Koshien.
The greatest dream in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of baseball players across the nation.
How should that feeling be described? To put it simply, it was like a young basketball player dreaming of entering the NBA.
This was no exaggeration. The glory of making it to Koshien was not much different from being able to play in the NBA.
At first, Zhang Han did not actually have such a deep obsession with it. After all, he spent most of his childhood in China, so it was difficult for him to share the same emotions as those around him.
Later, after moving to Tokyo with his mother, he was pulled into baseball by Coach Ono almost by chance. When he was at Matsukata, the boys around him craved Koshien as if they were possessed.
Many of them even regarded Koshien as the greatest dream of their lives, a dream that surpassed becoming a professional baseball player.
After staying in that environment for a long time, Zhang Han was inevitably influenced.
Especially when teammates he was familiar with asked him whether he wanted to make it to Koshien.
At that time, Zhang Han had only been learning baseball for half a year, and he was indifferent.
"Whatever works."
If he made it, great. If not, it didn't really matter to him.
The looks he received afterward were as if he were a monster.
It felt like being asked in China, "Do you want to make money?" and answering, "Whatever."
How could Zhang Han endure those stares?
So, whether sincerely or not, when others asked again, he naturally replied,
"Yes. Of course I do."
Immediately, the gazes around him softened.
Zhang Han no longer remembered how much of that answer was heartfelt at the time.
But after repeating it for long enough, combined with the influence of his surroundings, he gradually came to regard making it to Koshien as part of his own dream.
When transitioning from middle school to high school, his desire to join a prestigious team also stemmed from this.
It was the same logic as entering a famous university.
Getting into a prestigious university did not guarantee success. You still had to work hard and struggle on your own.
But it was undeniable that attending a top university gave you a much higher chance of success than attending an ordinary one.
A simple example was comparing the success rates of graduates from Peking University or Tsinghua University with those from ordinary universities.
Under the same evaluation standards, whether social status, professional titles, achievements, or income, the proportion of successful individuals from prestigious universities was significantly higher.
Joining a powerhouse baseball team followed the same principle.
Whether the goal was Koshien or future development, if someone truly wanted to learn baseball, the probability of success by training at a powerhouse school was far greater than at an ordinary high school.
Zhang Han had never believed that the world revolved around him.
For success, effort alone was not enough. Choices and platforms mattered just as much.
That was why he chose Seido High School.
Not only because Takashima Rei offered him the best conditions and valued him the most, but also because Seido had a strong foundation. As long as luck was not terrible and an opportunity appeared, they would definitely seize it.
As it turned out, with the addition of Zhang Han and Miyuki, along with the rise of Ace Hidezawa, the Seido High School Baseball Team was reborn.
In just a few months, they soared all the way to Koshien.
The opening ceremony was held on the same day at Koshien Stadium.
Forty-nine representative teams entered in single file.
Tens of thousands of spectators filled the stands.
Gongs and drums echoed, red flags waved, and the stadium was packed with people.
Even under the blazing sun, surrounded by such an atmosphere, the players on the field were overwhelmed with emotion.
The third-year seniors of the Seido High School Baseball Team were no exception.
They trembled with excitement, as if they were in a dream.
Zhang Han was not much better.
He had participated in national tournaments before, even reaching the finals.
But those events were completely different.
Even in the finals, the stadiums held at most a few thousand spectators. The scale and atmosphere could not compare to Koshien.
Here, the scene was more than ten times larger.
Many figures who usually only appeared on television were now vividly present before his eyes.
At such a moment, players naturally developed the illusion that they were standing at the center of the world.
Zhang Han felt it too.
In fact, this was not an exaggeration.
During the two weeks of the Summer Koshien Tournament, Koshien Stadium became the focal point of the entire country.
At this time, even international events like the World Cup would have to take a back seat.
As Koshien's influence expanded year after year, it was no longer limited to Japan alone. Even in Zhang Han's home country, reports about Koshien occasionally appeared.
In baseball powerhouses like North America, players from Koshien were highly valued.
Some Major League teams even sent scouts to watch the games in person.
Not to mention Japan's twelve professional baseball teams.
A large number of professional scouts gathered here, while tens of millions of fans watched eagerly.
Such a grand event naturally attracted massive capital, investors, and advertisers.
With money involved, Koshien only grew larger and more influential.
What exactly was said on the podium? What detailed events took place during the ceremony?
Zhang Han could not remember any of it.
Everything felt chaotic.
All he remembered was being surrounded by people, swept along by the crowd, standing somewhere near the center.
If Seido had played a game that day, Zhang Han believed that every single player, including the seniors, would have performed at their peak.
They would have poured every ounce of strength they had into the field.
But that did not happen.
Seido High School had good luck and received a bye in the first round.
They advanced directly to the second round.
Without playing a game, they were already among the top thirty-two teams of the Summer Koshien.
Their next opponent would be the traditional powerhouse Hosen High School from the Kanto region.
Hosen, like Seido, had also advanced to the top thirty-two without playing a match.
Out of more than forty teams, only about a dozen received this treatment.
The probability was roughly one in four.
The Seido High School Baseball Team had drawn a favorable lot.
Zhang Han believed that this was very likely due to special consideration from the organizers.
After all, Seido was a nationally recognized powerhouse, and they had not appeared at Koshien for several years.
If they were eliminated in the first round after finally returning, it would have been far too embarrassing.
At the very least, they had to make it into the top thirty-two.
Of course, this was only Zhang Han's speculation. Whether it was true was impossible to confirm.
Their match was scheduled for the afternoon of the third day after Koshien began.
"I hereby declare that the ninety-eighth Summer Koshien Tournament officially begins!"
Finally, a leader whose name Zhang Han could not remember stood on the podium and announced the opening with great enthusiasm.
The flames of Koshien were ignited.
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