1 Beginning
Rei Thomas fell in love with Baseball when he was 8 years old. He would watch documentaries, judge players, and do all kinds of research regarding it because it completely fascinated him.
He disliked that his father always hoarded the tv, that is why he always fought with his father pulling his hair and snatching the remote from his father's hands. After successfully getting the remote he watched baseball documentaries on the tv with a twinkle in his eyes.
He felt like for the first time in his life he had a goal. Considering he is a 10-year-old, he hasn't even started his life yet but gladly, he found his goal in life.
Knowing all his love for baseball you wouldn't expect him not to play baseball.
He started training by imitating other players online, he trained with all sorts of things.
He would do different kinds of exercises and would play catch all the time.
Rei's favorite baseball position was the pitcher because he loved how a pitcher carried the team. That's why he aimed to be in that position in the future.
He lived in Colorado with his white dad. His dad was a hardcore fan of baseball so when Rei started practicing for baseball, he supported him wholeheartedly.
He joined the little league which was a life-changing experience for him. He made new friends, and he was trained professionally for baseball.
He told his coach that he wanted to be a pitcher and was trained for it.
He was always lazy in school but when it was time for baseball, he would suddenly get energetic.
His life was going great but when he entered high school everything changed. His parents divorced and he decided to stay with his dad instead of his mom. This situation made him unstable emotionally. This caused him to be a mess on the field.
When he messed up plays and made his team lose in matches his friends started isolating him. Coach took him off the lineup.
After the coach took him off the lineup, he locked himself in his room for weeks.
He had severe depression; he didn't want to even get up. He didn't want to think about his life choices.
One day his dad had it with him and barged into his room breaking the door. His dad had a solid body.
The Father and son talked all night. Rei sobbed the entire night talking with his dad.
The next morning Rei got up and decided to freshen and play baseball again.
He went to his high school and apologized for missing school. He also apologized to his coach for not living up to his expectations.
Rei practiced hard for his pitching even when he was not on the lineup. A few months went by, and Rei only sat on the bench for all the plays.
The coach was impressed by Rei's patience and decided to put him in the lineup for the next match.
Rei was delighted when he heard the news. He played with the same team all high school.
After high school, he was drafted into the minor league because of his skills. He convinced his father that he didn't want to go to college.
It was impressive for an 18-year-old to be drafted into the minor league. Rei stacked up a small amount of fame because of this.
Joining the minor league Rei was overwhelmed with all kinds of talented people near him. Even though he had a lot of competition he still got a position in their team's first match lineup.
He was in the lineup as a relief pitcher which disappointed him a bit but still, he enjoyed the game.
One time Rei was allowed to be a starting pitcher for a match, but he went up on the mound. Looking at the crowd he froze up, he didn't know why his hand wouldn't move.
He was called back to the bench when the coach saw the situation.
The next day Rei went to the doctor with his dad to get his hand checked out. During the check-up, he found out he had YIPS.
Knowing about the illness both the father and son lost hope.
After the coach found out about the situation, he felt pity for Rei because it's rare for players to be cured of this illness.
He was on the bench until he was cured of his illness which could be very long. Despite him not being able to play he trained twice as hard as his teammates to overcome this illness.
There were times when he broke down and lost hope, but he struggled and overcame the illness alone without anyone helping him.
In the last league, he didn't play, and his team was titled, golden rookies. It hurt not being able to play with them, but he was looking forward to playing in the next league because he was cured of YIPS now.
The coach found out that he had been cured and gave him another opportunity to be a starting pitcher for a match.
That day happily he went to share this news with his father. He drove towards his house in a hurry.
In an intersection, a truck was coming from the right at high speed where Rei had stopped to turn the opposite way.
Rei saw bright lights coming toward him and before he even knew it his car was sent flying because of the crash.
'Will my dream never come true? Why did I have to suffer like this?', thought Rei with tears in his eyes on the verge of death. He saw blood and heard sirens before his eyes turned dead.
In the morgue when his dad saw his son's dead body, he sobbed in pain which was hard for the people near him to watch.
**
In a dark space, Rei's consciousness was awakened.
He looked around wondering if he was in the afterlife or not.
'Where am I? didn't I die?', he thought.
"You are a new spirit who hasn't been dead for long", said the voice.
"What? I am already dead", said Rei to the voice even though he was a little scared.
"You are currently on the stage of judgment and in this place, whether you'll go to heaven or hell shall be decided", said the voice.
Rei was startled to see a blue screen with his name and history written on it. He didn't know what the numbers written on the blue screen were for though.
"As you have high points of good deeds, you can choose to go to heaven or be resurrected in an anime universe", said the voice.
"What does It even mean?", said Rei in panic.
"In 30 seconds, you have to decide", said the voice.
"W-What should I do", thought Rei.
"10 seconds….", said the voice.
"Already!!!!", said Rei in panic.
"I WANT TO GO INTO AN ANIME WORLD", yelled Rei in panic.
Rei instinctively chose to go into an anime world because he was a hardcore otaku in his previous life. In his free time except for baseball, he always read manga and watch various anime.
"You have chosen to be resurrected in an anime world. Now please pick the place where you would like to resurrect. As your previous job was as a professional baseball player and you have great points with pitching skills, we will like for you to choose an anime world where you can use those pitching skills. Will you accept?", said the voice.
"I accept", said Rei while blushing. He was flattered when the voice complimented his pitching skills.
"Then please go ahead and name an anime world where you would like to resurrect at", said the voice.
"Ace of Diamond", said Rei. This was a no-brainer for him because he could use his pitching skills there and this was his favorite sports anime.
"You have successfully picked the choice. Then, I wish you a joyful life", said the voice.
"That's it? By the way…. who are you? Was it…an angel? Or an AI?", questioned Rei before his soul disappeared from the dark space.
