Kei sat on the bench drenched in sweat but not from exhaustion.His mind was racing.He watched the field like a sniper through a scope
The opposing team had changed something subtle again.It wasn't their formation or their tempo.It was in their intentions
They weren't trying to win anymore
They were trying to crack the code
Kei stood slowly wiping his face with his sleeve.He glanced at Amano
"Put me back in"
Amano looked at him startled
"It's only been six minutes"
Kei didn't repeat himself
Something shifted in his voice that made Amano go silent
When Kei returned to the pitch the game tilted again like gravity had changed
He didn't touch the ball right away
He didn't need to
His presence forced adjustments
But it wasn't enough
Because the code was almost cracked
The opposing captain wasn't barking commands anymore.He was watching
Watching Kei
Kei made one fake run down the center and the entire midfield followed
The trap worked but only half
Because now they were adapting mid-failure
He'd never seen anything like it
By the 73rd minute it wasn't football anymore
It was programming
Kei paused mid-possession and looked to the sideline
Then he kicked the ball out on purpose
Amano stood
"What the hell was that"
Kei walked over breathing hard
"They're not trying to win"
"They're trying to steal our blueprint"
Amano's eyes widened
"And they're almost done"
The whistle blew again but this time it wasn't for the restart
It was for a substitution
Kei was coming off again
He didn't argue
He knew the next phase was no longer about just skill
It was about memory
Who could forget what they were taught fast enough to change the game
And Kei
He was ready to erase everything
Chapter 78 is now added with no dashes and your preferred paragraph style. Ready for the next one?