Chapter 65: Speedster

Huangqian Yangyi even felt that Yuki Tetsuya's obsession with shogi surpassed his obsession with baseball; it was true love.

Huangqian Yangyi smiled helplessly.

"Do you know how to play shogi?" Yuki Tetsuya asked.

"I don't," Huangqian Yangyi said.

"Want to learn? I can teach you!" Jiecheng looked excited, seemingly very interested in teaching Huangqian Yangyi how to play shogi.

Huangqian Yangyi nodded; facing Yuki Tetsuya's sincere gaze, he really couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Just as the two were chatting, over at the A-side Field, Coach Kataoka walked in with the coaching staff.

"Gather up!"

Whether they were First Year newcomers or Second String upperclassmen, everyone put down what they were doing and gathered together.

"Since entering Seido, you have undergone two months of high school baseball training. Today! Is the time for you to show the results. Opportunities must be fought for. Give it your all and show me what you've got!" Coach Kataoka shouted while wearing sunglasses.

All First Years: "Yes!"

After the spirited response, the First Years immediately felt waves of cold gazes piercing toward them.

It was the Second String upperclassmen!

The upperclassmen had fierce expressions, and their presence far exceeded that of the First Year newcomers.

Perhaps only now did these newcomers realize that today's internal Seido Red and White Match didn't just determine their future; it also represented the past of these upperclassmen, and they would absolutely not give up their positions easily!

Some timid First Years couldn't help but take a step back after meeting the upperclassmen's gazes; they had developed stage fright before the battle had even begun.

Soon, both sides selected their starting lineups.

"Salute!"

"Please treat us well!!"

The Newcomer Match, begin!

The upperclassmen batted first, and the First Years were on defense.

Huangqian Yangyi and Yuki Tetsuya sat together and recognized the starting Pitcher the First Years had sent out at a glance; it was someone named Kawashima.

Sure enough, Kawakami had been arranged by the Coach to go later.

Among the First Year Pitchers of this class, setting aside the super-model existence of Huangqian Yangyi, the only one who could catch Coach Kataoka's eye was Kawakami Norifumi.

Although others had performed well, and some were even the mainstays or aces of their teams during middle school.

But this is Seido! The difficulty of fighting for a Pitcher position here is just too high. Many pitchers who performed well in middle school ended up either giving up or switching to other positions due to the immense competitive pressure after coming to Seido.

Huangqian Yangyi scanned the First Year Dugout; Kuramochi Yoichi was talking enthusiastically about something, and in front of him were Asou Takeru, Shirasu Kenjiro, and others.

"Do your best, get into the Second String early," Huangqian Yangyi whispered.

The First Years soon stood at their respective positions, which also meant that the First Years' nightmare was about to descend.

The moment Kawashima threw the first pitch, it was smacked by an upperclassman into the corner of the outfield, and the runner even made it all the way to Second Base. A fierce show of dominance left the First Years standing there as if stunned.

"How can they be this strong!"

"This has to be fake!"

"The gap is this big?"

After just one pitch, the First Years had already begun to doubt their lives.

Kawashima was even deathly pale, as if his soul had been sucked out, yet the game continued, and he could only bite the bullet and carry on.

In the top of the first inning, after Kawashima finally managed to get three outs, he looked back at the scoreboard and almost fainted on the spot.

A full 8 runs!

8 runs lost in a single half-inning!

"Too brutal!" Huangqian Yangyi clicked his tongue at the sight.

"Heh, this is just the beginning."

A voice sounded from behind.

"Jun-san."

"Yeah. If these brats don't adjust their state of mind quickly, it's only going to get worse," Isashiki Jun sat down with a thud, his words showing he was very pessimistic about the First Years' situation.

Huangqian Yangyi smiled: "Isn't that normal? Most of them had some achievements in middle school and are all arrogant. As a result, after just one inning, they were almost beaten into the dirt by the upperclassmen. Being lost and doubting themselves is a natural reaction."

Hearing this, Isashiki turned his head strangely to look at Huangqian Yangyi: "I'm telling you, kid, did you forget that you're a First Year too?"

"Nope, I want to play too, but the Coach won't let me."

"Heh, in a situation like this, even if you went up, it wouldn't help."

During their conversation, the bottom of the first inning ended, and the upperclassmen struck out three in a row against these demoralized little nobodies.

After a few innings passed, the people inside Seido were still observing, but the spectators who had come to watch the fun were already losing patience.

The First Years' performance was too painful to watch; it was simply unbearable. There were tons of errors on defense—dropping the ball was one thing, but some even threw in the wrong direction due to nerves. Who the hell could watch this?

"Whoa! So fast!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

On the field, when it was Kuramochi Yoichi's turn to bat, the kid chose a Bunt, tapping the ball toward Third Base.

"Yaha!!"

Kuramochi Yoichi let out a weird cry, tossed his bat aside, and his speedster legs kicked into gear!

In the blink of an eye, he had covered more than half the distance; he was running in front, and the ball was chasing from behind.

At the very last moment, Kuramochi dove, his hands firmly pressing onto the First Base bag.

Pop!

The sound of the baseball entering the glove.

"Safe!"

"Yahoo!"

Having successfully risked a base hit, Kuramochi immediately let out a strange cry on the spot.

"Who is this kid?"

"He runs really fast."

"He's got guts too, daring to bunt at a time like this, and he even made it to base."

"There are still some decent newcomers, after all."

The spectators began to discuss among themselves, very interested in this green-haired kid who had suddenly appeared.

"It's useless."

On Huangqian Yangyi's side, at some point, the members of the First String had all gathered around; the one who had just spoken was Tanba.

"You can't say it's useless; at the very least, the kid made a play for himself, didn't he?"

"Zhitian Jiangtai, it feels like this kid's speed is even faster than yours," someone teased.

Zhitian Jiangtai chuckled: "He still has a long way to go."

"What do you guys think, can the First Year score?" Kominato Ryosuke's voice rang out.

"Impossible."

"Dream on."

"Wishful thinking."

The upperclassmen made their judgments one after another, unanimously agreeing that it was almost impossible for the First Year to score.

Watching until now, they hadn't discovered anyone whose batting could make a difference; even if someone reached base, it was useless if the offensive momentum couldn't be sustained.

"Then, what will the final score be?" Kominato Ryosuke asked next.

Hearing this, the first to speak was Dong Qingguo, who sneered: "50 to 0!"

"Hey, hey, Senior Dong, aren't you looking down on our newcomers a bit too much?"

"That's too exaggerated."

"If it's 50 to 0, I'll do a handstand while washing my hair."

?

"Who? Who said that? Write it down quickly!"

Listening to the upperclassmen talking back and forth, Huangqian Yangyi, however, had his brows tightly locked.

Several innings had already passed, so why did it feel like the First Year were getting more and more nervous, with low-level errors caused by panic also increasing?

With a performance like this, Huangqian Yangyi was certain that in the eyes of the director, it was absolutely super unqualified.