Diamond No Ace: The Monster

Chapter 1: My Name is Satoru Furuya!

Winter in Hokkaido seems to always come with falling snow.

Despite the sun having already risen, sparkling snowflakes still drifted by.

On a baseball field, two players were practicing.

One was fully geared up, covered from head to toe.

Anyone familiar with baseball would instantly recognize that he was wearing a full set of catcher's gear, and it was the thicker version.

Yet, even with all that, the young man didn't feel at ease. His teeth were chattering from the cold.

As if making a big resolution, he shouted to the boy opposite him, "Throw the ball over! This time, I'll definitely catch it."

Hearing the boy's bold words, a group of onlookers who were intentionally standing at a safe distance excitedly raised their arms.

"That's our captain, Kameda!"

"Your courage buff must be maxed out."

"Don't be scared by him; all he's got is a bit of speed on his throws, nothing else."

Although they shouted encouraging words, none of them dared to go closer. Clearly, their bodies were being more honest than their mouths.

On the pitcher's mound was Alex. Oh, no, now he should be called Satoru Furuya.

He instinctively glanced at his fingers gripping the ball, asking hesitantly, "Are you really sure, Kameda?"

Furuya didn't know how it happened, but when he woke up, he had become a second-year middle school student named Satoru Furuya.

In his previous life, he had not played baseball, although he had seen some baseball anime, including this one.

Having traveled to such a two-dimensional world and becoming an important character in it felt utterly surreal to Furuya.

After all, he was a university student. Yet here he was, suddenly thrust back into his middle school years, several years younger, in a foreign land.

This feeling was incredibly disorienting.

But time heals all. As time passed, Furuya gradually accepted his new identity.

Eventually, he even started to embrace this world.

He didn't have much choice, as he couldn't return to his original world anyway.

In this situation, he seemed to have no option but to accept everything about himself.

Once he truly began to accept this identity and this body...

Furuya was astonished to discover that his physique was incredibly powerful.

Whether it was speed, strength, coordination, or agility...

Even in terms of the traits of being a man, this body had exceptional potential.

This quickly made Furuya a prominent figure at school.

No matter the sport, he could master it quickly. Coupled with his unparalleled speed and strength, his performance was always outstanding.

But the best of all was baseball.

Even when suppressing his own strength, Furuya, as the team's pitcher, led them to become the runner-up in Hokkaido.

Furuya's teammates greatly admired him.

Because of this, they had always harbored a wish—to unlock Furuya's true potential.

Even when suppressing half of his strength, Furuya still led their team to the finals in Hokkaido.

Once he fully unleashes his power, could they become champions? Could they then charge into the national tournament and perform outstandingly?

It was for this reason that Kameda wanted to practice with Furuya, to help him unlock his full strength.

Hearing Furuya's question, even though he didn't feel entirely confident, Kameda stubbornly shouted back.

"Bring it on!"

With Kameda's confirmation, Furuya nodded slightly.

He had only tested this himself under a bridge and had never really tried pitching with his full power.

"Here I come!"

"Give it your best shot!"

Under the watchful eyes of his companions, Furuya got into his stance.

It was clear that he had practiced diligently; his pitching form was textbook-perfect.

He lifted his leg, took a step forward, and as his body weight shifted, his arm swung up.

At the moment his foot touched the ground, Furuya channeled all his strength into the two fingers gripping the ball.

"BOOMM!!"

The baseball shot out of his hand like a cannonball firing from its barrel.

In that instant, even the friends who had distanced themselves could clearly hear the roaring sound of the baseball.

"So fast!"

"So terrifying!"

They didn't even have time for any other thoughts. The white ball had already cut through the air and appeared right in front of Kameda.

Even the onlookers could tell that this pitch was unbelievably fast. Let alone Kameda, who was crouching on the ground, facing it directly.

In his eyes, the white baseball kept growing larger and larger.

If the baseball's speed had been normal, at that moment, Kameda would have felt as if he had been paralyzed.

He couldn't move a muscle.

He watched helplessly as the white baseball flew straight into his mitt, slamming into the chest protector.

"Ugh!!"

A wave of intense pain surged through him. Despite the catcher's protective gear, the ball's impact still sent a shock through Kameda's internal organs.

Kameda's stomach churned violently, and the sushi he had for breakfast, mixed with some unknown liquid, spewed out of his mouth.

"Call an ambulance, quick!"

"Gag... Gag..."

Kameda had no memory of what happened next.

After that incident, none of the teammates ever mentioned asking Furuya to pitch with full power again.

It was as if it had never happened.

Naturally, Furuya followed their lead. Since no one brought it up, he didn't either.

In middle school, the best achievement their team had was being the runner-up in Hokkaido.

They were just one step away from the national tournament.

However, that one step felt like a chasm, keeping them from reaching the national stage.

Following the story he knew well, Furuya, after graduating from middle school, decided to take the entrance exam for Seidou High School.

He knew that Seidou had an exceptional catcher.

Someone who could catch his pitches! He could give his all on the field and fully utilize this body's talents.

However...

Even though Furuya had inherited all of Satoru Furuya's memories, they weren't entirely the same.

Satoru Furuya could, through his own efforts, successfully get into Seidou.

But Him could not.

In the end, he was rejected by Seidou High School, that prestigious private school, by a margin of just one point.

Satoru Furuya was completely stunned when he received the news.

He had many plans for the future.

But joining Seidou was undoubtedly a crucial step.

Without a good partner to fully unleash his potential, his future on the path of baseball might be fraught with detours...

The achievements he might have reached could now be out of his grasp.