"Yeaaaaahhhh! Great game, Bro!" - Little Yumi shouted to her brother from the stands. The little girl was jumping with joy after seeing her brother's team win the second round of the Tokyo tournament.
Shun waved to the little girl and his mother with a smile on his face before entering the dugout. The boy was very happy after another overwhelming victory, this time Shoto Junior High defeated Aoyama Junior High by a score of 15 X 3, ending the game in the fifth inning.
But the reason for Shun's happiness wasn't that. During the game, the boy managed to reach base in all 4 opportunities he had to hit, and his friends brought him to home plate all 4 times. He also stole 6 bases and did very well in defense, achieving a total of 5 outs, one of which was a difficult catch.
Shun wasn't very good at math, but even without knowing the exact numbers, he knew that this would be a pretty high number of Stars, which he could exchange for rewards in the Star Store. The mere thought of earning that many Stars every game made Shun's eyes sparkle, the boy was sure he had found his farm for legendary rewards.
Meanwhile, in the stands, two young men, one with white hair and the other with brown hair, were getting up from their seats.
"What do you think, Suga?" - Hokuto Junior High's left-handed pitcher, Kohei Sasaki, asked his white-haired friend.
"Hm, this isn't fun. After facing an elite school like Seishin, we have to face these guys?" - The white-haired catcher, Yoshinori Sugawara, pouted as if he were a child being treated unfairly.
"Huh? You think they're that good?" - Kohei asked, surprised. Although Shoto Junior High was a good team, he didn't think they compared to a powerhouse like Seishin.
"On the contrary, they're terrible, so terrible it's not even fun. I don't even need to come up with a plan to beat these guys!" - Sugawara continued to complain. It was as if the boy only enjoyed facing strong teams so that he could make a plan to defeat them.
"You bastard!" - Kohei was irritated with his friend. Although he also enjoyed facing strong opponents, he wasn't crazy enough to complain about facing a weaker team from time to time. After all, who doesn't like a break?
Unaware that their next opponent was thinking of them as a break, the Shoto Junior High players gathered at the dugout exit.
"That was a good game, but now we need to focus on the next round. I'm sure you all know it will be difficult, but I truly believe in this team. Tomorrow is Friday, we won't have practice since we played today, so rest well. Our game is on Sunday, so I want all of you on the school field at the scheduled time, understood?" - Coach Yamada spoke loudly to his players.
"Yes, Coach!" - All the players shouted at the same time, all of them excited to hear that their coach believed in them. At that moment, a great fire ignited in the hearts of the Shoto Junior High players, they were going to do the impossible... they were going to defeat the team that beat the elite... they were going to win against Hokuto Junior High in the third round of the Tokyo tournament!
Shun met up with his little sister and mother outside the stadium, returned home with them, and completed his daily training before taking a bath.
* Splash *
Shun entered the bathtub, and before anything else, he followed his routine of opening the rewards from the daily training.
[Do you want to open the Bronze Mystery Box?
Yes/No]
"Yes!"
[You obtained 1 bronze arena pass]
[Do you want to open the Bronze Mystery Box?
Yes/No]
"Yes!"
Lead your team in runs scored = 30 Stars
Lead the tournament in runs scored = 60 Stars]
[The user has Stars to claim. Would you like to claim all available Stars?
Yes/No]
"Yes!" - Shun quickly said.
[The user claimed 74 Stars]
"Wow! Star Store!" - Shun was amazed at the number of stars, and without being able to wait any longer, he told the system to open the Star Store.
[Star Store:
The user can earn stars according to their performance in matches. The user's stars can be exchanged for rewards.
Stars: 74
Bronze Reward = 10 Stars
Silver Reward = 100 Stars
Gold Reward = 1000 Stars
Legendary Reward = 10000 Stars
The user can exchange as many rewards as they want as long as they have the necessary stars.]
"Bronze Reward!" - Shun wanted to see what kind of reward he could get from the Star Store, so he decided to exchange for a bronze reward.
[Would you like to exchange 10 Stars for a Bronze Reward?
Yes/No]
"Yes!"
[DING]
[Congratulations, you have completed a hidden mission in the Star Store! The mission 'First Exchange' has been completed! As a reward, the user will receive one of the best rewards available at the exchange level they performed (Bronze)!]
[The user received a body transformation (new fingers)]
"Huh?"