With his ho run, the Gladiators were now up by 3 runs and had no outs in the first inning. It was honestly a terrible situation to be in for the opposite team, but by no ans would they give up in a tournant like this.
"Let's not get too complacent." Ken said, taking a seat next to Steve.
"Mmm. Brett is pitching well today, like he has sothing to prove."
"Good…" Ken replied, but inwardly he complained, 'Hurry up and let pitch…'
Steve looked at his friend and could almost tell what he was thinking. But in the next mont he froze, as if he rembered sothing. "Ah, what did you say to the pitcher after your hor?"
"Hmm? Oh, I just said sothing in Japanese." Ken said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Tell …"
Ken glanced at Steve briefly. One look was all it took to understand that the guy would keep bothering him until he told him what he said. Wanting to avoid the annoyance, he gave in.
"Jigou Jitoku" He said simply.
"…"
"What?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.
Steve looked at him expectantly, "So, you gonna tell what it ans? I don't bloody know Japanese…"
Ken grinned, "You should learn it, it's rather simple."
"Tell …"
"You reap what you sow." A voice spoke from behind them, catching both Ken and Steve off guard.
Ken turned around, seeing that it was Coach Wyatt who had answered him. He was wearing a thoughtful expression, as if the words ant more to him than what was on the surface.
"Coach, you know Japanese?" Ken asked in surprise.
The coach shook his head, "Goodness no. I watch a bit of Ani here and there. It's quite a common saying in those."
Ken's surprise turned into disinterest almost imdiately. He had already been hassled by many people at school about Ani. They seed to think that just because he was from Japan that he would know everything there was about it.
Apart from a few of his favorite sports Ani that he had seen, Ken preferred to read Manga, as did a lot of Japanese people around his age.
"It's quite a good phrase and can be used in many situations. When you simplify it, it basically ans that you get out what you put in." Coach Wyatt stated, still wearing his thoughtful expression.
Steve looked at the coach weirdly, clearly not expecting a lecture at this point in ti.
"Take baseball for example, if you don't put in any effort, you won't get any success. But if you train hard and continue to practice, your rewards will be great, both on and off the field."
Ken nodded his head in agreent. He was the biggest proponent of training hard so he could perform well on the field and reap the rewards.
'Rewards?'
Ken froze, panic gripping his entire body as if he had realized sothing.
'Wait, this is a national tournant… Why haven't I received a mission?' Ken thought, feeling a sense of loss.
Usually when he entered a tournant like Koshien or even the U18 World Cup, the system would give him a set of goals to hit with great rewards offered. He had forgotten since he'd played for 18 months without the system.
[Answer: User requires a higher level of competition to qualify for the next set of missions.]
Mika's monotonous voice rang out in his head, dousing whatever hope he had left. There was a part of him that had guessed this might happen, but that didn't an it was an easy pill to swallow.
After all, it was tough to let go of free rewards.
'What sort of competition are we talking Mika?' He asked, his disappointnt evident.
[Answer: College equivalent competition.]
It was a simple answer, but Ken felt his heart sink. He was currently in his Junior year, which ant he still had another year until he could go to college. Missing out on any missions in that ti would likely slow his progress.
'I guess its not all bad news…' Ken thought after a while.
Considering he wanted to increase his physical grades without the Elixirs for now, it might not be so bad. Of course he would miss out on any new skills or Lottery Tickets that might be on offer, but he also had the Image Training in the anti.
Plus, he still had the SSS-Grade Physical Elixir he hadn't used. In a few weeks ti he should have caught up to his physical grades and would be able to use it, propelling his fitness to another level.
"Alright, I gotta get ready." Steve said, sitting up from the bench.
"Watch out for the beanball's." Ken replied with a grin.
Steve froze for a mont and looked as if he was going to say sothing, but he quickly ignored Ken and grabbed his bat and helt.
Ken turned his attention to the field. Since he'd been busy chatting away and having an internal crisis, he had missed the last bit of action.
He saw Max standing on 3rd base and in scoring position. Dion was up to bat right now, aning that the opposing team had still not gotten an out.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Ken wore a wry smile, 'Maybe we do better when I'm not watching…' he thought.
With that, Steve was now up to bat. With Max standing on third base, Steve turned to the coach, as if asking for the play.
The coach made various signs, receiving a nod from Steve in the process. Ken's eyes lit up, a small grin touching the corner of his lips.
As the pitcher threw the ball, Steve held his bat out with two hands, tracking the ball easily and delivering a beautiful push bunt towards first base.
Even before he'd made contact with the ball, Max had taken off at full speed towards the plate. His big fra must have looked nacing since the Catcher didn't dare to stand in his way.
"Safe."
"Out."
Steve was called out at first base, but he had already done his job. With the squeeze play, their team was already up 4 runs in the very first inning.
"Nice play."
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