The Old Baseball Player System

"Pay attention, old man." - Shun said in his head as he stepped into the batter's box.

[Hmph! I'm always paying attention, you brat!] - The old man huffed inside Shun's mind, clearly unhappy about receiving orders from the boy. Discover hidden tales at m,v l'e|m-p| y r

"Hehe, alright, let's get started..." - Shun gave a slight smile as he observed the tall pitcher on the mound. It was time to start his plan.

The pitcher began his wind-up and quickly threw the ball toward home plate. Shun paid close attention to every movement the opposing pitcher made, and as the ball left his hand, Shun could clearly see it.

A decent fastball, it was a good pitch for someone in middle school, but for Shun, who was used to Kohei's insane fastballs, this pitch wasn't anything special.

Shun clearly tracked the ball's path, but for some reason, he didn't swing and just watched the pitch land in the catcher's glove.

PAH

"Strike!"

Shun heard the umpire announce the first strike, but he didn't seem bothered. His eyes remained fixed on the tall pitcher on the mound. The second pitch came, and again, Shun identified the type of pitch with ease.

PAH

"Strike!"

Once more, he didn't move. The opposing catcher grew confident, thinking Shun couldn't hit the pitcher's fastballs, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The third pitch came.

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

Shun protected the strike zone by fouling off the fastball. The fourth pitch followed.

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

And then the fifth pitch.

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

"Damn, what an annoying guy!" - The opposing catcher thought as he stared at Shun's calm expression.

"Let's end this with the next pitch!" - The catcher decided, signaling a different pitch to his pitcher. The sixth pitch of the duel came.

Shun carefully watched the pitcher's movements and noticed his glove slightly lower than usual. He saw the pitch heading toward him and initially thought it was a regular fastball aimed inside the strike zone.

But just before starting his swing, Shun's Hunter Eyes skill detected a different spin on the ball.

PAH

"Ball!"

Shun observed closely. Just before reaching the plate, the ball cut inside, leaving the strike zone.

"A cutter, huh? I need to be sure..." - Shun thought about the pitcher's lower glove position before throwing the cutter and smiled. Of course, he couldn't be certain with just one pitch.

Shun's ability to pick up on this subtle change was thanks to his Learning Master quirk, which had proven incredibly useful in practice. Now, Shun was applying it in-game. This was the only reason he hadn't hit at the earlier pitches, if he could identify a tell in the opposing pitcher, the game might end quickly.

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

WOOSH

DING

"Foul!"

After two more fastballs that Shun easily fouled off, the ninth pitch of the duel came. Once again, Shun noticed the pitcher's glove slightly lower and tracked the ball's spin. The moment he anticipated the cutter's trajectory, he swung without hesitation.

WOOSH

DONG

Shun dashed toward base as soon as he connected with the ball, which flew toward left field. He easily reached second base and smiled.

"Hehe, not bad, right, old man?" - Shun said smugly in his head.

[Hmph! Don't get cocky, kid. That was just beginner's luck!] - The old man grumbled at Shun's comment, making the boy chuckle.

It wasn't every day that Shun could brag to the old man about something. Today, he'd identified a tell in the pitcher before the old man did, thanks to the Learning Master quirk.

Shun watched as Ren stepped into the batter's box. Unfortunately, he couldn't communicate the tell he'd discovered, so the young samurai would have to survive this at-bat on his own.

But of course, Shun didn't plan on just standing on base doing nothing. As soon as the pitcher threw the first pitch to Ren, Shun bolted for third base.

"Steal!" - The shortstop shouted as he saw Shun take off.

PAH

"Ball!"

The catcher didn't care about the first pitch being a ball, he was focused on trying to throw out Shun. He quickly stood and threw to third base, but it was too late.

"Safe!" - The umpire announced, spreading his arms wide. Shun was so fast he didn't even need to slide, he stepped on the base before the ball reached the third baseman's glove.

With a runner on third and no outs, the catcher called for a cutter. The pitcher nodded, still a bit nervous about the runner, and delivered the pitch.

WOOSH

DING

"Fuck!" - Unlike Shun, Ren had no idea what pitch was coming and swung, thinking it would be a fastball. So, when the ball cut just before reaching his bat, Ren cursed in frustration.

But without missing a beat, Ren sprinted toward first base while Shun made a dash for home. The ball rolled toward the second baseman, but because it was weakly hit, it took an extra bounce.

By the time the second baseman fielded the ball, Shun was already nearing home plate, so he decided to throw to first base to ensure the out. But as he did, he was startled by the sight of the boy with the samurai topknot rapidly closing in on the base.

PAH

The ball reached the first baseman's glove just as Ren's foot landed on the bag. Both players anxiously looked at the umpire.

"Safe!" - The umpire declared, spreading his arms wide, making Ren cheer in excitement.

Meanwhile, Shun, having just scored a run, was heading back to the dugout. As he passed Kenta, who was on his way to bat, he leaned in and whispered:

"This guy lowers his glove a bit when he throws a cutter" - Shun quickly told Kenta.

"Hm." - Kenta was a bit surprised, he hadn't expected his friend to figure something like that out so quickly. To avoid making the opponent suspicious, he just nodded while walking toward the batter's box.

Shun reached the dugout and was greeted with applause, but before anything else, he gathered his entire team and began explaining in detail what he had discovered.