"Strike! Strikeout!"

Despite Sou Kumamoto from Luzheng Society's seventh spot focusing intently on the ball, seeing and hitting are two entirely different things—Lin Guanglai had just thrown a slider that, to Kumamoto's eyes, seemed to be several ball-widths away from the strike zone's outer edge, but ultimately made a wide arc to squeeze into the corner of the strike zone just before reaching the plate.

Facing such a bizarre and tricky pitch, even the experienced batters of Luzheng Society found themselves at a loss.

Back on the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai, having finished this half of the inning, took off his glove and chatted and laughed with his teammates as they briskly walked back to the first-base dugout;

Meanwhile, on Luzheng Society's side at third base, many players were left with dry throats, momentarily unable to speak, displaying expressions of utter dejection.

The gigantic scoreboard above the outfield unmistakably displayed the current score:

The top of the fourth inning ended with Luzheng Society 0:0 Waseda Real—from the score, it seemed like both sides had been locked in an intense back-and-forth battle throughout the past four innings.

But the players of Luzheng Society knew, the players of Waseda Jitsugyo knew, and tens of thousands of spectators in the stands and in front of their TVs knew—the match did not look like this.

Before the match began, hyped by Takano Media, everyone believed this was a contest between spear and shield:

The tournament's strongest lineup facing off against the tournament's strongest, most talented, and most dominant pitcher—everyone was anticipating a match worthy of going down in history.

However, in less than four innings, Waseda Industries, or rather Lin Guanglai, had completely taken control of the situation on the field; what they were lacking was just the final push to clinch it.

The Luzhengshe High School's formidable batting lineup, which had swept through Kansai, had totally surrendered in front of Lin Guanglai.

In the four and a half innings Waseda Real was on defense, Lin Guanglai delivered astonishing stats that left the crowd at the stadium, in front of their TVs, and online viewers flabbergasted:

68 pitches in 4 and a half innings, 10 strikeouts, only 1 hit allowed, and 1 walk—such statistics are hard to achieve even on the lowest difficulty level of a baseball simulation game.

The Luzheng Society players finally knew what it felt like to face a brick wall; they also finally understood the meaning behind their coach's "suggestion" before the game—how many batters would not feel intimidated facing such a pitcher?

And now, the pitcher who had shut out Luzheng Society's lineup was going up to bat.

With more experience broadcasting Waseda Jitsugyo's games, even the camera crew handling the live feed had their routine down pat:

On the TV screen, the camera focused on Luzheng Society's bench, and even through the screen, audiences could feel the palpable anxiety emanating from the Luzheng Society players;

The camera then panned directly to the massive scoreboard above the outfield, zooming in on Waseda Jitsugyo's listing for a close-up:

4-Lin Guanglai-1.

Subsequently, the camera reverted back to home plate, filling the screen with Lin Guanglai's talented face—on camera, his eyes were resolute, gazing towards the pitcher's mound as if contemplating something.

To supporters of Waseda Jitsugyo, this image gave them endless confidence and unrivaled assurance from their ace;

For Luzheng Society fans, however, the feeling was far from pleasant—Lin Guanglai's presence seemed to exert persistent pressure on defenders.

Standing on the pitcher's mound, Watanabe Shinya, the starting pitcher for Luzheng Society today, was not under any small amount of pressure:

Due to Waseda having more left-handed batters, Coach Okada chose him to start, hoping the natural advantage of a left-handed pitcher over left-handed batters would suppress Waseda's lineup; to some extent, this strategy succeeded, as Luzheng Society hadn't conceded any runs yet.

But as the offense remained stagnant, repeatedly stifled by Lin Guanglai, the mindset of Luzheng Society players noticeably wavered during defense—over the last two innings, Watanabe Shinya could feel the number of mistakes steadily increasing.

Just as Luzheng Society players' nerves were reaching their limit, it was Lin Guanglai's turn to bat again—this was his second at-bat of the game, and during their last matchup, he had managed to knock a double off of Watanabe Shinya.

Taking a deep breath to relax his tense shoulders, Watanabe Shinya put all his effort into delivering the pitch towards home plate.

"Clang!!!" The intense collision sound as the baseball met the bat reverberated through him, causing his whole body to shiver—only after watching the ball fly into the first-base stands did Watanabe Shinya let out a sigh of relief—fortunately, it landed foul.

Having secured a strike, Watanabe Shinya wasted no time and quickly delivered the second pitch: as soon as it was released, he had a good feeling, with the ball leaving his fingertips with unusual comfort.

"Pop." Sure enough, Lin Guanglai let the ball pass without swinging—it nearly skidded in at knee level, a vague and undesirable position to hit.

Lin Guanglai turned to look at the home plate umpire behind him, noticing the umpire's right hand indicating a "strike" call.

Back and forth, the count came to 0 balls and 2 strikes, putting the batter in a very unfavorable position.

Of course, Lin Guanglai did not complain to the umpire but instead stepped back a few paces out of the batter's box to adjust his mindset slightly.

Upon re-entering the batter's box, he resumed the same posture as before, continuing to exert constant pressure on the pitcher.

On the pitcher's mound, Watanabe Shinya hesitated slightly—should he follow the usual protocol of using deceptive balls to wear down the batter, or go straight for a decisive pitch?

After a brief communication with his catcher, Luzheng Society's pitcher-catcher duo decided the next pitch would determine victory or defeat: the team's mood felt stifling, and striking Lin Guanglai out in three straight pitches could somewhat boost his teammates' morale—this was Watanabe Shinya's thought at the moment.

He also prepared for the possibility of Lin Guanglai hitting, so he aimed for the lower outer corner, making it difficult for a long hit even if he made contact.

Taking a deep breath, Watanabe Shinya lifted his front leg, stepping out towards the front of the pitcher's mound and propelling his whole body weight forward, the rapid forward movement of his body driving his arm as the baseball launched from his fingertips.

At home plate, Lin Guanglai also began to gather force the moment the ball was released; simultaneously, his eyes and brain were analyzing the pitch's trajectory at high speed.

"Speed, not fast; pitch type, fastball; path, seems to be low outside but it's clearly higher than it looks."

"I can hit this pitch!!!"

As his brain made the call, Lin Guanglai's body reacted—his hands gripping the bat tightly and sending it towards the incoming ball's direction, continually extending forward, trying to channel all the immense energy stored within his body into the baseball.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, the ball soared into the sky.

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