The Old Baseball Player System

Shun finished his daily Saturday training in the morning. The boy then spent the rest of the day in the arena practicing. Unfortunately for him, excitement wasn't enough to make him win the second game of the Bronze Championship, but it was enough for him to get his first hit.

The first hit was just an infield ground ball that, luckily, was slow enough for Shun to reach first base. Of course, the boy didn't care about that, he was happy to have finally gotten a hit. Now, he only needed nine more to complete his Bronze Arena mission.

[Contact Hitter (Bronze)

Get 10 hits in Arena games (1/10)

Rewards: 100 coins, 1 silver arena pass, and a random grade B elixir.]

Shun went to bed early, and thanks to deep sleep mode, he slept well. Without the system to help him, he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep because of the anxiety.

The boy woke up on Sunday morning and went out for his morning run. When he returned home, he saw his father sitting on the living room couch and his mother cooking breakfast in the kitchen. He went upstairs for a quick shower and came down already dressed in his uniform.

"Good morning!" - Shun said with a smile as he sat at the table, where his whole family was already seated, waiting for him.

"Good morning, bro!" - Little Yumi said excitedly.

"Hahaha, you look confident, boy! That's the spirit!" - Kenshin laughed loudly when he saw his son, then continued.

"Yumi and your mother told me you've been playing really well. I'm excited to see how much you've improved, boy!" - Kenshin hadn't seen Shun play since his son played for Tokyo Nakano Junior.

"Hehe, I'll do my best!" - Shun felt a bit emotional after hearing his father's words, as that man was his hero.

Shun continued talking with his family until it was time to leave. He said goodbye to them before running off to the school baseball field.

"Hey Shun! You arrived early." - Captain Kazuki said. He was alone on the field, which surprised Shun. The boy had thought he would be the first to arrive.

"Kazuki-senpai! I wanted to get some batting practice in before everyone else got here." - Shun spoke respectfully. His captain might not have been the most talented or skilled player, but he was very reliable and hardworking, which earned Shun's and the entire team's admiration.

"Oh, that's a good idea! You don't mind if I join you and get some swings in, right?" - Kazuki said with a smile, though he didn't show it, he was quite anxious. This year, they finally had a strong team, but they were about to face a great challenge early in the tournament.

"Huh? Of course not, senpai! You can bat as much as you want! If you want, I can even pitch to you!" - Shun said excitedly. Since he had stopped training as a pitcher, he hadn't practiced with Kazuki.

"Hahaha, that's not necessary!" - Kazuki laughed at the boy's reaction, and the two began to take swings into the empty field.

"Shun" - Kazuki began to speak but quickly stopped, as if unsure whether to say what was on his mind or not.

"Huh? What's wrong, senpai? Is something bothering you?" - Shun was confused by the hesitant expression on his captain's face.

"Today might be my last game with the team." - Kazuki said seriously.

"What are you talking about, senpai? We're going to win today! Why on earth are you looking so defeated?" - Shun was a little irritated by his captain's words, but before he could say more, Kazuki continued.

"Just listen to me. I'm not admitting defeat or anything like that." - The captain spoke calmly and continued.

"I'm not extremely talented. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be able to turn pro. In fact, even in high school, I'd have a hard time playing for a good team."

"Captain, that's not true—" - Shun tried to speak but was cut off by Kazuki again.

"You don't have to try to cheer me up, Shun. Honestly, I've accepted this a long time ago. In fact, I used to think you were like me, and maybe that's why I'm telling you this." - The captain said.

"Huh?" - Shun was left speechless, unsure of what to say.

"When you joined the team and I found out you were from Tokyo Nakano, I was surprised. We formed a battery, and I realized you were like me, someone with limited talent, destined to watch the truly talented from afar..." - Kazuki looked into Shun's eyes, and the boy could feel the sincerity in his captain's words.

"But... somehow you overcame that. You changed positions to be useful to the team. In no time, you became an essential part of our lineup, both offensively and defensively. You might not realize it, but that was like a slap in my face, it woke me up. Thanks to you, I realized that a man's limits are only in his mind, and making excuses won't get me anywhere." - Kazuki clenched his fists.

"Shun, I've decided to give everything I have to baseball. I'm not going to hold myself back anymore. I'm going to give it my all and go as far as I can!" - Kazuki spoke with determination, sending chills down Shun's spine.

"Captain..." - Shun didn't know what to say. He had never imagined that his captain had the same feelings he did before receiving the system. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart, shame. He was ashamed at that moment.

His captain was speaking about him as if he were an example, but in reality, he was just someone who had given up. If it weren't for him receiving the system, he would have quit baseball. Without the system, he would never have done well in the outfield or made it to base easily.

Without the system, he was nobody.

At that moment, Shun felt a strong emotion within him. He looked at his captain, who had gone back to taking swings into the air. He admired this person. He wanted to help his captain win. Not only that, the feeling of victory, he wanted to experience it.

"Captain, we're going to win! We'll win today, and after that... we're going to win it all!" - Shun said with a determined look. He no longer wanted to win to impress his father or his friends. No, he wanted to win to become someone.