บท 5: Preparation

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.