October 28, 2010, four days after the final match of the Autumn Tokyo Tournament.

For most people, it's just another ordinary Thursday—those who need to go to school are at school, those who need to go to work are at work. Everything is as usual, without any upheaval.

In Tokyo, inside the New Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, over 100 baseball players from all over Japan are currently dressed in formal attire, sitting upright in the rooms arranged by the organizers.

Among them, some are freshly graduated high schoolers, unaware of the ways of the world; some are prestigious university graduates full of ambition and anticipation for the future; and still others have been battling in corporate teams for years, already familiar with the ups and downs of society.

Yet at this moment, regardless of where they're from, their age, or their abilities, everyone in the room shares one title: "rookie player" waiting to be selected by one of the 12 Nihon Professional Baseball teams.

Today is the site of the 2010 46th Nihon Professional Baseball Rookie Player Draft Meeting.

The so-called "Draft Meeting" is essentially the professional team's selection conference; however, unlike the Major League Baseball in the United States, Nihon Professional Baseball has its own unique draft method.

The Nihon Professional Baseball draft is open to all high school, university, and amateur social players, providing them with an upward path while also helping teams find immediate impact players and fresh blood.

From the perspective of many outsiders, professional baseball players are undoubtedly one of the most glamorous and enviable professions in Japan:

Take income as an example; a typical graduate from The University of Tokyo earns around 5 million yen at the age of 25—this amount is a lot for ordinary people, but it's about the same as a fifth-round draft pick rookie player.

As long as a player performs well after joining a team, the salary increase for a professional baseball player can be faster than a rocket launch—some genius players who join the profession after graduating from high school or university can obtain a super contract with an annual salary breaking 100 million in just three or four years, achieving a rapid social class leap.

Not to mention the huge exposure rate and fame that come with becoming a professional baseball player; if selected by prestigious teams like the Yomiuri Giants or Hanshin Tigers, it further adds to their prowess.

This is also why baseball players consistently rank high among the men that Japanese female celebrities most want to marry.

Having just finished the autumn tournament, Supervisor Izumi Minoru gave the entire Waseda Jitsugyo team a break—thanks to this, Lin Guanglai was able to watch the live broadcast of this draft meeting in the middle of the week.

In his experiences at Koshien and subsequent exchanges in the United States, Lin Guanglai built quite good relationships with many players and met many seniors in their third year aiming to enter professional baseball.

This includes many renowned high school players such as Yamada Tetsuro from Luzheng Society, Ichiyotai Shintaro from Tokai University Sagami High School, Izumura Yasuhiko from Chukyo University, and Mukai Kenji from Sendai Yuuying.

For these players, their choice after graduating from high school will be a significant turning point in their lives:

As players who have made a name for themselves at Koshien, receiving a recommendation for a prestigious university is very easy for them—choosing to pursue further education provides a more stable future, and even if they don't play baseball later, having a degree from a prestigious university will ensure their life won't be too bad.

Entering professional baseball right after high school, compared to a stable university education, presents both risks and opportunities:

Graduating high school and joining a professional team for professional guidance allows them to adapt more quickly to the professional environment than other social or university players, increasing their chances of success;

But if they don't produce results within a designated time, the professional baseball world will realistically give them a tough blow—just imagine being in your mid-twenties with no diploma or skills besides baseball, facing a notice of dismissal from a team, looking at your wife and kids, what would your thoughts be at that time?

Being able to receive the opportunity to enter the professional baseball world as high schoolers, these young baseball players have already surpassed 90% of their peers—

But professional baseball is not the nurturing and kind Koshien; it's an extremely realistic, even dark adult world:

Don't be deceived by the media hype surrounding these players, crowning them with various titles; if they don't perform in professional baseball within three to four years, aside from the genuine fans who love them, no one will care.

...

Time keeps passing, and soon the draft meeting officially begins—the players on-site are about to face their fate-deciding moments.

As the voice of the host echoes through the venue, managers, supervisors, and related personnel from the two leagues and 12 teams take their seats to begin their selections.

For the 12 Nihon Professional Baseball teams, the most important competition is for the first-round draft pick—the draft order follows an S-type format, with the last team from the Central League and Pacific League starting the selection first, the sequence determined by results from the All-Star Game or exchange match; but the crucial first-round draft is excluded from this.

During the first-round draft, all teams can choose the player they most wish to sign, competing fairly and justly for the player's contract rights.

If there's no overlap with other teams, they naturally secure the player's contract rights;

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