"YES, YES, YES!"
Mizu screamed in his room, his eyes filling up with tears as he finally once again witnessed his favorite football club, Barcelona, lifting the UCL.
He jumps around his room like a madman. After having to watch those final 2 minutes of extra time, where they held their 1-goal lead against Dortmund after an exciting 4-3 game, was hell!
Mizu hadn't just waited 10 years; he had to watch them go through the darkest moments in the club's history, including the MSN collapse, the Rome nightmare, the Anfield disaster, Messi and Neymar's departure, Bayern's brutal victory, and the semi-final exit to Inter Milan in 2024.
These moments have truly broken him, but no matter, he stayed loyal and was rewarded today.
BANG!-
"QUITE DOWN YOU IDIOT!"
The sudden bang from his upstairs neighbor in his apartment sends him back to reality.
"Ah! Yeah yeah! Shut up!" He quickly replied, wiping the tears from his voice. He finished watching Barca celebrate with the trophy, walking into the kitchen after to grab a glass of milk.
Opening his fridge, he was startled at the scene of an empty fridge with nothing more than a single apple inside.
Checking his wallet, Mizu can only sigh, a 500 yen coin being the only thing inside. Walking out of the house with a smile on his face despite the poor living conditions he's facing, Mizu makes his way to the nearby store, not too far away from his house.
Thinking back to his horrible life, his smile slowly fades, bringing a little sadness. He's never really been rich. Since he was a child, his parents had always struggled to bring food to the table.
He eventually grew up and got a decent-paying job, buying his own apartment and helping his parents out as best he could. Now 22, his life took a shift for the worse, having gotten fired after lashing out at a customer for definitely not the first time, doing it quite often, his boss ended up firing him.
As Mizu walked down the street, lost in thought about both his struggles, he didn't notice the world around him. The sounds of the city blurred into a dull hum, and the weight of his circumstances felt heavier with each step.
Just as he began to reminisce about happier memories, playing football with friends, Barca winning the UCL, an ominous sound cut through the air. A honk echoed sharply, jolting him from his thoughts. Instinctively, Mizu glanced up just in time to see the front of a large truck barreling towards him. How original.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment, the blaring horn ringing in his ears as he stood frozen in shock. He had barely a second to react before the impact sent him flying. Darkness swallowed him whole.
When he managed to open his eyes again, it was dark with a faint white light shining where he seemed to be standing.
At first, Mizu thought he was dreaming. His limbs felt weightless, his body unanchored, as though he were suspended in a vast void. The light ahead flickered, pulsing gently, like the breath of something alive.
"Am I… dead?" His voice echoed, soft and uncertain. The sound didn't bounce back; it just vanished into the emptiness.
A figure began to form out of the light. It wasn't human at first, just a swirling mist, glowing faintly blue. Slowly, it solidified into the shape of a woman, dressed in flowing robes that shimmered like starlight. Her eyes were deep and calm, carrying the kind of silence that made even time itself pause for a moment.
"Mizu Mizuki," the woman's voice echoed gently, like the chime of glass bells underwater. "Your life has come to an end… at least, in your original world."
Mizu blinked, still trying to comprehend everything. "Wait, what? So I'm actually dead?" His voice cracked, half disbelief, half panic. "I died… from a Truck? Isn't that basically how every protagonist dies? Are you serious right now?! I didn't even get to see the Barca parade!"
The woman smiled faintly, almost amused. "Your death was… unremarkable, yes. But your passion burned brighter than most. Even in your final moments, your thoughts lingered on football, not fear."
Mizu rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Well, yeah… football was my life. Even when my own life sucked." His tone softened. "It was the only thing that kept me going."
The woman nodded slowly, extending her hand as streams of white light began spiraling around them. "That passion has not gone unnoticed. You have been chosen."
"Chosen? For what? To… haunt Camp Nou or something?"
Her eyes glowed with sudden intensity. "To save Japanese football."
The air shifted. The once-dark void began to swirl with faint images, stadiums filled with roaring crowds, players clashing under blinding floodlights, the crest of the Japan Football Association glimmering faintly in the distance.
"Wha—hold on! Save Japanese football? I'm just some broke Barca fan, not some football prodigy!"
"That is precisely why," the goddess replied calmly. "You carry not only the love for the sport… but the pain of watching its rise and fall. Japan's future is in peril. The hopes of its football dreams rest upon a single project. Blue Lock."
Mizu's eyes widened. "Blue Lock? Isagi, Bachira, Rin, those guys?!"
She nodded. "Indeed. You know their story, yet what you read was not fiction. It was a glimpse into another reality, one now facing collapse. The Blue Lock project succeeded once… but history has begun to twist. You are to enter this world and realign its fate."
Mizu took a step back, still processing. "So you're sending me to an anime world… to fix football?"
"Yes. You will awaken there as a striker candidate within Blue Lock. However, I shall not send you unprepared."
The goddess raised her hand, and a surge of golden energy surrounded Mizu. He gasped, feeling heat course through his veins. Symbols began to etch themselves across his skin like glowing tattoos before fading beneath the surface.
"You are granted the Neymar Jr. template, his flair, his balance, his dribbling artistry, his creativity on the pitch. His style will live within you. But it is only a template, you must master it, make it your own, and evolve beyond Neymar himself."
Mizu's jaw dropped. "Neymar Jr?!" He looked at his hands, trembling with excitement. "No freaking way. I get to play like Neymar?"
A faint laugh escaped the goddess. "Do not squander it, Mizu Mizuki. Remember, passion alone does not win matches. To save Japan… You must become the world's greatest striker."
The light intensified, his vision blurring into a flurry of blue flames and shining stadium lights.
"Wait! One more thing!" he shouted, voice fading as the light consumed him. "Do I at least get cool hair or—"
Before he could finish, everything went white.
---
To be Continued.