***
The next day the group of students boarded the train back to Yokohama. When it came time for everyone to go their separate ways, there was a bit of reluctance.
After all, they'd just spent the past 2 weeks together and had accomplished something great. So even though they would see each other once school resumed in another week, the goodbyes made it seem as though that wasn't the case.
Ken and Ai returned home, going their separate ways at the intersection.
Despite their conversation last night, Ai had returned to normal. Being a man, he could not understand the intricacies of his female counterpart, so he decided to ignore it completely.
'She'll tell me if there's anything wrong.' He said inwardly.
Soon enough he arrived home to see his Mother and Father already waiting for him.
It felt kind of odd to return home after being away for 2 weeks, though there was a certain charm to it. Ken hadn't realized just how tired he was until he walked into his own house.
After yawning a few times at the table, Yuki flashed him a glare.
"I thought I told you to get some good rest last night…"
Ken felt the hairs on his next stand up in the next moment.
"A-Ah, I just had trouble sleeping I swear."
Chris laughed at the response and calmed down his worried wife.
"Honey, let's not blame Ken for being tired. He's played 5 games in the past 2 weeks, the fatigue was bound to catch up to him eventually."
His response seemed logical enough to calm her down, giving Ken a way out.
"How about you go have a nap for a while. Daichi won't be home till later today anyway." Chris said, sending a wink his way.
Ken sent a thankful glance his father's way and stood up from the table, excusing himself. In all honesty he was rather tired, likely from the mental fatigue he'd experienced.
More than that, he really wanted to accept the rewards that had been burning a hole in his pocket this whole time.
"I'm gonna go have a nap for a bit then." He said, doing his best to walk slowly up the stairs.
If he had it his way, Ken would have run up the stairs in a flurry before slamming his door shut. However, he was a patient man.
Yet the moment he finally arrived in his room, he couldn't even wait to lie down before opening the system window.
MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
SYSTEM LEVEL: 4 (10880/100,000 Major points to level up)
NAME: Ken Takagi
AGE: 16
TALENT ASSESSMENT: S
POTENTIAL: SS+
MAJOR POINTS: 10880
USER MENU:
-STATS
-MISSIONS
-SYSTEM SHOP
-LOTTERY (Locked)
-IMAGE TRAINING
-IDENTIFY
-TRAINING PLAN
-MENTOR
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: S+
>Pitching: SS-
>Fielding: B-
>Game Intelligence: B-
>Mental: S
>Skills: 20
PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. S+)
Balance and Coordination: S+
Agility: S+
Strength: S+
Stamina: S+
Without a word, he laid down on the bed and brought up the thing he wanted to see the most, the mission.
MISSION: Summer National Tournament
*Task 1: Strike out players 50 times [76/50] [Completed]
*Task 2: Hit 6 home runs [6/6] [Completed]
*Task 3: Make the Quarter Finals of Koshien [Completed]
*Task 4: Make the Semi Finals of Koshien [Completed]
*Task 5: Make the Finals of Koshien [Completed]
*Task 6: Win the National Tournament [Completed]
*Task 7: Win player of the Tournament [Completed]
REWARDS:
>Task 1 rewards - 3000 Major points [Claim Reward]
>Task 2 rewards - 3000 Major points [Claim Reward]
>Task 3 rewards - 7000 Major points [Claim Reward]
>Task 4 rewards - 7000 Major points + Gold Lottery ticket [Claim Reward]
>Task 5 rewards - 10,000 Major points + Gold Lottery ticket [Claim Reward]
>Task 6 rewards - 15,000 Major points + SS-Grade Physicality Elixir [Claim Reward]
>Task 7 rewards - 15,000 Major points + SS-Grade Mental Elixir [Claim Reward]
Hidden Task: Throw a shutout - Platinum ticket [Claimed]
Seeing all of his tasks with the completed sign, Ken felt his body shiver in the feeling of success. This was the first time he'd completed all the tasks in this kind of mission, making him feel an even bigger sense of accomplishment.
'Come to me rewards, be mine.'
[Received:
60,000 Major Points
2 x Gold Lottery tickets
1 x SS-Grade Physicality Elixir
1 x SS-Grade Mental Elixir]
Ken felt the rush of having gained an immense amount of wealth all at once. It was as if he had won the lottery, filling him with pure joy.
'Which Elixir should I take first?' He thought excitedly.
However, when he remembered the pain that he was going to experience after taking either one of them, he gulped.
Yet he had already come this far, there was no way that he would back down after working so hard to secure these. What was a little bit of pain when it compared to the immense benefits he would receive?
After a little bit of a mental back and forth, Ken decided to go with the Mental Elixir first.
He had already figured out that increasing ones mental capacity was valuable not only for everyday intelligence and remembering things, it also helped him grasp insights which would improve his other grades.
Apart from Physical Fitness which was purely physical, his other grades required not only constant practice, but also sufficient insights in order to ascend.
Therefore, the quicker he upgraded his Mental grade, the easier he would be able to increase his other grades.
Ken gazed at the Mental Elixir in his inventory for a while, gathering the courage to use it. Having suffered from the excruciating pain of the baseball to the head, he was not so keen to have another round of suffering.
He sucked in a breath of cool air and pressed the button, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain.
After a few seconds of nothing, just as he thought something went wrong, he heard a voice in his mind.
[Mika has determined that user may alert others in the vicinity of the activities taking place. Activating muting and paralysis protocol.]
And just like that, Ken was made unable to move and unable to scream as his brain began to feel like it was melting. All he could do was stare at the fan and try and count the rotations lest he slip into madness from the excruciating pain.