033 Blue Lock: System Ten Years Early

"Laughing? This guy—what's wrong with him." Karasu Tabito looked at the maniacally laughing Shinichi with disgust, secretly feeling nauseated.

"But this time, you've really fallen into a dead end, Shinichi!"

"A dead end? Don't overestimate yourself." Shinichi's eyes flickered with excited light as he raised his hand again.

"Again? Didn't I already say it's useless? This kind of meaningless struggle really looks ugly."

Karasu Tabito struck again, trying to knock Shinichi's arm aside. However, unexpectedly, Shinichi's hand seemed welded to his body—no matter what he did, he couldn't shake it off. At the same time, a tremendous force surged over, instantly shifting his center of gravity. The sealed space was forcibly torn open, creating a narrow gap for life.

"He can still evolve?! That's ridiculous!" Karasu Tabito recoiled in shock, trying to pull Shinichi back. But something even more terrifying happened—his hand had just braced against Shinichi's chest when Shinichi merely twisted slightly, and his hand slid right off. Caught off guard, Karasu Tabito stumbled, completely losing his defensive position.

"Despair. Everything you had has already been completely taken by me." Shinichi gazed indifferently at the fallen Karasu Tabito, twisted his body to evade Otoya Eita.

"Next, it's you."

'What's going on? Karasu's weapon suddenly can't be used, and his turning movement got unsealed again?'

Sweat beaded on Otoya Eita's forehead as he stared fixedly at Shinichi's feet.

'Stall him—just hold on for these few seconds until Karasu gets up, and we still have a chance!'

"Seen enough? I'm starting now."

'Shut up! Don't think you can affect me! He moved… a flick? An aerial duel? Huh? The heel? No—where did Shinichi go?'

In a daze, Otoya Eita suddenly realized that Shinichi had completely vanished from his field of vision. By the time he reacted, Shinichi had already appeared behind him, received the ball, and sprinted forward at full speed.

Otoya Eita instinctively tried to turn and chase, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his waist and abdomen. He collapsed painfully to the ground, only able to watch helplessly as that figure ahead of him sharply lifted his leg.

Bang!

The violent collision sound underscored the power of this shot and sealed the fate of the ball.

Whistle—

2:4 → 2:5

...

"So impressive. First he lightly popped the ball up, forced his body down while twisting, and on the way used his heel to kick the ball past the opponent's side. Then he launched forward from such an awkward posture, received the ball, and shot immediately—that had to be nearly 30 meters, right?"

Anri Teieri couldn't help but rewind the footage, watching the goal over and over.

"Ego, this one counts as a world-class strike, right? But his opponents all seemed a bit off—was it because they were too exhausted?"

"Completely wrong. It's hard to imagine that from start to finish you didn't get a single word right—to the point I briefly wondered whether you were even speaking a language I recognize."

Ego Jinpachi pinched the bridge of his nose and cut her off.

"That wasn't an unforced error caused by fatigue. It was empathy."

"Empathy?"

"That's right. Humans are creatures with empathy. When people play racing games, their bodies unconsciously lean with the car's movements. When a protagonist in a movie gets knocked down, people unconsciously lean back. That's empathy."

Ego Jinpachi adjusted his glasses.

"At the same time, humans are creatures that eternally crave progress. When they see a superior being, they can't help but yearn to improve—like wanting to fly after seeing birds, or to swim freely in the ocean after seeing fish."

"And when these two combine, you get what Kōken Shinichi is showing right now… plunder."

"Plun… der?"

"That's right. Shinichi first uses his extremely strong talent to rapidly absorb his opponent's strengths and then uses the opponent's weapons. That is the First Step: copying."

"After copying the opponent's abilities, he goes even further. Based on his own physical qualities, he improves those skills—devours them—and completely transforms them into his own."

"…So what does that have to do with plunder?"

"Sigh…" That single helpless sigh fully conveyed Ego Jinpachi's insult to Anri Teieri's intelligence.

"If it were just copying and converting skills, it wouldn't be anything special. The meaning of Blue Lock's existence is to let these guys devour each other—we've seen several such cases these past few days."

"But Shinichi is different. All of his attributes completely surpass his opponents'. As a result, his conversion isn't the kind where peers learn from each other, then modify—or even degrade—the skills based on their own bodies. Shinichi, who is superior across the board, optimizes those skills entirely to another level."

"Ah, so that's why you said humans crave progress." Anri Teieri seemed to understand. Ego Jinpachi nodded.

"Exactly. Their empathy quickly lets them project themselves into Shinichi's movements, and their innate desire for progress makes them subconsciously imitate his actions."

"But Shinichi's physical qualities far exceed theirs. Therefore, imitating Shinichi only causes them to fail to even maintain their original level."

"It's like a master playing a piece on your instrument. When you try to imitate it, you find your fingering completely falls apart. That's Shinichi's plunder—he places the brutal reality in front of his opponents: I can easily become a better version of you, and you can't even imitate me."

"Even more tragically, Shinichi didn't change your movements at all. He's just faster, so his turns consume less time, letting him add one more feint in the same window. This optimization relies entirely on physical qualities and completely blocks any evolutionary path for the opponent. If your body isn't as strong as Shinichi's, then you simply can't do it—just like a math problem."

"Ah, then isn't this invincible?"

"What an amateur thing to say. There's no such thing as an invincible ability in this world. If there were, it would only mean the person using it is too invincible."

"For example, Shinichi's ability also has limitations. If the corresponding attribute is higher than his, then Shinichi naturally can't optimize it, and the ability becomes ineffective."

"Take this match's opponent, Otoya Eita. Shinichi's movement when getting past him and continuously turning around defenders is almost identical. But Shinichi's waist and core strength far exceed Otoya Eita's—his bend and twist ranges are greater. Influenced by him, Otoya Eita enlarged his turning motions, which resulted in him pulling a muscle."

"But if his waist and core were as strong as Shinichi's, he could perform the same movements. And then there are guys like Aryu Jyubei, who rely entirely on static talent—they can't even copy. Still, as long as they're weaker than him, just devour and destroy them all…"

"Such a… profoundly egoistic weapon." Ego Jinpachi rubbed his temples. "What a pity. I'd almost rather he hadn't realized it. Just now, that play was right at the goal—only the final touch was missing…"

"That level of focus… such a shame. It was immediately shattered by the joy of achieving the goal. Karasu Tabito also couldn't hold on a bit longer."

"The method of burning one's life that a world-class striker cannot do without… Kōken Shinichi, I'm more and more looking forward to the day you enter FLOW."