The Old Baseball Player System

Shoto Junior High School's bus arrived at the school's baseball field, and the players quickly got off. Coach Yamada decided to dismiss the team without holding a meeting, as tomorrow was Saturday, and the game wouldn't take place until the afternoon. They agreed to meet in the morning at the field to prepare for the match.

After all, even if Coach Yamada gathered his players now, considering how exhausted they were, it wouldn't be a very productive meeting. It was better to let everyone rest and spend time watching Hokuto's game footage.

"Sora, Jiro, make sure to rest well for tomorrow. We'll probably need you on the mound again." - Shun said to the two young pitchers. Even though they had both pitched today, Shun still wasn't sure of the best strategy to use against Hokuto, so he wanted the two to be mentally and physically prepared.

"Yes, Senpai!" - The two responded in unison, their faces filled with determination. Both Jiro and Sora were eager to help their team against Hokuto, and if possible, they would love the chance to do so by pitching for Shoto in the semifinals.

Shun smiled as he saw the determination on their faces. He understood that feeling well. As a pitcher himself, he wanted to do everything he could to help his team, especially from the mound. Shun said goodbye to the two, then turned to Daigo and reminded him to rest well that night. As the catcher, Daigo carried a lot of pressure, but Shun didn't want him to overthink strategies and risk a drop in performance. After all, Shun was there to help with game plans.

Shun said goodbye to the rest of the team, but when he got to his friends, Kenta and Ren, he once again had to come up with an excuse to stay behind at the field instead of heading home with them. Resting and preparing for Hokuto and the Kanto tournament was crucial, but the system didn't care about that, he still needed to complete his list of exercises for the day.

Shun waited until everyone had left. Only when he was alone on the field did he begin his long and exhausting list of exercises. Wasting no time, he gave his best effort to complete the tasks as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the fastest he could manage was just over an hour, which left him utterly drained. Shun dragged himself home, breathing heavily, his energy nearly spent, but his day was far from over.

---

When Shun arrived home, he took a long shower before heading to the kitchen to have dinner with his family. He was greeted by hugs and a flood of compliments from his little sister, Yumi, which brought a genuine smile to his face. As usual, Shun devoured a large portion of his mother's delicious cooking while chatting animatedly with his parents and sisters.

After dinner, Shun went upstairs to his room. Despite being full from the meal, he resisted the strong temptation to collapse into bed and instead sat at his desk. He turned on his computer and quickly transferred the videos Shimizu had sent him. Shun spent the next few hours analyzing footage from Hokuto's two games. When he felt he'd seen enough, he shut off his computer and finally turned to his long-awaited bed.

But, of course, Shun wasn't ready to sleep just yet. Even with his eyes closed, he quickly reopened them to find himself inside the familiar empty stadium, standing before three large transparent screens. Wasting no time, Shun entered the training center and requested to enter review mode. Soon, he was intently observing the hologram of Kohei on the mound from his bullpen.

For the next few hours, Shun closely watched Kohei pitch and studied Hokuto's lineup at bat. He mentally noted several key points to share with Daigo and the team but had yet to formulate a solid strategy for defeating Kohei. The left-handed ace from Hokuto was simply too skilled.

Realizing he couldn't accomplish more for the night, Shun decided to leave the training center and get some rest. He needed to be at 100% for tomorrow's game, and even with the system's help, he knew he couldn't afford to skip a proper night's sleep. However, just as he was about to close his eyes for good, he remembered one last thing.

"Star Store!" - Shun thought quickly, only now recalling that he hadn't checked the Star Store since the Kanto tournament began. As soon as he spoke, a notification sounded in his head, and a transparent screen appeared before him.

[DING]

[Star Store:

The user can earn stars according to their performance in matches. The user's stars can be exchanged for rewards.

Stars: 929

Bronze Reward = 10 Stars

Silver Reward = 100 Stars

Gold Reward = 1000 Stars

Legendary Reward = 10000 Stars

The user can exchange as many rewards as they want as long as they have the necessary stars.]

Shun quickly scanned the Star Store menu. Since redeeming the Gold Reward, he hadn't claimed any other rewards. Despite having enough stars for several Silver Rewards, Shun had resolved to save his stars until he could afford the Legendary Reward. He then switched to the Star Missions tab.

[Star Missions

(Kanto Tournament)

Offense:

Reach base (8) = 3 Stars per base

Steal a base (5) = 4 Stars per base stolen

Get a hit (8) = 6 Stars per hit

Score a run (8) = 8 Stars per run

Drive in a run (5) = 13 Stars per RBIn/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Hit a home run (1) = 55 Stars per home run

Defense:

Record an out (3) = 3 Stars per out

Throw out a runner (0) = 5 Stars per out

Make an out with a difficult catch (0) = 13 Stars per out

Rob a home run (0) = 55 Stars per home run robbed

Strike out a hitter (0) = 13 Stars per StrikeOut

Tournament Objectives:

Win the Kanto Tournament = 500 Stars

Be the tournament MVP = 400 Stars

Lead your team in RBIs = 75 Stars

Lead the tournament in RBIs = 150 Stars

Lead your team in home runs = 75 Stars

Lead the tournament in home runs = 150 Stars

Lead your team in runs scored = 45 Stars

Lead the tournament in runs scored = 90 Stars

Lead your team in ERA = 75 Stars

Lead the tournament in ERA = 150 Stars]

Shun studied the Kanto tournament missions carefully. The missions and objectives seemed similar to those from the Tokyo tournament, but he noticed that he earned more stars for completing these. This realization satisfied him, as he needed a significant amount of stars to claim the Legendary Reward. Still, he didn't spend too much time reviewing the missions. Closing the system screen, Shun finally shut his eyes, and the system quickly put him to sleep, allowing him to enjoy his much-deserved rest.