Blue Arbiter — Blue Lock Apocrypha: The Final Boss's Creed - Designer of the Iron Chain

Rain was falling. The sound of it striking the windowpane continued in a steady, rhythmic patter—*za-a, za-a*. Off the coast of Chiba. The night sea revealed nothing. Only absolute blackness, so complete that the existence of the island itself seemed doubtful. Termina Island. Forty minutes by dedicated ferry from the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. Twelve kilometers from the mainland, on that artificial island, Serinas Kai stood. The top floor of a seven-story facility. Colloquially known as "Glass Cage." The walls were entirely glass. Outside was nothing but darkness and rain. But inside was different. A 120-inch monitor dominated the wall, displaying camera feeds. Sixty-four cameras. Every floor of the facility. Every movement of every person could be seen from here. Kai sat before it. White shirt, black slacks. Nothing unnecessary adorned his frame. Height: 170 centimeters. Slender, but without a trace of excess flesh. Short black hair with a slight wave. Deep brown eyes reflected the monitor's glow—cold eyes. Eyes that revealed nothing. The sound of keyboard keys mixed with the rain. On the screens, a match continued. Vortex—the all-weather soccer court at the facility's center. Natural grass darkened by rain. Eighteen-year-olds ran through mud. Someone shouted. Someone dragged a leg. Kai watched. His expression did not change. He simply watched. On the desk's edge lay a tablet. Numbers and names lined its screen. Data expelled by the evaluation algorithm "Judgment." Technical score, decision-making index, mental coefficient, growth curve. Everything reduced to numbers. The program Kai had designed automatically scored each player continuously. A counter appeared in the screen's corner. 【Current Candidate Count: 182】 There had been 300 at the start. One year since project launch. Now 182. Where had the remaining 118 gone? The answer was simple. They had been eliminated. The match ended. A whistle sounded through the monitor. Players bent at the knees, breathing heavily. One looked skyward. Another cradled his head. New data arrived on the tablet. 【Today's Elimination Candidates: 3 Confirmed】 Three names. Kai glanced at them for a moment, then picked up a pen. He did not read carefully. He did not deliberate. He simply signed and set the list aside. The door opened. A staff member entered, collected the list, and left. Less than thirty seconds had passed. On the monitor, what came next began. A staff member in the role of referee approached the three players. Said something to them. The audio did not reach this room, but the image alone made it clear. The first player ran toward a wall. Then drove his fist into it. Again and again. Pounding the wall repeatedly. The second dropped to his knees. Motionless. Simply kneeling, staring at something beyond the frame. Eyes that saw nothing. The third was shouting. Saying something to the staff member. His lips were readable. "Why." "Why me." The same words repeated over and over. Kai watched. The Iron Chain Clause. Words written in the contract every candidate signed on entry day. Upon elimination, permanent disqualification from representative selection in all categories under the Japan Football Association's jurisdiction. The path to professional soccer closed. The path to the national team closed. Everything sealed. Lose here, and your soccer life ends. That was Blue Lock's rule. Eighteen-year-old children had come here knowing this. Had signed knowing this. Kai's eyes narrowed. The feed switched to the three eliminated candidates being escorted to "Exit" on the basement level. Gray corridor. Fluorescent lights. The players' backs disappeared beyond the elevator doors. From there, time stretched. Kai began his night surveillance routine. Switching monitor channels in sequence. Confirming each floor of the facility in order. Sixth floor of the residential block "Cellblock." A player stood against the wall, juggling a ball. Past lights-out time, and he did not stop. Each time the ball fell, he retrieved it and began again. Repeating. The cafeteria. Nutritionally managed meals arranged in rows. A player ranked D had restricted menu options. One sat at a tray-laden table. Eyes meeting no one's. Eating in silence. Empty seats beside him. Empty seats across. It made no difference. He remained alone. Third floor of "Forge," the recovery facility. Someone submerged in an ice bath. Shoulders deep in cold water, teeth clenched. Ankle slightly swollen. Still he did not emerge. He continued. Outside the window lay only the night sea. No mainland visible. No signal reached here. The candidates who had their mobile phones confiscated on entry day had no means of external contact. Could not reach family. Could not speak to friends. Could not tell anyone what happened here. Kai observed it all as data. ……Or so it appeared. Deep night came. All staff had left. Only Kai remained in Glass Cage. Only the sound of rain. Kai did not move from before the monitor. His left hand rested on his left knee. A gesture above white shirt, above black slacks, gently pressing the knee. Unconscious. He did not notice it himself. On rainy days, it ached. Seven years ago. He had been an ace striker for "Fortis Sagamihara," a J2 League club. A promotion playoff match. Ten minutes remaining. Collision with an opposing player in front of goal. When he fell, a sound came from his left knee. A strange sound. Anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, both torn simultaneously. Two surgeries. Months of rehabilitation. But he could not return. The doctor had said it: competitive return is impossible. He was twenty-one. Kai rarely thought of those days now. There was no point. It was finished. Unchangeable. So he did not think of it. ……But on rainy nights, it ached a little. One monitor caught his eye. Vortex court. The match was over, everyone should have left. But one remained. One of the players just told of elimination. At the court's edge, beside the goalpost, sitting with knees drawn up. Crying. No sound reached here, but his shoulders trembled visibly. Rain fell, yet he remained outside. Soaked through, unable to move from that spot. Kai watched that image. For a long time, he watched. Slowly, his right hand moved toward the monitor. He reached toward the screen. Five centimeters before contact, he stopped. His hand hung suspended in air. For several seconds, it remained. Then, slowly, it returned to his lap. Kai's eyes moved forward again. His expression returned to blankness. Only the rain sounded. The desk's communication terminal rang. A night security staff member. Kai picked up the handset. "Report. One of the candidates has breached the restricted area. Currently confirming position at the seventh-floor elevator." Kai did not move. Seventh floor. The top level where Glass Cage stood. Entry was forbidden to all but Kai and staff. This had been explained to everyone on the first day. The contract stated that violation could result in immediate disqualification. "How should we proceed?" A breath passed. Kai spoke one word into the handset. "Let him through." He cut the connection. He set the handset on the desk. He did not rise from his chair. He simply faced forward. ……He did not understand why he had said it. If punishment was intended, he could have turned the candidate away. If rules were to be followed, disqualification was the answer. "Let him through" was neither option. Kai possessed no answer for this. The sound of the elevator moving came from the corridor. A machine's low hum. Rising slowly. Rain struck the window. On the monitor, that player still sat at the court's edge, knees drawn, rain-soaked and motionless. The elevator stopped. The doors opened. Kai did not turn. He simply listened. Footsteps in the corridor. Fast. Breathing ragged. He had run. The footsteps reached Glass Cage's entrance and stopped. "……" Kai slowly rotated his chair. A young man stood in the doorway. Still in uniform. Mud clung to it. Rain soaked it. Breathing hard through his mouth. His eyes were serious. Angry, perhaps. Frightened, perhaps. Something else entirely. Kai could not discern which. The young man's face—Kai did not yet know it. One of the 182 candidates displayed on the monitors. Someone who had breached restricted areas to reach the seventh floor. Someone. Kai regarded that face without expression. Only the rain continued. How he would explain this night later, he did not know. How he would justify saying "let him through," he did not know. But one thing was certain. Seven years to design it. The blueprint for a perfect iron chain named Blue Lock. There should have been no gaps. Select 300, make them compete, eliminate them, and have the survivors become the world's greatest strikers. That was the system. Tonight, the first crack appeared in that blueprint. Kai did not realize it. Not yet.

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Episode 1

Name: Blue Arbiter — Blue Lock Apocrypha: The Final Boss's Creed
Author: Novelia

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