Ken arrived in the dugout, only to quickly walk back onto the field with his bat and helmet equipped. He was the first at bat for the top of the 2nd inning.
"Batting 6th, Right outfield, Ken"
He was one of the lucky ones who didn't face their name being pronounced incorrectly by the announcer, yet Ken didn't care.
As he stepped into the batters box, Ken felt a sense of excitement wash through him. While there weren't as many spectators as Koshien and the atmosphere made it feel like a casual pick up game, this was not the case.
He was playing for Japan, something he'd dreamed of for many years.
'Time to put my stamp on the match.' He thought with a grin.
Ken wanted to leave his mark in this World Cup, to spread his name to the American clubs and let them know he was coming. He didn't know when, but it would be some time in the future.
WHOOOSH
DOOOONG!
Perhaps it was because Ken was fired up, or maybe the pitcher had thrown a bad ball. But either way, the result was the same.
Ken managed to hit the ball dead center of the bat and skyrocket the ball through center field. The center fielder ran for a little while before giving up, unless he grew 10 feet tall in that instant, he wouldn't be able to touch the ball.
The Korean pitcher watched on in despair as the ball sailed over the back wall for a solo home run.
"NICE!"
The Japanese dugout went crazy after witnessing the powerful hit. Since the distance to the back wall was 400ft, it was obvious what kind of strength was required to make such a hit.
Daichi pumped his fist in response, celebrating quickly before sneakily sitting next to Miho. He had used the distraction to fly under the radar and move in.
Coach Hyun could only smile wryly as he watched the first year run around the bases.
'This is going to be tough.' He said inwardly.
Ken finally stepped on home plate and received another round of applause for his solo effort. In only the first 2 innings, he'd shown just what kind of value he brought to the team.
"Nice hit Ken." Hiroki said, though he was feeling a little sorry for himself.
Out of the trio, he was the only one who had yet to perform in the batters box. Not only that, his bad hit resulted in a double-play, cutting short their momentum.
Seeing this, Ken let out a hollow chuckle.
"The game has just started man, don't worry about it." He said, patting him on the back.
Afterwards, he went and sat on the bench away from everyone, choosing to ignore Daichi's guilty look as he walked passed him and Miho.
'I heard a notification when I got that catch, time to check it out.'
Ken scrolled through his notifications but didn't see anything which caused him to frown. He quickly opened up his World Cup mission and looked through to see if there were any changes.
#NEW MISSION: U18 Baseball World Cup
*Task 1: Get onto base 15 times
*Task 2: Hit 8 home runs [1/8]
*Task 3: Do not drop a single catch
*Task 4: Advance to Super Round
*Task 5: Finish top 2 in Super Round
*Task 6: Win the World Cup
*Task 7: Win player of the Tournament
*Hidden Task: Rob a home run 2 times [1/2]
REWARDS:
>Task 1 rewards - 5,000 Major points
>Task 2 rewards - 5,000 Major points
>Task 3 rewards - 7,000 Major points + Fielding Boost
>Task 4 rewards - 10,000 Major points + Skill Selection ticket
>Task 5 rewards - 15,000 Major points + Potential Booster
>Task 6 rewards - 25,000 Major points + SSS-Grade Physicality Elixir
>Task 7 rewards - 25,000 Major points + SSS-Grade Mental Elixir
>Hidden Task rewards - Trait: Academic
Ken's eyes lit up as he saw that the Hidden Task had now been revealed.
'Rob a home run?' He tilted his head with a little confusion.
Since he did not play in the outfield, he was a little unfamiliar with the term. But he was quickly able to pick up what it meant.
'So I just need to catch the ball that would have gone over for a home run otherwise?'
While it might sound easy enough, it wasn't often that such a scenario would happen. In fact, he was quite lucky that he was able to pull off the feat on his very first try.
In fact, Ken couldn't believe that he had to pull it off two times during the world cup. Just performing the task 1 time should have been enough as far as he was concerned, yet the system did not think so.
'This Academic trait better be worth it…' He thought inwardly.
However, if it was anything like his Dauntless trait, he knew that he would not be disappointed.
Japan continued its dominance in the game, not giving Korea the space to play their small ball. Daichi's leads were brutal as he ensured that each pitch was difficult to hit and always kept them guessing.
While batting, they showcased how dominant they could be while on offense.
Apart from Satoshi who had a Designated Hitter, everyone on the team managed to hit decently well against the Korean pitcher.
By the time it was all said and done, Japan lead the scoreboard 15-0.
Daichi had hit his home run in the first inning and 2 doubles in the 3rd and 4th. Ken hit two home runs while Hiroki managed to redeem himself with a couple of base hits and a triple.
Satoshi pitched the entire game, quickly getting into his rhythm at the start of the 2nd inning. Apart from a couple of wild pitches every now and then which resulted in Korea getting on base, Japan never looked in danger.
"Strike 3! Out."
"Game, Japan."
"Yes! Let's go!"
A wave of applause from the scarce spectators sounded out, cheering on the young Japanese team.