"I'm going to die..."
Sawamura lay on the ground, feeling all his muscles twitching.
Fortunately, he listened to Zhang Han and didn't eat too much during the extra meal; otherwise, he would have thrown up by now.
"Find two people to carry these first-years back."
Several First string players in the baseball team, though very tired, still stood steadily.
When talking to their teammates, they even had smiles on their faces.
Jinguuji knelt on the ground, looking up at the standing upperclassmen.
The morning training was just an appetizer.
They thought it was easy, but that was only because Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff didn't want to exhaust them from the start.
That's why they went easy.
The real test began in the afternoon; there were no practice games, not even fielding practice.
All their training consisted of physical conditioning.
Unlike the three exhausted first-years, Jinguuji seemed better than them, lasting longer. Plus, he could adjust his breathing and training rhythm.
So, during the brutal training, he still managed to pay attention to other things.
For example, when their physical strength started to affect the quality of their training, the coaches began to consciously go easy.
There was no other way; if they continued to train with the second and third-year upperclassmen, and the quantity and quality of practice were also required to be consistent, then they wouldn't be able to get up at all.
They would die.
"We train by time, not by quantity. It's already 20 minutes; start the next exercise. No one will stay here just to accompany you."
Coach Kataoka's words immediately made Sawamura Eijun behave.
No matter how much Sawamura felt unconvinced, he dared not talk back to Coach Kataoka.
Jinguuji immediately understood that the Coach and the coaching staff did not intend for these new students to complete the same intensity of training as the older students.
They knew from the start that the new students wouldn't be able to keep up.
After that, all the projects were largely similar.
With time as the limit, they completed as much as they could, and it didn't matter if their movements were not standard.
As long as they could still move, they were told to continue practicing.
Around them, the third-year upperclassmen helping with the training kept chattering in their ears.
"Can't you keep going? If you can't, get off the field; we're waiting to replace you."
These upperclassmen also didn't dwell on their training volume or the standard of their movements.
They were just trying to persuade them to give up.
At that time, Jinguuji understood that for new students, the assessment was not about how strong their physical endurance was or how standard their movements were.
The key was just two words: perseverance.
Their only chance of being kicked out of the First string was if they gave up on training together.
As long as they kept going, even if they had to crawl, the Coach and the coaching staff wouldn't say much.
Perhaps in their eyes, being able to persevere was already quite good.
In fact, being able to persevere was truly quite good.
Jinguuji had this thought when his physical strength was completely drained and his consciousness began to blur.
Not everyone has such resilience.
Fortunately, among their group of new students, these four all had similar ideas, and their resolve was very firm.
Even when they were so tired they lost consciousness, they didn't utter the words "give up."
From this perspective, these four first-year new students were clearly qualified.
But Jinguuji was not reconciled.
Because he could adjust his breathing rhythm, his training volume and performance were the strongest among all the new students.
Kominato Haruichi, although also from a regular youth baseball background, was not inferior to him in this regard.
However, Kominato Haruichi's own physical strength was far inferior to his and Sawamura Eijun's.
So, in terms of performance during training, Jinguuji was undoubtedly the most outstanding.
But even the most outstanding Jinguuji only completed at most 70% of the afternoon training.
Sawamura and Kominato Haruichi were about the same, completing around 65 percent.
The worst was Furuya Satoru, probably less than 60 percent, in the fifties.
In contrast to them, all the second and third-year upperclassmen on the baseball team persevered.
Although in the later stages, a few second-year upperclassmen fell behind, they only fell behind.
In the end, they still managed to complete all the training.
Jinguuji originally had a little pride deep down. His achievements in junior high were very dazzling, and after joining Seido High School Baseball Team, he was quickly promoted to the First string.
Except for a limited three or four upperclassmen, he did not believe he was inferior to other upperclassmen.
But now, looking at the upperclassmen chatting and laughing, although sweat was still dripping from their foreheads and their clothes were already soaked, almost as if they had been washed, in Jinguuji's eyes, the figures of these upperclassmen all seemed incredibly tall.
It seemed that surpassing them and becoming a true core player of the baseball team was not an easy task.
Jinguuji secretly gritted his teeth.
No matter what, even if he had to use all his strength, he would definitely catch up.
And so, the brutal training continued.
The first three days were pure physical torment.
None of the four first-year junior students could endure it for a single day; they quickly lost consciousness after training.
Nevertheless, none of the second and third-year players of Seido High School Baseball Team dared to underestimate their junior students.
There was no other way; these guys were growing too fast.
In just one night, they climbed out of hell, and the next day, they were lively and trained with everyone else.
By the second day, although they still couldn't hold on, the amount of training they completed had clearly increased by 3 to 5 percent.
This visible improvement was very frightening.
Especially Sawamura: although everyone didn't spare him any sarcasm, who could blame them when he had such a punchable face?
But they also had to admit in their hearts that this guy indeed had extraordinary qualities.
Leaving aside other things, his recovery speed was much faster than Jinguuji's and the others'.
His daily growth rate was also the most astonishing among all the newcomers.
In just three days, Sawamura had already reached 80% of the older students' training volume, surpassing Jinguuji, who had performed the best previously.
Jinguuji sat on the grass, watching Sawamura, who was resting his hands on his knees and breathing in fresh air in big gulps, feeling quite complex.
Previously, Jinguuji had only set his sights on the upperclassmen.
He constantly thought about how to pull one of the upperclassmen down so he could take their place.
Now, it seemed his idea was a bit too naive. Although he had achieved quite brilliant results in junior high, this did not mean that after joining Seido High School Baseball Team, he would be able to smoothly defeat all his competitors and become a core player of the baseball team.
Not to mention those monstrously strong upperclassmen, even among players of the same grade, he might not necessarily be the undisputed number one.
In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
During this week, the players of Seido High School Baseball Team had all grown significantly.
Especially for those first-year students, their first training camp had a profound, transformative impact on them.
Friday night, the day before the practice game.
Time: 7:50 PM.
All the first-year players had already been cleared to the side.
Some second-year players who couldn't keep up, including a few third-year players, also left due to exhaustion.
Currently, only five people remained practicing on the field.
They were Yuuki Tetsuya, the third-year baseball team captain.
Isashiki Jun, the third-year vice-captain.
Kominato Ryosuke, a third-year player known as the Demon Batter.
Masuko Toru, a third-year player.
And Zhang Han, the only second-year player currently on the field.
Zhang Han staying behind attracted more attention than anyone else.
There was no other way; he was the only second-year player who had persevered until now.
They had been doing fielding practice since six in the evening, nearly two hours of practice.
Zhang Han and the others didn't know how many balls they had fielded here.
The only clear awareness they had now was that they could not give up.
They absolutely could not escape from their own position.
Although at this moment, they were already exhausted, with the possibility of collapsing at any time.
"Is this it? Isashiki, where's your voice?"
Coach Kataoka, who was practicing with everyone, was also panting heavily.
Although his breathing rhythm was completely messed up, Coach Kataoka's gaze was incredibly firm.
He stared at all the players, waiting for them to respond to him.
The first to stand up was Yuuki Tetsuya.
"Again, one more ball!"
"Not enough!"
"Uga! Uga!"
"Ah!..."
Finally, Isashiki Jun's roar.
Zhang Han was at the Shortstop position.
Last year, he was the main Shortstop for Seido High School Baseball Team.
Last year on this day, Zhang Han couldn't hold on until the end and was carried off.
This time, despite his body being incredibly tired, with every cell crying out in agony.
But Zhang Han did not fall down.
He stubbornly stood there, looking back at Kataoka seriously.
"Again!"
This year, he persevered.
Coach Kataoka's face showed a relieved smile.
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