Blue Arbiter — Blue Lock Apocrypha: The Final Boss's Creed - Midnight Forge

He couldn't sleep. Fuyushima Ren lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Beyond the window, there was only ocean. The sound of waves drifted in faintly. The characters he'd seen in the old database yesterday still glowed in his mind. Anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus damage. Competition return impossible. That man's knee had been destroyed too. Fuyushima Ren sat up. He looked at the room's terminal. It was just past 2 AM. The hallway lights were already off. (There's no way I can sleep.) He stood. --- Second floor of Forge. The electronic lock to the video analysis room opened with the same technique as the network backdoor he'd found on his first day. He typed the code. The lamp turned green. The hallway was dark. Only his footsteps echoed quietly. Thirty booths lined the analysis room. All of them dark. ——Except one. The booth in the back. Only that one had white light on. Fuyushima stopped. He peered from behind a partition. Someone was there. Black short hair. White shirt. It was Serinas Kai. Match footage of candidates played on the monitor. Pause, rewind, play again. He was repeatedly checking a specific player's turning motion. With a red pen in hand, he was writing something on paper. Fuyushima's eyes were drawn to the screen. There was a red circle marking the angle of the knee at the moment of landing. Beside it, something was written in small letters. Too far to read. But he could make out that multiple player names were listed. It didn't take long to realize it was a corrective training menu. Kai was doing this work alone, in the dead of night, without telling anyone—preventing injuries to the players. (Why……) The record Fuyushima had seen yesterday overlapped in his mind. Seven years ago, contact with an opponent had destroyed his knee. At twenty-one, his competitive career had ended. He never returned to the field again. Was that why he was trying to prevent other players from having the same place destroyed? The words Kai had spoken in the glass cage echoed in the back of his ears. "A blade that can't cut is discarded." And yet, with that same mouth, he was alone in the dead of night, eliminating injury risks for the players. Anger wavered. The anger that had been burning steadily wavered, just slightly. Fuyushima stepped out from behind the partition. Kai's hand stopped. Just for a moment. A faint tremor ran through him—different from the complete expressionlessness in the glass cage. But it vanished quickly. "……What do you want" He spoke without taking his eyes from the monitor. "You're putting together menus for the players" Fuyushima approached slowly. He could see the paper in Kai's hand. Multiple player names, and corrected training values. Reduce weight load by 15%, increase agility ratio, it said. "Data optimization. Merely adjustments to increase player operational efficiency" "Don't lie" Kai looked up for the first time. Deep brown eyes met Fuyushima's. They were cold. But something was different from yesterday. "Your knee got destroyed, so you're making sure the same thing doesn't happen to anyone else" The moment the words left his mouth, something close to regret came. He had a premonition that saying this would break something. But he couldn't take it back. Kai didn't answer. "Is my name on that list" Kai slowly turned his eyes back to the paper. He began moving the red pen. "You're sticking your nose into things that don't concern you. Focus on the next match" With only that, he folded the file and stood. His movement was like cutting off the conversation with his back. Fuyushima tried to say something. But the words wouldn't come. Kai left the room. His footsteps faded down the hallway. Fuyushima remained where he was. A single sheet of paper lay on the desk. Something Kai had left behind without noticing. Fuyushima approached. He looked at the paper. The corrective training menu list. Several player names lined up. Among them was his own name. Fuyushima Ren——Rapid turning trajectory while maintaining low body axis. Agility pattern that suppresses knee load. For a while, he stared at that paper. He put it in his pocket. --- The next day, tension flowed through Vortex from morning. The selection mini-game was 3v3 format. When Fuyushima saw the rank draw results, his face stiffened slightly. His opponents were all top-tier S-rank players. The Iris System——a wearable sensor and AI-linked camera system that measured player position, speed, heart rate, and muscle load in real time——was constantly updating everyone's data. On the glass cage monitors, Kai was surely watching those numbers with an expressionless face. Three minutes into the match, one of his teammates cramped. It became effectively 2v3. When the first half ended, it was 0-3. Even on the court, he could tell that the performance numbers Iris had calculated were approaching the elimination threshold. It came through as a physical sensation. At this rate, it would end. (……Stay calm.) Fuyushima took a deep breath. He remembered the paper he'd put in his pocket last night. He'd read it repeatedly on the way back. Keep the body axis low while turning quickly. Agility pattern that suppresses knee load. The second half began. The stronger players applied pressure. If he moved normally, he'd be crushed. But his body remembered last night's movements. Lower the axis. Change direction while keeping the center of gravity stable. He moved more smoothly than he expected. "——" The opponent froze for a moment. He'd broken their prediction. He pushed forward. Shot. It went in. 1-3. As time passed, his body grew accustomed to the movement. His knee didn't hurt. No unnecessary load was being applied. He used the same pattern again to break through. He passed. His teammate pushed it in. 2-3. One minute remaining. Fuyushima's breathing was ragged. His legs felt heavy. Still, he moved. He broke down from the corner. In the final moment, his body maintained a low trajectory as he executed a quick turn. Assist. Tied. The final whistle blew. A draw. The surrounding candidates had gone quiet. Against three S-rankers, he'd come back from 2v3. That fact fell heavily onto Vortex's court. Fuyushima placed his hand on his knee. Rough breathing. But it wasn't broken. It was moving properly. (Why……did that menu work) The characters from Kai's paper last night surfaced. That pattern had been designed by Kai specifically for his body. --- Seventh floor, glass cage. Kai was watching the monitors. The match had ended, and the numbers updated. Fuyushima Ren's performance numbers had exceeded the elimination threshold. Kai confirmed those numbers. He watched the second-half footage. That turning motion. Low body axis. Trajectory change that removed unnecessary knee load. Exactly the pattern he'd written on last night's list. (He saw the paper I left behind. He used it.) The moment he understood this, Kai's mouth moved ever so slightly. Not quite a smile. But something loosened just a little. When the staff member beside him turned around, Kai was already back to his expressionless state. He immediately lowered his eyes to the desk and opened Fuyushima's data file. He added to the record. The candidate with the most corrective injury-prevention menus written for him. That file alone was thicker than the others. Kai moved only his hand, his face showing nothing. --- Deep night. When the facility had fallen silent, the encrypted communication terminal on Kai's desk glowed. Kai opened the terminal. He saw the sender display. N.C. LIAISON——Nexus Consortium liaison. Not the quarterly report meeting. He'd never received an email at this hour before. He entered the decryption passcode. The email body was short. 'Request transition to second-phase evaluation protocol. Details to be sent within 72 hours. Approval confirmation required.' That was all. Kai didn't close the email. He kept staring at the screen. Second-phase evaluation protocol. Kai already understood what those words meant. Nexus was moving Blue Lock to the next stage. Beyond the pretense of sports development, toward the true purpose. The balance he'd maintained until now was beginning to crumble. Kai's expression changed for the first time tonight. Not the expressionlessness from before, not the coldness he'd used to push Fuyushima away, not the moment of slight softening across the monitors. It was the face of a human being being crushed by something. Slowly, he placed his hand on his left knee. Over the white shirt, unconsciously. The night ocean stretched beyond the window. Silent. The lights of the mainland twelve kilometers away were invisible. The candidates were sleeping. No one knew what was happening here tonight. Kai's eyes didn't leave the terminal screen. Seventy-two hours.

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 3

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

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt