The Old Baseball Player System

Grandpa Jack drove Shun, Aiko, and Yumi home in his car before returning to Takenodai High School, where he lived. Since he started as a coach, he decided to live in the dormitory along with the players. Of course, he had his own room in a separate area, but this way, he felt he could be even more present with the team.

"Coach Jack! How was the game?" - As soon as Jack parked the car, a boy came up to him with an eager expression.

"Hahaha, you're quite anxious, huh? Don't worry, Kazuki, Shoto Junior High defeated Aoba 7-0." - Jack laughed at the boy's eager expression but quickly answered.

"What?! 7 to 0, are you serious?" - The boy spoke, both excited and surprised. Although he enjoyed hearing the news, he didn't expect those guys to defeat the strong Aoba by seven runs to zero.

"Kazuki! It's past time to get back to the dormitory! Also, stop bothering Coach Jack, you're being disrespectful!" - A man appeared behind Kazuki and called his attention. He must have been in his late thirties, almost forty. He was short and had a slender build, with black eyes, black hair, and a goatee. This was Kazuma Ushida, the assistant coach of the Takenodai High School baseball team.

"Yes, Coach! Sorry!" - Kazuki quickly bowed and apologized, realizing only now that he had been a bit disrespectful to Jack. He then started walking back to the dorms, but as he walked away, he managed to hear one last thing.

"Oh, it's good you're here, Ushida! I was going to talk to you about this tomorrow, but since you're here, I might as well talk now, hahaha!" - Kazuki heard Coach Jack speak with a laugh before continuing:

"I want you to have the scouting team watch Shoto Junior High School games, they definitely have some interesting players." - Kazuki got chills when he heard Coach Jack's words, hardly believing what he was hearing. But not wanting to get scolded, he continued walking to the dorms as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Hehe, looks like they're doing well... maybe I should go to one of their games, I bet they'd be surprised, haha!" - Kazuki laughed excitedly, thinking about his former kohais. He was Kazuki Yamamoto, the former captain and catcher of Shoto Junior High, currently a first-year on the Takenodai baseball team.

------

Meanwhile, at the Takahashi family home...

Shun had already finished dinner and was lying in his bathtub, relaxing. He finally had time to absorb everything that happened today.

First, they managed to defeat Aoba Junior High and advanced to the fourth round of the Tokyo tournament. With this, they were finally halfway through, they just needed to win three more games to reach the Kanto tournament.

Shun had watched the game of his next opponent, Suiren Junior High School, before their game against Aoba. Though they weren't a bad team, they didn't compare to Aoba in pitching or hitting.

But, of course, Shun wouldn't underestimate his opponents because of this. He analyzed as much as he could about Suiren's players, intending to pass this on to his teammates before the next game. Unfortunately, since it was Friday and the fourth round was on Sunday, the team wouldn't have any practice, so he'd have to do his best to explain everything before the game.

But that wasn't Shun's biggest concern. With Ryosuke out of the team, Shoto's lineup took a big hit. Without Ryosuke batting sixth, the team lost a lot of power, making the middle and end of the lineup easier for opposing pitchers. This placed even more pressure on the top of the lineup.

Additionally, without Ryosuke in center field, pitchers who were already being adapted to play right field would have to adapt to play center field as well. Thus, all three pitchers would have to stay on the field for the entire game, a big issue for their rest.

Shun only sighed as he thought about all this, difficult as it was, it was their only option. All he could do was hope that Jiro and Sora could handle it well without affecting their pitching. At no point did Shun consider Ryosuke returning to the team, he genuinely didn't see the boy as an option anymore.

Finally, Shun began to think about his own performance in today's game. Although he wasn't completely satisfied with the number of walks and hits he allowed, he couldn't deny it was a fantastic performance considering his current ability. Nine innings without allowing a single run, with nineteen strikeouts, no matter who heard that, anyone would agree it was a dominant performance on the mound.

The first thing that came to Shun's mind was one of his recently acquired legendary skills.

[Clutch Player (SS+)

Increases the user's performance in clutch situations.

Activation requirements: The user's team must be tied or losing. The game must be in the 7th inning or later.

Performance boost: +3 grades to all user stats.]

"It can't be that..." - Shun murmured after reading the skill's description. The most challenging moments of the game happened in the middle innings, and by the seventh inning, Shoto was already ahead on the scoreboard. Besides, Shun was sure he hadn't heard any system notification about activating this skill.

"Hey, old man, do you know what happened? Why did I improve so much after the bases were loaded and the coach came to the mound? And also, I'm sure I improved even more after the whole Ryosuke incident." - Shun decided to ask the only person who might have the answers, his only problem was whether this person would want to answer him.

[I don't know.] - The old man's voice echoed in Shun's head, but the old man's short answer didn't satisfy the boy.

"Tch! You don't know my ass! Just say you can't tell me or that I'm not ready for the answer or something!" - Shun complained irritably. This wasn't the first time the old man hadn't answered his questions about certain system functions.

But before, when the old man said he couldn't answer, Shun always complained, so the old man started saying he didn't know, that way, there was nothing Shun could do.

[Hmph! I really don't know this time, kid! Your improvement in the middle of the game had nothing to do with the system.] - The old man's irritated voice echoed again in Shun's head.

"Huh? What do you mean it had nothing to do with the system?" - Shun spoke incredulously. Ever since he received the system, all his improvements had been due to it. Besides, before the system, he was just a talentless nobody, so he always credited everything to the system.

[Your stats didn't change, none of your skills or quirks were activated, your performance boost had nothing to do with the system.] - The old man paused briefly as if carefully considering his next words.

[Just because you have the system doesn't mean you rely entirely on it, kid. The system is a help, and a big one, but in the end, the only one playing baseball is the user. If the system were the only way to improve, those without it would never succeed, don't you think?]

Shun silently agreed with the old man's words, a sense of understanding forming within him. He didn't say anything, knowing the old man hadn't finished speaking.

[There are different types of players, kid, and this applies not only to baseball but to any sport. There are those who get worse under pressure, they're the majority and rarely become professionals. Then there are those who can perform normally under pressure, they're rare but common in the professional world, as it's normal for a pro to play under pressure. Usually, you can move from the first to the second with a lot of training and experience, but it's not easy.] - The old man explained calmly, pausing before continuing.

[And finally, there are those who improve under pressure. Even among professionals, they're extremely rare, but they're the stars who shine the brightest on the world's biggest stages. It seems you're that kind of player, kid.] - The old man's voice resonated in Shun's mind, leaving him speechless. Shun even detected a hint of respect in the old man's voice, but he was too shocked by this information to comment.

"This..." - Shun murmured, unable to put into words what he was feeling. For the first time since he received the system, no, for the first time in his life, someone recognized his talent, something that was his and his alone.

It took Shun a while to calm his emotions. Now that he knew about his talent, he felt even more confident about the upcoming games. Of course, this didn't mean he'd let the bases load every inning, as improving under pressure didn't mean his control or pitches were perfect, in fact, he understood they were far from it.

But regardless, Shun was very pleased with his new discovery. He finished his bath, quickly put on his pajamas, and went straight to bed to sleep.

[DING]

[Activating deep sleep mode]

Shun fell into a deep sleep as soon as he heard the system notification, leaving only the old man awake inside his head.

[Seems like that kid didn't choose Shun randomly...] - The old man thought to himself, remembering the blond, blue-eyed child who had turned him into a system. Since he woke up as a system within Shun, he wondered why that child chose Shun as the system's user, but now he understood a bit.

Even though he didn't know the blond child's goals, he knew that with the system's help and Shun's ability to improve under pressure, there were no limits to where Shun could go in the world of baseball.