Chapter 43: Goal Achieved, Long-Awaited Blue Skies and White Clouds!
Kira had earned a total of 170 Points from the match against Team Y, and another 30 points from three days of training, bringing his total to exactly 200.
Upgrading Rice Spirit to LV2 required 50 points, and upgrading Total Concentration Breathing to LV2 required another 100. After deducting the points he had spent inside the Practice Space for practice, he previously didn't have enough left to upgrade Thunderclap and Flash.
But after the third match, he finally had enough to raise Thunderclap and Flash to LV3.
Kira immediately upgraded Thunderclap and Flash to LV3, spending 100 points and leaving him with 80.
As an inexplicable surge of power rushed into his body, Thunderclap and Flash strengthened significantly.
This upgrade meant greater range, higher explosive acceleration—
and reduced stamina consumption.
Kira could now activate the skill far more frequently during matches, and he could also attempt shots from much farther out.
Just then, the system chimed again.
[Achievement Unlocked: "Outstanding Midfielder" — First time playing as a midfielder in an official match and securing victory. Competitive Points: +40]
[Achievement Unlocked: "Center of Creation" — First time delivering at least 3 assists to 3 different teammates in an official match while securing victory. Lowest-level skill gains +25% proficiency.]
[Achievement Unlocked: "Trinity" — Accumulate appearances in three major positions during official matches. Daily training Point gains increased, and daily cap raised to 20.]
These newly unlocked achievements gave Kira tremendous benefits—not just raw proficiency and points, but something far more important:
his daily point gain from training had doubled.
This massively accelerated his ability to upgrade and unlock skills.
Originally, Kira planned to maintain only three core skills, but with his daily point limit doubled, he could now realistically train more.
Because of the match, he hadn't fully collected today's points yet, but he already had 120 left—meaning tomorrow he could unlock a new skill.
But right now, none of that was the most important thing.
He had finally accumulated ten goals.
That meant he could redeem a pass to go outside—
and tomorrow, he was meeting Riko.
Kira made his way to the cafeteria to redeem the "Outside Access Pass."
It was just an ordinary-looking card, nothing special except for one printed line:
"When you need to exit, go to the main gate of Building Five. The gate will unlock automatically."
In the original story, no one ever redeemed this privilege.
Partly because no one needed it—
but mainly because almost no one could even reach ten goals so early.
In the original timeline, only Shoei Barou managed it in the first selection.
But Kira had already scored thirteen goals in just three matches, along with multiple assists and steals—
far surpassing Barou.
...
Outside Blue Lock, at the Itoshi residence.
Sae Itoshi sat in front of his desk, idly watching the Blue Lock footage the Football Association president had sent him.
At first, he had some interest in the project, but from what he had seen, these so-called "elite future forwards of Japan" were nothing but worthless garbage—
including his own younger brother.
There wasn't a single match worth watching.
"Trash."
"No technique."
"Wasting opportunities."
To Sae, every player he saw was simply a disappointment.
Expressionless, he skipped through the footage rapidly—
pausing only once.
"Ryusei Shidou, huh… Barely worth remembering, I suppose."
His brow twitched slightly before he resumed skimming through the remaining clips.
A player's quality could be seen in a single moment—
even a single frame was enough.
But then Sae suddenly pressed pause again.
His eyes narrowed.
Someone had caught his full attention.
Ryosuke Kira.
He replayed a certain scene carefully—
the moment Kira faced Barou head-on and executed a left-footed Thunderclap and Flash shot.
"His dominant foot is the right… yet he produced a shot that strong with his left. Interesting. Ryosuke Kira, huh? So there is someone like that in Blue Lock. I didn't notice him earlier."
Sae muttered to himself, then dialed his agent.
"Send me more footage. Everything you can find on Ryosuke Kira."
He spoke with absolute authority.
...
The next morning, Kira woke up early. After completing his morning training, he successfully obtained the full 20 points for the day.
Not only had the cap increased—
the efficiency of earning points through training had improved dramatically.
After chatting with his teammates briefly, he made his way toward the entrance of his building.
Normally, the massive doors were sealed tight—
impossible to open for anyone.
Blue Lock was, after all, a prison for strikers.
But as soon as Kira approached, a large screen above the gate lit up, projecting the face of Ego.
"Although I created this reward, I didn't expect someone to achieve it so soon."
Ego examined him silently for a few seconds before continuing:
"You may leave for twenty-four hours, starting the moment you exit this building. If you fail to return on time, your qualification is revoked. It's currently around noon—your outside time ends at noon tomorrow. Travel expenses will be reimbursed. If you have no questions, scan your card."
"Got it."
Kira nodded lightly. He didn't bother asking anything else.
He simply tapped the pass against the scanner.
With a heavy mechanical rumble, the massive gate began to open.
What greeted him was a sky of brilliant blue, clouds drifting lazily across it, and warm sunlight spilling across the open world.
A cool breeze brushed against his face.
For more than half a month, he hadn't seen the sky.
Living inside an enclosed facility the entire time—
"long-awaited" wasn't an exaggeration at all.
"Finally… I can leave this hellhole for a while. I shouldn't waste a single minute."
Kira sent Riko a message telling her he had successfully left Blue Lock.
Then he stretched his arms, relaxed his shoulders…
And flagged down a taxi to head straight for Seirin High School.
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〔TL〕
Every 100 powerstones = 2 bonus ch.
Every 2 review after 100 ps = 1 bonus ch.