Chapter 3: More Balls Than Kanjis

Back when the Spring Koshien ended, Narumiya had taken on this very demeanor during interviews.

No matter what question was asked, he always acted like he didn't know, maintaining an air of humility and politeness while revealing nothing.

And if he really couldn't avoid answering, he would just say something lofty and elegant.

Following this kind of strategy, while it might not necessarily boost one's public image significantly, it certainly wouldn't harm it either.

After all, people don't hit those who wear a smiling face!

Whether in sports or entertainment—or any profession that involves dealing with journalists and audiences—

Maintaining a humble attitude makes it much harder for people to find faults in you.

"Then I'd say you've surpassed the master!"

"Hehe, you're praising me too much!!"

"Then honestly, who are you most looking forward to facing?"

"Of course, it's you!"

Narumiya asked, and Sawamura answered without hesitation.

Narumiya was quite satisfied with that response that he had a smug smile and two funny blushes on his face.

"You should say that outright in front of the reporters."

"You think I'm stupid?"

While talking to Narumiya, Sawamura couldn't help but feel an unconscious familiarity, likely influenced by his experiences from his life before regression.

As they chatted, players from Yakushi High and Sankou High School also gathered around.

Sawamura casually greeted these guys.

Although they were rivals, they also acknowledged each other's abilities.

From that perspective, they were also friends.

Amahisa had even created an online group chat. Originally, it was just him and Sawamura.

But seeing how well everyone was getting along, he started adding more members.

Miyuki, Narumiya, Shirakawa, Carlos, Sanada...

Everyone he added was someone Amahisa recognized as worthy.

This guy was frighteningly straightforward and completely unafraid of offending people. If he didn't think highly of you, even if you asked to join the group yourself, he wouldn't bother responding.

"What's your number? I can add you to the group too."

Although he wasn't particularly fond of Raichi's attitude, Amahisa acknowledged his strength.

Raichi, however, looked completely bewildered.

Raichi looked utterly confused.

"You don't still have a smartphone, do you?"

Amahisa asked incredulously.

In this day and age, which high school student doesn't have a smartphone or a laptop as a basic necessity?

Yet because of his unreliable father, he didn't have either of these essentials.

He was practically living like someone from the dark ages before the internet.

"I have one! I can join the group, and if you need to contact him, I can pass the message along."

Mishima eagerly stepped forward.

This group clearly looked high-end and prestigious—how could Mishima-sama allow himself to be left out?

Even though Amahisa had roasted him before, Mishima decided to be the bigger person and let it go.

All that mattered was getting into the group first.

"Don't worry, there are a lot of people who are bad with smartphones!"

Sawamura patted Raichi's shoulder in an attempt to console him.

But even as he said this, he himself didn't quite believe it.

These things now are so easy to use that even if you are illiterate, you will be able to use them.

He just hoped Raichi could come to terms with it.

Reluctantly, Amahisa added Mishima's number to the group.

By this time, it was time for everyone to enter the venue for the opening ceremony.

One team after another marched into the stadium, holding their team flags high.

With a total of more than 270 teams, they packed Jingu Stadium densely.

Each team had 20 players—meaning that just the players alone numbered at least 5,000.

This was truly a sea of people!

Standing within the crowd, one could barely see the end of it.

In any country, speeches from officials were never short.

By the time the speeches ended, some of the Seidou High baseball team members were on the verge of collapsing.

Nishiyama, Okumura!

These two had clearly never experienced something like this before—standing for such a long time had drained them completely.

Surprisingly, Lee-Hyun—the player with the weakest overall ability on the team—

Didn't show any signs of exhaustion at all.

"You didn't, like, get punished to stand for long periods back home, did you?"

As they got more familiar with each other, Yui Kaoru curiously asked.

Lee-Hyun shook his head vigorously.

Back in his hometown, his academic performance wasn't that bad.

He wasn't the best, but he also wasn't the worst too, he was in the middle.

It was only after he got here that he was struggling with the courses mainly because of the language barrier.

"I was a good student back home!"

Lee-Hyun swore.

He had even received his test results at Seidou.

He worked hard enough on the subjects, and he passed all of them.

For a transfer student, that was already shocking to the teachers.

In such a short time, not only had he learned to read and write basic Japanese, but he could also do the test problems.

And he actually got them right!

They even praised him as a genius‒even though he knew they were being polite.

Seidou High's first-string players carried the burden of being champions.

The teachers also made sure to take care of them.

Though their scores weren't particularly high, they had all at least passed.

The only one who failed a subject was Okumura.

Despite his flashy appearance, his academic performance was actually quite average.

As the saying goes—never judge a book by its cover.

Before this, none of the Seidou players would have ever guessed that Okumura would fail a test.

It was an unexpected surprise.

But Sawamura wasn't surprised at all.

Because of Yui's presence, Okumura had been feeling immense pressure.

He had been working harder than anyone else, and his skills had improved rapidly.

But people aren't omnipotent—they can't do everything.

Since Okumura poured all his time into baseball,

Naturally, he had less energy to focus on studying.

So by the time of the test, his mind was filled with more balls and bats than Kanjis and formulas.

Academics are like rowing against the current—if you're not progressing, you're falling behind.

So failing a test was only inevitable for the wolf cub.

"It's finally over!"

After several hours, the opening ceremony finally concluded.

For the members of Seidou High's baseball team, they now had only one goal.

To prepare for their first match.

And to fight their way back to this very stadium for the semifinals.

…

T/N: The Wolf Boy's head was full of balls. XD

Anyway, That's it for now.

Thank you all for reading and supporting!

Have a good day!