Chapter 866

"You cannot choose to be the batter!"

"This time, you must be the 'pitcher,' and I will be the batter to duel with you!"

He seemed to have already seen Natsume Chikage's flustered, slow-pitching, and wildly inaccurate appearance on the mound, and his tone was filled with the pleasure of revenge:

"I want you to personally taste the frustration and misery that Zhongdao-kun and our entire baseball team felt after being defeated by you in that way!"

After speaking.

Seeming afraid that Natsume Chikage would notice something wrong and back out, he immediately took action.

He forcefully tore his precious baseball glove from his hand and then threw it fiercely at Natsume Chikage, while using a goading tactic:

"According to ancient Western tradition, throwing down a glove symbolizes issuing a duel challenge that cannot be refused!"

"Since you want this glove so much, then perfect, let it serve as the token and proof of this challenge!"

He raised his head and added in a condescending tone, attempting to completely block Natsume Chikage's retreat:

"Anyway, you can't beat me, so just consider this glove a little 'compensation' for your defeat."

"As for your repeated claims of 'not knowing how to play baseball,' I will 'believe' you for now."

"Just like the last contest with Zhongdao-kun, I'll give you time to prepare—one month!"

"One month from now, whether you spend this month praying at a temple or really found a place to practice, the contest must be held as scheduled!"

Natsume Chikage instinctively caught the glove flying toward him.

And the moment he caught it, the line of pale blue glowing text that only he could see in his field of vision became even clearer.

【Effort Baseball Glove】

【Quality: Blue】

【Effect: When the wearer throws a baseball, strength increases by 5%, pitching control ability slightly improves, and accuracy increases by 10%!】

【Introduction: For my own sake, I must work even harder!!】

Natsume Chikage held the glove, stunned for a moment, blinked, and a strange, indescribable expression flashed across his face.

In that expression, there was surprise, bewilderment, and even a hint of... wanting to laugh.

He raised his head, looked at Shinohara Shingo, who had an "you've fallen into the trap" expression, and calmly spat out two words:

"Fine."

However, his understated agreement was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves in the student council room.

Everyone present, whether it was high-level figures like Jinwei Tong and Yusheng Jianghui, or the involved party Zhongdao Satoshi, or other baseball team members and student council members, all revealed expressions of disbelief and incomprehension.

Everyone knew that Natsume Chikage's ability to hit the ball last time might have had elements of talent and luck, but he was essentially a baseball layman; this could be confirmed by his own statements and everyone's observations.

Batting and pitching are almost two different worlds in baseball!

Batting tests reaction, eyesight, instantaneous judgment, and swinging technique.

While pitching, especially pitching against a batter of Shinohara Shingo's level, requires extremely complex and precise full-body coordination, precise control of the ball's path, mastery of breaking balls, and strong psychological quality.

A true professional pitcher often requires years or even longer of systematic training and competitive polishing to be up to the task.

The high technical threshold, the long development cycle, and the demanding physical talent requirements far exceed the imagination of ordinary people.

It is no lie that the pitcher directly determines 70%-80% of the game's outcome, but this also explains the difficulty.

And now, Natsume Chikage—a pure novice who might not even have the correct basic pitching posture—actually agreed to train for only one month before going to a pitching-batting duel with the recognized genius batter Shinohara Shingo?

This could no longer be described as "courageous."

This was simply crazy!

It was self-destruction!

It was handing victory over on a silver platter!

The girls who cared about Natsume Chikage were so anxious they were almost crying, and they spoke up one after another to dissuade him:

"Natsume-kun! Wait a minute! Don't agree! This is too unfair!"

"That's right! Calm down! This is his goading tactic, can't you see that?"

"No matter how you look at it, these conditions are a trap extremely unfavorable to you! If you're really worried about him harassing you, so many of us can testify for you, we can report him to the school for threatening a student, which is enough to get him disciplined or even expelled!"

"Yes, yes! Vice President, Miss Jinwei, say something! You can't let him agree to such an absurd wager!"

Yusheng Jianghui's brows were locked tight, his inner thoughts extremely complex.

Even if deep down he might have been happy to see Natsume Chikage in trouble, as a student council cadre, basic fairness and rationality made it impossible for him to sit idly by and watch such a clearly unfair, and even coercive, wager be established.

He took a deep breath, stood straight, and spoke in an extremely serious tone, almost like an official announcement, fulfilling his duty as a notary while also leaving Natsume Chikage a final room for maneuver:

"Student Natsume Chikage."

"Based on the conditions just stated by you and Student Shinohara Shingo, I need to confirm with you one last time."

"The conditions for winning or losing this wager are: If you lose, you must withdraw from Private Moonlight Academy; if Shinohara Shingo and his designated team members lose, they must withdraw from Private Moonlight Academy, be banned from participating in baseball for life, and must not harass you or your associates."

"In addition, the wager includes Shinohara Shingo's personal glove."

"The contest content is for you to be the pitcher and Shinohara Shingo to be the batter, in a ten-pitch duel."

"The preparation period is one month."

He looked sharply at Natsume Chikage, his voice heavy:

"As the Vice President of the Student Council, representing the arbitration party for this dispute, I ask you one last time: Do you clearly understand and fully accept all the above conditions?"

"If you think any point is unreasonable or unacceptable, raise it now, and both parties can renegotiate until relatively fair terms are reached."

The intention of these words was very obvious, almost explicitly telling Natsume Chikage: It's not too late to back out now, find an excuse to refuse or modify the conditions.

The girls looked at Natsume Chikage full of hope, expecting him to come to his senses.

However.

Jinwei Tong's brows had not relaxed since just now.

She knew more than others.

Natsume Chikage had truly only touched a baseball on "that day," and had only practiced batting.

Pitching?

He probably didn't even know the most basic ball-gripping and striding.

The last time he won, it was by relying on that astonishing batting talent.

But this time, he was facing a completely different field, and it was the field the opponent was best at.

You have to know that Shinohara Shingo's batting talent was even higher than his pitching talent.

Under these circumstances, even if Natsume Chikage's batting talent was more heaven-defying than Shinohara Shingo's, he wouldn't be able to exert even a bit of it.

This was no longer a "challenge," it was almost "suicide."

She looked at Natsume Chikage's overly calm profile and reminded him:

"Natsume-kun."

"This time, it's completely different from last time."

"If you lose, I, representing the student council and the school, must strictly enforce the agreement."

"Once the wager is established, the result cannot be changed."

"Are you really sure you want to accept such conditions?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Natsume Chikage.

Natsume Chikage's gaze swept calmly over Jinwei Tong and Yusheng Jianghui, and finally landed on Shinohara Shingo's face, which was a mixture of anticipation and mockery.

He nodded, his voice clear and steady, without the slightest hesitation:

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I accept all conditions."

"Whoa—"

A suppressed gasp and a sigh of despair sounded in the room.

A few girls with slightly weaker psychological endurance even felt a wave of dizziness, leaning on their companions, their eyes filled with confusion and heartache.

"Foolish... Natsume-kun, you are truly too foolish..."

"Why... why be so stupid..."

Jinwei Tong closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were filled with icy calm, but the slightly furrowed brows showed her inner turmoil.

Zhongdao Satoshi's expression was bitter, feeling that Natsume Chikage, the only one he recognized as being able to be Yue Dao Lin's boyfriend, was probably finished this time...

Yusheng Jianghui watched Natsume Chikage silently for several seconds.

He straightened his tie, stood up straight again, and his face returned to the seriousness and authority expected of a student council vice president.

"Then, Student Shinohara Shingo."

"Do you have any objections to all the above conditions confirmed by Student Natsume Chikage?"