Chapter 34

**At This Rate** (このままで, *Kono Mama de*?) is the 34th chapter of Blue Lock manga series.

## Summary

Kuon's past

   A young Kuon shows his schoolmates their football club registration. Now that Kuon and his friends have 11 players, the school allowed them to create their own football club. With that, Kuon and his clubmates are ecstatic. Kuon remarks that with a little push, they can win at the nationals. One of his clubmates laughs at him and tells him that his dream is too high to reach. Kuon says, however, that if they want to play football, they should at least aim at being professionals.

The football club wins the game after another; however, it was only in the beginning. Slowly, some of Kuon's teammates stop attending practice. Then, during matches, some won't get to their proper places. After losing, Kuon asks the team don't they want to win and go to the nationals. His clubmates laugh at him, saying that Kuon's taking football too seriously. Kuon is shocked to hear that, noting that they shared the same dream of going to the nationals before. His clubmates then said that a feeble team like them cannot compete with the other teams that made it to nationals. His clubmates then say that Kuon is too much, making playing football with him no fun. Kuon realizes that, among all of his clubmates, he was the only one seriously playing football. He goes home and sees an envelope at the table. Kuon opens the envelope and sees that it was a letter addressed to him. The letter was an invitation for a player improvement project called Blue Lock. With a new resolve, Kuon vows to win even if he has to do it alone.

Team V vs Team Z

With only 5 minutes left, the score is 4-4. Kuon is in awe of Team Z, managing to catch up with Team V even though they are at a disadvantage. With only 10 players, Team Z is one by one improving their football. However, because of Nagi's sudden awakening, Team Z is struggling to score one more goal. Right now, both Kuon and Kunigami have scored 3 goals with no fouls. On the other hand, Kuon is currently the top-ranking player. With that in mind, Kuon will be the only one to advance if Team Z loses in this match. So, if Kuon just stays in his place doing nothing, he'll be able to survive Blue Lock.

Meanwhile, Zantetsu has the ball. Zantetsu passes to Nagi. Isagi runs toward Nagi, trying to stop him from scoring. Nagi traps the ball with his back. This shocks Isagi, making him unable to react sooner. Isagi remarks that Nagi's skill is out of this world. In an instant, Nagi has left Isagi. Nagi runs until he is in front of Iemon. Team Z desperately yells at Iemon to stop the ball, or everything they've worked hard for will be destroyed.

Suddenly, Kuon pulls Nagi's head. Team Z is shocked. The speaker rings, informing Team V and Team Z that Kuon is handed a red card. Kuon is ejected from the game, and a free direct kick is given to Team V. Isagi is shocked at Kuon and asked him why he did that. Kuon answers, saying that by stopping Nagi, Team Z can still fight. There's only a minute left in the match.

## Chapter Notes

* Kuon's teammates (before Blue Lock) abandoned and gave up on him and football.
* After grabbing Nagi's head, Kuon is given a red card and ejected from the match.
* If Team Z loses, Kunigami will be the only one to advance.
* Because of Kuon's malicious play, Team V is given one free direct kick.
* The score is 4-4, with only one minute left.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

1. Yoichi Isagi
2. Gurimu Igarashi
3. Jingo Raichi
4. Wataru Kuon
5. Gin Gagamaru
6. Asahi Naruhaya
7. Meguru Bachira
8. Rensuke Kunigami
9. Yudai Imamura
10. Hyoma Chigiri
11. Okuhito Iemon
12. Zantetsu Tsurugi
13. Reo Mikage
14. Seishiro Nagi