Chapter 8: [8] Legendary Training Camp
That night, after Shinichi fell asleep, his consciousness began to sink deeper and deeper. He had no idea how much time had passed when he suddenly opened his eyes. What greeted him was an endless expanse of pristine white.
[You have entered the Legendary Training Camp]
[You can customize the training camp and freely add training facilities or fields.]
[All training within the Legendary Training Camp will not provide any direct physical attribute feedback but will alter your muscle memory. Please choose your training projects carefully.]
Shinichi took a while to adjust and confirm that he hadn't traveled to another world again but had instead entered a new system feature.
Raising his hand, he summoned the system interface and began to operate it. In an instant, the white space transformed rapidly.
The earthy scent of soil and grass filled his nostrils. The plain white background compressed and reshaped itself like physical matter, forming fluffy clouds that hung in the sky.
In mere moments, the once-empty expanse had transformed into a standard football field.
Shinichi scanned the area to ensure nothing was missing and nodded in satisfaction. "I can't believe I'm actually asleep right now. This level of realism is insane."
To test it further, he pinched his thigh hard. His cells faithfully transmitted the sensation of pain to his brain, but he still felt no inclination to leave the space. "No wonder this is a premium feature. Looks like I don't have to worry about suddenly waking up during training. Well then—"
With a casual wave of his hand, complex yet symmetrical patterns appeared out of thin air, gradually assembling into a magnificent, radiant magic circle.
This was another premium feature of the Legendary Training Camp—arguably the true centerpiece.
It wasn't hard to understand why.
Even though training here didn't enhance physical attributes, if the camp merely allowed skill evaluation and upgrading, there'd be no reason to charge for it or to create a customizable space.
The real function of the Legendary Training Camp was its ability to summon legendary figures who would personally train Shinichi.
During these special training sessions, Shinichi even had the chance to learn the legendary skills or traits of those figures.
As for the summoning mechanism, it was remarkably similar to Fate. By using "relics" as aids, precise summons were possible.
Without relics, the summons would be entirely random. Of course, in this context, "relics" referred to traits.
Since traits were manifestations of one's lifetime achievements, they naturally served as a stronger lure for legendary figures who had accomplished similar feats.
Using traits as summoning catalysts significantly increased the likelihood of summoning a figure with corresponding traits.
However, to accommodate hosts who lacked suitable traits, the system had thoughtfully implemented a lottery feature.
By spending points, Shinichi could acquire temporary traits that served solely as summoning catalysts.
For 100 points, he could perform ten draws, but he could only choose one item from the results as a catalyst for summoning the heroic spirit.
The summoned heroic spirits, once unlocked, could be summoned repeatedly as sparring partners without limitations. However, this would consume the temporary traits used during their initial summoning. On the other hand, if the summoning catalyst was one of Shinichi's inherent traits, it wouldn't be consumed.
"The prices are surprisingly low. Looks like points are far more valuable than I initially thought. Good thing I stumbled upon that bug—at this rate, I've got more than enough points to last me."
Glancing at his balance, Shinichi felt a wave of reassurance. Without hesitation, he executed a ten-draw.
[Ding! Congratulations, you've obtained the following temporary traits]
Gaze of Precision (Purple)
Dexterous Fingers (Gold)
Actor (White)
Mastery of Ear Movement (Blue)
Genius (White)
Sprint (Blue)
Iron Will (White)
Weight Gain from Drinking Water (Blue)
God Tongue (Crimson Gold)
Fragrance (Blue)
...
Shinichi stared at the traits with a strange expression. Not only was there no explanation for the traits, but many of them were incomprehensible just from their names.
And why was Mastery of Ear Movement a blue-tier trait? Isn't that just garbage polluting the pool?
Exhaling deeply, he tried to focus on the positives. At least the system didn't have the audacity to include a "Thank You for Participating" message in the results.
After consoling himself, Shinichi perked up, quickly dismissing the joke traits and the white-tier traits.
His attention focused on one purple, one gold, and the unprecedented crimson gold trait.
Crimson gold—something Shinichi had never encountered before.
When he previously upgraded his Genius trait, even though he only needed one more blue-tier trait to push it into gold, there was no sign of it evolving into crimson gold.
This alone hinted at how rare crimson gold traits truly were.
"Still, I can't let myself be blinded by rarity. High-tier traits aren't always useful. Take God's Tongue, for instance. It's obvious what kind of heroic spirit it would summon, and frankly, it's completely useless to me."
Shinichi reluctantly eliminated the crimson gold trait, the highest rarity he'd encountered so far, and turned his attention to the other two traits.
"Although Dexterous Fingers doesn't seem helpful for soccer at first glance, it's still better than God Tongue. At least it might summon someone with physical talents that could provide useful training..."
"But, in the end, Gaze of Precision is the safer choice. Especially since it involves 'eye' usage, which could be directly applicable to gameplay. Ugh—this is so painful!"
It took all of Shinichi's willpower to let go of the other two traits.
He knew firsthand how significant the boost was with each grade upgrade, having experienced the process of evolving a talent from blue to purple and finally to gold.
But with gritted teeth, he forced himself to select Gaze of Precision (Purple) and used it as the summoning catalyst.
"Still... what if Dexterous Fingers could summon a legendary goalkeeper? That would be a goldmine of soccer-related insights! Or what if Ronaldo secretly possesses God Tongue and is a culinary genius on the side? What if…"
Before Shinichi could spiral further into doubt, the system took control.
A shimmering purple crystal floated into the air, dissolving into the summoning circle.
The formation lit up with a dazzling glow.
When the light dissipated, a bald figure in a regal purple-and-gold uniform stood before him, cradling a basketball and staring at him expressionlessly.
"WTF?! Kobe?!" Shinichi's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had actually summoned the Black Mamba?
But wait—Kobe was a perfect fit for Gaze of Precision, sure, but how could his Gaze of Precision only be a purple-tier trait?
"Your Genius trait already has multiple levels, doesn't it? Why wouldn't other traits have the same variance?" Kobe smirked, reading Shinichi's confusion. "You just got lucky. You managed to summon me, who also has this trait—just a higher-tier version."
It seemed Kobe had entered competitive mode right from the start, trash-talking Shinichi without giving him a chance to respond. "I'm not a mind reader, by the way. It's just that your dumb face gives away every thought in your head. Now stop wasting my time and show me what you've got."
"Uh... I play football…"
"No kidding. I knew that the moment you summoned me," Kobe snapped. "You play football, so use your feet to steal the ball from me! You picked Gaze of Precision, right? That means you want this trait. Here's the deal: I attack, you defend. Keep your eyes locked on me, and if you can stop me from scoring even once, the trait is yours!"
Kobe moved decisively, backing Shinichi down as he prepared to post up.
But as soon as he dribbled, the basketball hit the soft grass of the field, failing to bounce back as expected.
Instead, it rolled lazily away into the distance. Shinichi had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
"Think that's funny?" Kobe's already dark expression turned even stormier. He shouted at Shinichi, "Well, don't just stand there! Change this damn football field already!"
A moment later, the grass was replaced with hardwood flooring.
With everything set, Kobe locked his eyes on Shinichi, holding the ball low in a triple-threat position.
Shinichi instinctively went for a steal with his foot, but Kobe swiftly pulled the ball back and slipped past him, finishing with an elegant up-and-under layup.
"Are you stupid?" Kobe bellowed, glaring at Shinichi. "Falling for such an obvious bait? Your move neither disrupted my rhythm nor blocked my path. Even if you touched the ball, you'd never gain possession with that weak attempt. What's the point of defending like that?"
"Your defense is as weak as some random girl on the street pretending to push away, but really just waiting to get taken advantage of. Do you like getting destroyed by your opponent?!"
"You're really stuck with basic insults, huh? No wonder after all those years in the league, you barely left behind any iconic trash talk," Shinichi shot back. "Guess dropping out of high school means no education, huh?"
Kobe's barrage of insults had pushed Shinichi's patience past its limit.
Despite his respect for the legend, he couldn't hold back anymore.
Gritting his teeth, Shinichi met Kobe's taunts with body contact, slamming into him and biting back with words of his own.
Rather than getting angrier, Kobe's expression changed. For a brief moment, his condescension seemed to fade. "Now you're starting to look like a man."
But just as Shinichi started to process the backhanded compliment, Kobe struck without warning.
Spinning to his side, Kobe drove an elbow into Shinichi's chest with tremendous force, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
Kobe surged toward the hoop, throwing down a thunderous dunk before turning and pointing at Shinichi. "But it's still not enough! When I was six years old, I was already a hundred times tougher than you, kid."
"And if you think that was a foul, I can tone it down—for babies. After all, this is real man-to-man competition. Parental guidance is required for underaged spectators."
"Damn it, you talk too much!" Shinichi growled, slamming the floor in frustration. He rubbed his burning chest, then stood up with renewed determination. "Bring it on!"
...
"I could defend this ball without even using my hands or feet, just by fasting, and yet you still managed to get faked out by me. If you love falling to the ground so much, maybe you should switch careers and take up breakdancing. They've got plenty of floor moves for someone like you."
...
"As a defender, your first job is to stop your opponent from doing what they want. Got it?"
"Only after you've mastered that do you earn the right to think about what you want to do—stealing the ball, counterattacking, whatever."
"Right now, you're not even qualified to think about those things. The only thing you should be focusing on is how to stop me from scoring!"
...
The entire night was a nightmare for Shinichi as Kobe utterly destroyed him.
Trying to defend against basketball with his feet was already ridiculous enough, but it was even worse when the one holding the ball was Kobe Bryant.
It didn't help that this was Shinichi's first time facing an opponent whose physical capabilities were not only equal to but exceeded his own.
And Kobe's ability to exploit his body's full potential was on a completely different level.
On top of that, Kobe's endless arsenal of subtle tricks and relentless trash talk made Shinichi's frustration skyrocket.
However, the night wasn't without its rewards.
At the very least, Shinichi's wish from the end of the first chapter had come true.
In the Blue Lock program, there was now no one who could out-trash-talk him.
Not because his skills had improved so dramatically in one night that he could dominate everyone in Blue Lock.
No, it was because, after spending an entire night trading insults with Kobe, Shinichi's trash-talking had reached a level unmatched by anyone in the program.
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