The Old Baseball Player System
Chapter 72: New Challenges

DING DONG

Shun heard the sound of the bell, signaling the end of class. The boy got up and left with Kenta toward the school baseball field.

"Hey guys?" - A familiar voice sounded behind Shun and Kenta, making them both turn their heads.

"AHH!!" - The two friends jumped back in fright, screaming.

"Ren, what the hell happened to you?" - Shun asked, shocked as he looked at his friend. The young samurai Ren wasn't wearing his characteristic samurai bun, causing his long hair to cover almost his entire face.

The boy had an even more worn-out expression than Kenta, looking more like a ghost than a samurai.

"Oh, I didn't fix my hair today..." - Ren said gloomily as he started walking toward the field. Kenta also didn't seem to care anymore and resumed walking as well.

"These guys..." - Shun was a bit bewildered by his two depressive friends. He clenched his fists tightly and followed them to the school field.

"Oh, you three came?" - Coach Yamada spoke in a surprised tone. The field, usually full of players, was now empty.

"Coach, where is everyone?" - Shun asked.

"Oh, as you know, the third-years left the team to focus on their exams. As for the others... well, you're the only ones who've come so far." - The coach spoke a little dazed. He knew the loss had affected the players' morale, but he was afraid the younger players might quit because of it.

"What?" - Shun said in disbelief, but before he could continue, he was interrupted by a youthful voice.

"Senpais! See, Sora? I told you they would be here!" - An excited, short boy ran toward them as he spoke. He had black hair and eyes and a youthful face. His name was Daigo Tsuda, and he was a first-year catcher. Next to him was Sora Okamoto, the arrogant first-year pitcher.

"Oh, Daigo, Sora! You came!" - Shun said excitedly. The last thing he wanted was to not have enough players to play next year. However, he quickly noticed something, and his smile disappeared as he spoke in a serious tone:

"Daigo, why isn't Jiro with you?"

"Huh? Well, Jiro didn't come to school today... I messaged him, and he said he's got the flu." - Daigo was surprised by Shun's change in expression and answered honestly.

"Oh, so that's it! Haha, good thing, I thought he had quit." - Shun laughed, relieved. The last person on the team he wanted to quit was the genius pitcher Jiro, not only because of his incredible talent, but Shun genuinely liked the guy.

"And where are the other first-years?" - Kenta asked with a serious look.

"Ah, well... some of them said they quit, actually most of them did. A few said they'd stay in the club, but they made excuses not to come to practice..." - Daigo said with his head down.

"Tch! They're just losers!" - Sora grumbled, irritated. The boy still hadn't gotten over the defeat but couldn't believe all his friends had quit the club.

"Well, there's no helping it. Let's just hope they change their minds and come back to the club, haha!" - Shun laughed lightheartedly. The boy clearly wasn't happy with the situation, but he knew that being upset wouldn't help. He then continued to speak:

"Well, let's start practice right away. You two can join us in doing my exercise routine. We can't slack off if we want to beat Hokuto next year, right, Coach?" - Shun looked at his coach with confidence.

"Huh? That's right, let's train, boys!" - Coach Yamada was a bit surprised but quickly raised his voice. There was no point in being discouraged, they had a long year of hard work ahead.

The five young players began training with the pitching machines. Unfortunately for Shun, the swings he did in the Training Center didn't count toward his daily mission, so the boy had to complete his 500 swings the usual way.

After finishing, Shun went to the bullpen to do his daily pitching practice. Sora continued practicing his swings, as he had pitched in the game yesterday and didn't have any Divine Recovery to allow him to pitch multiple days in a row without blowing out his shoulder.

"Hey guys, let's start the workout list? I decided to make it a bit harder today, haha!" - Shun returned from the bullpen with a smile, making Kenta and Ren shiver. Their bodies ached just thinking about doing that list again, and now they had to do an even harder one...

"Yes, Senpai!" - Daigo said excitedly, unaware that training with his senpais was nothing to be happy about. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

* Two hours later *

"Uurrghhh!" - Daigo was in the corner of the field, vomiting. The poor boy had never exerted himself this much in his life. He tried his best to keep up with Shun's pace, but that was simply impossible.

"What the hell kind of workout is this? This is impossib—Urrghh!" - Sora was next to Daigo, trying to complain about the workout but unable to hold back his vomit. His mind couldn't comprehend that his senpais were doing this kind of training every day.

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"This is insane!" - Coach Yamada was watching the field in disbelief. This was the first time he had seen Shun's workout list, as the boys usually did it after the team's practice. He finally understood how the three boys had improved so much in recent months, but he couldn't believe they could handle this madness.

The three friends were lying in the middle of the field, breathing heavily. It had been a long time since they had felt this hellish level of exhaustion.

"I've got to go home now. See you guys tomorrow." - Shun got up with difficulty. Kenta and Ren didn't even bother to respond, they were too busy trying to breathe as much air as possible.

Shun then left the school field, walking home with difficulty, but despite the fatigue, there was a hint of excitement in his eyes. He was looking forward to watching the Home Run Derby tonight.