Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Sawamura turned his head and cast a cold, piercing glare at the third base runner, Lee-Hyun.

For a brief moment, Lee-Hyun felt as if his entire body had plunged into an ice-cold cellar. He felt stiff all over, his muscles trembling slightly.

Thanks to the connection with Kuramochi, Sawamura had often practiced with Lee-Hyun privately. Originally, Lee-Hyun thought that meeting Sawamura now wouldn't make him too nervous.

However, the Sawamura in practice was a completely different person from the Sawamura in an actual game.

Not to mention, the current Sawamura felt far more dangerous than the one just moments ago.

Now, Sawamura seemed like a giant standing tall on the pitcher's mound, his gaze looking down at Lee-Hyun.

If Lee-Hyun made a move, he would undoubtedly face a thunderous strike.

"So terrifying!!"

Usually, when Lee-Hyun heard his teammates refer to Sawamura as the Demon King, he didn't fully grasp the meaning.

Ignorance breeds courage.

Because Lee-Hyun only had a basic understanding of baseball, he couldn't fully appreciate the overwhelming power Sawamura possessed.

Only during an actual game did he feel the terrifying aura that made him shudder.

"Don't give up, you little brat!"

Kuramochi, watching the game from the sidelines, muttered quietly. Given his current position, he couldn't cheer loudly for his disciple, so he could only offer silent blessings in his heart.

Miraculously, Lee-Hyun also looked over at Kuramochi!

The moment he saw him, his mind was filled with memories of Kuramochi training him.

Coming alone to a foreign land to participate in the program, Lee-Hyun also wanted to perform well, to live up to the expectations of the management and friends in the program.

So he had been practicing hard in private.

But sometimes, he also felt lonely.

In a foreign land, all alone!

That feeling is something people who haven't experienced it can hardly understand.

Kuramochi had appeared in Lee-Hyun's life during such a time.

He was like a nice senior and a close friend, showing Lee-Hyun the way. And with his company alongside Sawamura, helped Lee-Hyun find a sense of support while alone in a foreign country.

He didn't want to disappoint them, especially not Kuramochi. Nor did he want to let down his other two friends from Korea, who had accompanied him...

'With so many people's expectations on my shoulders, how could I give up so easily?'

Even though his body was shaking with tension, Lee-Hyun's fighting spirit showed no sign of weakening.

This moment filled his Shisho, Kuramochi Youichi, with great pride.

"Good!"

Lee-Hyun quietly left third base and began moving toward home plate.

This time, he didn't use his unique stolen base rhythm, but instead, adopted the most traditional and formal method for stealing a base.

His legs were spread apart, and his body was facing Sawamura on the pitcher's mound.

In this stance, he could either charge for home plate or quickly return to third base if something unexpected happened.

"This little brat has grown!"

Sawamura kept an eye on Lee-Hyun's movements with the corner of his eye.

When they practiced together, Lee-Hyun had always worked on his special stolen base rhythm.

This was the first time Sawamura had seen him adopt the formal stolen base position.

On one hand, it put pressure on the pitcher, and on the other, it allowed Lee-Hyun to take the initiative.

The once-immature junior had now become a much more formidable opponent.

Of course, that wasn't the most important thing—the most important thing was the speed that left one speechless. With his speed, it would take Lee-Hyun only about three seconds to run back to home plate from his current position at third base.

The time for Sawamura's pitch, the catcher's reaction time after catching the ball... If the ball were hit and not caught directly, it seemed almost impossible to stop Lee-Hyun from reaching home plate.

These thoughts swirled in Sawamura's mind for quite a while. Eventually, his gaze became firm.

'Actually, there was another strategy—just make sure the batter doesn't hit the ball!'

'Strike Out the batter, and no matter if he tries to bunt, don't let him make contact.'

'This way, Lee-Hyun's attack would naturally fall apart.'

Now, his opponent was Kagami!

A quiet, seemingly inconspicuous player.

But his actual skill was quite troublesome. It wouldn't be easy for Kariba and Sawamura to strike him out.

If the kid had some pride and faced him head-on, Sawamura would feel more confident.

Using sharp breaking balls and Balls to tempt him into swinging could likely lead to a strikeout.

But now, this Kohai had already set up for a bunt.

They were very pragmatic, not greedy at all.

Their goal was clear: to walk Lee-Hyun back to home plate and score a run off the legendary Sawamura.

Hirota, Okumura—these guys were all thinking the same thing.

Including Kagami now.

"This new Kohais really isn't cute at all!"

These guys were all very aware of their own abilities and had the right mindset.

Once they formed a connection, they were truly difficult to handle.

Even Sawamura felt a bit restricted.

Taking a deep breath on the pitcher's mound, Sawamura focused intently on Kagami in the Batter's Box.

In that process, he seemed to completely forget about the runner at third base, Lee-Hyun.

Suddenly!

A brilliant flash of white light, like a dagger shooting out of nowhere, flew toward third base.

"Snap!"

The ball landed in the third baseman's mitt.

Lee-Hyun had also returned.

As expected of Kuramochi's Deshi, Lee-Hyun moved with a speed that was frighteningly similar to his Shisho's.

More importantly, in the past, Sawamura had practiced many similar situations with him, and Lee-Hyun had mentally prepared for this.

'This is what happens when you teach your Kohai well—your own defeat is inevitable!'

Sawamura felt a surge of emotion.

If he hadn't spent so much time training with Lee-Hyun, there's no way Lee-Hyun would have been able to react quickly.

But never mind—now wasn't the time to dwell on this.

There were more important matters at hand.

Sawamura's purpose in throwing a pick-off was simply to get Lee-Hyun to return to third base, not to resolve him in one go.

Receiving Sawamura's signal, the third baseman understood and did not try to tag Lee-Hyun. Instead, he threw the ball back to Sawamura.

Sawamura caught the ball without hesitation.

Then, without pause, he wound up and threw the ball!

Lee-Hyun, who had just gotten up from the ground, seemed to have anticipated this.

Without stopping for even a moment, he immediately began sprinting toward home plate!!

'Kuramochi-sunbae!'

'Sawamura-sunbae!!

'Ji Hoon!'

'Hyo-Lin!'

'I won't disappoint you!!!'

If this were a passionate anime, at this moment, flames of determination would surely be burning in Lee-Hyun's eyes!

He dashed toward home plate!

Sawamura's pitching stance was wide, but the time he took to release the ball was short!

WHRROOSH!

In less than a second, he released the baseball.

With the momentum from his pitch, his body also lunged forward.

If someone timed it, this would be 0.75 seconds!

Sawamura's pitching velocity was 147 km/h, and it would take roughly 0.4 seconds for the ball to cover the 18-meter distance.

This meant the total time was just over a second.

If Kagami failed to make contact, even if Lee-Hyun could fly, it would be impossible for him to reach home plate in time.

'I must make contact...'

Kagami's face was expressionless, but his eyes were sharp as ever.

This seemingly plain junior had skills that were just as intimidating in baseball.

Ping!

The ball was hit and bounced forward.

The time was 1.45 seconds!

With his lightning-fast legs, Lee-Hyun had already covered half the distance.

Starting from third base, his speed was undiminished.

There were only a few meters left between him and home plate.

Lee-Hyun, with all his might, was closing in on home plate in the blink of an eye.

His speed was so fast, that it seemed almost supernatural.

Pak!

The ball bounced and hit the ground.

Now, two seconds had passed!

Lee-Hyun was within just ten meters of home plate.

The ball bounced up!

With Lee-Hyun nearing home plate, one could already see him about to score.

Someone suddenly appeared in front of the baseball!

It was Sawamura, having sprinted from the pitcher's mound!

In just ten meters, he had made up the ground.

Meanwhile, Lee-Hyun had already run almost 20 meters!

In a 30-meter race, the gap between them was astonishing.

However, Sawamura didn't mind. He was naturally slower to start, and the time spent pitching had only made the difference greater.

It didn't matter if he was slower as long as the game's situation wasn't behind.

Sawamura snatched the ball with his bare right hand and threw it to the catcher at home plate in one motion.

'Make it in time!!'

At this point, though Lee-Hyun was nearly at home plate, there were still about seven or eight meters between him and the plate.

The catcher had about 0.7 seconds to react.

As long as he didn't make a mistake, he should be able to tag out Lee-Hyun.

Just as Sawamura breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to watch Lee-Hyun get Out, he suddenly witnessed something truly unbelievable!

The catcher, after catching the ball and raising his Mitt to tag Lee-Hyun, was caught off guard as Lee-Hyun slid to home plate like a crafty swordfish!

Just five meters from home plate, he was almost skimming the ground.

This sudden change took the catcher completely by surprise.

By the time he reacted, Lee-Hyun's hand had already touched the home plate.

"SAFE!!!"

The umpire's voice rang out excitedly from behind.

The score was now 57:7!

The freshmen had scored a miraculous run, taking a point from the Demon King Sawamura.

***

The next day, the sun was shining brightly.

The players of the Seidou baseball team, after a morning of training, arrived at the bath, drenched in sweat.

After a simple wash-up, they headed to the cafeteria for their meal.

Although Seidou's baseball team had already aligned itself with professional standards, with several outstanding players in the team who would directly enter the professional league after graduation, they were still ordinary students.

Students have the lives of students, and studying comes first.

After having three large bowls of rice for breakfast, everyone headed to class.

In the dining hall, some of the Senpai players were discussing yesterday's freshman match.

"I didn't expect that guy to make it to the first team."

"Can't really say he made it; he's just practicing with the first team."

"You don't get it, do you? Anyone chosen to practice with the first team at this stage is typically a person of real ability. They can pretty much stay in the first team."

"Does that mean there are people in the current first team who will be kicked out?"

"That's to be expected. After all, we're Seidou, not a bunch of kids playing pretend baseball."

"Take Mimura, for instance!"

"Not just Mimura; second-year player Takatsu was also allowed to practice with the first team."

"Two players promoted at once!"

"Does that mean the first team is about to go through a major reshuffling?"

"Looks like it. No doubt about it."

"After all, it's not just those two who've been allowed to practice with the first team."

With that, the Senpais fell silent.

This wasn't good news for them.

After the freshman match, two first-year players hadn't lost their first-team qualifications.

On the contrary, two more first-year students were promoted.

This was undoubtedly a huge shame for all the Senpais.

In front of the vending machine on the first floor of the cafeteria.

Kuki Youhei had a look of frustration on his face.

Earlier that morning, the coaching staff had announced the new list for the first and second teams.

In this list, no one was removed. The players who had remained on the first and second teams were still on those teams.

Additionally, some exceptionally well-performing players were promoted.

Among them was Kuki Youhei.

He was promoted to the second string.

"Why was I promoted after such a disastrous performance, giving up nine runs at the start of the game? Why did the coach promote me?"

The young man couldn't quite understand.

The thing was, not all the star rookies were promoted. Many talented players didn't make the cut.

For instance, Mogami, and Asada...

Both of them still remained on the third string.

Even Matsumoto, a Kohai who was once expected to jump straight to the first team, still stayed on the third team.

Compared to them, Kuki Youhei really couldn't see anything special about his own performance.

Yet he still got promoted.

"The coaching staff must have their reasons!"

His Senpais, Toujou and Kanemaru, tried to cheer him up.

"In the game, many of the runs were due to fielding errors, so it wasn't entirely your fault. Even though the game was a loss, you showed a lot of fighting spirit. Maybe the coach noticed that and decided to promote you..."

"Maybe…"

Kuki Youhei still felt that it was undeserved.

On the other side of the cafeteria, looking at his mound of rice, Okumura had no appetite at all.

"Cheer up!"

Takuma nudged his glasses and smiled as he tried to lift his spirits.

"Don't look so down. After all, we've been promoted to the second string."

"Being promoted to the second team means we'll get more practice opportunities. For us, who have just entered high school, it's a great opportunity to improve. It'll help us get accustomed to high school baseball faster! We're luckier than those who are stuck on the first team as substitutes."

But Okumura didn't listen to a word of it.

Thinking about the list that Coach Ochiai had announced earlier that morning, he was filled with frustration.

In yesterday's match, he had shown everything he had.

Although he wasn't satisfied with the outcome of the match, Okumura was actually happy with his performance.

He believed that his efforts had caught the eye of Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai, that they had seen his abilities and taken him seriously.

But why, then, was he only promoted to the second team?

'There were only two months left!'

'With only two months until the Summer Tournament, if I couldn't make it to the first team before then...'

'That guy would retire...'

If he retired, how would Okumura be able to take the starting catcher's position from him with dignity?

Frustrated, Okumura gripped his chopsticks so hard that he almost broke them.

Half an hour earlier.

After the morning practice ended, all the players lined up in six neat rows.

In front of everyone, Coach Ochiai announced the latest roster.

"Okumura, Kagami, Hirota, Seto, Kuki, these five players will start practicing with the second string from this afternoon."

The expressions of the players were mixed when the list was announced.

Kuki was surprised. He hadn't expected to make it to the second team.

Kagami looked indifferent.

Takuma seemed a little happy. Although he had confidence, he still couldn't help but feel excited when the result was confirmed.

The most interesting reactions were from Okumura and Hirota.

Both of them looked unwilling.

Their performance in the freshman match was just as good as those of the first team.

Why didn't they get promoted directly?

They couldn't understand it.

The rest of the players were relatively calm.

Mogami seemed a little conflicted. As a star player, he couldn't believe he didn't make the second team.

He looked somewhat dazed but still offered comforting words to his dorm mate Lee-Hyun.

"It's alright. We'll have another chance next time!"

'There must be some sort of conspiracy. How could both I and Lee-Hyun have been eliminated? Lee-Hyun was a beginner, but I was a real rookie with potential!'

Mogami thought to himself.

"Now, for the players selected for joint practice with the first team. Before the Kanto Tournament, we'll have many practice matches. During that time, we'll try out all sorts of possibilities. Those selected for first-team practice must be well-prepared, and the current first-team members shouldn't slack off. By the time the Kanto Tournament rolls around, the roster for the first team might change. Once that happens, everyone who remains on the first team will stay there, with no changes until the Summer Tournament roster is announced."

These details had clearly been planned by the coaching staff in advance, and everyone understood.

In May, due to a series of holidays, the school would have several consecutive days off.

Every day, Seidou High School would arrange two or three practice matches.

Some of these would be for the first team, others for the second team.

Real games were the only true test of skill.

The coaching staff, led by Coaches Kataoka and Ochiai, seemed determined to use this one standard to select the final 20 players for the first team.

The Summer Tournament was the most important tournament for high school students, the one that meant the most to the players.

In such a tournament, there would be all sorts of challenges.

Every opponent Seidou High faced would fight them to the bitter end.

In order to survive such fierce competition, Seidou needed to select the strongest 20 players.

As Takashima Rei would say:

After continuously dominating the nation, Seidou had become the target of every other team.

They had already begun plotting all sorts of plans against Seidou High.

As the reigning champions, the players of Seidou High were the enemies in every other team's eyes.

The only thing Seidou could do was crush every opponent with overwhelming strength.

This was a battle to defend their Throne.

It's easier to conquer than to defend.

This was the toughest challenge Seidou had ever faced.

"Takatsu Hiroomi!"

As expected, the first player promoted to join the first-team practices was Takatsu.

He had shown unmatched batting power in the freshman match.

Even the Super Rookie Nishiyama had been defeated by him with a timely hit.

His performance was as fierce as a tornado.

His promotion to the first team was well-deserved.

"Mimura Ryota!"

The second player promoted was somewhat surprising—Mimura.

He didn't seem that impressive at first glance, but in the match, his performance had been remarkable.

He had gotten several timely hits and contributed greatly.

Among the Senpai players, only these two were promoted.

Just as everyone thought this was the end, Coach Ochiai called out another name.

"Yui Kaoru!"

After careful consideration, Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff decided to promote Yui Kaoru to the first team.

There were two current third-year catchers on the first team.

From the perspective of team transition, it was essential to promote one catcher.

In order to avoid future troubles, the coaching staff decided to prepare early.

At first, three candidates were in the running, with Matsumoto being the most likely choice.

The reason was simple—he was the only one capable of catching Sawamura's pitches.

However, after one freshman match, Matsumoto's hopes were dashed.

It came down to Yui and Okumura.

Although Okumura had been more outstanding in the freshman match, their opponents were different, so their performances couldn't be directly compared.

In the end, after weighing everything, Yui Kaoru, with slightly better batting skills, earned the promotion.

He was the first to be promoted to the first team.

"The last one!"

"Han Lee-Hyun!"

When Coach Ochiai announced the final name, the entire room fell silent.

Mogami's eyes widened, nearly popping out of his head.

He wasn't unaware that Lee-Hyun had performed exceptionally well in the freshman match.

But he had never imagined that this rookie would be directly promoted to the first team.

'Coach! Oi Coach! Did you read the right list? Are you sure?'

'I was shown a big fat promise, shouldn't it have been me promoted to the first team?'

…

(End Of This Volume!)

…

T/N: The Volume is now over…Sigh…

First of all, thank you all for reading.

I was trying to make the pace faster in this Volume(because I know it sounds like a filler) but balancing the pace, details, and character is very complicated.

Adding the new first-year was even more tiring than I thought, and establishing new characters had more depth than expected, especially when I am changing things and removing others along the way to make it more...likable…?

But I am eternally grateful for you guys reading and liking this story.

So, now without any delay, let's start the next Volume!