Kuon Wataru joined them as well. "I'll come along too!"
Eventually, the four of them sat across from each other in the cafeteria. The silence was thick and heavy.
[Hahaha! Why does this look more and more like a 'harem' standoff?] [Isagi is killing me! He's so different off the pitch. Everyone looks like a different person once the cleats are off.] [A pack of wolves in sheep's clothing!]
Amidst the silence, Bachira went straight to the point. "So, Aki... what were you really thinking during that match? You knew it would make the others resent you. That could seriously mess with the games moving forward."
" resell resent me for what?" Aki asked, cutting into a steak. "Did I do something wrong?"
Isagi spoke up then, his voice firm. "The 'Zero to One' process... you recognized it long before I did. You were the only one who could break that deadlock."
"So... why use such an extreme method? Why put the whole team in danger? Was it for the thrill? For fun?"
Aki smiled thinly. "Since you're so smart, shouldn't you have guessed it by now?"
"This team has zero coordination. In my judgment, if I wasn't on the pitch, Barou would have shut you all out. That is a fact."
"And yet, in the face of that reality, your response was to play for yourselves. You used filthy methods, petty schemes—anything just to be the one to score. Personally..."
Aki's eyes narrowed. "I found that style of play... repulsive."
"Repulsive?" Isagi blinked, stunned.
It took a few seconds for the realization to sink in as he looked at Aki. "You... you genuinely hate that way of playing?"
Aki nodded slowly. "I don't care where you came from or what kind of pride you brought with you. We are a team now, which means winning by any means necessary—but every player has a personality. Kunigami likes a 'fair' game. I like a game that gives me pleasure."
"The way you guys were playing made me sick of football. So, I decided to retaliate."
Isagi's eye twitched. So that's what it was... No wonder Aki looked like that in the first half. He was essentially the polar opposite of Kunigami.
Bachira, however, acted as if this were perfectly normal. "Isagi, you don't know Aki yet. A year ago, in a major tournament, his team could have taken the championship easily. Instead, this guy dragged the whole team down to second place just because he was annoyed."
"My old coach called him the 'Demon King of the Pitch'."
Bachira leaned in toward Isagi, lowering his voice. "Though that's actually a bad review. Aki hates it when people call him that."
Aki ignored their whispering. He found himself watching Kuon Wataru instead. Having asserted his dominance so thoroughly, Kuon seemed to have submitted to him completely. Perhaps this meant the "information selling" incident from the original story wouldn't happen.
That would be a net positive. Aki could tell Kuon wasn't a bad person at heart; he was just so desperate to keep his dream alive that he was willing to become a villain to do it.
Once they had finished their meal, the group returned to the locker room. The others had begun trickling back from the training rooms or the baths.
Suddenly, the screen flickered to life.
Ego Jinpachi appeared, looking as gaunt and unsettling as ever. "My little unpolished gems... I see you're still riding the high of your first victory."
"I trust you've finally begun to understand the nature of this 'Blue Prison'..."
He waved a hand, and the scoreboard updated. "The second match of Building 5 has concluded. Team V defeated Team Y. Score: 8 - 0."
"Eight to zero?" Kunigami gasped, the color draining from his face.
That wasn't just a win; it was an absolute massacre. The rest of Team Z wore similar expressions of shock—except for Bachira, whose eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Now that you've experienced a match," Ego continued, "you should understand the process of 'Zero to One.' In football, everyone possesses a unique individual talent."
"Only by bringing that scoring ability to the surface—by making everyone witness it—will they gather around you. That is how a striker transforms 'one' into 'one hundred'."
"Without that spark, people cannot find their sense of devotion. Football could never have evolved to this point without it."
Ego's lips curled into a twisted, uncanny smile as he opened his arms. "So, my unpolished gems... do you really believe that's all there is to football?"