Chapter 92: The Spirit of Seidou

"There are only two things in this world that we can decide. That is, whether to strive for a goal and how much effort we are willing to put in. Everything else is beyond our control."

The words of Sawamura echoed in Lee-Hyun's mind.

From the life he had lived, he instinctively didn't want to accept the viewpoint that Sawamura was offering.

However, he had to admit that Sawamura's words were completely correct.

His life seemed pretty good, with people constantly helping and supporting him.

It seemed smooth sailing as if he had reached this point without much effort.

But there was a reason for all of this.

If it weren't for his innate speed, would the exchange program team have chosen him?

If it weren't for his natural ability to run fast, would Coach Kataoka and the Seidou High School coaching staff have promoted him so quickly?

The world is unfair, and this fact manifested vividly in Lee-Hyun's life.

If the world were truly fair, they would never have bestowed such great favor upon him.

Given this, how far can his future go?

Ultimately, that still depended on his own hard work and effort.

Life is like climbing a building. It could be a 100-story building—some people are born on the 50th floor or higher, while others have to start on the first floor…

These things are all predetermined and will not change due to anyone's personal will.

In this situation, what can you really decide?

Lee-Hyun knew in his heart.

The only thing he could decide, from beginning to end, was one thing:

His own effort!

No matter if the world places you on the first floor or the 50th floor, only by constantly climbing upward step by step can you have a chance to reach the top.

Otherwise, even if you start on the 99th floor, if you don't know how to move forward, and don't understand progress or effort, you'll just fall back down to the ground.

Life is not just about climbing a building; it's like rowing against the current. If you don't move forward, retreating is inevitable.

"I understand now!"

In front of the dorm door, Lee-Hyun bowed 90 degrees toward Sawamura.

Lee-Hyun wasn't from Japan, and bowing like that wasn't part of his culture.

The reason he did so toward Sawamura now was because he genuinely felt grateful.

Sawamura naturally understood this.

The next day, which was the fourth day of the hellish training.

By now, all the players had almost lost consciousness, including the older players from the second and third grades.

The amount of training each player undergoes is arranged by the coaching staff in advance.

For those with weaker stamina, their pressure during training is reduced. For those with good stamina, the pressure is increased.

Except for Sawamura, even the likes of Miyuki had this strategy applied.

As for Sawamura's case…

His situation was special. Since he was the Ace pitcher of the team and might need to appear repeatedly in the summer tournament, there was no way the training could completely exhaust his physical strength.

After all, the summer tournament was starting soon, and pushing Sawamura too hard could affect his performance.

If a person is completely exhausted and nearly loses their awareness, the risk of injury increases.

This kind of risk was something the Seidou baseball team couldn't afford.

Given this, they couldn't afford to torment Sawamura too much.

Of course, they wouldn't let Sawamura slack off either. Even if his training wasn't entirely based on his full abilities, his training volume still far surpassed that of the other three pitchers.

Kawakami, Furuya, and Nishiyama.

Compared to Sawamura, their training volume was significantly lower.

When everyone was too exhausted to stay conscious, the difference between the older players in the second and third years and the first-year rookies began to show.

Even after being on the brink of losing consciousness, the older players from Seidou High School rarely made mistakes during defense.

They moved like ironclad robots, running to the ball no matter where it landed, catching and passing it flawlessly.

Although the success rate of their defense wasn't as good as when they were fully conscious, it still maintained a high enough performance.

The rookies were different. When they lost their ability to think, mistakes became routine.

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

These six guys made almost 90% of the mistakes during their defensive drills.

As for Okumura…

He was more independent. Before joining the first team, he had already made it clear to Coach Kataoka that, aside from the catcher position, he wouldn't accept any other role.

Thus, he became the only rookie who didn't need to participate in defensive drills.

"Go to the bullpen!"

Coach Kataoka and the other coaches naturally couldn't let Okumura just stand idly by.

They immediately directed him to the bullpen to catch pitches!

Ochiai gave a signal to Sawamura and Furuya, who were about to start pitching practice.

Both instantly understood.

At this moment, what should the Senpais make the Kohais feel?

As veterans, they knew this all too well.

"Let's go, let's get close and personal!"

Once in the bullpen, Sawamura nodded toward Furuya.

Furuya nodded in response and then took his place on the mound.

"Simple catching practice, you can fix your mitt at a specific spot."

After briefly explaining the rules, the practice began.

Over the past two days, Okumura felt like his brain had crashed.

When a person becomes this fatigued, they can't have clear thoughts.

He didn't think much about what Sawamura said, just got into position and prepared to catch.

Roaar!

As soon as Okumura positioned his mitt, the baseball flew toward him like a thunderclap.

In his fading awareness, the only thing Okumura could feel was:

'So fast!!!'

During this hellish training, the older players' physical exhaustion was no less than the rookies'.

Even Furuya, who had probably exhausted himself completely, shouldn't have been able to throw with such speed.

Perhaps it was because Okumura's brain was malfunctioning, but he couldn't understand why this scene was happening.

Nonetheless, he instinctively prepared to catch the ball.

As soon as his arm moved, Okumura felt like his entire left hand had been run over by a truck.

With his current reaction speed, catching Furuya's pitch was, of course, impossible!

TAK!

The baseball slammed into Okumura's Mitt and then bounced off sharply.

There was a Senpai standing nearby helping to retrieve the balls.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but mock:

"It's just a normal fastball. If you can't catch a ball like this, how are you going to play in a game?"

Okumura, squatting there, felt like his head had exploded.

His remaining consciousness kept thinking of one question:

'Why?'

'Why is it that while we're exhausted, can't keep up with the pace of training…'

'But Furuya-senpai shows no signs of being affected?'

At the same time, the new players doing defensive drills on the field shared the same thought.

Whoosh!

The baseball was hit toward first base.

Nishiyama, who was covering in at first base, watched the ball fly toward him. He tried his best to move his body.

But his body felt like it was falling apart, creaking with every slight movement.

Under these conditions, Nishiyama could only watch as the ball flew past him.

Then, a figure behind him leaped up and caught the ball securely.

Haruichi from second base had already run behind first base to cover.

He then passed it to first base.

Without error, a clean catch, a clean throw!

Snap!

"YOSHIAAA!!"

"Great!!!!"

"Nicely Done."

When it was Maezono's turn, he did the same thing.

Maezono and Haruichi...

Their performance was just a small reflection of the overall defensive practice session.

Because all the players in the same position were almost simultaneously practicing defense on the field.

On the other side, there were three people hitting the ball.

They were desperately trying to hit the ball into the corners so that the Seidou High School baseball team players could practice their defense thoroughly.

Under these circumstances, the gap between the freshmen and the veterans was clear as day.

When the ball was pitched directly to the freshmen, they continuously made errors.

When the ball was hit between the freshmen and the veterans, the veterans would already be in a position to cover before the freshmen even had a chance to react.

By comparison, the freshmen now were practically like decoration on the field to make the Senpais look good.

Of course, not all the second- and third-year veterans were performing well.

A second-year player, who had previously performed quite well, was now falling behind in this defensive practice.

This player was Takatsu.

Takatsu was in the same class as Sawamura and the others, all being second-year students.

Before joining the Seidou baseball team, he was already a somewhat famous talented player.

Since being promoted to the first team, he has been performing exceptionally well.

In the previous practice games, his batting average was an impressive 0.356

This was a very notable stat among all the first-team players.

Though he may not have been the absolute best, as long as he kept progressing at this pace, it was certain that he would secure a spot when the final selection took place.

In other words, he didn't need to be outstanding in other practices as long as he kept up with the rest of the team.

It was a done deal that he would stay in the first team.

But even such a promising player, who seemed sure to remain in the first team, was making continuous mistakes in defensive practice.

While his performance overall was better than the freshmen, the gap compared to other veterans was becoming clear...

For this, President Ota was constantly rubbing his hands together.

"Takatsu was too obsessed with swinging his bat and had made great strides in batting. In the second team, he even batted fourth. But his defense is..."

Takatsu's defense couldn't be considered bad.

Among players of the same age nationwide, he could even be considered excellent.

However, compared to other core members of the Seidou High School baseball team, the gap was a little too much to ignore.

Simply put, he wasn't strong enough.

He wasn't yet deserving of a main position in the Seidou High School baseball team, a team of champions.

"This is going to be tricky!"

Coach Ochiai who returned from the bullpen muttered as he stroked the small beard on his chin.

Keeping Takatsu meant intending to use him as a key player.

If you look at it purely from the perspective of Takatsu's batting, he seemed to fit, but for the overall team, it didn't seem quite right.

Even as a backup, there were others in the team who seemed more suited for the role.

This led to an awkward situation.

In terms of ability, Takatsu definitely had the qualifications to stay in the first team.

But if you looked at what would benefit the team the most, Takatsu was clearly not the most suitable candidate.

Team interests versus player rights.

What decision would Coach Kataoka ultimately make?

On the field, the freshmen who were practicing defense looked like wilted eggplants after frost.

Their energy had been completely exhausted, and all they wanted was to find a place to rest.

But they couldn't!

The hungry, greedy eyes of the veterans surrounded them like hungry wolves, ready to take their place the moment they collapsed.

In comparison, the veterans looked like battle-hardened soldiers.

Their eyes were filled with fire, and no matter what kind of ball came their way, they did their best to block it.

And their success rate was terrifyingly high!

The veterans had undergone even more intense training and yet performed better than the freshmen.

Even the proud freshmen couldn't help but begin to doubt.

Are these guys really just normal high school students?

They were clearly monsters!

Seeing the freshmen in such a miserable state, President Ota approached Coach Kataoka and whispered.

"Coach, isn't it time?"

Coach Kataoka nodded. "Let's reduce their practice volume."

The goal of the special training was to push the players to their physical limits. If the players were completely worn out, the ultimate purpose of this special training wouldn't be achieved.

Once they were exhausted to the point of depletion, would they grow?

That was the real aim of this hellish training.

When the fourth day of practice ended, Coach Kataoka gathered everyone together and said:

"I know you're all feeling the strain, but please believe that the Koshien stadium will be even more grueling. If anyone feels like they can't continue, you can drop out immediately. There are only 20 spots available. If you can graciously step aside and make room for others, that would be best..."

With Coach Kataoka saying this and only two days left to endure, the hellish training was almost over.

No matter if their current condition was good or bad, whether they had consciousness or not, their eyes were all filled with unwavering determination.

They had come this far. How could they back out now?

As long as the list of the 20 main players hadn't been announced, that meant they still had a chance.

They still had a chance to be one of the 20 players who would remain, to wear the Seidou High School baseball team's uniform, and to represent Seidou in competition.

So close, they are already so close, there is no way they give up now.

...

T/N: Feel free to leave a Comment guys!

And Powerstones are much much welcomed!