And even though Uchida was great, he could only bring out his true strength when paired with a catcher who was in perfect sync with him.

Dubian Che, this guy who only threw fastballs, and only towards the dead center of the strike zone...made his catcher almost turn into a robot, no, he actually was a robot.

What was the point of such a victory?

But the numbness that still lingered in his left hand...

For the win, for Goda's glory, even if it meant squatting without moving, he was willing!

Everything for Goda! Everything to dominate Koshien!

"Coach, I think he..."

"Dubian! Dubian! Ah—!!!"

Even though Dubian Che wasn't on the field, sitting where the cheerleading team couldn't see him in the coach's box, the field had the ace pitcher Uchida sprinting towards first base, and above him, many people were still calling out the name of Dubian Che.

"...Coach, he only has speed, nothing but speed."

"Hmm."

The catcher was heavyset, with his arms crossed, watching calmly as ace pitcher Uchida sprinted to base.

'Dubian, you're popular enough in Goda. Koshien, the sacred field, won't allow you to trample on it!'

The batting order had already been set at the start, and Dubian Che had no chance to play.

Kunii Shuichi took to the field as the fourth batter.

The first pitch from the Qingshan High School pitcher was decisively hit by him.

Without any hesitation, as if he knew he would hit it, he threw aside the bat and sprinted toward first base.

Eventually, he stepped on the second base opposite the batter's box, and at the same time, Uchida, who had been at third base, ran back home successfully, scoring a point for Goda.

The runner who was originally on first base ran past second and was tagged out on his way to third.

Two outs for the batter, and Goda could continue scoring, bringing up the fifth batter.

Dubian Che, while dealing with the enthusiastic Kobayashi Yuuzuki, looked away for a moment and understood a bit more about baseball rules:

To score, the batter had to run from the batter's box (home plate) to first, second, third and then back to home plate. Only then would a point be scored.

It seemed one couldn't keep running the whole time; if the defense got the ball and touched the base runner, the runner would be directly eliminated.

'So the pitcher is part of the defense?' Dubian Che felt he had reached entry-level understanding.

Baseball, pretty simple.

Pitcher, don't get the ball hit; batter, hit the ball then run, as long as the opposing team members holding the ball don't touch you, just keep running.

'If I were the batter, wouldn't that be a guaranteed point?' With his skill in running and his [dodging] ability, this is what Dubian Che thought.

In the third inning, Goda scored 3 points.

In the lower half, Dubian Che took the field; nine fast, simple, and boring pitches that caused a roar but directly struck out three opposing batters, promptly starting the top of the fourth inning.

The catcher removed his glove, looking at his trembling left hand, then at the back of Dubian Che, who was waving to the audience.

Nine pitches, same speed, same placement.

This was absolute talent!

"Dub..." he opened his mouth.

"Dubian! Dubian!"

"Ah—"

"Dubian! I love you!"

"...," the catcher's trembling hand clenched into a fist.

He sat beside ace pitcher Uchida, with his arms crossed, lowering his baseball cap:

"Uchida, let's dominate Koshien together."

"Hmm, let's do this!"

Dubian Che was bored, a simple pitching game, and he couldn't even pitch to the fullest.

As for the Goda cheerleading squad's chants, he was already tired of hearing them since last year's sports festival when he shouted "Call my name out loud"—that was even more intense, with the whole school cheering.

By the fifth inning, he had struck out three opposing batters, and the game that was supposed to have nine innings suddenly ended.

"Did the other team concede?" Dubian Che asked.

"The score is 21:0, the game ends early! Let's go!"

"Where to?"

"The curtain call."

Dubian Che followed the baseball team members onto the field, and as one of the reserves among the reserves, he stood at the very back of the line.

The two schools faced each other, standing in a row each.

Once everyone was in position, at the moment of taking off their caps and bowing to each other, the air raid siren went off at the stadium.

The shrill sound of "woo—" was jarring.

Dubian Che straightened up and turned, sprinting towards the stands where Jiutiao Meijie, Kiyono Lin, and Mrs. Jiutiao were seated.

Because of his speed, it wasn't until he burst out of the baseball stadium that he realized nobody else seemed to react to the air raid siren.

"..."

Under the amused gazes of Jiutiao Meijie and the others, he slowed his pace, casually took off his baseball cap, and flicked at the non-existent dust on it.

"When the game ends, they will sound the air-raid siren, and I'll understand just a little more about baseball." He put the baseball cap back on.

"Dubian! Dubian!" Although the cheerleading team found his earlier behavior odd, being up close and face-to-face with Dubian Che excited them, prompting them to shout loudly.

"You sure you want to rush this?" Kunii Shuichi and the others walked over.

Once again, the Goda baseball team lined up, bowed to the cheerleading team, and shouted in unison:

"Thank you very much!"

After this bow, the game was truly over.

As Dubian Che left the field with his cheerful Goda teammates, he suddenly heard the orderly cheering from the other side.

"Qingshan, fight on! Qingshan, fight on!"

It was the Qingshan High School cheerleading team.

Eliminated in the first round of the preliminaries, the rainy season not yet over, and summer not truly begun, Qingshan High School's baseball team's journey to Koshien had already ended.

They bowed deeply to the classmates who "came to support even though it was the weekend", their heads bowed for a long time, not lifting up.

In the middle, several people were dabbing tears while keeping their heads down.

Most hid their expressions beneath their baseball caps.

"Mr. Dubian, no sympathy is needed for them!" The female baseball manager, carrying luggage, said, "In sports, there are winners and losers. Since the day we were eliminated in the first round of Koshien last year, we've been training every day and we deserve every victory!"

"I know, it's tough." Dubian Che remembered the morning runs of the baseball team, the cheers heard every day after school, and the figures swinging bats continuously on the weekends.

"Mr. Dubian, my dad wants to know if you're interested in officially joining the team?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, I still have to coach the Wind Instrument Club."

Koshien, that stage drenched in passion, filled with effort, and full of dreams, was not where he, who had never attended a day of training and didn't even know the rules, should boast about himself.

Back in the spectators' seats, he was warmly greeted by the cheerleading team and the Wind Instrument Club.

"Mr. Dubian, didn't they ask you to officially join the team?" Mrs. Jiutiao was still holding inflatable sticks.

"They did."

"When's the next game? I'll come to support with Lin, Meiji, and—oh, we should invite Youzi too! Onward to Koshien! Onward to Koshien!"

Youzi was Mrs. Kiyono's name.

Kiyono Lin chimed in:

"I need to coach the Wind Instrument Club, and I'm not interested in baseball, no, in all sports. Aside from liars, those who like physical sports are my second least favorite group of people."

As she spoke, her expression turned dark and cold.

"I'm busy with work; I have no time." Jiutiao Meijie said.

"But this is Mr. Dubian's game, and it's not every day. I just asked, there are at most eight games in the preliminaries," Mrs. Jiutiao tempted.

Kiyono Lin glanced at Dubian Che and said with a faint smile:

"Since it's a certain win, a game without suspense, and moreover a sports event, I don't think it's worth the special effort to watch."

"Does Lin mean that as long as Mr. Dubian plays, victory is certain?" Mrs. Jiutiao asked.

"I trust my subordinate." Kiyono Lin confidently brushed back her long hair off her shoulder.

"Thanks for your envious words." Jiutiao Meijie said with a smile, "But he's mine."

Kiyono Lin looked at her, and before she could speak, Dubian Che quickly said, "They did invite me, but I declined."

"Declined? For what reason?" Mrs. Jiutiao asked, "Koshien should be every high school boy's dream."

Dubian Che looked at the stadium and said, "It's precisely because of that reason that I refused."

After hearing this, Kiyono Lin's eyes, cold and captivating, fixed on Dubian Che.

"What's the matter?" he asked, puzzled.

"...Never mind." Kiyono Lin averted her gaze.

Her glossy, attractive black hair cascaded over her chest, her profile lost in the dark strands.

Dubian Che couldn't see her expression.

[You have a new email]

[Temporary event: Game time June 20th at 3:11 PM, at Shengong Stadium's spectator seats, a pure and cool beauty who likes only you hesitates to speak]

[Event content: Get Kiyono Lin to say what she wants to say, without using direct questioning or indirect hints]

[Event duration: Until the 104th Koshien concludes]

[Event reward: One charm point]

[Special note: The charm points from this temporary event can only be used in the following areas:]

[Appearance: Hair · Facial features · Neck · Back · Waist · Hands · Shoulders · Upper arms · Forearms · Hands · Hips · Thighs · Calves · Feet]

[Expressions: Smile (slight smile, cold smile, mocking smile, sneer...); Cry (tears); Anger (expressionless, glare); Yawn...]

[Temperament: High-cold, calm, elegant, indifferent...]

[Personality: Confident, rational, self-reliant, dedicated, leader, competitive...]

Limited charm points...

Could it be that all these are in fact charming points Kiyono Lin already possesses?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.