A new day had started, sun rays shone in Rei's room waking him up.
Rei woke up with a smile on his face because he was excited to start practicing again. Sometimes this felt surreal to him.
As Rei stood from his bed while yawning, he suddenly realized something.
He dashed towards the bathroom and saw his dad going into the bathroom with his PHONE.
He knew what was going to happen if he let that happen, so he dashed with all he had. He entered the bathroom before his dad and shut the door in his face.
Reiji stood outside the door with a confused expression on his face.
After using the bathroom, he went outside 10 minutes later.
When Rei saw his father still standing outside, he shook his head and patted his back while walking towards his room with hands in his pockets.
Rei went to his room and changed into a new black t-shirt and grey shorts. He still looked the same as yesterday but that's all he had in his damn cabinet.
"I really gotta go shopping", thought Rei looking at himself in the mirror.
After some posing in the mirror, he walked downstairs to have breakfast.
When he entered the living room, he saw his mom and dad arguing about something, but they quieted down when they saw him.
"Were you guys fighting?", questioned Rei to his parents who were sitting on the couch together.
"No honey, we weren't, we were just discussing something", Said Chiaki while glaring at her husband.
Reiji was about to say something but backed down after receiving the glare from his wife.
Rei nodded and sat near them while taking his breakfast plate from the table.
"Can we go to the field today again", asked Rei after eating his breakfast.
"Your father has something important to do today. Instead of him, I'll take you there", said Chiaki.
Rei nodded because he didn't care who took him there, he just wanted to go there and start practicing again.
"Let's go now, I'm ready", said Rei. He had his equipment and his outfit ready.
Chiaki nodded, took her car keys and they exited the house together.
"Why is she going with him?", said Reiji nervously.
"Who knows she does whatever she wants. Haven't I told you to man up ever since you were young?", said the grandfather while smacking Reiji's head.
"Ow…what was that for", said Reiji irritatingly while massaging his throbbing head.
"Hmph…", said grandfather while walking away from his son.
**
Rei and Chiaki arrived at the field.
The field had more people than yesterday, but they were still fewer.
Rei took his equipment and went towards the baseball practice ground. Chiaki followed behind him.
Rei went up to the mound and set it as he wanted it with his feet so he can get the right feeling. This is something all pitchers have a habit of doing so they can perform well.
Taking his pitching position, he winded up his glove while gripping the ball in a special way. He swung back his arm with force and released the ball.
The ball went 91 KM straight hitting the strike zone.
Chiaki's mouth was wide open when she saw her son pitching. "Reiji wasn't lying, he's amazing", she thought.
Rei had officially gained a fan.
Seeing her son pitch made her come to an important decision.
After 5 hours of Rei pitching strike after strike, his mother dragged him back into the car. For some reason, he couldn't say no to her as he did to his dad.
They both got into the car and Chiaki started driving.
"That was some pitching there", said Chiaki after she nagged her son about being cautious of his injured hand.
Rei nodded listening to her.
"I wanted to discuss something important with you. You see your father and I were discussing this in the morning", said Chiaki.
"Ah…ha, I knew it you guys were arguing", said Rei.
"J-just listen", said Chiaki ignoring her son's comment.
"DO you know about the Seido baseball team", asked Chiaki.
Rei nodded not knowing where this conversation was leading.
"I heard from my neighbor that Seido's 2nd string team is recruiting some members because they are short on people. So, I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the recruitment test which is a week before your school starts", said Chiaki seriously.
Rei went through many emotions when he heard what his mother said. Nervousness, excitement, etc.
"I- I want to join the recruitment test", said Rei withholding his immense joy inside.
"Okay, I and your father will sign you up for it", said Chiaki. She hoped she made the right decision for her son. Even though she was having second thoughts she still felt it was the right decision after seeing her son's pitching today. Her son was always secluded from everybody in junior high she was glad that her son finally found something that interested him.
She drove back home happily.
As soon as Rei came back home, he ran upstairs to his room as he had something important to do.
Seeing their son running upstairs, Reiji and Chiaki both shook their head.
Rei entered his room and before hitting his bed he decided to do his Daily Quest.
[Congratulations Host you have earned 'All Stats 0.5']
After the workout, he sat on his bed thinking about the preparations he should do for the recruitment test.
"First let's check my status", thought Rei.
[Status
Name: Rei Fujikawa
Position: Pitcher
Current Level: 1
Speed: 5+ (Can only be increased through practice)
Strength: 6.5+
Balance: 6.5+
Flexibility: 6.5+
Grip: 1+ (Can only be increased through practice)
(Skills)
Four-seam Fastball (level 3): when pitching this ball your chances of striking out the opponent increase by 12%.
Hitting (Level 1): Increases 5% your chance of touching the ball with a bat.
Cold- Heart (Level 3): Increases your focus and lets you make good decisions in matches by 15%.
Comment: Your stats are shit. Even normal human stats are double yours.]
Rei smirked when he saw his status. Even though he needs more improvement he was headed the right way.
His stats were increasing but he had to find a way to increase his speed and grip fast. His skills were also leveling up fine but for the recruitment test, he wanted his fastball to at least be level 5.
While he was thinking of this, system notifications popped up.
[Daily Quest: Flash!!
Run 2 miles with a Truck tire attached.
Reward: 0.2 Stat in Speed]
[Daily Quest: Grip is the key
Throw 100 pitches in a day
Reward: Raise pitching efficiency and 0.2 Stat in Grip]
[Mission: Seido High School
Successfully get into the 2nd string team. Show them what you got.
Reward: Level Up
Penalty: Permanent Hand Injury]
Rei was stunned looking at the multiple blue screens in front of his face.
Reading the daily quests Rei was happy that he finally had a way to increase his Grip Stat and Speed Stat. He was left speechless when he read the description of each daily quest.
His eyes almost popped out when he read about the truck tires.
Taking a deep breath, he thought "Who am I? I am Rei fucking Fujikawa, I am the man who defeated YIPS I can definitely do this".
After he was feeling better, he looked at the Mission which he was curious about because he only received daily quests so far.
When he read the details of the mission, he had a smirk on his face because he knew whatever happened he would definitely be qualified for 2nd string, but his smirk vanished when he saw the penalty. He had to be careful with this.
He sighed thinking he had a lot to do tomorrow. He lay on his bed and fell asleep.
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Rei along with his parents stood outside an office building that had, "Doctor Kijima", written outside of it.
Today Rei had come to get his left hand checked. It had been quite a while since the last time his predecessor got it checked.
Rei was hoping the results turn out to be good because it was getting hard to withstand the throbbing pain in his hand when he pitched.
You may be wondering how he pitches when his hand was injured. His was injured but not anything critical it was like a superficial wound that's why it always throbbed when Rei pitched.
Thankfully Rei pitches with his right hand in this life because his left hand was injured.
Rei and his parents entered the Doctor's office.
Rei sat down in the lobby while his parents talked with the receptionist.
After 10-15 minutes later, Rei was called and went into the Doctor's room.
"Hello, how are you doing?", asked Doctor Kijima.
"Good", said Chiaki as she sat down with her husband and son.
Doctor Kijima nodded and said, "Let us check Rei's left-hand today and see how it is".
Rei gulped nervously when he heard the doctor talking.
"You go take an x-ray test of your left hand with this nurse and then come back, ok", said Doctor Kijima while pointing toward a nurse.
Rei nodded and went to the x-ray room with the nurse.
In the x-ray room, the nurse took pictures of his left hand and after some minutes, he came back into the Doctor's room.
The nurse followed him coming back to the Doctor's room. the nurse gave a USB containing x-ray pictures she took of Rei's hand to the doctor.
Doctor Kijima nodded and took the USB. He looked over the contents and saw the X-rays of Rei's left hand.
"The result is good, it seems his hand has recovered but I'd still recommend you give It some more rest", said Doctor Kijima after looking over the X-rays.
As soon as Rei and his parents heard the news they were delighted. They all had different thoughts going through their minds when they heard the news.
"Thank Goodness, I wouldn't want my son to stop his interest. He just started", thought Chiaki.
"Now he can go exercising with me more frequently", thought Reiji.
"Now I can finally be assured about my left hand and pitch worry free" thought Rei.
As all of them were done with their business in the Doctor's office, they left the building.
Rei and his family entered their car and Chiaki started driving.
"Oh, I was going to ask since we are outside anyway can we go to a store to buy more clothes for me", said Rei. He needed more clothes ASAP because all he had was black. Don't get him wrong he thinks black is a great color and matches everything, but he needs to have a pop of color in his wardrobe.
"Why would you suddenly want new clothes", asked Chiaki curiously.
"You see lately I have been looking at my wardrobe and I only see black in there, so I wanted a pop of color in there", said Rei trying to convince his mother.
Chiaki nodded and agreed with him about his decision. Reiji couldn't care less so he just sat in the car lazily.
"We have to get this done early because I and your father have to go somewhere today", said Chiaki while eyeing her husband.
Rei looked toward his father to confirm. His father nodded.
"Okay but before going just leave me at the field and when you guys come back pick me up on the way", said Rei casually.
Chiaki and Reiji nodded.
The car was parked in a mall parking lot.
Chiaki and Rei got out of the car and entered the mall. Reiji stayed in the car because he didn't want to go with them to the mall. He didn't like malls because they were too crowded, and people took too long in there.
Rei and Chiaki went to a specific store which was Rei's predecessor's favorite clothing store.
Rei looked over the clothing shop and found some good shirts for himself that had a good pop of color.
He grabbed the shirts and gave them to his mom.
Chiaki took the shirts, paid for them at the cashier, and dragged Rei back to their car.
Chiaki put the shopping bag in the car truck and drove fast towards the field to drop Rei.
After some minutes they arrived at the field and Rei got out of the car with his equipment.
Rei got in the field and practiced his fastball and tried to increase his Grip Stat.
Chiaki and Reiji drove towards Seido High School leaving Rei behind.
Meanwhile the baseball team of Seido High School
Takashima Rei, the baseball team's vice president was setting up the recruitment test for the 2nd string. She was very diligent with her work.
After the previous generation graduated 2nd string had fewer players left. They had 2 choices left to get more players to join that is one they scout more players and 2nd they hold recruitment tests trying to find diamonds in the rough.
As you can see, they went with the 2nd option because the team only wanted to scout players for the 1st string or players who were talented.
They still weren't fully prepared for the recruitment test but today Takashima decided to hold the sign-ups for the recruitment test.
Seido High School is a prestigious school that's why they had to have a sign-up, so no one sneaks their way in.
After setting up the sign-up stall Takashima started accepting sign-ups of players for the recruitment test.
A line was quickly formed in front of her desk when she started accepting sign-ups.
Chiaki and Reiji arrived early and quickly joined the line not too far away from the front.
After 30 minutes it was their turn.
"Name, baseball experience, and age?", asked Takashima for the sign-ups.
Hearing what Takashima said made both husband and wife uncomfortable.
"Our son has no experience, what should we do?", they both thought.
They both looked at each other and nodded.
"Rei Fujikawa, 15 and has 2 years of baseball experience", said Chiaki. She didn't want to embarrass her son by saying 1 week.
Takashima nodded and said, "Bring Fujikawa on the 20th in the morning for the test".
When Takashima was done with them, she yelled, "Next".
Chiaki and Reiji both got into the car and drove towards the field to pick Rei up.
After a few minutes they arrived at the field, but they couldn't see Rei anywhere. They called him and texted him but no answer.
Chiaki was getting worried, so she asked Reiji to go check the field.
The sun was setting, and the field was getting dark, but Reiji couldn't find Rei.
Giving up he was about to call the police, but he heard panting noises.
He walked towards the panting noise and saw his son with a tire attached to his back by a rope and dragging it and pushing himself hard.
Reiji was brought to tears fast because he was soft-hearted and thinking that he had lost his son made him teary.
He went up to Rei and hugged him while sobbing.
"W-what happened?", said Rei surprised as he was startled to receive a hug out of nowhere.
"Get off me. I'm sweaty right now", said Rei pushing his dad away.
"Oh yeah you do stink", said Reiji stepping away from his son and holding his nose close.
"Haaa…whatever let's just go back home", said Rei irritatingly. He just wanted to go home because he was exhausted.
Both entered the car.
Chiaki was relieved to see her son and drove back home.
Rei went upstairs to his room with his shopping bag as soon as he came back home.
Reiji and Chiaki didn't care anymore about what Rei did because this was his daily routine currently.
Rei entered his room and changed into his pajamas. He hung his new clothes in his cabinet.
Looking at his new clothes Rei said, "Now that's fashion".
Before hitting his bed, he decided to do his daily quest even though he was exhausted.
After 2 hours he was panting on the floor with sweat all over his body.
[Congratulations Host you have earned 'All Stats 0.5']
"Sta-…tus…", said Rei wanting to check his progress while panting on the floor.
[Status
Name: Rei Fujikawa
Position: Pitcher
Current Level: 1
Speed: 5+ (Can only be increased through practice)
Strength: 7+
Balance: 7+
Flexibility: 7+
Grip: 1.5+ (Can only be increased through practice)
(Skills)
Four-seam Fastball (level 4): when pitching this ball your chances of striking out the opponent increase by 14%.
Hitting (Level 1): Increases 5% your chance of touching the ball with a bat.
Cold- Heart (Level 4): Increases your focus and lets you make good decisions in matches by 15%.
Comment: Your stats are shit. Even normal human stats are double yours.]
Rei nodded looking at his status screen. His Strength, Flexibility, and Balance Stats were improving at an impressive rate, but his speed and grip were still lacking.
It's not like 1 day is going to make that much of a difference.
He couldn't increase his speed today because he tried running with only a tire attached and he could barely run. The quest stated that he had to run with a truck tire. He was nowhere increasing his speed Stat for now.
He was going to take it, step by step for now he will try running with a tire attached, and then he can increase it.
His Grip stat was going to increase when he did the daily quest for it, but he could never throw 200 pitches a day his stamina won't allow it. Even though he had come close to the count.
In the end, everything comes back at speed/stamina.
Looking at his skills he was surprised because his fastball had increased again. Now that he thinks about it when he pitched the fastball today it felt faster probably around 94 KM.
(Author's Note- This is how much Sawamura's speed was in the starting)
Again, for some reason, his cold heart skill increased.
"Is this my personality or something else", thought Rei questionably.
Rei came up with a plan while thinking on his bed about the training for the recruitment test.
He had to come up with something that would entice the Seido baseball coach to make him join the team.
"I need to add a secret weapon", thought Rei.
He was going to the tire running, his usual body daily quest, and pitching practice for his training plan.
Rei lay on his bed and was excited about the hardcore training plan for tomorrow.
"I think it's about time I try learning 'Cutter' again", thought Rei before he fell asleep.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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