Keep The Ball

Only the voice could be heard. Mr. Tachibana seemed to be surprised about the fact that Team 10 had taken the hint from his last announcement so quickly.

"This stage serves to strengthen your team spirit. During the selection, each of you will be assessed and given a new rank within the team. This is a single-player game." The instructions were easy.

Nevan's mind translated his words in his mind. It was his first chance to change his rank and to show that he was anything but a rookie with no experience. Mr. Tachibana had made it clear, his acquaintance with Eiran wouldn't help him here. It wasn't like, he had thought of using it in the first place.

The task had begun too. He had two goals. Show his performance and to analyze his teammates' skills. It seemed simple enough. His gaze wandered to Kento and he noticed the bodybuilder from earlier too. He gave Nevan a swift smile.

"It is simple, really. Keep the ball to yourself." It was in a rather rushed manner. Mr. Tachibana was gone. After his words had been spoken, they lingered in the air.

His teammates looked at each other, cluelessly. Then the top player of their team spoke up. "Idiots. What is so hard to understand about his words?"

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Someone had been offended this quickly?

The attention had shifted to those two rather quickly. And it seemed like, this was enough to break away their focus from the ball that rolled on the field out of nowhere.

Never hesitate. These words echoed through his mind. He was trying his best to make the best of it. To keep improving and keep fighting against his uncertainity.

He moved. And then, he took the ball into his possession.

The giant monitor had turned on. A bell sounded. 'Start!' The words appeared and then an avatar that looked like Nevan.

The seconds began to add up with a small and shallow tik tok. It seemed to get everyone's attention back as fast as it had been lost. Nevan moved around with the ball. He had to keep it to himself, huh?

He noticed the screen. There was a small timer which counted down the minutes localized at the lower left corner. Five minutes. This was all that they had been given to prove themselves.

The ball bounced between his legs as he stayed in motion. He seemed to be the one who was going to be charged by each and everyone. Of course. The precious ball, they needed was with him. Everyone had the same goal, after all. To keep this black and white sphere to themselves. For that, they needed to obtain it first.

"Use 'Nutmeg'." He spoke to himself. Or more to his system. He had only been able to unlock this skill until now but he had kept leveling it up. And what he had noticed was－.

The second 'best' player on his team, Kento grinned at Nevan. As if he wasn't going to attack him to get the ball now.

[Autoplay activated.]

['NUTMEG' activated.]

Autoplay. This was an ability, he had achieved at the level of 10. And he had yet to try it out. It was as if his legs moved on their own. He used the classic nutmeg skill without thinking. Through the legs of the slim guy and circling him quickly to get the ball for himself again.

[Autoplay paused.]

His legs were under his control again. The key to success was to stay in movement so that, he could act quickly to potential dangerous changes. His head moved around, trying to assess each of the ten players' next moves.

This was enough for one person whom he hadn't seen before to sneak into his somewhat defense system and to find an opening. It lead directly to Nevan losing the ball.

Ding. His avatar became smaller and the muscular man's avatar appeared. 3 minutes and 20 seconds to go. Nevan had managed to keep the ball for almost 2 minutes.

"You've got a head start, but I'll catch up to you, greenhorn!" He echoed. Greenhorn? This was new. He had never heard anyone say this to him before. Not in Tokyo.

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[Teamplayer]

Kazuo Hiromi

17 years old.

[Abilities]

Passing accuracy - 67%

1v1 play - 89%

Foresight - 56%

assertiveness - 45%

[Rank in Golden Hive]

394

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Nevan only skimmed it. This was going to be helpful in the future, he noticed. To know when and how he could rely on his teamplayers. And if he was going to rise through the ranks, it will be hard to memorise them all. He was starting to see the advantage of this system. This time, for real.

"As if I am letting you!" Another person yelled. What was this? Battlefield. Actually, this was more like it. Better than the sweet, vacation look they had given earlier.

Nevan recognized this voice. This sentence lacked the mocking sound but it still came off harsh as if daggers were laced to each word.

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[Teamplayer]

Shoei Fujimoto

16 years old.

[Abilities]

Passing accuracy - 89%

1v1 play - 89%

Foresight - 50%

assertiveness - 91%

[Rank in Golden Hive]

385

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Whoever had the ball seemed to be the one everyone went after. It was logical. It almost felt like the person was the sun and his gravity pulled all the others closer to them as if they were planets.

Even though, Nevan had allowed himself to 'lean' back, he held one eye at the screen while the other on the teammates. He really had a head start. And this felt amazing.

Then again, he had no idea what criteria Mr. Tachibana would be using to assess their talent and skills. This meant, he will keep going.

That was how, he ended up sweeping the ball away in the mess and keep it to himself for another twenty seconds which added up to his earlier record.

Nevan could tell that this practice was useful. It not only brought your defensive skills to display but also required you to show your 1v1 abilities. This meant, two of the crucial skills which were needed in a game could be assessed. Only, if you were active. He wouldn't want to try and find out how he will be ranked if he wad passive ever again. He had learned from his past experience. Or so he thought.

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[Teamplayer]

Keijiro Hanami

16 years old.

[Abilities]

Passing accuracy - 52%

1v1 play - 67%

Foresight - 89%

assertiveness - 73%

[Rank in Golden Hive]

389

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The ball was taken away by Keijiro at the last minute. A shrill bell sounded and the game came to an halt.

"Come on!" He yelled, frustrated. This had been his first chance to prove himself. And yet, he had only gotten it at the last minute. "This sucks." He kicked the ball with his full strength against the powerful walls of the field.

It made a sound which was uncomfortable to hear and then bounced onto the ground.

"This was not enough. Five minutes? He got to be kidding us." Many of them seemed to think the same thing.

A calm voice sounded. The bodybuilder. He grinned and shrugged. "Some of us did end up getting their good start. Maybe, we were just not fast enough. We should train more and become better guys! Stop sulking."

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[Teamplayer]

Akimitsu Hagiwara

17 years old.

[Abilities]

Passing accuracy - 93%

1v1 play - 89%

Foresight - 78%

assertiveness - 98%

[Rank in Golden Hive]

387

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Something about his stats got his attention. How come, he was this good and yet at the third position? He should be ranked better than those who were above him in this ranking. Had Mr. Tachibana distributed random ranks?

But now, Akimitsu hadn't played an active part. He had only spoken now to calm his teammates now. And this seemed to work quite well. He had the charisma of a leader. And this seemed to soothe people down.

He looked at the screen which showed their performance. Their avatars were surrounded by a circle now. Or rather his. He had the highest time with 3 minutes. He was the most efficient, by far. This was good. He was satisfied and he was happy, he got to use the system to his advantage.

The display turned dark and only showed a white and bright text now. 'New ranks available in 30 minutes'.

Why did Nevan feel like time was passing faster here? Not that it was a bad thing. This only made him feel like he was actively working on his dream. He had to thank himself in a better way to Eiran. Maybe, by actually making it. What better gift could there be?

Nevan had the attention now. He only noticed it now that he had stopped thinking and was turned to his teammates.

Some of them looked warmly at him while others actually seemed rather displeased by themselves and saw him as their rival already. What could he have said to make the situation a bit better?

"This was rather－" He cut himself off to find the right words. "turbulent."

Akimitsu let out an amused scoff. Then he walked up to him and grinned. "This is an understatement, in my opinion." He held out his hand for Nevan to shake. "I am Akimitsu. Call me Aki, if it helps you memorise it better. And I would like to welcome you in our team."

He shook his hand. True. It wasn't like, they could see his name like he could see theirs.

"I agree." Kento laughed. "Turbulent? This isn't the best way to introduce yourself to yoir new team, Nevan."

Shoei seemed to see this differently. He scoffed but unlike Aki's it was more degrading. He turned his head away and already walked towards the exit. "At least, we know that he is useful and capable of something."