Ego's face appeared on the jumbotron before them "The guys you're sharing your rooms with are both your roommates and rivals who will help you improve." his words set the mood as the air felt, tense and competitive. As they all turned to eye up their opponents while focusing on what else he had to say.

"your abilities have been quantified and ranked by me according to my arbitrary and biased decision-making that's what the numbers on your uniforms represent." Looking down to his shoulder Akira's eyes widened at his number, 240 which was rather low by his standards.

"huh. It's kind of low. The highest-ranked player in this room is...Akira." Nagi complained ranked 251 overall while Reo had just been one above him at 250.

"Your rank can change based on the results of your training or matches, and the top five players will unconditionally get to play in the tournament being held six months from now. They'll be registered as forwards for the U-20 World Cup." Ego explained further.

"Are you serious?" Reo muttered under his breath, eyes gleaming at the thought of playing for Japan. One step closer to his dream, of winning the World Cup and the thought of doing it with Akira and Nagi made it all the more enticing. 

"Additionally, anyone who loses at Blue Lock...will never get to play for Japan." The harsh slap of reality finally kicked into those in room V, their careers were at stake. They had to win, it was a non-negotiable. Akira silently wondered if Ego enjoyed this, crushing people's dreams though he doubted he would ever find the guts to ask him.

"What you need to gain here is ego, I'll be testing you now to measure that. So it's time to play tag." With that, the ceiling opened to release a ball, the whole room stood stiff with anticipation as they tried to predict the next twist.

"You have 136 seconds, whoever's struck by the ball is 'it' whoever's 'it' the moment time runs out will be locked off. Also, no using your hands." With that Ego dissipated from the screen making way for an emoticon of Nameoka Ryo rank 252, he was it.

As the time began to tick down Nameoka stood with the ball at his feet, "I'm 'it'?" he mumbled looking around the room as the rest of the room distanced themselves from him. "This is awesome" Reo mused as he tied his hair up "If you make it to the last five, you're in the U-20 squad? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance" He was right this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but Akira recognised that to get it they were going to have to fight tooth and nail to get it. Something everyone in the room seemed to be painfully aware of.

"Oh, my. Spoken like the main character." Nagi joked flatly as he waited for Nameoka to play the ball "Idiots, you three are gonna lose and go straight home! Ah, damn it!" the teen fired directly at the trio who expertly dodged the shot with ease, Nameoka Ryo had made his intentions clear.

"I'll kick one of you out and rip apart the 'genius trio'"! he yelled as he went to retrieve the ball, hell-bent on making sure one of Hakuho High's players went home first. "Give it your best shot!" Reo egged on sticking his tongue out, only enraging the teen more. "Hey, Reo. Is it okay to lose on purpose?" Nagi asked looking at his friend who was enjoying himself while the other stood quiet and observed.

"Against these guys? That's bound to be harder" the amethyst-eyed boy said looking towards the two, it was clear what he thought of everyone else in the room excluding his treasures. They were beneath them, and the three of them would prove that from today onwards.

"Right you're dead" Nameoka said his body now running on pure unbridled rage as he moved to take another shot at the genius trio. But stopped when the glasses-wearing boy from before snapped the ball off him at explosive speeds, 

"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the ahead one!" he said the ball now in his possession leaving Nameoka speechless."What? And you mean the 'honoured one.'" Reo corrected as he watched in amazement, Akira too who had been silent up until this point couldn't help but snigger at Tsurugi Zantetsu's next word "Sorry, but I win, audience people" Akira was amazed, was he not listening to a word Ego said? 

"The one who's 'it' loses" Nameoka yelled and for the first time the curly-haired boy found himself agreeing with him. "What? I-Is that so? Uh, yes, right. I knew that." the boy muttered to which Reo could only laugh.

"He doesn't get the rules!" the purple-haired boy said pointing to the teen as if he were an exhibit in a zoo, laughing at him while his arms were slung over Akira and Nagi's shoulders. "What an idiot! A natural monument-level idiot!" the Mikage boy continued to laugh at the teen's lack of comprehension of the rules."

So he's a know-it-all who loves to use big words? Yeah, he's an idiot." Nagi concurred as the three stood there and watched as Tsurugi got more irate by the second, the white and purple haired boy's words rattling him.

"Those who call others idiots...they're the real idiots!" He screamed as he raced after the trio, "Uh-oh. He's pissed." Nagi said as the three made a break for it, in hopes of outrunning the pissed-off teen behind them. "você acha?!" Akira laughed slightly amused at their current predicament. 

"The bow that bears the most...hangs the lowest!" with that the glasses teen fired directly at them. "I think you mean 'bough'" Reo corrected once again as he dodged with ease, Akira doing the same "I was aiming for him" Zantetsu said smugly as the room watched the ball hit Nagi in the face, flopping onto the floor at the impact.

"Nice shot! The idiot hit the bullseye!" Nameoka Ryo laughed happy at the sight before him, "Hey! Don't call me an idiot!" Zantetsu yelled back as the two spurred into an argument but stopped once Nagi picked himself off the floor. "You're not bad, Tsurugi Zantetsu, so I'm 'it' huh? Man, what a hassle"

"Nagi" Akira said mildly concerned at the murderous aura that now surrounded his friend, "So you're finally getting into gear" Nameoka said as he watched in anticipation awaiting the white-haired boy's next play. "Don't call me an idiot again?" the glasses boy said matter of factly as he watched with arms crossed, "I can pick anyone, right, Reo?" the whole room froze as they waited for Nagi to play the ball, the tension so thick you could cut it with a cold butter knife.

"Then, I'll do nothing, I'll lose and go home." The lazy teen said as he left the ball and dragged himself to a seat against the far wall, much to the confusion of his fellow players.

"What's with this guy?"

"He's so over it."

"This boy giving me headaches, Akira let's do this" Reo huffed as he picked up the ball, Akira following behind him as the two worked together seamlessly to herd the other players in the room, giving them the best chance of hitting someone. "Yeah, I knew you'd do that, Reo. You guys take care of the rest." Nagi said matter-of-factly knowing all too well neither one of his friends would allow him to go out so early.

"Run!"

"Yo, don't clump together!"

The players scrambled as they were all backed into a corner with Reo on one side and Akira covering them off on the other, leaving them no way out. Firing the ball at the wall and missing and having it ricochet back to him, his miss luring them into a false sense of security. Reo's plan had worked perfectly they were trapped, with no escape in sight they just hadn't realised it yet.

"Hell yeah!"

"He's getting desperate"

"Yap all you want, you're all in one place by design" Akira almost felt bad as he watched them run from the rebound unaware that the moment they ran Reo would fire it back at them a hit one of them. And he was correct, the ball nailed itself into the face of Tsurugi Zantetsu knocking the glasses off his face. 

"That's Reo and Akira for you, nicely done," Nagi muttered from the sideline as he watched his two friends control the flow of the game, though he did wonder while Akira had yet to fully engage in the play, why he was restraining himself.

"It's you again, idiot" Nameoka yelled feeling the need to spell it out for the poor guy, who seemed to use his rage as a source of motivation. Sprinting at top speeds Akira watched as the group scattered, and fled running for their lives and praying they weren't struck with the ball. Though Tsurugi's next move did confuse the curly-haired boy, he was aiming at the wall.

Shit, the deflection was coming straight towards Reo with six seconds left of the clock, in a split-second decision, Akira shoved him out of the way. Intercepting the ball, though it seemed like Nagi had the same idea as they both had the same idea. 

"If Reo or Akira go home, I'm in trouble. You two promised, remember?"

"não se preocupe, Reo. You no go home, we make sure of it"

As the final seconds ticked away the two fired the ball towards an unsuspecting Nameoka Ryo, after the intended target Tsurugi Zantetsu jumped out of the way, as the final play of the 136 seconds. The ball was like a bullet with the combined strength of both Nagi and Akira put into it, there was no chance of stopping it, sealing Nameoka's fate indefinitely as the impact knocked him to the floor unconscious.

"Aw, man. That means I can't go home yet"

"Ha! Good job Nagi"

"Thanks, Akira you too"

As the two congratulated each other the Megatron flashed red with Nameoka's emote and 'lose' in bold letters. He was quickly dragged out of the room, and in that moment Reo couldn't help but pull Nagi into a chokehold.

"Nagi, you bastard. I know you tried to give yourself an excuse to go home"

"Oh, you could tell? If he dodged that, I could've gone home pretending that I'd tried but Akira got in the way"

Though Reo was slightly angry that Nagi tried to get himself sent home, he was happy that his angel, his sun, his Akira had stopped it from happening. Keeping them together, like he always did, as it was the glue that bonded the trio together. Now while the Mikage boy always had an appreciation for the curly-haired boy, he couldn't help but let that love for him sore to new heights. Akira kept his dream alive and now he couldn't help but feel indebted to him.

"You lazy sloth, my blinding sun, Thank you, Akira, Nagi," the amethyst-eyed boy said ruffling both of the boy's hair. "Huh? For what?" Nagi asked perplexed at why he was thanking them, "Yeah no thanks, Reo" Akira agreed they had just done what any good friend would do, look out for each other. 

"Never mind" Reo said as he continued to bask in this moment with his treasures, unaware that they were being watched by two adults in a nearby command room.

"That was incredible especially the quartet of Ito Akira, Nagi Seishiro, Miage Reo, and Tsurugi Zantetsu, who might be above high school level." Tieri Anri said pleased with the picks that she had chosen to invite to Blue Lock.

"This is just the beginning, a mere admission exam. The true test of survival begins now." Jinpachi Ego said, and his words were true. This was only the first step, there was a long way to go for this so-called genius trio. Though the man wouldn't deny Ito Akira had managed to pique his interest, and he was interested to see what else the boy had to offer. 

"Now time to compete against each other, diamonds in the rough."