The system seemed to be tired of giving out worthwhile rewards, giving him a B-grade Agility Elixir from the Silver Lottery ticket. After quickly exchanging it for some more Major points, he moved onto the Golden wheel.
Ken crossed his fingers, hoping for something good. Every time he had spun the Golden wheel he'd been given something extremely useful, so he had a good feeling about it.
[Congratulations, you have acquired "Potential Booster"]
[Potential increased to SS+]
Ken's jaw dropped.
'W-What the hell!? There was such a reward?'
He felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his body as he stared at the rewards on the window in front of him. The whole situation with Hiroki had subconsciously made him nervous at his own potential cap.
If Ken was to be capped at S+ it was very possible that he may be just an average player in the NPB which meant getting into the Majors would be nothing but a pipe dream for him.
Therefore receiving a boost in his potential put his mind at ease.
'If the system is capable of increasing my potential then I really have nothing to worry about.' He thought, feeling his body relax significantly.
"This really feels like cheating…" Ken mumbled, however there was a big grin on his face.
He only managed to calm his excitement after a while, staring at his last remaining Gold Lottery ticket.
Without any expectation, he pressed the spin button and watched the small wheel rotate quickly, turning into a blur. Soon enough it began to slow down, finally falling on an icon with dollar signs.
[Congratulations, you have acquired 5,000 Major points.]
"Ah…"
Ken was a little disappointed, though he couldn't complain too much. There would be more opportunities in the future to acquire Gold Lottery tickets, especially since the prefecture tournament was beginning at the end of June.
With these Major points he had now accumulated around 7500, 2500 shy of the requirement for upgrading his Major League System to the next level.
'I wonder what I'll get when I upgrade the system level next?' He thought to himself.
The last time he upgraded the system, he acquired the Image Training function, which had been a game changer for him. Not only did it allow him to train without becoming exhausted, it also gave missions which in turn bagged him rewards.
"Ahh, I can't wait."
With those words, Ken drifted off to sleep, dreaming of stepping onto the real mound of Koshien once again.
***
The next month passed by in a flash. Soon enough, the whole baseball club had joined in on Ken's extracurricular training after practice. Even the managers took some time out of their day to attend, cheering on the hot-blooded teens during their workouts.
Ai also brought some baked treats from her parents bakery for everyone to munch on afterwards, making her even more popular with the players.
However after Tatsuya's warning, they quickly relinquished their enthusiasm in case the Training Demon himself increased their workouts.
Ken had to admit that while the training sessions were difficult, he found himself having so much fun. Watching everyone working together while sweating it out in the afternoon sun felt entirely surreal.
Just over a year ago he was a 24 year old office worker who drank away his sorrows and kept anyone who loved him at arms length. If he hadn't have been given this second chance, he likely would have continued to live a miserable existence.
With his mothers help, Ken was able to increase his calorie intake to 3500 a day for the past month and had begun to fill out his once wiry frame. With the increased workload, he burned through the additional calories and converted them to muscle, even growing taller as if he had a growth spurt.
He had also received the rewards from the final part of the Ascend to the Peak mission line, giving him the Poker Face and Training Demon skills.
Poker Face: Allows user to maintain a neutral expression, even when emotions are unstable.
Training Demon: Your effort and dedication to training incites those who train with you to perform better. Increasing their training benefits by 20% (does not affect the user.)
Since this was the first day since receiving his new skills, he could finally see the effects of the new Training Demon skill.
Everyone seemed fired up as they each went through the exercises he had set up. At any one time there was 5 people at each of the stations, doing either burpees, running up and down stairs, lunges and even push-ups and sit-ups.
Hiroki was currently in the middle of running up and down the staircase, his breath harsh as he felt the sweat pouring off of him. Despite doing these exercises every day for the past 2 months, he didn't feel as if he was improving.
It was as if he had hit a plateau, and nothing he did would help him break through such a wall. There were times where he wanted to give up, but with the whole baseball club now joining in on the exercises, he was now too embarrassed to speak up.
If he ever began to slack off, Ken would bark at him from afar with a scary expression on his face, forcing him to pick up the pace.
This was the last exercise of the day, yet Hiroki began to feel his body heat up more than usual. He almost stopped out of fright, but there was a voice in the back of his head telling him to keep pushing through.
He grit his teeth and fought against the feeling, gasping for air and pushing his tired muscles as hard as he could. There was a fleeting sensation that he wanted to grasp, but it felt just out of arms reach.
'I can't afford to let this feeling go!'
"Alright everyone, let's wrap it up." Ken's voice called out, receiving a groan of approval from the rest of the group.
However, Hiroki didn't seem to hear him. He kept running up and down the stairs without pause.
Yuta was about to step forward and say something, but Ken quickly grabbed his shoulder.
"Just wait a moment." He said.
Now everyone turned their attention towards the lone person who was still working hard. Sure he looked like he was about to collapse, but everyone could only feel respect for him.
After around 2 minutes of non-stop action, Hiroki suddenly felt a shudder run through his body. He managed to climb the last two steps, only to collapse onto the ground, sucking in deep breaths.
There were tears in his eyes, but his face broke into a huge smile as he stared at the clouds in the sky.
'I… I did it.'
Instinctively, Hiroki could tell that he had made the breakthrough that he was so desperately searching for. It was as if an invisible wall had crumbled before him, leading to an unknown path down the line.
Ken felt it too. The expression of pure joy on his friend's face was enough to know that he had succeeded.
To be sure, Ken used Identify on his friend once more.
TO USE IDENTIFY ON THIS TARGET WILL COST 200 MAJOR POINTS DUE TO THE DISPARITY IN ABILITIES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE?
[Y/N]
'Huh!?'
Ken was shocked. Had Hiroki improved so much that he now needed to spend Major points to identify him?
Extremely curious, Ken selected yes and if it wasn't for his new Poker Face skill his eyes would have bulged out of their sockets.
NAME: Hiroki Kondo
AGE: 17
TALENT ASSESSMENT: S
POTENTIAL: ??
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: S
>Pitching: B-
>Fielding: S+
>Game Intelligence: S
>Mental: S