Chương 30: I’m a genius!

"Bro, I want ice cream!" - The cute Yumi asked her brother right after finishing her playtime.

"Sure! What flavor do you want?" - Shun smiled, he couldn't say no to this little girl. He took out his phone and let his friends know he was heading to the ice cream shop.

"Chocolate!" - Yumi jumped with joy as she spoke.

"Hehe, alright. Yumi, after the ice cream, we're going to meet my friends, okay?" - Shun patted his little sister's head.

"Hm! Don't worry, bro, I'll behave!" - Yumi said with a determined look.

"You'll like them, Yumi. One of them is even a samurai!" - Shun pinched his sister's cheeks after seeing her cute expression.

"Huh? Really? A real samurai?" - Yumi got excited upon hearing she would meet a real samurai. The little girl had only seen them in cartoons or books.

"Hehe, you'll see." - Shun was excited to see Ren's reaction after being called a samurai by a little girl.

The two siblings went to the ice cream shop and ordered the chocolate ice cream that Yumi wanted. After a few minutes, Ren and Kenta arrived at the shop.

"Hey, Shun!" - They both approached.

"Hey, guys, this is my little sister, Yumi." - Shun greeted them while introducing the little girl.

"Hi! Are you a real samurai?" - Yumi, being a curious child, couldn't hold back her question and asked Ren.

"Huh? What? Samurai?" - Ren was confused, he didn't expect to hear that out of nowhere.

"Hahahahahahaha!" - Both Shun and Kenta couldn't hold back their laughter, they started laughing out loud, even clutching their stomachs.

"Shun! What nonsense are you telling your sister?" - Ren, embarrassed, asked angrily.

"Hehe, sorry, Yumi. This samurai is a bit silly in the head." - Shun picked up his sister as he spoke.

The little girl nodded, a bit confused, but she liked it when her brother held her, so she just hugged him.

With that, they headed to the nearby batting center, chatting and laughing like good friends. When they arrived, Shun sat Yumi on a bench and let her play with her tablet.

"So, who's going first?" - Kenta asked.

"Ah, I will. I'm still sore from yesterday's practice, I need to take a few swings to get my body used to it." - Ren said with a pained expression. Kenta didn't say anything, but his expression showed he agreed with Ren's words. Shun felt a little guilty, even though he had trained so hard, he was fully recovered thanks to his new quirk. He then decided to do something he hadn't done in a while, he looked at Ren and asked the system to show his stats.

[Ren Yamashita

Overall: C+

PITCHING: C-

BATTING: C+

FIELDING: B

RUNNING: S-

GAME IQ: E+

Overall Potential: SS+]

"Wow! He's improved a lot, his overall went up by two grades, and some stats improved a lot too. He hasn't even been doing the exercise routine for a week, how did he improve so fast?" - Shun was impressed by Ren's growth rate.

[Of course, he improved quickly, kid! This Ren has great potential, and his overall was really low before, so naturally, he'll improve quickly with that exercise routine. However, the higher his stats, the harder and longer it will take to improve them.]

"Ah, I see." - Shun couldn't complain, the old man's information was really useful at times. Still, that was all, Shun still didn't trust this old man.

The machine started pitching to Ren. The boy still had difficulty making contact, but every time he did, it was a strong hit that would have gone to the outfield.

Ren stepped out of the batter's box after a few pitches, and Kenta decided to take his turn. Shun looked at Kenta and asked the system to show his stats.

[Kenta Kobayashi

Overall: B+

PITCHING: C+

BATTING: B+

FIELDING: A-

RUNNING: A-

GAME IQ: B-

Overall Potential: SS+]

"He improved his overall by one grade, and his running and batting also went up by one grade. Not bad, but it's much less compared to Ren's growth. Looks like the old man was telling the truth." - Shun concluded.

[Of course I was telling the truth, you brat!]

Shun just ignored the old man and watched Kenta bat. Kenta continued to hit well, he could make contact with every pitch from the machine and even managed to hit some that would have been home runs on a field.

Shun then saw Kenta step out of the batter's box, it was his turn to bat now. He started swinging, and as usual, he could make contact with every pitch, but nearly all of them were fouled off. After his turn, he stepped out of the batter's box to let Ren bat again, and he began to think worriedly.

"Damn, with my new skill, I can steal bases easily, but for that to happen, I need to get on base first. I won't be able to do that if I keep fouling everything off." - Shun was thinking of a solution while watching Ren bat. Then he seemed to realize something.

"That's it! I can make contact with every pitch they throw at me, and with my Hunter Eyes skill, I can identify the trajectory of the pitches! If I can identify which pitches are balls and which are strikes, I can just hit the strikes and wait for the pitcher to throw four balls so I can get a walk! Hahaha, that's it! I'm a genius! This way, I'll be able to get on base every time I bat, and I won't risk getting struck out!" - Shun got excited when he realized the brilliant idea he had.