Well, it was fortunate that the consequence wasn’t that bad. While being the villain suck, at least they were not disqualified or fined directly by the organizer. Well, if anything, some of the boys were truly excited at the idea of them being the villain here.

"I mean, don’t you feel some sort of satisfaction when everyone doubts you and you just shut them up with your performance?" Kenji grinned widely.

"Well, yeah, until they become the loudest one to cheer when you are down, and that’s when you know that things are not as good as you thought." Makino snorted in a not-so-amused manner.

Fortunately, this matter was done in a second, and no one really minded Kumiko’s reckless action. They also knew her grievance, so this was also their way to support the girl who had been lifting the team so far to reach this point.

Soon, they left the stadium together, and with their game finished, the other games also started outside. This stadium—Mitsuzawa Football Stadium—was just the venue for the opening, but in reality, most of the games were played outside. After all, while Yokohama only had two decent stadiums for a professional game, for this level, they still had a ton to use.

Hell, just right now, there were seven other games played, spread all across the city. Two were played in the football complex around the same stadium Hakodate Nishi played, while the rest of them, and while the rest were being held in the pitches around the Nissin Stadium, not too far from the downtown side of Yokohama.

At least, there would be eight games to be played today, with the other eight games to be played the next day. Unlike the opening day, though, since some of the games were played simultaneously, not many spectators would come, so the intensity wasn’t that high.

This was just the nature of the first round, being used to weed out all the weakest prefectures from this tournament quickly. The real fun should start in the third round, where only eight teams are left in the tournament. That was when all the powerhouse schools were fighting against each other, fighting for the honor of the badge against their biggest rival in the country.

However, that was still a little bit too far for Hakodate Nishi. No, after winning the first game, their focus should be on the second round of the game first, the one that would be held in the next four days. As for their opponent...

"Shohei High from Saitama... They have just beaten Sano Nichidai from Tochigi with the final score of 7-1, a total blowout..." Kumiko furrowed her brows deeply.

It was the night after everything was over, and right now, all of them were already back in the hotel. Some of the players were already falling asleep from fatigue, while the others were still strolling around and even playing some games to relieve stress. At least, after they got the first win of the tournament, they seemed to be quite relaxed, even joking and laughing at each other nonchalantly.

As for Kumiko, after making a quick call with her mother to give an update on what was going on, she put her focus back on the tournament immediately, especially the second round that would be played soon.She entered the tournament’s website immediately, just to find out that the official bracket had been updated by the organizer.

"Shohei High... They are ranked lower than Toin Gakuen by the Daily Sports, ranked 10th of the tournament. In the last Inter-High tournament, they got knocked out in the second round, which people said was due to their inexperienced members. However, they are the best team in Saitama, the prefecture that has at least 7 different national tournament winners in history, so there is no way they would be a weak team. No, no Saitama team in the National Tournament is weak, I have to remember that..." She muttered to herself.

Even though Kumiko despised the Daily Sports for dissing her just because she was a little girl, she still acknowledged that most of the reports that the outlet published were useful. At least, this gave her an idea of what to expect, and even though she still needed to verify the details, at least, the first job was done here.

"Still, to trash the first opponent 7-1... Even if it is coming from Tochigi, it is still a bit too much, right?" Kumiko sighed, leaning her body back against the chair while also sipping the hot coffee in her mug. "Oh, well... Sano Nichidai indeed cannot hold their own ground against Shohei. According to the Daily Sports, they are the 29th team in this tournament, and they are deemed to be the first-round exit like us, so their defeat is not a surprise here."

However, if there was one thing bothering her mind, it would be the scoresheet, especially one name that constantly appeared there.

"Hiroki Kawabe from Saitama, the lightning flash himself..." Kumiko muttered solemnly. "The member of Japan Youth U-17 when he was just 15 years old, infamous for his speed. If not for football, he would be a national 100-meter sprint athlete right now. Not only that, but he also has delicate feet and a good instinct toward the goal, which can be shown in this scoresheet..."

Indeed, in the scoresheet against Sano Nichidai High from Tochigi, Hiroki Kawabe was somehow involved in every one of the seven goals the team scored. He put the ball on the back of the net twice and assisted his teammates five times in a row, giving him a glaring lead in the top-assister award in this tournament.

"Facing him, Denki-kun will definitely be overwhelmed..." Kumiko frowned. "No, he alone is not enough. Ishinori-kun’s help defense will play a huge role in that game. However—Wait, what?!"

The girl suddenly had her eyes widen in shock as she caught one last piece of information that had slipped through her eyes before. This one was quite massive, and yet, she didn’t know how she missed this in the first place.

Hiroki Kawabe, Shohei High’s left winger, is the second-best player in Japan right now according to the JFA’s top 100 players list.