Chapter 87: Poor Thing!

Summer Training Camp, Day 1.

The first activity was waking up early.

During summer training, Seidou High School's baseball team already had an early training schedule.

They woke up at 5:00 AM, gathered at 5:20, and trained for two hours before washing up, having breakfast, and going to class.

But this time, the players had already gathered before the first light of dawn.

"We're up earlier than the birds!"

Kuramochi complained while yawning.

"Quit talking, and start jogging,"

Miyuki, as the team Captain, naturally had to lead by example and started jogging.

The third-year students were already used to this routine, but the first-year players were more curious.

They originally thought hellish training would be unbearably tough, but it turned out they only had to wake up early for less than an hour.

It was actually quite easy.

Even if this continued and they had extra practice in the evening, they felt they could handle it without a problem.

After all, they usually had extra practice after training anyway.

They could totally manage this level of training.

Nishiyama, Yuuki, Yui, Okamura, Lee-Hyun, Hirota, and Matsumoto.

These seven first-year players remaining on the first team were all talented and hardworking, and they had already started to stand out.

They knew that talent alone wasn't enough for success, so they trained hard outside of regular sessions.

Thus, when the additional practice began, the seven of them were relaxed.

They didn't think they were particularly exceptional, but they believed they could keep up with the training pace.

They ran five laps in total, two more than usual.

And only then did the morning run end.

The second and third years were all fine, breathing easily, and looking very relaxed.

A few of the first-year players also performed well. They were only slightly out of breath, but their faces didn't show any significant change.

Just when the newcomers thought the morning run was over, Miyuki slowly announced the second order.

"Weighted runs, half a lap each, take turns."

The so-called weighted run means that one person carries another while running.

Just after finishing the morning run, without any time to catch their breath, they immediately had to start the weighted run.

This left the newcomers dumbfounded.

The candidates, who all had their fixed partners, moved quite quickly.

"Come on!"

Sawamura resignedly approached Furuya.

Furuya didn't hold back and immediately pounced on him.

"Phew!"

Sawamura let out a heavy breath and said to the person on his back, Furuya, with dissatisfaction.

"Oi! Have you gained weight recently?"

It used to be pretty easy to carry Furuya, but now it feels heavy.

"No!"

Furuya answered.

"Better not, or I'll request to switch partners."

"Switch with who?"

"I think Haruichi would be good; we get along well."

"He won't agree."

"Why?"

"He can't carry you!"

The two exchanged a few words like this, which had become their usual way of interacting.

Actually, talking during a weighted run is a bad habit.

But since Sawamura didn't spend much time with Furuya, he still wanted to cherish every moment to encourage him.

If this guy, for whatever reason, didn't make it to the professional stage, it would be such a shame.

Allen was capable of making waves in the Major Leagues, and Furuya's skill with fastballs was definitely not inferior.

There was no reason for him to be buried here.

As of now, Furuya's fastest pitch was 158 km/h. Allen's was 161 km/h.

On the surface, it seemed like Furuya and Allen had a bit of a gap in terms of talent.

But really, that's not the case.

Since Allen started playing baseball, he has received the best and most professional training.

But what about Furuya?

He only started getting proper professional guidance after joining the Seidou High School baseball team.

Before that, he had been figuring things out by himself.

Even so, his pitch speed had still reached terrifying levels.

Let alone the fact that he was a year and a half younger than Allen...

In Eijun's opinion, Furuya's talent was absolutely on par with Allen's.

It might even be higher.

'He is improving very steadily now, and he got rid of many bad habits.'

'One more year, he also still has one more year to improve in high school, if he can keep this steady rate, he will beat Allen for sure!'

First, they did a light jog, followed by two laps of faster running. After completing those two laps, they started the weighted run.

By the time all the running was done, the newcomers were exhausted, looking like they were about to collapse.

Their mouths were wide open, tongues sticking out, gasping for air.

It seemed like if they didn't do that, they would literally die right then.

It was so painful. Just in the morning, they had run almost 10 kilometers.

And 1,000 meters of that was carrying someone.

It felt like it could kill them.

The older players' breathing rhythm had also become irregular.

They could no longer maintain the calmness from earlier.

It wasn't until then that the second and third-string players arrived.

And with them was Coach Kataoka.

"Alright, the warm-up is over. Let's start the actual training."

As soon as Coach Kataoka spoke, a few of the newcomers nearly passed out in disbelief.

'What did the Coach just say?'

'Warm-up!!'

'So all of that almost 10 kilometers of running, plus carrying someone, was just a warm-up?'

The players couldn't believe it, but they had no choice but to accept it.

Next was bat practice.

Relatively speaking, the overall training in the morning was still quite light.

Running, swinging the bat, frog jumps...

Aside from not handling the baseball itself, many of the fundamental exercises were done.

A few of the newcomers did well. Even though they were exhausted, none of them collapsed. They all stood their ground.

They truly felt what it meant to experience hellish training.

During breakfast, Nishiyama had a thoughtful expression as he said.

"I finally understand why the Senpais were like that. It really is hellish training."

Even with Nishiyama's experience, this kind of training was something he had never gone through before.

It was so tough!

And so extraordinary.

Sawamura sympathetically glanced at his Kohai, Nishiyama Kibo-kun.

'He didn't understand a sh*t...'

'Poor thing…' Kanemaru next to him was focused on his meal, as he knew he would need it.

Compared to this, the morning's training was the result of Coach Kataoka being lenient.

Because they still had to attend classes during the day, Coach Kataoka didn't want to push them too hard.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have the energy to attend classes, and that would cause problems.

The real hellish training didn't start until the afternoon!

At that time, Nishiyama and the other Kohais would truly understand what the real hell was.

Compared to that, the Senpais of Seidou High School's baseball team were actually quite kind.

None of them had the heart to tell their Kohais about the cruel reality in advance.

They all wanted them to enjoy a relatively easy morning first.

At 3:20 in the afternoon!

All the Seidou High School baseball team players gathered again on the field.

…