Challenge 2

"Ogata." Aoi nodded. 

"Yeah, me. Ogata."

He ignored Ogata and sauntered towards the football field, the area near the goalpost.

Ogata followed him from behind while controlling the ball.

On his back were the curious numerous players following them. Despite not hearing the entire thing, though some managed to, only an idiot would have no idea what was going to happen.

Aoi halted his steps, facing the goalpost outside of the penalty box.

He patiently waited until Ogata faced him a meter away from him and passed him the ball, which he received with a light touch.

He stepped on the ball, giving him an overbearing gaze. 

Ogata tensed, perceiving the aura Aoi was exuding as ominous and oppressive.

He tried to shake it off, but he could not the more he lingered his eyes on Aoi's stare.

"Are you ready?" Aoi asked.

Ogata tilted his head sideways, and when he straightened his neck, his disposition suddenly changed.

Aoi was surprised.

The seemed to be naive Ogata was now locked in, seemingly ready to stop his attempt to dribble past him at any cost.

He was staring at the still ball, but in his vision, Aoi felt like Ogata was seeing different things.

Indeed, Ogata was considering any possibilities of the ball's future movement.

That was how he was always one step ahead of Kaga.

As for how it was because he was hearing things… as if he was hearing the ball's voice.

Even when he stared at Aoi now, he was still hearing the ball's voice, telling him how it would spin, how it would be kicked, the precise location of the body where it would receive a kick from the football player...

Call it strange, but Ogata was already strange enough.

As of now, as Ogata was staring intently at the ball, the ball was providing him with information about the person who was stepping over its body.

It was even telling him the play style of Aoi and how it would possibly play the ball.

'He'll try to dribble past to your left with a feint.'

He believed what he heard from the ball, and thus, when Aoi finally made his move, he already anticipated Aoi's next move.

As Aoi performed a dribble and was about to maneuver around him, Ogata suddenly positioned himself to expect his next move.

He was startled, seemingly grasping Ogata's intention, and was surprised to discover Ogata seemed to have anticipated his next move.

Indeed, he planned, at first, to maneuver around him by performing a feint on the right, and then, with a quick reflex to reposition his body, he would swiftly pass to Ogata's left.

However, Ogata's body was firm and solid, as though it was an immovable mountain similar to other defenders.

He discerned that even if he tried to perform a feint, it would be futile against Ogata's quick reaction and solid stance.

Nevertheless, he still tried.

He wanted to test the grade of his C+ grade dribbling technique.

Of course, he still failed.

When he tried to perform a feint, Ogata countered with a quick kick on the ball, as Ogata quickly slipped past him and caught the ball behind his back.

Aoi just stood there frozen and slowly turned around to see Ogata staring at him in a strange manner.

Aoi observed Ogata's expression and saw his personality was eccentric indeed, and it was difficult to comprehend, too.

He seemed to be acting comically but in a serious manner.

Aoi could not put it in the right way.

As Aoi was scrutinizing Ogata, his ears caught some murmurs from the football players.

"He failed."

"That's natural. That guy… It's just difficult to dribble past, too.

I don't know why, but as a midfielder, I can't see any way to slip past him. He seems to anticipate your next move."

"Right? Right? That guy is dangerous. I don't know where he comes from. But, by the way, why is he acting so strange, though?"

"I heard genius just acted like that."

Aoi casually glanced at them and then focused on Ogata.

Just like they said, Ogata seemed to have anticipated every one of his opponents' next moves.

It was difficult to conquer a defender like that, especially if you were a striker.

Of course, Aoi did not want to step back just like that.

As he was fueling himself with motivation, he suddenly heard murmurs from different sides.

"But, didn't you notice Aoi's dribbling skill was sub-par, to say the least?

How could he lose control of the ball when he just performed a feint?"

"I don't know. Just like you all noticed, Ogata is just powerful. Of course, you will think Aoi is average."

His ego was being stepped on.

As soon as he heard it, he glared at the two football players he could not even remember but then shrugged.

He realized there was no point glaring back at the dogs that only barked.

[Ding! You have shown an Egoistic Thought! You have been rewarded with 1 Ego Point.]

Aoi shrugged.

However, his indifference would be broken quickly as soon as he heard another notification from the system.

[Ding! You have been issued with a mission.

Mission Title: Silence the doubters.

Description: You have been challenged to a 1 versus 1. Go and conquer your opponent to defend your ego.

Reward: 15 Ego Points.

Failure: Deduction of 20 Ego Points.]

Aoi was stunned by the sheer difference between the reward and the failure punishment.

However, he only gave little care to the failure and focused on the reward.

Although he was disheartened not to see rewards, like an increase in physical capabilities grade or technical skills grade, 15 Ego Points was already a massive number.

He was grateful the system gave him a bonus for his actions.

After all, he never considered defeat in the first place, so certainly, failure was not an option.

As he received the ball from Ogata and returned to their respective position, Aoi did not hesitate anymore to spend his Ego Points on his dribbling skills.

He was a bit furious, having his ego being challenged and humiliated.

Hence, it was not surprising…

He spent 16 Ego Points to upgrade his dribbling skills to B grade.

[Dribbling: C+ > B-

8 Ego Points have been deducted.

B- > B

8 Ego Points have been deducted.

Current Ego Points: 15.]

Suddenly, his demeanor took a drastic change.

Ogata's face was painted with surprise when he could not hear the ball's voice compared to before.