By the end of the night, Ken was pretty tired. But that didn't stop him from laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling like he usually did.
He had a good game today both in fielding and batting. While he didn't get a chance to pitch, he was able to showcase other aspects of his game that he wouldn't have if he hadn't been training so hard to improve.
Unlike Japan where the Ace could pitch multiple games in a row, professional and college level teams had strict guidelines to prevent injuries and fatigue accumulation.
From his understanding, 30-50 pitches would require 1 to 2 days rest. 51-75 pitches needed 2-3 days and 75+ required one to sit out for 3-4 days.
These were just guidelines of course, and most clubs would err on the side of caution. Which made sense when considering how many resources were spent on a pitcher, both in salary and marketing.
Ken sighed wistfully, remembering the times where he would pitch upwards of 200 balls a day back in Japan. Before receiving the Fatigue management skill, this should have been impossible.
'It's no wonder I got injured in my previous life…'
The lack of regulations in Japanese amateur baseball was a double-edged sword. Injuries were more frequent and many players would ruin their arms before being able to meet their potential.
Ken was just one of many such examples. Thankfully things were different in this life.
Feeling a little melancholic, Ken decided it was time to cheer himself up. He had been saving his rewards from the pitching missions all this time, wanting to wait until playing his first game in college first before using them.
In reality, he was happy he held back. Without the rewards, he was able to focus more on improving his fundamentals and technique, rather than relying on whatever skill the system was going to give him.
Opening his inventory, Ken saw the two items and couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
"Tara… not there~"
Ken jumped in fright, quickly closing his system window and sitting up from the bed. He turned to see Steve with his eyes closed, talking in his sleep.
"Tara?" Ken frowned. There was something that Steve was not telling him. He had an inkling, but he didn't want to make assumptions.
Throwing it to the back of his mind, he laid back down and brought up his inventory again.
'We'll do the platinum ticket first.' He decided.
The last time he used a platinum ticket, he received the Mentor function. This is where he managed to learn a few of his pitches from James Anderson, the ex-Major league player.
'I wonder what I'll get this time…'
After selecting it, a shining wheel appeared in front of him. Not wasting a moment, Ken pressed the spin button and watched as the wheel began to spin fast. The familiar and therapeutic clicking noise of the spin entered his ears, causing him to let out a contented sigh.
The wheel came to a crawl, finally stopping.
[Congratulations, user has received skill: Zone Mastery]
'Zone mastery?' Ken was a little disappointed upon receiving a skill. He had been expecting another system function, especially since platinum tickets were so rare.
With little enthusiasm, he opened his skill window and scrolled down to the skill in question. But after seeing its golden hue and description, his eyes widened.
Zone Mastery (Legendary): Grants the ability to perceive the strike zone with absolute clarity, enhancing both pitching and batting accuracy.
'Holy crap… A legendary skill?'
His disappointment was quickly forgotten as he ogled the skill with drool pooling in his mouth. This was something that he needed, without a doubt. As for how unfair the skill was, Ken had long gotten over the moral dilemma of using his system.
'With this I won't have to worry about swinging at balls and only go after strikes. Not only that, my pitching control will significantly improve.' He thought excitedly.
While his control was already great, he was already looking for ways to push himself. With the zone mastery skill, Ken would be able to pitch around the zone with ease, creating havoc for those facing him.
"Just in time." He muttered.
But Ken wasn't done just yet. He still had the Diamond ticket remaining. Since this was the first time using one, he didn't know what to expect.
Upon selecting the ticket, a wheel did not appear, causing Ken to be a little confused. A loading bar appeared in its stead. For a moment, Ken had a feeling that the system had glitched or something.
But after reaching the end, another window appeared.
[Congratulations, user has acquired the skill: Intuition]
'Intuition?'
Without a word, Ken once again went to his skill window and scrolled down. The skill was also highlighted with a gold hue and had the word Legendary beside it, however there was no description.
He tried clicking on the skill, but nothing came up no matter how many times he tried, leading him to frown.
'Mika, what's up with this skill? Is it bugged?'
Although he hadn't really spoken to Mika lately since she had betrayed his trust, Ken had no one else to ask, so he bit the bullet.
[There is no description needed. User will understand when the skill activates.]
"…"
Although it was not a great answer, it was better than nothing.
The thing was, Ken already had a good intuition, at least in his own opinion. So what difference would this skill make?
The only solace was that the system had deemed this as a Legendary skill, which meant that it shouldn't be useless. Just to be sure, he queried Mika once more.
[…There are no useless rewards from the system.]
Ken held his tongue, not wanting to get into an argument. Since he would likely be pitching tomorrow, he'd be able to test out both of his new skills and hopefully play another great game to back up today's performance.