Superstar

After finishing his daily swings, Shun headed towards the bullpen. When he arrived, the pitchers were already training.

PAH

"Good pitch, Sora!" - Captain Kazuki praised after catching the ball. Sora Okamoto, a first-year student, was good enough to take Shun's starting pitcher position. He was short, probably around 1.50m, and showed no signs of growing much taller, which was normal for a young Japanese boy, given that even adult men averaged around 1.64m in height. Shun was different, he was very tall for his age, standing at 1.70m, and due to his genetics, he would likely grow even taller. Ren and Kenta were also tall for their age, and they would probably grow well above the Japanese average, which was good for baseball players, though certainly uncommon.

Back to Sora, the young boy had an arrogant expression. He might not be tall, but he was undoubtedly the best pitcher on the team. In addition to a decent fastball, he had an excellent curveball. The right-handed pitcher had good control, which earned him the ace's number 1 spot as soon as he joined the team. Shun looked at the boy and asked the system to display his stats.

[Sora Okamoto

Overall: E+

PITCHING: D+

BATTING: F+

FIELDING: E+

RUNNING: E

GAME IQ: E+

Overall Potential: B+]

"Huh? That bad? His overall is the same as mine before I received my skills. The only decent grade he has is in pitching, but even that isn't very high. Besides, his potential isn't that great either. Well, I'm not sure why I'm surprised almost all talented pitchers play in the senior league. The only reason Sora got the starting pitcher position is that I'm terrible." - Shun sighed. After seeing Sora's stats, he realized how bad he was at pitching, but he didn't let it get to him. With the system, as long as he trained and continued completing missions, he believed he could become very good.

Shun had just finished setting up the pitching net when he heard an excited voice while bringing a box full of balls to the mound.

"Shun-senpai!" - The voice belonged to first-year student Jiro Fukuoka, the other pitcher who joined the team this year. Jiro was a tall young man, the same height as Ren at 1.65m, with long arms and legs that were not yet fully developed, making him quite clumsy. He wore round glasses and had a neat hairstyle that made him look like a nerd.

"Hey, Jiro, why aren't you training?" - Shun had a good impression of this boy. Jiro was very polite to everyone. He had never played baseball before joining the team, and when he did, Coach Yamada thought the boy had the potential to be a pitcher. Even though he showed shocking progress, he remained humble and polite, especially with Shun, whom the boy admired a lot, though Shun didn't understand why.

"The captain caught my pitches before Sora's. Senpai, are you getting ready to pitch? I knew you wouldn't give up on being a pitcher!" - Jiro said excitedly, looking up to Shun with admiration.

"Hm, don't get the wrong idea, Jiro. I'm focused on being an outfielder. I won't return to the mound until I'm good enough for it." - Shun felt a bit embarrassed by his kohai's reaction he really didn't understand why Jiro admired him so much.

"I believe in you, senpai!" - Jiro said excitedly, hesitating a little before continuing to speak.

"Ehh, senpai, can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Of course you can." - Shun was surprised by the boy's hesitation.

"Well, I was thinking about learning another pitch, and I'd like your opinion." - Jiro said with some fear, he didn't want Shun to be mad at him. Players in the same position always compete with each other for the starting spot, and even though Shun had switched to the outfield, he might still be offended.

Shun was surprised by Jiro's question. Of course, he wasn't offended, he wasn't petty enough not to want the other pitchers on his team to improve. Besides, he had a good impression of the boy, but he really didn't expect Jiro to ask his opinion on something so important.

Jiro was a right-handed pitcher with a good shoulder. Even though he had learned to pitch only recently, he already had two pitches, a 4-seam fastball and a splitter. The boy was very talented, having easily learned both pitches and even having good control. Shun looked at him and asked the system to show his stats.

[Jiro Fukuoka

Overall: D

PITCHING: D+

BATTING: E

FIELDING: D+

RUNNING: D

GAME IQ: E-

Overall Potential: SSS+]

[After assessing the target's talent, the system recommends that the target learn the Knuckleball pitch.]

"What????!!!!! I knew he was talented, but this? This guy is even more talented than Ren and Kenta! Not only did he learn to play baseball in such a short time, but his overall is already rated D, and even his pitching is on par with Sora's. The coach probably wants him to gain more experience, but that must be the only reason he's not the starter. Moreover, the system recommended he learn the knuckleball. The system has never recommended a skill before, maybe his potential is tied to the knuckleball?" - Shun was lost in thought. The young man with a nerdy appearance in front of him had the potential to be a superstar.

"Ehhh, Shun-senpai?" - Meanwhile, the future superstar was scared. After Jiro asked the question, Shun had been staring at him with a shocked expression without saying anything.

"Ah! Jiro, let me ask you something, why do you want my opinion?" - Shun snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Well, you're—you're the best pitcher I know, senpai, and I'd like to pitch like you someday." - Jiro felt embarrassed, but he mustered up the courage and spoke with conviction.

Shun was taken aback by the boy's words. He almost shouted, "Best pitcher you've ever seen, my foot! You learned to play baseball yesterday and you're already better than me!" But of course, he held back. He didn't understand, but he knew the boy was being sincere.

"I see. I'll give you my opinion, you should stop underestimating baseball," - Shun said calmly.

"What? I'm not underestimating it" - Jiro tried to explain to Shun that he wasn't underestimating baseball, but he was interrupted.

"You learned to pitch a little over a month ago, but you already want to learn a third pitch. Tell me, do you think you've fully mastered the splitter? Do you think there's no way to improve your 4-seam? Or that your control is already perfect?" - Shun spoke firmly. He was being honest, he believed that the sooner Jiro learned this, the better.

"I—I don't" - This time, Jiro couldn't even complete a sentence before being interrupted again.

"Listen carefully Jiro, it's not the number of different pitches that makes a good pitcher. You're talented, but talent alone won't get you anywhere. You need to learn more about the game. You need to learn more about your pitches and think of ways to make them even better. Ask the coach and the captain later, but there's still a lot of room to improve the pitches you already have." - Shun gently tapped the boy's chest with his glove. Shun was the son of one of the best pitchers in Japan's history. Even if he wasn't talented, he had learned many things from his father, especially how a good pitcher should act and what he needed to do to improve. Shun's intention was for Jiro to learn from his words, but of course, it was up to Jiro to decide whether he would take those words to heart.

"Thank you, senpai! I won't forget these words!" - Jiro bowed and thanked him. He was a smart young man and realized that Shun's words were well-intentioned. He promised himself never to underestimate baseball again, then turned to leave.

"Knuckleball."

"What?" - Jiro turned back after hearing Shun's words.

"You asked which pitch I think you should master. I think you should try to learn the knuckleball. It's a very difficult pitch to master, and few people can throw a good knuckleball. However, if you can do it, it would be an incredible weapon" - Shun said as he bent down to pick up a ball. He didn't wait for Jiro's response and started pitching using his new form.

"I understand. Thank you very much, senpai. I will definitely master the knuckleball!" - Jiro bowed again and thanked him.

Shun didn't turn around to look, he heard Jiro's footsteps fading away and smiled.

"Now, it's up to him how far he'll go. Well, I'd better work hard too."

Shun thought as he began his pitching practice.