52 Coach Yoshida's Deal (2)

"Yes."

His consciousness reappeared in his room once again. He didn't waste time to bring up the system window once more.

MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

SYSTEM LEVEL: 2 (400/1000 Major points to level up)

NAME: Ken Takagi

AGE: 15

TALENT ASSESSMENT: B-

POTENTIAL: D (S+)

MAJOR POINTS: 400

USER MENU:

-STATS

-MISSIONS 

-SYSTEM SHOP (Locked)

-LOTTERY (Temporarily Unlocked)

-IMAGE TRAINING

Clicking the Lottery function which was now unlocked, a large wheel appeared, showcasing the rewards for the bronze lottery ticket. With great anticipation, Ken clicked the arrow which took him to the smaller wheel.

Ken was practically salivating as he looked at the wheel which was no longer locked.

[Would you like to consume a Silver Lottery ticket to spin the wheel?]

[Yes/No]

"Yes…"

A moment later, the wheel spun at breakneck speed and turning into a blur. The noise was like music to his ears as Ken watched on with bated breath.

Click Click Click

Soon enough, the wheel came to a stop on a silver tile with a picture of a bat upon it.

'A batting skill!' Ken almost jumped off his bed in excitement upon seeing it.

[Congratulations, user has drawn the "Power Hitter" skill.]

[Power Hitter: Increase strength by 3 grades when the ball is struck with the middle of the bat.]

Ken sucked in a cold breath of air through his teeth, this skill was ridiculously good. With the two C-grade Strength Elixirs he had taken, his strength was now at the B- grade. Once this skill activates, his strength would skyrocket to the A- grade.

Of course there was the drawback of the skill only activating if he hit the middle of the bat. If he wanted to utilize this skill as much as possible then he would have to increase his Balance and Coordination.

It just so happened that he had acquired a B-grade Balance and Coordination Elixir from the image training rewards a moment before. Yet before he consumed it, he still had a Bronze Lottery ticket to use.

Moving to the large wheel, he clicked the spin button and the familiar sound of the wheel spinning entered his ears.

[Congratulations, user has drawn the "Focus" skill.]

[Focus: Faze out all distractions during certain game scenarios, allowing the user to perform under pressure.]

"Oh, not bad not bad." Ken exclaimed softly. He wasn't sure exactly what game scenarios the skill was referring to, but it was likely in pivotal moments within the game. 2 outs, or 2 strikes etc.

Ken was satisfied with his haul and decided it was time to take the Elixir before heading to sleep. The next game was in a week against another easy opponent, it wouldn't be until they reached the Kanto tournament that they would face some decent competition.

[You have consumed: B-grade Balance and Coordination Elixir.]

[Balance and Coordination grade has been increased by 3!]

USER STATS:

>Physical Fitness: B-

>Pitching: F (B)

>Fielding: C+

>Game Intelligence: C+

>Mental: B+

>Skills: 6

---

PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. B-)

Balance and Coordination: B+

Agility: B-

Strength: B-

Stamina: C

Ken woke up the next morning and couldn't stop staring at his upgraded stats with a big dumb smile on his face. Even though a single day had passed, his skills had leapt to another level thanks to the System.

He couldn't wait to get into the next game and show off his newfound skills.

However, Ken was bound to be disappointed. Despite being a part of the winning squad, Coach Yoshida had chosen not to start Ken against their next opponent Asano middle school.

Ken was forced to cheer on from the dugout as their team once again put on a stellar performance. Daichi continued his great form, once again hitting a home run in the 4th innings and giving Seiko a dominant 10 run lead going into what would be the final inning.

Being an adult, at least mentally, Ken had chosen not to confront the coach about his absence from the starting lineup. If he was his true middle schooler self, he had no doubt that he would be throwing a tantrum right now.

Also seeing as their team had advanced to the finals of the Kanagawa tournament, he couldn't exactly complain.

Yet when he was forced to sit out of the final game against Yamate Gakuin, Ken found it difficult to stay quiet. He was about to approach the coach during the game, but he spoke up even before Ken could say a word.

"Have you been watching this game and the last?" He asked without turning around.

Taken aback, Ken responded affirmatively, yet he had no idea why the coach would ask such a question.

"What do you think of Kouichi?"

"He's solid most of the time. But every now and then he throws a wild pitch." Ken replied truthfully. Having been thrown thousands of pitches in the image training and being a pitcher himself, he was able to easily identify Kouichi's faults and habits.

The Coach nodded. "Yes, and it gets worse as the game progresses…" he stated, still with his back turned.

Before waiting for Ken to reply, the Coach added, "You definitely can't pitch this season?"

Ken was taken aback once more, not expecting such a question. "I-I'm sorry, I cannot pitch for at least another 9 or so months." He responded, bowing his head.

"Mmm that's okay. I know it's selfish of me, but I kept you out of the lineup in order to analyze Kouichi. Imai is a good relief pitcher, but the only chance we have to win the Kanto tournament is with Kouichi's pitching."

The Coach finally turned around and faced him for the first time, his gaze locked onto Ken's. "Will you mentor Kouichi? I promise you that as long as you take it seriously, we will win."

Ken pondered for a moment. The Coach was right when he said that he was selfish, how could he ask a teenager to sacrifice their own playing time in order to help another teammate? Perhaps if this was the NPB one might be able to understand.

However, Ken had to agree with the Coach. If Kouichi did not correct his bad habits and got injured, their campaign would be dead in the water. The problem was, Ken was rather arrogant in his past life, so he had not listened to his father's teachings about his pitching form.

In the end, he decided to agree with the Coach's request.

"I will do what I can to mentor Kouichi. But you have to promise me playing time in the future." Ken stipulated, finally deciding to act like an actual teenager.

"Hahaha. I'll start you in every round of the Kanto Tournament if you do this for us." The Coach promised, feeling his mood improve.

"It's a promise!" Ken said with a smile before turning to watch the game.