It was the start of the school year, and the school entrance was bustling with people.
Various club recruitment booths were dazzling, attracting the attention of many students.
Furuya Satoru stood at the school entrance, looking at the scene before him, filled with emotion.
He had been back here for over a month, and from his initial confusion and helplessness to gradually adapting, he had finally come to terms with it.
Since he was back, he would face it calmly.
Recalling his past experiences, Furuya Satoru was filled with emotion.
After graduating from Seido, he was invited to join the Nippon Professional Baseball league through a special draft.
His first year in his professional career was undoubtedly the most brilliant.
With his exceptional pitch speed and increasingly precise control, he successfully won the Rookie of the Year award.
This achievement not only made him stand out in the Japanese professional baseball world but also laid a solid foundation for his future.
However, his performance in the second year did not show much breakthrough; although his pitch technique did not improve significantly, his batting ability improved remarkably.
Although his batting style was still primarily based on "beast-like" intuitive hitting, he could occasionally hit some technical guess pitches based on data.
His performance, mainly with home runs and long hits, easily left a deep impression on people, so many Japanese media called him a "two-way" pitcher.
Furuya Satoru's excellent performance quickly attracted the attention of American professional baseball scouts.
In the middle of the season during his third year of professional career, he received an invitation from Major League Baseball.
For him, this was undoubtedly a huge opportunity.
After careful consideration, he decided to accept the invitation, and at the end of that year, he went to America as he wished, starting a new chapter in his professional career.
Although he experienced a period of bench-warming at the beginning, this also gave him the opportunity to adapt to a completely different training intensity than before.
After a period of persistence and effort, the most obvious change was that his body became stronger and stronger, and his muscle lines became more defined.
At the same time, his pitch speed was continuously improving, which made him more competitive in games.
Unlike some other pitchers, he did not need the team to arrange a designated hitter for him.
This meant he had more playing time in games and could better utilize his strength.
Moreover, since he did not need to rely on a designated hitter, the team's tactical arrangements could be more flexible and varied, better revolving around him.
In the next four years, Furuya continuously broke his home run and strikeout records.
His performance became increasingly outstanding, making him one of the core players on the team.
However, the physical conditions of Asians are, after all, different from those of Black players.
Although he trained and maintained his condition very hard, injuries inevitably came knocking.
Due to the impact of injuries, his game condition was erratic, and he often had to rest and adjust.
After several team transfers, he finally gradually overcame the problem of injuries and regained his form.
Despite experiencing many twists and turns, Furuya ultimately earned the title of "Monster Reliever," which was a recognition of his strength.
At the same time, he was also considered a perfect championship puzzle piece, capable of bringing great help to the team in both offense and defense.
In his thirteen-year professional career, he won four Major League Baseball championships with different teams, which was legendary.
At his retirement party, it was lively and bustling, with people laughing and raising their glasses frequently.
Furuya was in a joyful mood, drinking freely with his friends, and before he knew it, he had drunk a lot of alcohol.
After a few rounds of drinks, Furuya felt a bit dizzy and decided to go outside for some fresh air.
He wobbled to his feet and walked unsteadily towards the door.
As he pushed open the door, a breath of fresh air rushed in, clearing his mind a bit.
However, just as he took a deep breath, his vision suddenly went black, and his body, as if losing support, slowly fell down.
When Furuya opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find himself back a month before he entered Seido High School.
He looked around and found himself standing in his home in Hokkaido; everything seemed so familiar yet strange.
He realized that he seemed to have experienced a time reversal.
From Hokkaido to Tokyo, it was a long distance.
Furuya embarked on the journey to Tokyo alone, just like before.
However, his family members did not approve of him attending Seido High School alone.
They worried that he would encounter difficulties in an unfamiliar environment and would not be able to take care of himself.
Nevertheless, Furuya did not change his decision.
He explained his thoughts to his parents in a firm tone, and eventually, his parents were moved by his persistence and agreed to his choice.
Furuya knew that his years of professional career had accustomed him to independence and solitude.
Living alone was not difficult for him, but what made him uncomfortable was the starkly different weather between Hokkaido and Tokyo.
In Hokkaido, the biting cold wind was like a knife, and heavy snow was a common sight.
Tokyo, on the other hand, was sunny, often with hot weather.
Even though he had stayed in Tokyo for three years in his previous life, Furuya still felt a bit unaccustomed to this huge climate difference when he returned here.
However, he was also glad that he was reborn at a time when he had already completed his entrance exams.
Otherwise, he might have to face the pressure and challenges of re-entering school, or even have to find another way out.
Speaking of his grades, his peak period was probably when he was preparing for the entrance exam to Seido; after that, he often slept in class at Seido because the training was too tiring.
Being an unknown, he did not receive a special recruitment from the Seido baseball club and could only enter Seido High School by passing the exam step by step.
It’s good to be back; in this life, let the regrets finally end.
Over the past month, he had also been readapting to his younger body, as a pitcher's physical condition greatly affects his control.
Not bad, simple four-corner control.
Among the pitches he used to know, the Straight ball, fast Straight ball, and Forkball could be used normally; others still needed to be refined.
Seido High School is indeed a famous baseball school; he was too busy with training before to notice, but now that he has free time to visit, there are proper double large stadiums, a pitcher's bullpen, new model pitching machines, and a professional indoor practice field.
These facilities are already comparable to the professional team configurations of minor league clubs.
It was just the beginning of the school year, and people could already be seen running with tires by the field, and there were also people queuing up to practice in the batting cages and defensive positions.
Taking a deep breath, starting tomorrow, he would also have to work hard.
Seido's dorms were a mix of third-year, second-year, and first-year students, making it convenient for older students to serve as role models for younger students.
The older senior inside specifically reminded Furuya not to forget the assembly time for the next day before leaving for independent practice.
“Coach is very strict, so don’t be late on the first day.”
“Okay, thank you, Senior.”
He had a vivid memory of the "farce" on the first day of assembly, and the main character of that "farce" had competed with him for the team's Ace for two years.
Even Furuya himself admitted that later, in terms of immediate combat power, he was already inferior to Sawamura.
Seven-color Changeup.
It really is exaggerated.
“Ah, a ghost!”
Well, the voice is also very familiar.
The next day, early in the morning, the sun had just risen, and its rays, filtered through a thin mist, gently fell upon the Seido High School Baseball Club field.
A crisp assembly whistle broke the morning's tranquility, echoing throughout the entire field.
It was the day of the official entry for new students into the Seido High School Baseball Club. The new students quickly gathered, dressed in their brand-new team uniforms, standing neatly in two rows.
In the ranks, everyone's face was beaming with excitement.
This was a tradition of the Seido High School Baseball Club: every new student, on their first day of official entry, had to introduce themselves one by one, including their name, graduating school, and preferred position.
This not only allowed the older players to get to know the new members faster but also allowed the new students to showcase themselves in front of their seniors and declare their determination to join the Seido High School Baseball Club.
Standing opposite the new students were Coach Kataoka and the second and third-year veteran players.
They smiled, watching these vibrant new faces, their hearts filled with anticipation for the new season.
After the self-introduction session, these new students could truly be considered members of the Seido High School Baseball Club, becoming teammates who would fight side by side.
And during this process, Furuya's gaze fell on the empty spot at the very end of the team.
Sure enough, he was late again.
Sawamura, that airhead, was tricked by his roommate again.
In the strictly disciplined Seido High School Baseball Club, being late on the first day of joining the team also took some courage.
Heh heh, at least he wouldn't dare.
“Born from Matsukata Youth Baseball, Kanemaru Shinji, the position I hope to play is Third Base…”
After Kanemaru finished introducing himself, it was Furuya's turn.
Just as Furuya opened his mouth, preparing to shout out his declaration of "contending for the Ace," Sawamura suddenly leaped out from behind Coach Kataoka's corner.
His movements were swift, and his strides were large; in the blink of an eye, he had already run to the end of the line.
Just as Sawamura had stabilized his footing, Miyuki Kazuya's report followed closely behind, sounding out.
This sound was particularly abrupt in the morning's silence, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
Everyone's gaze simultaneously focused on Sawamura and Miyuki Kazuya; they were now the most eye-catching presence on the field.
Coach Kataoka's face turned very ugly; he coldly stared at Sawamura and Miyuki Kazuya.
“You two, run laps for me until morning practice ends!”
Coach Kataoka's voice was cold and stern, leaving no room for negotiation.
Upon hearing this command, Sawamura and Miyuki Kazuya's faces turned pale.
They clearly had not expected their actions to lead to such severe consequences.
However, Coach Kataoka's punishment did not end there; his gaze turned to the veteran team, resting on the two people in Sawamura's dormitory.
“And the two people in the same dorm as Sawamura, you two go too!”
Coach Kataoka's tone remained cold, without a hint of mercy.
In the veteran team, Kuramochi and Masuko's faces instantly turned very ugly.
They looked at Coach Kataoka in disbelief, clearly not expecting to be implicated because of Sawamura's actions.
Why?
But they also dared not complain to Coach Kataoka.
Thus, the four-person morning run team was born.
Because of the antics of these four people, no one noticed Furuya's declaration of "contending for the Ace."
