Chapter 91: Lesson Under the Moonlight

'Who is it?'

'It's so late, and you're still not resting?'

Lee-Hyun, with a curious expression, walked toward the direction from which the voice came.

His body was already incredibly sore, a clear sign of muscle fatigue after intense exertion.

However, driven by curiosity, he felt that the soreness in his body had lessened significantly.

After walking for nearly several dozen meters, under the dim light, Lee-Hyun vaguely saw a group of about ten people practicing their swings.

Lee-Hyun subconsciously lightened his steps and walked closer to them.

"Why aren't you resting yet?"

Nakata, who was practicing his swing, noticed Lee-Hyun's arrival.

A look of concern and reproach flashed in his eyes.

"You did expend all your energy in the day's practice, your body has reached its limit. You shouldn't push yourself further tonight."

Hearing Nakata's words, the others who were practicing also stopped one by one and turned to look at Lee-Hyun.

Furrowing their brows, several of them even walked up to persuade Lee-Hyun to retire for the night and not to push himself any further.

With his current level of Japanese, Lee-Hyun was not capable of communicating fluently with his Senpais.

But he could feel the general meaning behind the Senpais' words, as well as their genuine concern.

Respectfully, he bowed to the Senpais before turning and walking away.

It wasn't just Nakata. During his walk, Lee-Hyun encountered two more groups of people.

Some were third-year students, some were second-year and even a few first-year students.

It seemed like, except for a few people, everyone else was practicing intensively at night.

Particularly when he ran into the first-year students, including Kuki, their words left a strong impression on Lee-Hyun.

"You've already made progress ahead of us. We absolutely cannot fall behind!"

This year, seven freshmen had been promoted to the first team to practice alongside them.

But that didn't mean these seven were the only outstanding players among the freshmen.

Lee-Hyun had always had the feeling that since joining Seidou's baseball team, everything around him seemed to be centered on baseball.

Other things had all but disappeared.

Initially, he thought it was because he had entered the first team training system that this was happening.

But now, it seemed he was completely wrong.

The baseball atmosphere wasn't confined to the first team; it permeated everywhere.

With his current mindset, was he truly suited to stay in such an excellent team?

Lee-Hyun asked himself, but ultimately, he couldn't find an answer.

Before he knew it, Lee-Hyun had left the school grounds. At this point, he wanted to find a quiet place to calm down and reflect on this matter.

Without realizing it, he had reached the riverbank near the school.

Under the dim moonlight, he saw a figure in the distance, diligently practicing their swing.

Whoosh!

Even though he was more than 20 meters away, Lee-Hyun could still clearly hear the sound of the bat.

After more than three months of exposure, Lee-Hyun was no longer the baseball newbie he once was.

The sound of the swing told him immediately that the person practicing could not be a second or third-team player.

Currently, Seidou's baseball team was particularly short on good hitters.

If there was someone in the second or third team with such skill, the coaching staff would never ignore it.

'Who is it?'

Lee-Hyun quickened his steps and approached.

He wasn't sure why he was so eager to find out who it was.

It was him!

The figure before his eyes was someone Lee-Hyun was very familiar with. Not just Lee-Hyun, but every player on Seidou's baseball team would recognize this figure.

It was Sawamura.

Seidou High's Ace pitcher.

Why would Sawamura-senpai be here?

Lee-Hyun was puzzled.

From his impression, wasn't everyone supposed to be showering and resting after training?

Sawamura, who was focused on his swing, had not noticed Lee-Hyun's arrival and continued practicing.

The bat in his hands emitted a sharp whistle as he swung.

Under the moonlight, the scene of Sawamura concentrating on his batting practice was firmly etched in Lee-Hyun's mind.

Even years later, when this event had long passed, Lee-Hyun still hadn't forgotten the scene he had witnessed that night.

Sawamura, practicing alone under the moonlight, looked like an ancient warrior training his secret martial arts skills.

Unconsciously, Lee-Hyun found himself watching in a daze.

It was the first time he realized that someone could make such a monotonous practice look so cool.

It was as if the bat in Sawamura's hands was not a regular bat but a sword exuding a very sharp light.

Anything that came to its range would be completely annihilated.

"Senpai is just amazing!"

Despite Lee-Hyun's current level, he didn't really understand what was so special about Sawamura's batting technique.

But he still felt that Sawamura was truly impressive!

This feeling was not much different from that of a fan.

After Sawamura finished his swings and turned around to face Lee-Hyun, wiping the sweat from his forehead, he asked:

"Hm? When did you get here?"

Sawamura didn't really know exactly when Lee-Hyun had arrived.

"Just now! Senpai's swing was so cool!!!"

Lee-Hyun said with a wide smile and thrilled tone.

When would he be able to perform as impressively as Sawamura?

Which teenager doesn't have dreams?

At this moment, Lee-Hyun was still just a 15-year-old boy. Many of his thoughts seemed very simple.

"Thank you!!"

Sawamura smiled and accepted the sincere praise from his kohai without refusal.

"Something on your mind?"

It was obvious that Lee-Hyun was quite tired. Most people in this situation would immediately fall asleep.

Just like the other players who participated in the special training, including those in their second and third years.

They were all likely sleeping soundly right now.

Lee-Hyun hadn't gone to sleep in this situation, so there was only one possibility. Something must have been bothering him.

Guessing others' thoughts wasn't something Sawamura was good at. But, being mentally older than Lee-Hyun by more than ten years, he could still pick up on a few things.

Lee-Hyun hesitated, feeling a bit embarrassed, but he nodded.

Since coming to Seidou, the people around him had treated him well.

At worst, their reactions were just slightly indifferent, and it wasn't like the melodramatic situations you see in TV shows.

In such an environment, Lee-Hyun had let his guard down subconsciously.

As a foreigner, he naturally felt alienated. But experiencing the culture of Japan, he lessened this feeling by much.

Being polite, not causing trouble for others, help whenever you can...

These were Lee-Hyun's main impressions of people from Japan.

Though sometimes he felt their personal relationships were a bit cold, not as warm as his neighbors from the countryside back home, he had lived in a big city for a while and had gotten used to it.

In large cities, this kind of situation wasn't rare. Unlike when living in the countryside, neighbors in large cities could live for more than ten years in the same building without even knowing each other's names.

It wasn't anything unusual.

It was a result of the environment. Apart from the general atmosphere of interpersonal relationships, anyone who got close to Lee-Hyun had treated him kindly.

Among the closest to him were, of course, Kuramochi and Sawamura.

Kuramochi didn't need much explanation. He could be considered Lee-Hyun's mentor. Seven to eight parts of the skills Lee-Hyun had now were taught to him by Kuramochi.

Another person was Sawamura.

The reason Lee-Hyun was close to Sawamura had a lot to do with his mentor. Sawamura was the same roomie as his mentor, and they naturally communicated more frequently.

On many occasions, the three of them even practiced together.

Because of these reasons, Lee-Hyun felt very close to Sawamura. Whenever something was bothering him, he would speak directly in front of Sawamura.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Sawamura placed the bat over his shoulder and asked while walking back.

Lee-Hyun shyly nodded.

"Is something bothering you?"

Sawamura sighed inwardly. After the training ended, he forced himself to continue practicing his swings for another 200 times.

Even Sawamura was exhausted at this point. He knew that his Senpais should be in his rooms now playing with a game console and chatting after finishing their extra training too.

The two of them were walking under the moonlight, and by the time they were heading back, no one was left practicing anymore.

Lee-Hyun couldn't help but recall a rumor he had heard before.

That rumor said that Sawamura-senpai was always the last one to finish training.

Clearly, he was the best in the Seidou High School baseball team.

In fact, he is one of the best players in the world among those under 18.

'Having achieved so much, he still trains so diligently...'

Faintly, Lee-Hyun felt like he was beginning to understand something.

During their conversation, he couldn't help but express the thoughts in his mind.

"Did your current strength come from all this painstaking practice, Senpai?"

Upon hearing this, Sawamura almost immediately understood what Lee-Hyun's worries were.

Every player, even him, goes through a phase where they train hard but still can't see the path forward...

However, this situation usually occurs after the first year of learning a sport.

As things gradually mature, what remains is all the tedious and continuous effort.

Sawamura never expected that Lee-Hyun would reach this stage so soon.

He wasn't able to see his own progress, but he was confused as to why his progress wasn't as fast as before.

'Kuramochi-senpai really picked a good Deshi.' (Deshi=Student)

"I really want to say 'Yes!'"

Sawamura smiled bitterly: "As long as you work hard, you will definitely reap rewards. If everything in this world worked that way, wouldn't it be perfect?"

"But unfortunately, reality doesn't work like that."

"My current strength, indeed, has a lot to do with my hard work. But the decisive factor is not that."

Lee-Hyun looked at Sawamura in surprise, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He never expected this kind of statement to come from Sawamura's mouth.

From his previous impressions, he had always thought that Sawamura would never say such a thing.

After all, this kind of negative talk completely contradicted Sawamura's usual personality.

"Are you puzzled? The famous Sawamura would actually say something like this?"

Sawamura still wore a bitter smile.

"It's inevitable. Let me tell you the truth— the person who truly trains the hardest in the Seidou High School baseball team is not me."

Lee-Hyun's mind seemed to explode, his thoughts momentarily blank.

"Before you guys joined the school, the Senpai class of the previous year were the real training maniacs. When I trained with them, most of the Senpais practiced later than I did. Even now, Zono-san's extra practice time is definitely not less than mine..."

"To be honest, my training time was shorter than theirs, but I could still keep up with them."

Under the moonlight, Lee-Hyun couldn't make out Sawamura's expression clearly.

But he could feel the sorrow in his tone.

"The world is unfair, or as someone told me before 'Not everyone is weighted on the same Scale!'"

"Some people are born with billions of dollars, while others spend their whole lives just struggling to survive. In the world of baseball, although it's not absolute, this pattern still exists."

"People with talent, as long as they put in a little effort, will achieve something that those without talent could never reach, even if they work their whole lives. Take Allen we met earlier as an example— his pitching velocity is something no one could achieve at his age, no matter how hard they train, because it has already surpassed the realm of mere mortals..."

"Do you understand?"

By now, the two had approached the dorm.

Lee-Hyun nodded, still digesting what Sawamura had said.

This kid can be taught.

The feeling of wanting to teach others surged through his head, and Sawamura began talking even more.

"Baseball is the same principle! Perhaps you feel that your current efforts aren't yielding the results you originally expected. Especially when comparing yourself to the others around you, you feel like you're far behind."

"But you've been overthinking it, the path everyone takes is totally different from everyone else. As long as you can surpass your past self, that's enough! If you set your goals too high, it will only hurt you."

Take one step at a time!

Sooner or later, you will find that the scenery around you will also change!

...

T/N: Well, That's it for now.

As always, Thank you all for reading!!

See you Tomorrow!

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