Murano watched from the ground as the ball danced into the net.
Watching the fruits of his labor. He always believed and never thought for a second that they were actually going to lose when 2-nil down, even when all hope seemed lost.
This was perhaps the most hardest game he's played, despite winning the game.
There was a lot to take in.
"The best players don't always win" is a common notion in football, with critics noting that football is a team sport and individual brilliance cannot always overcome systematic failures or bad luck.
Look at Christiano Ronaldo, he's played in 6 world cup editions but won none of them.
Lionel Messi played 18 different editions of the UEFA Champions League and won four of them.
But now wanted to go back to the drawing table as the light in his eyes burned with determination, wanting to challenge such notions.
But it was then that he looked across the pitch.
On one side the Bastard Munich players siting in disappointment.
On the other side Manshine City players surrounding Chris Prince to celebrate the super goal.
Prince somewhere in the middle of it, throwing his jersey into the air.
Even Murano had to admit it, that it was a great goal.
'But it was supposed to be mine.'
He really wanted a hatrick.
[Interactions]
He lied there staring at the sky.
Reo was the first to reach him, dragging him up off the grass by the arm. "We won!" Reo said excitedly.
"We did, huh?," Murano said, letting himself be pulled up.
"That third goal..." Murano said, glancing toward Prince still being swarmed by the rest of the squad. "That was supposed to be mine."
Chigiri lauged. "What an egoist. You already scored two crazy goals."
Murano sighed, "I guess so."
Kaiser walked towards him.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
"This isn't over, Next time we meet, I will have my revenge. On this pitch, or the next one, or the one after that. I don't care how long it takes."
Noel Noa also came on to the scene.
"I'm not interested in Blue Lock," Noa continued. "Or what Ego's end goal really is. But I'll be watching you. I expect to see you on the World Stage."
"I'll be there..." Murano responded.
Murano continued as Noa turned to leave.
"...to take your throne for myself."
"Sure then, I'll be waiting."
----
As he stood there, Ego appeared on the large screen.
"Good Job on your first match, Manshine City. How was the taste of the world's wall?"
Ego continued, "The world of pros is like a game of musical chairs. When you get into a team that's already complete, you have to steal somebody's position, else you don't have a job to do."
"And every team has a water called Philosophy. But you're not limited to only one way of surviving in that water. You may die in water that's not suited to you or you may adapt and survive or you might even dye the water in you own color."
"For what it's worth, dropping out is also an option. Nobody's forcing you to be here. Running away could also be your best option to survive."
"At any rate... Now that you understand how you have to fight in the NEO Egoist League... Let's move on to the new rankings now that the first match is over."
"They're yearly salaries. All of the matches in this neo egoist league are under the inspection of football club owners in the whole world."
"They check all of your plays... Bid on each of you after each match..."
"And the highest bid will represent your value! This is our new ranking system... And now, the Neo Egoist League has show its full picture to the world"
----
The first round of matches were over...
Bastard München vs. FC Barcha: 3-2, Bastard München
PXG vs. Ubers: 3-2, PXG
Bastard München vs. Manshine City: 3-2, Manshine City
FC Barcha vs. Ubers: 3-1, Ubers
Neo Egoist Goal Ranking
Barou -- 3 goals
Murano -- 2 goals
Rin -- 2 goals
Hiori -- 2 goal
Bachira -- 2 goal
Kaiser -- 1 goal
Shidou -- 1 goal
Noa -- 1 goal
Lavinho -- 1 goal
Chris Prince -- 1 goal
Now on to the salary rankings
20. Karasu — ¥11,000,000
19. Darai — ¥12,000,000
18. Sendou — ¥13,500,000
17. Otoya — ¥20,000,000
16. Kunigami — ¥28,000,000
15. Yukimiya — ¥29,000,000
14. Gagamaru — ¥30,000,000
13. Kurona — ¥32,000,000
12. Igarashi — ¥36,000,000
11. Shidou - ¥38,000,000
10. Aiku — ¥42,000,000
-9. Nagi - ¥46,000,000
-8. Chigiri — ¥48,000,000
7. Aiku — ¥48,000,000
-6. Reo — ¥50,000,000
5. Rin — ¥58,000,000
4. Hiori — ¥60,000,000
----
"And now," Ego said, "onto the number that actually matters."
The salary rankings began climbing up the board, third to first
Then it reached the top.
3. Bachira — ¥70,000,000
2. Barou — ¥100,000,000
1. Murano — ¥180,000,000
*180 million yen is just about 1 million US dollars. Meaning that Murano's yearly salary would be a million dollars. For comparison, Lamine Yamal receives about 16 million US dollars as of 2026.
-----
"...one eighty?" The others said in unison. Unlike the others near the top, both Murano and Barou had only played a single match so far whereas the rest had already played twice
"Curious, how it works? Barou scored a hat-trick this round but Murano only scored two and yet the gap isn't even close." He let that sit a moment. "Let me explain how a number like that actually gets built. It isn't one club writing a check. It's several of them refusing to let go off a player."
Four banners were next to Murano's name.
Manshine City, Chelblue, PXG, and Bastard Munchen.
The 150 million bid didn't shock Murano. In fact he thought it was a very small amount.