[User has selected skill: Pitching Variety]
*DING*
[Congratulations, user has reached SS- Grade Pitching]
'Eh?'
Ken felt his jaw almost detach from his face as he read the notification in front of him. He almost couldn't believe it.
'W-What kind of luck did I stumble upon?'
He had been stuck at the A- pitching grade for majority of the year, yet in the span of a few weeks he had now climbed up all the way to SS-, a total of 6 grades.
This paired with his Limit Break and Showdown skills could have him rocket into the SSS grade during a match, something he would have never thought possible.
Of course that would only be temporary, yet that didn't matter.
Ken felt his mind flood with dopamine, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.
'There truly is no better rewards than the unexpected ones.' He mused inwardly.
'Ah'
He had a sudden realization that he had forgotten something. Ken still had another reward that was waiting for him.
After returning to his inventory, he gazed upon the Platinum Ticket description once more. It detailed that he would receive an ability, yet it did not provide any additional detail.
He had expected it to be linked to another wheel, just like the Gold and Silver lottery tickets, however it seemed that wasn't the case.
Yet there was no point in him just staring at it, so he decided to use it now.
[User has selected Platinum Ticket]
[Congratulations, user has received the ability: Mentor]
'Huh? Mentor?' Since it was not described, Ken had no choice but to return to his system window and try to find out more.
That's when he saw it, a new option sitting directly under his Training Plan function.
With an intrigued expression, he opened the menu.
WELCOME TO THE MENTOR MENU:
USER CAN SELECT 1 MENTOR AND HAS THE ABILITY TO LEARN THEIR SKILLS AT THE COST OF MAJOR POINTS. USER MUST INCREASE PROFICIENCY TO 100% BEFORE BEING ABLE TO SELECT ANOTHER SKILL.
LIST OF AVAILABLE MENTORS:
James Anderson (Pitcher, Yokohama Warriors)
Yuji Yamamoto (Catcher, Yokohama Warriors)
'Hmm? I can learn skills from professionals!?'
Ken felt incredulous. Just what kind of overpowered ability had he gained?
The fact that the only two players he'd been given an option to take as a mentor were from the Warriors, likely meant that he had to meet the individual and interact with them to some degree.
He could easily deduce this since there were many other pitchers and catchers within the bullpen when he visited, yet only these two appeared.
'Let's see what it does.' Ken mused, selecting James Anderson as his mentor.
James Anderson (Mentor)
#Available Skills:
>Pitches:
Curveball (Max): 2000 Major Points
Splitter (Max): 2500 Major Points
Slider (Max): 3000 Major Points
Slurve (Max): 4000 Major Points
Eephus (Max): 5000 Major Points
>Miscellaneous:
Intimidating Gaze: Reduces runners confidence at stealing bases (1000 Major points)
Pickoff Pioneer: Increases effectiveness of pickoffs (1500 Major points)
Curse Thrower (Inactive): Increases vocabulary when verbalizing one's complaints. (Has been sealed by user since moving to Japan.) (N/A)
Ken blinked a few times, particularly when seeing the final skill. Now that he thought about it, he remembered James was prone to outbursts on the field when he played in the Majors.
It wouldn't have mattered if the skill wasn't greyed out, there was no way he would try to learn such a skill in the first place. How would he even increase the proficiency in the future? Would he need to curse every player on the field?
Ken felt his face heat up just at the thought of something so ludicrous.
He turned his mind back to the matter at hand. He had a total of 5 pitches and 3 miscellaneous skills to choose from.
Yet Ken automatically disregarded the miscellaneous skills for now. It wasn't a hard decision to make, especially since he'd just received the Variety Pitcher skill which made learning new pitches easier.
He eyed the Curveball, Slider and the Slurve.
'Those would be a good addition to my arsenal. I already have a forkball which is similar to the splitter, so it would be between these 3.'
While the Eephus pitch could be effective when thrown well, it also opened up the possibility of being squarely hit out of the park. Therefore Ken thought it was too risky to pursue, especially in the middle of Nationals.
Since he could only choose 1 skill at a time, he eventually decided upon the Curveball.
[User has selected Curveball]
[Imprinting basic knowledge of the skill into users brain. Standby]
Instantly, Ken felt his vision begin to darken as he lost consciousness.
In the next moment he appeared in an empty stadium he had visited over 100 times, almost every night since he had received the Image Training function.
'Koshien…'
Like usual, the seats were empty, yet he was not alone this time.
Atop the mound was the tall figure of James Anderson, grinning at him as he stood in the batters box. Ken blinked a few times, almost not believing his eyes.
Without a word, he saw James perform his powerful wind up before letting his pitch go. The intensity from the movements kept Ken in awe, yet when the ball was released it was far slower than he had expected.
Even though he subconsciously knew that it was a curveball, he still couldn't help but swing early, his bat sailing over the pitch as it broke.
"H-Holy crap."
Ken could only stare in wonder at the journeyman on the mound.
Yet before he could do anything else, the scenery before him changed. He was no longer in the batters box, but upon the mound.
He tried to move but was unable to. Before he could panic, his gaze moved to the grip upon the ball. The ball was wedged between the middle finger and ring finger, with the thumb at the bottom of the baseball.
'W-What's happening?'
He couldn't control his body at all, and it was moving on its own.
[User is being shown Curveball from Mentor James Anderson's perspective]
Mika's voice entered his mind which allowed him to calm down a little. It was such a weird experience that he had almost lost his cool.
Since he now knew what was happening, he did his best to calm down and focus.
In the next moment, he felt his body go through the wind up before sending the ball out towards home plate.