The players of Matsuyama High School's baseball team were strongly opposed to playing against Seidou High School's second string.
Even Seidou's own players hadn't expected the opponent would be facing off against their second string, let alone the players from Matsuyama High.
But their chubby coach was extrely firm in his stance—he insisted that they play against Seidou's second team.
"If you're upset about it, vent your anger on the field and show everyone what you've got.
Don't end up being beaten by their second string and return like a bunch of dejected stray dogs."
The Matsuyama coach looked to be in his early fifties. He was chubby and pale, giving off a rather harmless, even comical impression.
But despite his appearance, he showed no rcy when talking to his own players.
The Matsuyama players were so fired up by his words that their eyes turned red with frustration. They couldn't wait to get on the field and prove themselves.
On Seidou's side, they were also arranging their lineup. Kuramochi, who had perford very well earlier, was not starting this ti.
However, Rei Takashima had told him to be ready at any ti.
"As long as there's an opportunity, I'll make sure you get on the field!"
The rest of the players, aside from two who were called back, were mostly the original core mbers of the second string.
The two that were called back—one was the first-year Miyuki Kazuya. He had obviously received advance notice and had even done his howork on Matsuyama High.
The other was a third-year batter nad Inoshita Teru.
In Seidou's main team, he was a low-profile bench player.
But in the second string, he was directly assigned as the team's first baseman.
Clearly, Rei Takashima had a lot of trust in his abilities.
Catcher: Miyuki.
First baseman: Inoshita Teru.
Starting pitcher: Kawakami.
It seed Takashima had already carefully planned today's lineup.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Zhou Hao.
Zhou Hao was leisurely sitting in the corner of the second row in the dugout, thinking that even if he had a chance to play today, it would likely be in the later innings.
But just as Zhou Hao was about to relax, he suddenly heard his na.
"Today's batting order—leadoff hitter, Zhou Hao. You'll be defending left field!"
Even though Takashima was very optimistic about Zhou Hao's batting, she still didn't fully trust his defense.
He definitely couldn't handle the infield, but as an outfielder, Zhou Hao was at least competent.
Zhou Hao had excellent vision and could predict where the ball would land ahead of ti.
Even if he wasn't particularly fast, with early movent, he should be able to catch most fly balls.
For an outfielder, just being able to do that was already enough to earn a passing grade.
So, in Takashima's opinion, Zhou Hao was still a solid pick.
Zhou Hao, however, wasn't ntally prepared. He pointed to himself in disbelief. "?"
Even though he had thought before that with his improving performance, he might get promoted…
Wasn't this promotion a bit too fast?
He had just joined the second string—he hadn't even ward the bench yet!
"What, you've got a problem with it?"
"Nope! This is great!"
What opinion could Zhou Hao possibly have?
Getting to play was already enough to make him excited.
And based on what he knew about the system, playing at this mont might earn him so rewards.
The system's rewards were very strict.
Only by eting specific conditions could they be triggered.
Last ti, it activated because it was his first appearance.
After that, even if he got hits, base runs, or scored, the system didn't activate any achievents—let alone rewards.
But this ti, Zhou Hao was starting—and batting first.
If this didn't trigger a mission or give him a reward, that would be unreasonable!
Seeing Zhou Hao sit down excitedly, Takashima nodded to herself and continued arranging the rest of the lineup.
Inoshita Teru would be batting fourth.
Miyuki Kazuya would bat fifth.
Ahead of them in the lineup were the second string's original third and fourth batters.
Now they would hit second and third.
Seidou's second string already had a decent lineup, and with the addition of Miyuki and Inoshita, their strength had clearly risen.
On top of that, with Miyuki's leadership…
Now the entire team finally felt like a proper powerhouse.
Once everyone finished changing into their gear and the two teams exchanged greetings, the ga officially began.
Based on the coin toss result earlier, Seidou would defend first.
After Zhou Hao took the field, no system ssage sounded in his mind—his mood instantly dropped by half.
The system's skills were just too powerful. The reason he was able to shine on the field was largely thanks to the system's help.
Otherwise, based solely on his own abilities, he would probably still be in the third string right now, wasting ti with the rest of his squad.
Starting pitcher Kawakami had been full of fighting spirit lately.
Even when facing one of the top four teams from a neighboring prefecture, he had shown dominant pitching.
Ping!
"Out!"
Ping!
"Out!!"
With two quick outs, Kawakami was in top form.
The Matsuyama players, who were already filled with frustration, wanted to turn things around quickly.
But the more they wanted to retaliate, the easier they fell into traps. From his crouched position behind the plate, Miyuki's eyes glinted slyly.
He actually quite liked the Matsuyama batters—you didn't need any complex strategies for them. All you had to do was toss them a hook.
Even if the hook didn't have any bait, as long as they saw it, they'd bite like crazy.
Dealing with them was a piece of cake.
Take the current third batter, for instance—his strength and pressure alone could earn him a starting spot on Seidou's main team.
A batter like this should normally be treated with full seriousness.
But Miyuki quickly realized he was overthinking it. This strong hitter didn't even try to hide his emotions.
How he wanted to swing, where he wanted to hit the ball—it was all written on his face.
Once you saw through that, it was basically an open-book test.
Miyuki imdiately gave Kawakami a sign.
They were classmates—one a pitcher, the other a catcher.
Naturally, they had great chemistry.
Receiving the signal, Kawakami didn't hesitate.
Pop!
"Strike!"
"Strike two!!"
Two consecutive strikes put the batter on the ropes. Kawakami then threw a beautiful ball out of the strike zone.
Pop!
The batter swung in a panic—he didn't even touch the ball.
"Strike three!"
"Batter out—strikeout!!"
----------------------------------------
If you want to read a few chapters ahead and support :
Patreon/DaoOfPeeking
User Comments
0 comments from readers