Do Me A Favor

Aoi breathed heavily, perspiration now emerged from his face.

He could not deny he scored due to luck, even wishing Oka would miss somehow.

He did not even feel wrong about it.

As a result, he received another Ego Point from the system.

His second goal might be similar to his first goal, albeit he had to make a massive sacrifice due to the circumstances having a slight difference.

On his second goal, he was under the watchful gaze of the defender that Kaga had left earlier, so he had to shake him somehow.

Left with no choice, he had to spend his Ego Points on Power, leaving behind the defender as he sprinted towards the ball with the speed many times higher than before.

After all, Power meant Explosive Power, which was the ability to exert maximum force in a short period, useful for jumping, sprinting, and striking the ball.

Of course, his imbalanced grade of Endurance left him exhausted after running at full speed for more than a second.

Since his Power was a D grade, he totally spent his Ego Points – with the remaining one he had just earned after wishing Oka would miss the score.

[Power: D>B-

15 Ego Points have been deducted.]

To upgrade to a B grade, he had to spend eight points, making his heart bleed.

However, he felt it was worth it, at least.

Now, he has five points remaining, and he spent two points to upgrade his Endurance to C+.

It recovered half of his stamina, at least.

'There's still ten or eleven minutes left… I can still score a hat trick.'

Aoi felt numerous gazes and realized his dire circumstances.

The first goal was pure luck, the second was forced luck, and the third… he could not imagine if he could still be able to rely on luck.

However, he had no choice but to create a chance again to attract lady luck towards him.

Staring at the rushing Oka, back at his usual enthusiastic self, he suddenly had a devious idea.

"Aoi!" Oka jumped and hugged him on all fours again. "Thank god you were there! We would not have been able to score without you!"

Aoi remained cool and aloof as he replied in an indifferent tone, "I saw it coming. There's no way you can shoot there with the goalkeeper completely focused on stopping your goal."

Oka nodded eagerly and laughed.

"You are right. If he was wary of you, I might have been able to score. But then again, that remained an if. Ah, btw, did you see it coming?"

Oka tilted his head sideways, feeling like Aoi's two goals were by no means just luck or pure coincidence.

He must have relied on the probability of where the ball would land, as he would suddenly appear where it would roll.

Aoi stared directly into his eyes and then shifted it sideways.

He could not just admit he was wishing for Oka to miss, or it would harm their relationship.

However, he did not forget to give an egoistic reply as he also badly needed Ego Points.

Aoi said, "I just feel the ball where it lands. It's screaming for me to score it. That's it."

[Ding! You have shown Egoistic Behavior! You have been rewarded with two Ego Points!]

Oka was stunned, eyes blinking, and suddenly exploded into the hoot of laughter.

After he was finally pushed away by Aoi out of his embrace, he slowly cooled down and heard him saying, "Oka, do me a favor."

It was not an egoistic behavior, but Aoi did not care.

It was not like the system would deduct his Ego Points.

"What is it?" Oka tilted his head, curious.

Aoi looked at him and smiled.

"Pass me the ball. I want to score a hat trick. Ah, never mind. You have to pass me the ball anyway."

[Ding! You have shown Egoistic Behavior! You have been rewarded with two Ego Points!]

Aoi was not surprised, for it was an egoistic way of asking someone.

After all, he was basically claiming that Oka would have no choice but to pass the ball towards him on the next goal, for he was the only option left.

If Oka could not do it, then Aoi would be able to.

Simple as that.

Although the statements felt entitled and might offend Oka's ego, knowing Oka, Aoi did not even hesitate to try to challenge Oka's superiority in football.

He had just come in the pre-try-out training, participating in the match between the club players out of the blue, and then suddenly demanding for the ball to score, as if he was the best striker on the club – for now, on Oka's team, at least.

If Oka had not been Aoi's best friend, Oka would have directly denied Aoi.

However, Oka had always been fond of Aoi, and so he eagerly nodded his head.

"Sure, sure! I want you to score a hat trick, too! I will help you, Aoi!"

Aoi smiled and glamorously wiped the excess hair on his forehead backward, counting the sweat slithering on his face, distracting him.

He was handsome, no doubt, and even Oka admitted it.

Of course, he also deluded himself that he was way more attractive than Aoi.

He turned his head and saw Izumi in the distance, meeting her gaze.

He grinned in a teasing manner, knowing Izumi had never left her gaze on Aoi.

Unknowingly, his eyes landed on one of Izumi's friends, and it caught her attention.

Izumi's friends seemed to come from other schools as well, and the girl that Oka made his heart skip a beat seemed to come from a different school.

The way she talked, the way she laughed, the way her long hair fluttered every time she moved… her behavior was like the mirror of Oka.

He fell in love at first sight, no doubt.

Not leaving his eyes on the girl, he nudged Aoi with his elbow and whispered in a daze, "Aoi, help me get that girl… I mean, have her heart. I think I have fallen in love."

Aoi turned his head and saw Oka staring at one of Izumi's friends, rolling his eyes.

He grabbed Oka's head and tried to lower it, but Oka could not budge, not wanting to leave his eyes on the girl.

Aoi slapped his back, causing him to grunt in pain, as he said, "Impress her, then. I'll help you afterward."

Oka's eyes sparkled, staring at Aoi as though he was an angel, thanking him from the bottom of his heart.